Evidence

Hello.

This is the story of my life as a student, and my journey to become a hero.

Since before university, I was used to having classes that did not require much effort, having a great group of friends which I could rely on, and my mental health was on point, to the point that I was very much at peace with my life journey.

Suddenly, I had to make the choice in what to study, not knowing exactly what my call was I chose Economics and did not look back, I wanted to enter the business world and this career path would be the most complete of them all, since it englobes all of the other study plans in the business side of things.

I applied to Tecnologico de Monterrey and got in without any problem. Life was predictable until this very moment but suddenly, things would start to go wrong. I then realized my actual calling was computer science, and with the guidance of my teachers and mentors I decided to take the initiative to change my career path.

One professor in particular was the one that mostly made me take this decision, she told me the harsh reality of things, that my skills were much more needed in the engineering aspect instead of the social sciences. I took it with a grain of salt but she was very much correct. I took on my favorite hobby, computers. Tweaking them, building them and using them, I found so much joy out of it that I decided the ideal career switch would be computer science and engineering. This decision would be irreversible since I had made a promise to my parents and the university that this was my second chance in doing what I was supposed to.

The tests.

During my university life as a computer science student I faced many challenges, but there are 3 that I think of the most when dealing with my struggles.

One challenge i had to overcome was that when i switched my career path from economics to computer science, i had to leave behind many of the great friends i made during and before the transition, since I would switch paths completely from them, so they would continue their regular path together while I would not share the same anecdotes and struggles with them, so it would never be the same after I took the decision. I was forced to start over again with new people that would be on the same path and mindset as mine.

Another big challenge for me was my poor time management skills, since this problem has persisted since I remember. It has only been a struggle in university since I never had any problems prior since I would study right before the exams because they were not a challenge for me and the homeworks I did during class, or they were so simple that they did not take much time from me. University has been way much harder than academic life before, so now I needed to take spaced repetition studying and doing the homework was not as easy a feat as before. Now it required more time and effort, so I had to develop my time management skills on the go and because of this, I struggled more than what I should have.

The third challenge I faced during my trials was the tendency to give up after struggling and not getting stuff done correctly in the first tries. This triggered my perfectionist self, In which I was not accustomed to facing challenges while studying, so when the topics got more challenging, I did not have the skill to face the challenge and endure it. This combined with trying to make as little effort as I could in topics i did not know of prior or that did not interest me, was 2 birds i had to tackle at the same time, just being worse of a challenge for me to overcome.

A mythological creature appears.

When I researched the catalog of mythical creatures that appear in the work “World of Cryptids” by Laimutė Varkalaitė, I chose the Jinn since they are often described to have immense potential, but also have a chaotic nature, making them prone to distractions. I relate to this creature, especially in my challenge with time management and being distracted from my duties in subjects that do not spark interest to me.

Jinn are depicted as needing clear commands or purpose, and without them they become indifferent or even mischievous. This relates to me since when I don't have a clear purpose or compelling reason to grind a course, I struggle to put in the effort to be on time with everything.

Jinn belongs to Tunisia, and they are supernatural beings that originate from pre-islamic arabian mythology. They are often described as creatures of smokeless fire, a key distinction from humans (made of clay) and angels (made of light). In Islamic tradition Jinn are considered sentient beings with free will, capable of good or evil, much like humans.

I'm not alone.

I had many people that supported me throughout my academic life, and they helped me be in the position that I’m in, dealing with the mental struggles that would make life harder for me. These people that were by my side include: My family, my friends, the psychologists I reached out to, my student success mentor (she told me something that I would never forget, that I am one of the few cases of success in regard to students that faced challenges like me), My career’s director, and many more people that helped me overcome my challenges. They provided me with wisdom, tools and encouragement to face what was thrown my way and dealing with life as hard as I had it in my mind.

But... not everything was so smooth in my journey at overcoming my challenges, since I had many distractions like video games and binging social media to turn off my brain and not focus on what was important at the time. This was extremely unhealthy in retrospect and it is something I will always be working on, since I deal with dopamine addiction like many people my age, where we can get a quick fix by using the phone constantly and playing video games. I became so immersed in this stage of gaming that I became one of the best players in the world in the game I grinded the most. Now I look back at that stage of my life and feel stoic, since now I can play with my friends in a casual type of environment, and as a hobby, not as a necessity to space out and not think about any of my mental struggles and academic struggles at the time.

In conclusion...

I used resilience as my shield, to overcome my struggles and not give up until the end. It protected me against the negative impact that was being caused by my challenges, and it guided me to not fail or disappoint myself.

I used determination as my sword, to seek help when I needed it the most, and to start taking action to guide myself, with the help of my mentors, to push through the storm and be able to change what was being repeated by myself at this time. It helped me cut through my procrastination, and helped me build consistency and motivation to study better and build habits that would help me along the way.

I built time management skills as a way to overcome Jinn by balancing my responsibilities, and not letting it get in the way of homework or studying required to pass my courses.

Now, I will describe how I complete each semester successfully with my newfound knowledge: I make sure to set clear goals, describing what I need to do in each class to get the grades I desire. I focus on the skills required to be able to be competent in the topics. I also develop study tactics that help me retain the information in a more efficient way, by having study groups, by doing spaced repetition with challenging topics, by doing work before having fun, and by compartmentalizing my studying and for-work computer to be separated by my leisure computer. This way I do not have the temptation to be distracted as much from my duties. I also use time blocking, task management tools like Notion, and I tend to spend more time on campus, like in the library, to take some time without distracting myself at home to do homework.

Now I can have a balanced life, studying responsibly, getting great grades since then, gaming with my friends as a hobby and not as a necessity, going out with friends and even getting a girlfriend. I’m very comfortable with who I am and my loved ones that understand the way I am. I changed my toxic behaviors, I endured the pandemic, and now I have the most mental strength I could've asked for. Now I don't have to deal with depression and anxiety triggered by being confined in my room, and I can take on tasks with a growth mindset, where if I struggle, I can take an action plan to overcome each task no matter the difficulty.