"What is most important to you?"

While sustaining my academic caliber is important to my character, tending to my physical and mental health falls above it based on personal morality. After undergoing several medical incidents last year, I was forced to completely refrain from studying and focus on improving. At first, I was distraught- less so by the fact that I was literally in the hospital, but because I was missing a significant amount of school. The pressure to conform to the workaholic Bay Area culture had consumed my mind, parasitically deteriorating my mental well-being until it had physical consequences as well. While my experiences were traumatic, the lessons I took from them were blessings in disguise. Now, I take the time to deeply care for myself, no matter the consequence. Rather than grand, stereotypical ‘that girl’ acts, like waking up at 5 A.M., self-care displays itself in my life in smaller ways like reading, eating well, and going on walks. :)