Making My Life Count

“Make Your Life Count.”
The shirt I received from Gustavus Adolphus has only this mantra in gold letters and a G with the crowns of Sweden.

I may not be going to Gustavus. That doesn't matter.
I have always strove to live by this same principle: making my life count.

I instinctively push myself to do more, go farther, and follow through in everything I do, including academics.  I am not satisfied until I know that I’ve done everything I can do, been all I can be, and learned all I can learn.

With these high expectations, I quickly found that regular curriculum and tolerably motivated students could not be enough.  I’m not a 4.0 student and I don't pretend to know everything, but I’m driven not by a desire for perfection and success; rather, I am fueled by the tangible hunger for greater understanding.

Wherever I end up, I hope to find an atmosphere of young adults who aren’t driven by GPAs.  I hope not to hear the question “How many points will this be worth?” and I hope to never see the student next to me taking a Snap Chat of their shoe during class. I wanna punch 'em.

I expect to find a community of committed, intellectual beings that don’t obsess about grades and NHS hours but respect the privilege of education and wish to better their own understanding of the world around them.

I’d like to meet normal people who simply recognize their designed cognitive potential, fearfully and wonderfully made as they are, and know they have a long way to go.
And I hope to join them as I dedicate all of me to becoming the most contributing, understanding community member I can be.

I WILL be doing this. No matter where I go and no matter what I do.


I just hope I can find a place where it doesn't make me feel so lonely.