HAYLEY ROSS | OPINION COLUMNIST

Do you ever just stop and think about how lucky you are to be alive?

I know a lot of you probably answered no.

It does seem weird to just stop and think about yourself—what you have and what you have accomplished—and how great you have it.

Sometimes it is hard to remember that when you are swamped with all the stress a college student brings and the problems that go along with college—relationships, homesickness, internships, career paths—and just everything else in between, life is still good.

One thing does not seem less stressful than another; everything is the end of the world. It can be really hard to remember how lucky you are. Believe me. I get it.

I am a huge participant in the stress, the anxiety and the desire for all that I do to be perfect.

If I don’t get a good grade, forget to do an assignment or miss out on something fun because I am sick or busy, I beat myself up for it.

When I was driving back to Butler University after spending a pretty awesome Easter at one of my roommate’s house, staring out the window at the beautiful sunset with a great playlist blasting in the background, and I could not help but think how amazing my life was right then.

Now I knew the second I got back on campus and I thought about the five essays I had to do before Wednesday, that I would start to lose that outlook. That the stress would begin to eat at me, and my happy, positive mindset would quickly drift away.

However, it is imperative that we try not to always lose that because what I am feeling right at this moment is something we all should try and grasp for.

Recently, my parents told me for one reason or another that I was not going to get to go abroad for a whole semester. They didn’t tell me I could not do a summer or an alternative spring break trip or some other cool trip that Butler offers—just not for a full semester.

At the time this seemed like a mini heartbreak because I have been thinking about doing a full semester abroad for as long as I could remember. My mom went to Spain for a full semester in college, so it was always my intention to go abroad as well.

As I sit here and think about all that I get to do and get to experience, I cannot help but feel silly.

Yes, it would be an amazing adventure and I can be disappointed, but being at Butler is an adventure all in itself.

There are so many things that we take for granted each day. There are so many things we tend to forget are beautiful. So many people don’t get what I do, and sometimes it is hard to remember that. It is the little things that make our lives worth living. There are way too many things we think will always be there, yet we don’t understand that we really love.

I love long drives with only a vague destination.

I love what it smells like outside just after it rains.

I love a book that makes you read it from cover to cover in one sitting.

I love brunch and its countless possibilities.

I love a song that makes you think.

I love my mom’s good morning texts.

I love the taste of water with just the right amount of ice.

I love the sound of laughter, especially if I have caused it.

I also love the friends and life I’ve made at Butler.

I don’t have all that I could possibly want, and I don’t think I am always going to be completely happy. It is improbable to think that life will go exactly as you plan.

But try and remember that despite the pressure, the stress, and the seemingly endless disappointments that college sometimes brings, there is so much to be thankful for.

Live and enjoy life.

Take everything in.

We are lucky.