DEAR LITHE {LOVE LETTERS} 26 Jul 2012

Hi Lauren,

I’ve been thinking about writing this love letter / thank you note for a long time. I’m a graduate student in neuroscience (fancy, huh?) at Penn and I’ve had the hardest year of my life until a few weeks ago. I had to go through the most academically challenging year as well as some personal problems that resulted in me trying to escape going home and being angry/upset/frustrated with life for a long time. I started realizing that this feeling was even affecting my relationship with my boyfriend and I was escaping everything and everyone, shutting myself off to the rest of the world.

That’s exactly when I decided to seriously stick with Lithe that I had been going to on-and-off for 3 months. Regardless of how busy I was or how angry at life I felt, I told myself that I was trying to go to Lithe at least 3 times a week. The first month was probably the hardest, trying to juggle all the craziness in my life and holding my promise to myself. As soon as I started seeing physical and more importantly “mental” changes in myself, I held on to Lithe tighter and did not care even when I needed a cushion to sit on a chair because my butt hurt so bad or could not lift my arm high enough to grab something J So long story short, a few weeks ago I passed my exam and I’m now a Ph.D candidate. During my exam, my committee told me that I looked confident and no way near nervous. I owe it to Lithe because it taught me to be strong and self-confident. I’m still holding my promise and lithing at least 3 times a week. It’s made me a better person and for that I thank you!

Ceren

Comments

[An Almost Dr. xoxo]

Congratulations Ceren, that is a *huge* accomplishment! Lithe has been key for me as well throughout the Ph.D process, and I defend my dissertation next week! :) Keep up the good work, keep your chin up and keep Lithing!