To Be Amazing, You Have to Be Amazing

Lately, I have been telling everyone that I'm learning that "to be amazing, you have to be amazing." The reason people who are extraordinary are extraordinary is because they have made themselves that way. One simply cannot be the best if he is acting like all the rest.

All my life, I have been above average. I'm fairly smart, kinda pretty, and generally well-rounded. My parents told me I was special, and individually, yes, but inside society? Not quite, and when college applications rolled around, I had a rude awakening.

For a year, I have had some serious internal struggles going on in relation to my academic success, or lack of it. When my dream school offered me zero financial aid and denied me into the program that had won my heart, I broke. I loathed. I didn't want to face the failure I had believed that I was.

To counteract this, I have worked my butt off this year. I'm VERY involved on campus. I got a 4.0 last semester. I'm going on a mission trip. I work closely to important people within my specified college and major. I've made a name and a life for myself here...and I love it.

Right now, I think I'm dying. Okay, maybe not dying, but I feel quite terrible. My throat aches, my chest pains, and my eyes can barely stay open. Unfortunately, I have three tests tomorrow, and I'm done taking the easy way out.

I'm done with the excuses, and even the reasons. I'm tired of people looking at me and being proud of me for doing something I should be doing already. I want to make people proud because I've done something extraordinary. I want to make a mark on this world...academically, socially, politically.

Maybe I'm selfish, but I want to go far in this world. I don't want fame, but a sense of immortality created by those who knew me. And I'm wanting the world to know me.

So world, my challenge to you is to be amazing. Go above and beyond. Distinguish yourself. Do something worth remembering, whatever that may be. Don't run yourself dry, but never, never, never stop running because even if you don't make it to the finish line, someone else will be there to claim the prize.