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Going through hard times doesn’t define who you are. Every day in life something happens that you would never expect. Life throws huge curveballs at you, and sometimes you just don’t know what to do or what the next step may be.

Throughout the past 18 years, I have grown as a person, a daughter, a student and a friend. There have been difficult chapters in my life dealing with death, heartbreak and finally learning that forgiving is the key to happiness. We all have different challenges we face and it takes different ways to get through the challenge and to face the reality of things that have happened. We live in a world where people don’t know how to handle certain situations, but when we understand we learn the concept of how life works.

You have been able to live life knowing that you can face any bad or good consequence that come your way and know that God has a plan for you. He will be your friend when nobody else is, and when you need somebody to talk to. He knows the future and what is going to happen way before we do. Every day is a new day, and a new day brings you closer to the future you have always wanted.

Being a daughter, a friend and a student has taught me to always look at life so precious. One good thing to live by is to treat others the way you would want to be treated and to always stay humble when you’re feeling down about something. Be kind when someone isn’t being so nice.

Knowing first-hand how the feelings are when someone in your family passes away, there isn´t a word to describe it. My papaw passed away on March 21, 2015, and I can remember the day like it was yesterday. There was hurt, grief and wondering if there was anything else could be done to heal him from the worst disease ever — cancer.

Life is something so precious, and we have to realize God made us the way He did and we all have a purpose in this life. You never know what hardships someone is going through. God will always bless you if you are doing the morally right thing to help someone.

Being heartbroken doesn’t define if you can be loved. It means that you were loved so much that the person didn’t have quite as much love in their heart to love you the way you loved them. That’s OK though. You will find the guy that God knows will love you with all his heart and will never fail to keep the smile on your face throughout all the challenges life gives.

We all have a light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes it takes courage and strength to realize we are strong enough to uphold the light and to end up at the tunnel where we were meant to be.