Your 2014 State Council

Your 2014 State Council

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Hard Work - Don't Overwork

Persevere.  Inspire. & Never Give Up.

I’m the type of person that creates a plan and sticks to it.  Whenever I stray from my original intentions, I panic.  I believe in committing to whatever I chose to pursue.  I like to wholeheartedly engage myself in all the things I partake.

Ever since I started high school four years ago, I was always the one that was known for going above the standards.  I would set unrealistic expectations for myself and I would always demand perfection.  Apart from the cloud of stress that always seemed to be lingering above my head, this strategy worked quite well for me.  Throughout my high school career, I received many awards for my school involvement and my academic achievements.

While I was well on my way to be named the Senior Class Valedictorian (an honor received for having the highest grades from 9th through 12th grade), my plan was abruptly challenged.   As I have blogged about before, I was in a car accident in the middle of my senior year which left me with a serve concussion. 
The concussion heavily affected my school work.  I had to drop classes and cut my time at school to a maximum of three hours.  I was always feeling weak, tired, and worn.  The hardest part about my concussion though, was the fact that many people were unaware that anything was wrong with me.  People still expected me to excel in my school work and were clueless about the inner-battle I was facing.  I was still trying to act like everything was normal.  I still tried to continue on with my school work like nothing was wrong.  I was in denial that I needed help.

My concussion was mentally draining.  My school work has always been extremely important to me.  I cannot begin to count how many times I would miss outings with friends because I was that devoted to my school work.   My concussion affected my school performance and I wasn’t receiving my usual A+.  Now, my tests and assignments were showing me grades I had never seen before.  After four years of having school work come easily to me, I was now having an extremely difficult concreting and grasping new concepts.  To best illustrate how I felt, my head was like a blank piece of paper and I had lost the pen.  I couldn’t create mental images – it was a blank sheet in my head and I nearly had to physically write everything down.  I had the hardest time learning new concepts – it was like I studying from a blank sheet of paper because I had lost my pen during class and couldn't take notes to save for later.  To say the least, it was a difficult time for me.

On Saturday, May 25, 2013, I graduated from Portersville Christian School as the Senior Class Valedictorian.  My previous years of hard work and dedication dominated the mere semester with my concussion.  My grades were high enough that I was still ranked number one within my class.  Looking back, I realized that I worried about such a little thing.  I worried about my school work when I should have been worrying about my health.  Presently I am still dealing with my concussion.  When I should have been resting, I was worrying.  Perhaps if I had looked at the larger picture and placed the importance on my health, my concussion might have been gone by now.

So here’s the moral of the story:  Hard work, but don’t overwork yourself.

Until later,

Cassidy Baker
2012/2013 PA 4-H State Council President



“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome”

Booker T. Washington


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