Did you know that no two snowflakes alike? Snowflakes are made up of so many molecules it’s unlikely any two are even exactly the same size. Each snowflake is exposed to slightly different conditions, so that even if you started with two identical crystals they wouldn’t be the same by the time they reached the surface.

When you take the first step of a journey, sometimes it is steady, but most times it can be shaky. Eventually, the rhythm of your own path will reveal itself you. There will be pebbles or even stones that block your next step; are you going to stop or move around them? At times there are cracks or craters that you can’t avoid or move around, so you pave another route for that path. That’s your acquired knowledge from your past journeys. You will probably find yourself wondering why it didn’t work for you THAT way, but THIS way it did.

Everyone has their own pace, their own time, their own rhythm. Just because someone is ahead of you does not mean you need to keep up with them. If we all were the same, and all the did the same things, the world would not be as unique as it is. There are some very “different” people in the world. But who is it to define how we need to be? How we should act? Yes, society has its own standards and we do follow them, but everyone seeks freedom in their own way.

How many times have students changed their career paths, tried other routes, or even “failed”? So…you move to the side and assess. Then stand on that foundation again, test to see how strong it is, and keep charging forward!

Even though I started at National two years ago, the journey wasn’t easy. Many times I wanted to give up. I’ve laughed through the mental exhaustion and cried through the failures, because I was a perfectionist in my own way. Everyone at National has felt the same way, either multiple times or a million times. But dust it off and move forward! Many of us started together, but will end at different times.

We all come down charging in like a snowstorm to conquer the world and get our degrees at National. But what we do individually and uniquely, will leave different practitioners to address the needs of different patients. So it’s ok to take a step away from the center of it all to gain balance. Allow others to continue their climb up. Eventually, you’ll get there in your own “right” time.