This year, so far, I have failed a math quiz with a 41 percent, forgotten to turn in a paper online until 13 hours after it was due and struggled to churn out even two good push ups for gym class. I am not perfect, far from it actually, and although there are a lot of things that I would like to improve about myself, I learned pretty early on in my last year at South that I am going to mess up big time.

I do not claim to know the key to life. Yet, after three solid years of pushing myself to do better and better and add more and more onto my plate, I have come to focus on what I am doing right in my life and not the monumental amounts of mistakes I have already made and will make in the future.

Yeah, I did really mess up that one math quiz. But when haven’t I bombed a math quiz at least once a year? And since when did I define myself by one letter grade on one quiz? I have done so many more noteworthy things in my life. So to spend even a second engulfed in disappointment because things didn’t really turn out is a waste.

This year, instead of beating myself up for all the messes I have made, I am celebrating everything that I do right. When I look at that one paper I turned in over half a day late, I see the skyscrapers worth of homework I have been able to finish.

Or what about the fierce effort I put into everything I do? I stay up until midnight, one and two in the morning to try and complete everything, and for someone who finds sleep and gold equivalent, I willingly gave and continue to give up gold to try and be the best student possible.

So when I was able to get things, but a couple of things fell through the cracks, why couldn’t I celebrate the fact that I always did my best, even if that meant looking like I got punched in the face in the morning?

From now on, instead of feeling weak because of those two push ups, I pat myself on the back for waking up for early bird despite being cranky, groggy and half asleep. Being up at 6:15 in the morning and at school by 6:50 isn’t my ideal morning, but I do it. If waking up before the sun has risen, in some cases, isn’t a sign of strength, I honestly don’t know what is.

As a new, official member of adult society, it is easy to pretend that I have completely broken free of the impressionable stage of teenage adolescence, but I am no better. I can get caught up in the fact that my arms started shaking before the push up prompter said “down,” or I can feel like a champ for holding my drooping eyelids open for hours at a time to finish homework only to get up a few hours later and max out my bodily strength in Total Body Conditioning.

Not everyone can do the things I do, and not everyone can do the things that YOU do. I cannot swim 10 miles a day or b.s. a math quiz and still do well or match pitch to a note played on the piano. But not everyone can work at a publishing company or write for the newspaper or deal with a heart condition.

I guess what I am getting at is that we spend so much time thinking about all the things that aren’t going well that we immediately bring ourselves down. However, in reality, we are doing so many things right. It is easy to get caught in the thick of it and feel bad, but why drag yourself down when there are so many things that make you, you?

We are all amazing, and I know when that mile really kicks you in the lungs, and that one paper drops you a letter grade and those worksheets begin to feel pointless, it is easy to feel like nothing more than a failure. I know because I have been there for too long.

This new realization is something that has made me appreciate everything I do so much more. I work part time, I have four AP classes, I am taking an honors class for no credit, I am a co-editor-in-chief for the Oracle and I am applying to colleges. My schedule isn’t easy, and neither is yours. Give yourself every ounce of credit you deserve, and acknowledge that you are busy and doing your best.

And do you want to hear something shocking? We are human; we are going to make mistakes, and that’s okay because you and I add up to more than just our mistakes. These mistakes are not only human and totally okay: they are lessons in disguise. Why beat yourself up for learning?

That straight up does not make sense. My mom always tells me that it does not matter if I mess up as long as I learn from it. Although my mom is not here to give you her motivational speech, I will speak in lieu of her. As long as you do your best, try your hardest and know that you gave it your all, there is nothing to be upset about. No, not even for that millisecond.

We all are fabulous and if you call yourself anything other than that, you’re wrong. And if I hear you say something negative, I’ll go up to you and send off more positive vibes than the fight song Friday morning.

So, I want to say that you all are handling your lives so well, and yeah, you messed up that one time, but you did your best, and everything else you are able to juggle is astounding. I want you to take the time to appreciate everything you are doing right because you might astonish yourself.