My basic philosophy in life was to “go with the flow.” And when my friends came to me with their problems, seeking advice, that is exactly what I told them — “Just go with the flow. Don’t worry about it.”

A lot of college students look at life this way, as if being young means that we can’t actually get hurt or hurt someone in the process. We have time to bounce back and figure out our situations –- why waste away these years of freedom on worrying?

But one night, as I was out having some fun, I received a phone call from my friend. She was crying hysterically and couldn’t string a sentence together to save her life, and my initial reaction was to panic. I knew that if she was calling me of all people for advice, it must be something awful.

After calming down, she proceeded to tell me that she had recently started cutting her wrists again. My second reaction was complete and utter shock. I immediately listed off all the general reasons why a person should not physically harm himself or herself, but after going all “Dr. Phil” on her, I realized that I was not helping her in any way.

That was when I figured out that my “go with the flow” way of living does not and will not always work. In my friend’s case, she had to fight against the current and work her way back.

If Martin Luther King Jr. had just sat around, going with the flow, would he have accomplished anything? Answer: no. The only way to move forward is through pushing yourself to the limit and then some. And just from that phone call, my life has changed.

I realized that the only way that I can get to my dream is through hard work and energy. I cannot rely on the flow to push me in the right direction all the time.

A lot of this applies to my education and the amount of time I put into my homework. It’s easy to just scrape by and say, “Cs get degrees!” But in today’s economy, degrees don’t get jobs.

So with that being said, my new philosophy is, “Make more than dust,” and that is exactly what I plan on doing. I want my life on this earth to be worthwhile, and if it takes some drudgery and sweat, I’ll put on some extra deodorant.