The Tree

The title is perhaps the least predictable one I’ve ever remembered choosing, yet it was born from this thought: “A strong tree does not prove its strength on sunny days. It proves it on days of wind and storm.” This image stayed with me because it mirrors the truth of our lives.

A tree standing tall in perfect weather tells us nothing about its resilience. It is only when the wind bends its branches, when the rain weighs down its leaves, when the cold tests its bark, that we understand what it is made of. And we are no different. At the end of a long and difficult journey, what truly matters is the destination, the final result that emerges from our actions and from the way we choose to face life. 

From our greatest victories to our deepest disappointments, grey days will always exist. The secret lies in how we carry ourselves through them, and in our ability to grow in the midst of adversity, just as a tree grows deeper roots when the storms are strongest.

I entered university three years ago. In four weeks, I will graduate, and I’m giving that final push so I don’t throw everything away out of a lack of ambition or dedication. Three years of commitment to something that, in a matter of days, or more precisely, a couple of weeks, could be wasted if I’m not able to handle the normal pressure that life places on us, the expectations others project onto us. A tree that stops growing because the weather becomes harsh eventually withers. I refuse to wither now.

There’s a famous phrase: “Pressure is a privilege.” And on a deeper level, being in situations where the outcome depends directly on what we do is a privilege because it gives us purpose. Without purpose, we don’t exist; we’re merely wandering beings. A tree without roots is carried by the wind. Purpose is what anchors us.

After seeing thousands of finalists in the same position as me, all knowing, as I do, that many of them won’t finish their degrees this year, I remembered why I study and why I invest in my ideas. It’s because I’ve understood that regardless of the circumstances, everything I do is in service of one goal: to be happy. That happiness includes the people who are part of my life. The goals that guide me daily and help me persist even on the darkest days, because those are the ones that make us grow the most. Trees grow rings in the hardest seasons. So do we.

I seek happiness in sunny days, in moments of joy, in beautifully elaborate French kisses with the right person, and in the hope of one day reaching even more. But I also know that the sun feels warmer when we’ve survived the storm.

It’s about realizing that our character is being built every single day, and taking the time to reflect once in a while, because life is unpredictable. Just as everything can be fine and suddenly fall apart, the opposite can also happen in our favor. A forest can burn and still return greener. Life has that strange generosity.

It’s about embracing the reality that haunts us. Life isn’t always sweet; sometimes it’s bitter. But if we grow through the darkest hours, it can become incredibly sweet in the end. And the people, the chosen ones who help us become better, must be remembered. They are the ones who water us when we are dry, who shield us when the wind is too strong, who remind us that we are capable of standing tall again.

I end by going back to one of the most important phases of my life, and to the fact that what made it special was being surrounded by the people I love. All of them with one thing in common: they matter to me, and they’ve stood by me on grey days. So if one day I could be a tree, ahaha, the strength of my roots would come from the water they gave me. Because they are the fuel. They are the reason I do not fall when the wind rises.

It’s about loving, being loved, crying, and resisting the windy days that try to pull us from the ground. In the end, those who endure will see the sun many more times. And the sun always returns for those who stay standing.

To those who stand with me on those sunny days, I love you. And you are included.