"Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again."Our text defines resilience as, "a dynamic process encompassing positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity" (Luthar et al., 2000, p. 543). One of the key words of this definition is dynamic.
My mom said she's always marveled at my resilience. She's seen me overcome a lot of stresses in my life (whether they be daily hassles or major stressors). My undergrad career brought about a significant amount of stress. Each semester, there was always one class that was the bane of my existence--organic chem, physics II, genetics...the list goes on. I think what my mom saw in me was the drive to keep pushing through the semester, even though I was getting tired and had difficulty comprehending material. She was always a perfectionist when it came to academic performance. For me, declaring a science major pretty much ensured that I would not be perfect at everything. This was both frustrating and life-affirming. Nothing is ever perfect.
There was a point towards the end of my undergrad that I thought my resilience had run dry. I experienced a lot of rejection from applying to dental schools last year (competition is fierce!), my classes were challenging, and several nights I was overcome with this feeling that I should just curl up in a ball and watch YouTube videos for the rest of my life. I experienced some very low points from both academic and personal/family-related stress. But, rather than succumbing to my stress, I sought outside help from my school's counseling center. That, in combination with refusing to give up (and a few late-night phone calls to mom) helped keep me sane through the end of senior year. I've never been so proud to hold a piece of paper. I hope throughout the rest of my adult life I'll be able to cultivate resilience.
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