Bevin A.

Photography by Ashley Kung

If you’re reading this, it’s okay to have made a mistake.

While a UF graduate student now, my college journey started over ten years ago at FSU. During those four and a half years in Tallahassee, I had a lot of amazing times with friends and classmates. I also made a lot of mistakes.

I use the word “mistake” loosely as I now have come to realize my “mistakes” never actually held me back like I thought they would. However, in my early twenties, I thought I had made every mistake in the book.

I came into college having no idea what I wanted to do. I knew I liked animals and thought being a veterinarian sounded cool. I enrolled as a biology major and set aspirations to get accepted into the Honors College. During my first fall semester, I received a B in trigonometry. I called my mom crying saying I would never reach my goals and had made my first mistake. A few weeks later, I received my acceptance letter into the Honors College.

As my sophomore year started and I started struggling through my courses, I was put on probation by the Honors College. Mistake number two. I switched my major because clearly, I wasn’t cut out for being a vet, and said to myself, “Okay Bevin, you’re better at chemistry, let’s try that.” I had no interest in chemistry, but there I was starting my junior year dismissed from Honors and enrolling as a chemistry major. Mistake number three.

I continued to struggle in courses that frankly went way over my head and had a hard time seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I failed my analytical chemistry course. I failed genetics. Mistakes four and five.

By the time I reached my senior year, I lost track of my “mistakes” and prioritized time with friends and working at a boutique. I graduated in December of 2014 and moved back home the following summer. I ended up working as a lab assistant for a few years and went back to school to get my license as a Medical Technologist. I got my first job as an MT at a blood bank at a local hospital.

This was the first time in my young adult life I felt like my “mistakes” didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I did good work, and no one cared that I had way more Cs than As on my transcript. A few years passed, and I decided to apply to PA school. Those mistakes came back with a vengeance…

Except they really didn’t. I spent two and a half years working towards and applying to PA school. From day one until I got the call that I was accepted to UF, I doubted myself and convinced myself those mistakes would stop me from pursuing my dreams.

I guess all of this is a long way of saying if you’re taking the long way around, or you’re stuck in a rut where you constantly feel unsure of yourself, I’ve been there too. I believe in you. Your “mistakes” won’t hold you back from your dreams. And if you’re reading this, I’ve got your back.

Bevin A., University of Florida

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