Step #9--No count downs

The past few months my calendar has been covered with little "x's" marking each day. I was counting down to something. Today I realized I had no idea what I was counting down to, so I've decided to stop. One lesson I'm constantly learning is to live in the present. When I'm always looking towards tomorrow, I don't have time to appreciate today...and then I realize a week has gone by and I wonder what happened to all that time I thought I had.

I remember hearing a quote from somewhere, I don't remember where, but it went something like this: "Today is a gift, that's why they call it the present." Too true. So no more crossing off days, no more count downs. Time to focus on the here, and the now!

Step #8- When you can't stand it any more, DANCE

The end of the semester is approaching. Crunch time. Stress time. There are moments when I feel like ripping out my hair or throwing furniture across the room. But those aren't real positive stress relievers. Instead, I try to do something fun: draw, paint, sing, blow bubbles, anything to take my mind off of my homework for an hour or two.

My favorite stress reliever these days is dance. I go dancing on campus several times a week and it's a blast. I'm actually starting to get pretty good too.

Step #7:It's where you feel the most inadequate, that you have the chance to shine

All my life I've been on top;When I took the hard classes, I got good grades; When I auditioned for choirs or shows, I made it in. This semester I was worried that my luck would change. On the first two days of classes, I sat there feeling small and insignificant, especially in my Shakespeare and Acting classes. The classes were hard at first, I was having a hard time understanding what the professors expected of me. But now, I'm passing all my classes with flying colors. As it turns out, I'm not lucky, I just work hard. Hard work pays off.

The past few weeks, my friend Caleb and I had been working on a scene from The Star Spangled Girl by Neil Simon. After our first performance of it, Hyrum gave me a B+ on my performance. I was shocked and discouraged. I'd never done that poorly on an acting assignment in my life. But, instead of getting angry or depressed, I stepped up my game and took to heart all the suggestions Hyrum gave me. After our second try at the scene, which was significantly better than the first, Caleb and I both received A's on our performances. Hyrum had nothing but good things to say about it. As you can imagine, I was ecstatic.

My Shakespeare class has been a true test as well. When Brother Waddell told us we'd have to write an 8 page analysis on one of the comedies, my heart stopped. But as I threw myself into the project and began to write the paper, I found myself enjoying the process. I got excellent grades on both the paper and the midterm exam. I am currently one of four A's in the entire class.

Now, of course, the key is to keep it up. No slacking off now. I have to keep my scholarship after all! Sometimes when I feel too confident in a class or subject, I end up performing below my expectations. It's where I feel inadequate that I am able to grow the most and eventually shine.