Dr. Jenny Presgraves
Photography by Alejo Mejia-Tejada
If you’re reading this, please know that you don’t have to have your whole life planned out right now and that a bad grade or a mistake does not have to be a permanent roadblock.
With persistence and continued learning, anything will always remain possible. I promise there will come a point in your life when no one will care what your Organic Chemistry grade was, whether it was an A or a D. So be gentle with yourself. As an undergrad, I remember anxiously thinking that I needed to have this detailed plan for my life when I had no idea what to do. In the decades since then, I ended up having the most fantastically winding road of a career, filled with meaningful work and incredible people, so none of that worry was necessary. If you can be open to new experiences, be kind, work diligently but reasonably, and find ways to joyfully learn new things; everything else will work out.
I think it is easy when you are in college to constantly think about the future and what you are working toward, but each day is an incredible gift, so I hope you will take the time to breathe and enjoy them while they are here. Even though I have very fond memories of my time as an undergrad, I’m not someone who will tell you that college will be “the best days of your life” because I have found that every decade of my life has come with its own unique joys, but these days will definitely be some of the ones that may define who you will become and some of the memories you’ll reminisce about the most, so it is worth it to slow down and savor them as much as possible in the frenzy of school work and activities. Take good care of yourself. I’m always here if you need me!
Dr. Jenny Presgraves, Clemson University
Graduate School Director of Professional Development & Well-Being
Connect With Us
To follow IfYoureReadingThis at Clemson on Instagram, get in touch with our chapter, and learn about more resources available to Clemson students, visit our chapter’s homepage.
AUTHOR CONTACT
This author has opted to allow readers who resonate with their story to contact them. If you would like to speak to the author of this letter about their experience, please use the form below.
