It's said that perfectionists are made and not born and I guess once again it's all rooted in past experiences. But there isn't just one experience that started the process for me. I cannot pinpoint a specific instance that changed it all.

I remember a few of the moments when my work was not good enough and I was chastised. But I also remember overcoming those moments, learning what it means to take constructive criticism, taking them and improving on my work. That hasn't changed....

I think we all go through weird, brief personal episodes in our lives, flights of fancy that often can’t be explained, or perhaps don’t make sense, even to ourselves. I say that because I have an odd one going on now. I thought about describing it to my best girlfriend, but I don’t think she’d understand. It’s too crazy even for her. Then I thought about telling my brother. He would understand, but he would worry about me. He would be afraid I would be on the verge of venturing off...

I feel that since I have been keeping my self busy, I have become more and more stressed out. I moved to a city, work part time and am a full-time culinary student. I feel that my time is spent stressing out to do well, when in the end I have been doing well all along. I worry about getting good grades when I already have great grades. I worry about being on time when I have already arrived early. I worry about money when my wallet is full. I don't know if this is normal for a 20 year old girl....