Its signature co-op program makes Northeastern University stand out from other universities. For those that aren’t familiar with this, instead of taking classes for a semester, you have the opportunity to be enrolled at a temporary company working full-time and gaining work experience that will translate to your future professional goals.
Being a second-year, I realize the pressure and stress that comes with these co-op searches. Everyone wants to work for the best company and everyone wants one that pays well. I am no different. But people sometimes forget to realize the hardship that comes with it: the stresses, anger, paranoia, discomfort, and sacrifices.
I think most of us have experienced some form of this. How it takes a toll on your physical and mental body. Trying to be more involved this year combined with co-op search resulted in sacrifices. I slowly departed from my hobbies and my social life. I find myself staring at a computer for an extraordinarily unhealthy amount of time. Some days, I think to myself that the next day is the same. Yet, I still move forward. Not because people tell me to. Not because I know everything will work out. But because I believe in myself.
I know that there will be downs in my co-op search. I know that I will receive plenty of rejections and be overlooked. But, to believe in yourself, means that there will also be ups and joys. Everything came together because you aren’t afraid to be yourself, and not pretend to be someone else. That is the real accomplishment.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
