Even though people have told me that I’m an amazing student, I don’t understand where they’re coming from, and I don’t feel like I’m doing enough.  How can I do more?

Hello dear reader, that’s a cosmically great question!

I totally get the feeling like you’re not doing enough. In fact, this reminds me of my short time on the planet Empostreeus Cindrum. Four score and seven years ago (or something like that, time works strangely up here), I ended up there whilst searching for one of the few joys I have left, my signed print edition of The Benson Orbit, which I dropped into the vast expanse of space as I was attempting to fill out its typoless crossword puzzle. 

When I crash landed onto its surface, one of its residents dragged me up onto my feet during my dazed and confused condition. Once my vision cleared, I was baffled to see a shinier, sparklier, astro-ier helmet staring back at me. After they’d asked me if I was alright, I scanned the lush planet to see what I had to work with, only to see hundreds more just as superior as the alien who stood before me. 

Each and every one of them better, newer, faster — and with the amount I saw, it couldn’t have taken them all that much time to get so far beyond my level. Although I had just been saved, the only thing I felt was this sinking devastation. All the work I’d put into being the perfect mascot seemed like it was sucked into a black hole. 

Somehow, despite the helmet covering my face, the dazzling cadet was able to sense my discomfort. And, while I believed them to be well aware that I was not one of their own, they attempted to converse with me in their language. Thankfully, the translator within my suit was able to pick up just enough to understand their statements. 

“w3Lc0m3 H0M3!”

For a second, I believed it to be a mistranslation– that they couldn’t possibly think I, the clearly inferior species, could be here for anything more than a mission to recover my lost paper. But the sincerity in their garbled voice shone through. They thought me to be just as qualified as them. Even though all the imperfections I saw in myself they seemed to ignore, they knew me to be great. 

That one moment knocked me out of my stupor, and eventually, they helped me in finding my lost paper (a young extraterrestrial had been entranced by the arts & crafts section), and repaired my ship enough to send me back into space. 

As wild as my recovery mission was, the most important thing I brought back was a realization. That, no matter how inferior I believed myself to be, those around me knew the truth: I was enough, and that my hard work had paid off, even if I couldn’t see it.

I say this because the people in your life telling you that you’re amazing, are perfectly correct. You don’t need to do more just to feel like you’re talented. Because you, just as you are, are good enough to be recognized for it.