Slow Down by Savannah

Slow Down by Savannah - July 2025 Scholarship Essay

If I could give one piece of advice to my younger self, I would tell myself to slow down and allow myself to mess up. Growing up I tended to be hard on myself and while that helped me to push myself to become better and strive to be the best version of myself possible, I ended up stressing a ton about whether or not I was ever doing enough and it led to a lot of unnecessary stress.

I realized I needed to change during my first year of college. I got myself a planner that allowed me to pack my schedule by the hour. I volunteered to help run school events and ushered for devotionals. I became an assistant teacher for social dance classes and attended multiple extra practices each week. It got to the point where I was only home to eat and do homework.

Then, a few weeks in, I realized that I was miserable. I loved everything that I was doing, but I was exhausted from constantly moving ten million miles per hour. However, I was not sure how to slow myself down without feeling like I was wasting my time and not improving myself. I eventually decided that my Fridays were going to be my “slow days.” I was still productive, but I let myself sleep in, do laundry, watch TV with my roommates while doing homework, and go for walks.

I found that after making this change, I was a lot happier and felt less dreadful after my productive school days. My advice to my younger self is to slow down. You do not have to get everything done quickly. Allow yourself to take breaks, and everything will come together the way it is supposed to.