Today is the day, folks! They day students flood campus again to expand their knowledge and grow as young adults. I am both happy and sad for this day. Happy because I truly miss my students so much while they are globetrotting all summer long; sad because I am not ready. Not ready to give up the peace and quiet, not ready to admit that I did not get enough done this summer, not ready to move closer to cold months...the list goes on. If any of you are experiencing these same feelings today, this is for you --


This is SO true. I spend a lot of time trying to teach my students what real life is going to be like when they reach their educational goals and move on to the next chapter of their life, but I think I am skipping over something major. This.

Life is not always going to be perfect and you are going to make mistakes. It isn't necessarily because you are imperfect or make stupid decisions, but because life works in the opposite manner of how we were raised. Instead of learning a lesson and proving you retained the information via test, the test comes first. And no matter what you choose, the test teaches you a lesson. That's just how it works...and it really does work. So don't get frustrated and give up. Trust in yourself and your decisions. Trust that there is a plan, whether or not you know what it is yet.

Remember as we fall into our back-to-school routines that you CAN do this. Use all of the life lessons you have had up to this point to make informed decisions moving forward. Don't act rashly. Reflect. Choose wisely. Learn from your successes just as much as your mistakes. Every twist, every turn, every funny story, every stupid mistake is a part of who we are and our life story. Embrace it.