At the young age of 19 years old I set out on the journey of higher education. Little did I know I would encounter many obstacles. My plan was to graduate from high school, go to college, join a sorority and enjoy life. Well, it didn’t exactly happen that way.
I became a young mother at 18 years old and knew I needed an education to make a better life for my son and I. With lots of support and encouragement from my mother (who is an awesome woman) I started school at Tarrant County College in the spring of 1991. Even with all the love and support, I lacked one of the most important qualities I needed and that was self-confidence. I didn’t feel smart enough or capable enough to be in college so I allowed obstacles to get in the way and used them as excuses to put my education off for a “better time”. Time went on and life happened and along the way I married, had two more children and tried to continue my education in the midst of all of this but the confidence was still not there. So, again I put my education off for a “better time”. God has ways of giving us what we need and putting us in the places we need to be to grow in the areas we need. For me that was my Mary Kay business. With the help of my awesome Director Brenda Ashlock who believed in me when I didn’t believe in my self I grew with every success I had and every goal I met, be it big or small. My confidence grew and I became stronger. I am a strong believer that God has it all planned out for us, because HE knew I would need the strength and confidence to raise my three sons on my own. Even as a single mom I tried going back to school. Working, raising my children and going to school proved to be quite a challenge. Especially since one of those children was a bit rebellious as a teenager (that’s putting it lightly J). I put my education on the back burner for a while once again, but for different reasons this time. Not because of the lack of confidence but because I needed my focus to be on my children. Life went on the children grew and became more independent so I thought I’d give it a go, AGAIN! I started back to school in the spring of 2010. With life a little more settled and a promotion at work I was able to focus more on my studies. When I started that semester I looked at my transcript to see what all I needed to do to finish my degree, my thought was “this is going to take forever!” but I decided to only focus on the present. With each semester that passed I realized I was able to increase my course load, so a couple of semesters I was a full-time student. One day while preparing my schedule for the next semester I looked at my transcript and realized I was almost done! Wow, had that much time passed already? Then after three short years I was finished!
With much love and support from my mother, family and friends I completed my Associate of Arts degree and Certificate in Mental Health Social Work on May 10, 2013. I can honestly say the pride I feel in completing something I started 22 years ago is something that cannot be described in words. The sacrifice, hard work and dedication it took to complete this goal gives me a feeling of great accomplishment.
Oh but it doesn’t stop here. Next goal…my bachelors degree!!! This time I wont be on the 22-year degree plan.
~An Accomplished Diva~
