Is anyone else tired of the same old school routine? I just want to experience college – the friends, the events, the freedom – without actually doing school – the tests, the papers, the homework.

I want to go out into the world and experience new things. I’m ready to have my career set in stone and have a family. School couldn’t be over fast enough.   

But then I remember that life doesn’t work that way. I can’t have what I want right away. I actually have to work for the things I want in life, and it’ll probably be a while before I achieve them.

However, life isn’t full of only hopelessness and longing, unknowns and hard work. There are hundreds of little things happening in my life, right now, that I can be thankful for.

Yes, there is a lot of school work, but I am learning things in class like how to be a good journalist. No, I don’t own a home and have a family of my own, but I do have wonderful friends and a family to go home to. No, the DC food isn’t always great, but hey, it’s food. And then there’s the Bruins soccer team that I’m blessed to be a part of.

Philippians 4:11 has taught me the right mindset to be in: “For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

Contentment isn’t always what we think it is. Contentment isn’t being happy all the time because things are going well. Rather, contentment is being happy all the time regardless of things going poorly.

I’ve had to learn this the last two semesters. There has been many a time when things weren’t going the best.

One day I’d have two tests and had to stay up late to study. Another day I’d have to wake up before 6 a.m. to take a day trip to Florida for a soccer game. Maybe another day I’d want to go out with my friends but couldn’t because I had too much homework.

These “ordeals” seemed important at the time, but in retrospect I know they didn’t matter. Yet I complained anyway. I wasn’t being content in whatever state I was.

I learned, throughout the course of last semester, that I couldn’t carry all the stress and discontentment. It just wasn’t healthy. I realized that I needed to give everything to God. One of my favorite verses is 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

I began giving everything to God. I prayed long and hard that He would give me contentment with the stage I was at in life. Soon, things started looking up for me. I was seeing the little positives in my day.

I drew closer to the right friends. My hard work and studying paid off. Soccer became more enjoyable than I thought it could be. I welcomed my singleness. Overall, I was happier with my state.

Yes, the daily grind of school still gets to me, and I’m not saying life will suddenly be rainbows and sunshine. But I am saying that asking God for contentment will help. By His power, you can learn to be happy wherever you are in life.