Wow, first blog post on my own site guys! What follows is a short article I wrote for my Air Force ROTC Public Affairs cadet mid-November of 2014. It’s definitely ROTC heavy, but the principles apply to many aspects of our lives, not just #TheCadetLife, and I will probably wind up blogging about said principles again. I’ve made some edits so that hopefully this makes more sense for my non-ROTC readers. It’s an interesting experience for me going back and reading this months later after having a particularly difficult semester. I’ve concluded I need to take my own advice more, at least in this case! But, I want to acknowledge that it’s harder to maintain a good mindset under less than ideal conditions than to write about it, but it’s possible. All I can say is: believe in yourself, recognize many difficult things are temporary, develop a good support system and good coping mechanisms/stress relieving activities, and know that the reward of making it through hard times to reach your goals is a sweet, sweet victory.  Continue reading →