One of the core missions of the Honors Diversity Council is to serve as a voice for marginalized communities on campus and foster a sense of belonging. Their weekly blog posts discuss the experience of students with marginalized identities/and or how the University community can be a more inclusive environment for everyone. This week, Sanya Sami reflects on the lessons she's learned from her time at the University of Iowa as she prepares for graduation.
There are under six weeks left until I walk across the stage and call myself a University of Iowa alumna. It feels so unreal. I remember participating in Iowa's Orientation like it happened yesterday, and now I'll be a college graduate in six weeks. The thought of this can be exciting and nerve-wracking. Exciting because I've worked so hard for this and have grown so much as a person up until this point, but stressful because it begs the question: what next? In a moment like this, it feels easy to think about how others have secured an internship, full-time job, or admission to a graduate or professional school. Unfortunately, comparison culture is a real concept, even when you try your best not to compare your life and successes to others.
One of the most important things I learned over time is that life has no timeline. It is okay if your life doesn't look like the lives of those surrounding you. And it is okay to do what is best for you and do it your way. When I started college, I had a timeline planned for things I wanted to complete by certain ages. I'm not sure why I used to do this other than that it probably gave me a sense of stability and predictability. The issue, however, is that life is unpredictable. Things won't always go to plan. Sometimes we tend to set expectations for ourselves when those expectations might not be the best for us. Life comes with successes, failures, and everything in between. Whenever I'd experience a forced change in personal or professional plans, I would always ask myself: why me? Such instances would feel frustrating and almost act as barriers to steer me away from the goals I had originally set for myself. However, I learned that the important thing is to make sure you don't let such changes in plans act as barriers and prevent you from reaching your end goal. There is no one cookie-cutter way to go about life. Even though many people don't admit it out loud, we all struggle in our own ways. And that is okay.
When I think about life not being so straightforward, I always think about my parents. They immigrated to the United States from South Asia and didn't have the most traditional way of going about their career plans. Despite all the challenges they went through with immigration and figuring things out for themselves, my parents succeeded at the end of the day. It was so refreshing to see their hard work and persistence get them this far. Those qualities go a long way in ensuring that we don't let barriers get in the way of us achieving our goals, even if our personal timeline shifts over time. As I get ready to say goodbye to my home of four years in six weeks, I will remember to remind myself that everything will fall into place. Things may not go as originally expected, and that is okay. Life teaches you various lessons, and everything happens for a reason. I'm forever grateful for everything that has happened in my life to allow me to be the person I am today. Everything will be fine as long as one remembers that everything will fall into place with hard work and a positive mindset!
About the Author:
Sanya Sami is a fourth-year undergraduate studying Human Physiology and obtaining a Leadership Studies Certificate. On campus, she is the President for the Health and Human Physiology Student Organization, the Campus Events & Activities Chair for STAR (Students to Assist Recruitment), a research assistant, a hospital volunteer at the UIHC (Pediatric Ophthalmology) and is also a member of the Social Squad Club and the Honors DEI Council within the Honors Program. She is also a calculus and chemistry tutor for Tutor Iowa. Outside of studying for her classes, she enjoys reading, traveling, going on hikes, watching sunsets, and spending time with close ones.
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