Moving to San Diego for college was not too big of a move considering I have lived in Southern California my entire life.  However, starting college was the first time that I was completely on my own.  I had to learn how to develop my own routines and motivate myself to focus on my studies and work, while also maintaining a social life.  The hardest thing for me to get used to was balance.  For the first time, I had the freedom to completely make my own decisions.  I started to get anxiety because I did not have anyone guiding me in the right direction – my life and what I did with it was all up to me.  I was overwhelmed with too many options, yet not knowing exactly what was right for me.  I struggled for a long time with leading myself along the way, and did not have it in me to guide anyone else.

I was hard on myself and stuck in a mindset that I was not good enough.  However, I was able to turn my life around when I began believing in myself.  I started practicing meditation, yoga, and positive thinking, allowing me to focus on improvement and growth.  I would say that I led myself down a new, brighter path; I had to be my own leader in a time where I had no one else to look up to.

Although I still do not have everything figured out, I learned to take life one step at a time, trusting that the rest of the stairway will be there to support me as I continue on.  Now that I am able to see the bigger picture and know that I don’t have to have every step of my life figured out, I am able to develop myself and help motivate others to do so as well.