When you feel down

This week wasn’t a good week for me at all. I was depressed, and I wanted to give up. I just couldn’t stop crying. I even thought it was a bad idea to come all the way over here at Florida Tech, far away from friends and families. During the whole week, I’ve been questioning the decision I made a year ago. I couldn’t focus in class, and I was mad at myself and at everybody else. The weird thing is that I couldn’t really define what was wrong with me; I was just feeling down. Have you ever felt this way too? What do you do when you feel depressed?

It took me some time to realize that I was harming myself by letting discouragement invade me. It really took me some time to find my source of motivation. And let me tell you what I did.

I looked back at my achievements
Looking at your achievements is a source of motivation. Your past achievements motivate you to work to have new ones.

 I looked at my goals

It’s a good thing that I wrote my goals down. They reminded me of the reasons why I am here and helped me realize that I made the right decision.  Being at Florida Tech is part of the process toward fulfilling my dreams.

I thought about my parents and my community
When your parents know that you are far away because you want to get a better education, there’s nothing more important for them than to see you succeed. Because I want to be a better person for myself, my parents, and the Haitian community, giving up cannot be an option for me.

I thought about my future
It is very important to know what you want in life because circumstances may come your way and make you forget where you want to be. Knowing that my professional life is being built here, I must keep doing the work.

My achievements, goals, parents, community and future are my sources of motivation. They help me realize that it takes energy and perseverance to get somewhere in life. You must keep doing the things that are getting you closer to your dreams. Never let circumstances make you give up. Be a proactive person, not a reactive person whose life gets shaped by circumstances. Take your life in control and avoid letting negative thoughts invade your life and take you far away from achieving your set goals.