by Taylor Wallace ’21

During my 18 years on this Earth, the most important thing I have learned is that everything happens for a reason. I’m sure everyone has heard of the saying before, yet you may not truly believe it, and I’m going to tell you why you should. It manifests in many different ways. It can be something as small as if you hadn’t gone to go to the store that day you would have never seen the sign for Dunkin Donuts’ new donut, which is now your favorite. But it can also be much more gradual such as if you had never gone through that toxic situation you wouldn’t have discovered the true depth of your strength.

Last year more than ever proved to me that this saying is true. Going through my last year in high school, I recently have been seeing many full circle moments in my life. A lot of “oh, that’s why that had to go that way” moments. It’s almost like everything’s falling into place in a way. Not that everything is perfect, but I now know why specific things in my life had to happen. I realize now that things that I saw as unfortunate events for years were crucial to me becoming the person I am today. And I can wholeheartedly say that as painful as they were, I don’t regret them happening.

Having the mindset that everything happens for a reason can also ease any anxieties you may have about the future. For example, for the seniors right now, it is a very stressful time trying to decide where to go to college. It’s nerve racking waiting to hear back from schools. You probably have that one school that is your dream school and you’ve convinced yourself that if you don’t get in, the world will end. It’s a lot to manage. And I get it 100%. But what has helped me a lot through all of this is trusting that I will end up where I’m supposed to be. And it may not be the place I think I really want to go to now. Think of it like this: let’s say you get rejected from your dream school, you could end up meeting your soulmate at the school you go to instead. Now obviously that’s not a guarantee, but it’s a possibility. Basically, trusting that everything happens for a reason will make this stressful time of deciding where you’re going to spend the next four years of your life a whole lot easier. 

So going forward in 2021, I recommend approaching everything that happens in your life, good or bad, with the mindset that there is purpose behind its occurrence. I promise you will see tremendous changes in how you view your life. You are exactly where you need to be right now and if it feels like life is attacking you left and right, just know that you are getting stronger every day and sometime in the future you will be grateful that you kept going.