Overachiever is a word that has both defined and plagued me. In the days leading up to graduation, when I should be contemplating graduation dresses and paying for college, I have instead wondered how I became an “overachiever.” Was overachieving a disease that I picked up from my overly-involved friends? Was my goal in life to be better than my peers? No, I decided being an overachiever was something that stemmed solely from me. It was my desire to achieve my dreams and to be better than who I thought I was.

My entire life, adults have told me that in order to reach my goals I needed to work hard. However, they failed to mention exactly how hard was hard enough. I pushed myself because I was afraid that I was not working hard enough to get into a good college or be an award-winning journalist. I was an overachiever because I was afraid of failure. Not reaching my dreams was a pill I was not ready to swallow.

I traced my desire to be better to a childhood filled with shortcomings. Being overly-involved and taking hard classes was a way of proving to myself that I was good enough.

I am the way I am because I refuse to fail. I have spent my entire life proving to myself that I am worthy of my achieving my dreams. I work for what I want in order to prove to myself that I am good enough. It is a vicious cycle, but it has gotten me to where I am today and that is a place I am proud of.