I’ve always been hard on myself. And by always, I mean always. My teacher even pointed this out to my mom…when I was in kindergarten. I was hard on myself during times of recess and naps, so you can only imagine that this only got worse in high school.

In a way I’m glad that I’ve been hard on myself because it pushed me to do my best. A major fault, however, is that a fear of failure has constantly weighed on me. During senior year, I was so afraid of failure that I constantly told myself  “don’t get your hopes up.” I thought that this would protect me from future failures or disappointments.

Eventually, I realized how often I said it but how little it helped. After I got bad news, such as getting denied from my dream school, I was not better off in the end. I thought expecting bad news would help me, but it proved to be a useless tactic that constantly lost to my hopes.

No matter what, there will always be that little glimmer of hope incapable of being suppressed. So, why try to get rid of it? Instead, hopes should be embraced and the possibility of them not coming true should not inhibit us from going after them.

Do get your hopes up. DO hope to get into your dream school. DO hope for the best. Do not minimize them because of your fear of failure or disappointment.

Prior to getting good news, like getting accepted into the college that I cannot wait to attend next year, I wish I had relaxed during the anticipation because it would have made the ride much more enjoyable. There’s no purpose in stressing and planning for scenarios that may or may not even happen.

No one gets anything done or accomplished by saying to not get their hopes up, so you might as well embrace the great unknown and have faith in your hopes. If one hope doesn’t come true than maybe the next one will. And when just one does happen, there’s no other feeling like it and you’ll be thankful that you had the courage to hope for it in the first place.