My Degree At Cuyamaca College Essay

I felt the full effect of my mother’s illness on my future plans after my grandmother’s death my senior year of high school. With the responsibility for my mother’s well being now solely my responsibility, it no longer seemed possible to go away for school, and after transferring to Dallas Baptist University, I am still only thirty five minutes away from my mother’s home. I find it difficult to plan for the future and live in the present, as encouraged in “Living as a Family in the Midst of Chronic Illness”, without also falling into fear of the future. I fear that in the future I will be called to a job in another city or state away from my mother, or that her health will deteriorate enough that she requires full time care. Knowing that my mother does have a shortened life expectancy, I feel a greater sense of guilt when I have not called or visited in awhile than the average college student. I have found that the best way to stay grounded in the present is through the appreciation of the health and independence my mother does have, and a hope and belief that God will provide for the

Overcoming obstacles will always be something that a person will experience. So far on my journey I've had a bump in the road with financial aid. However, that will not discourage me or prevent me from obtaining my college degree, when there's a will there's a way.

Hardships are something everyone goes through, be it failing an exam or losing a loved one. Hardships are difficult to deal with, but overcoming them can lead to success.

By the time I entered the third grade, my parents were divorced and my mom was diagnosed with bipolar, depression and I was diagnosed with ADHD. My mom has always stressed the importance of working for what I wanted. As a kid, I developed a strong passion for technology, which inspired me to come to the University of West Georgia to pursue Computer Science. My first semester here at the University, I found out through Facebook that one of aunts had passed away. I was devastated because I visited her before going off the school and even though she was in the hospital I thought that she was going to be okay. Also, I had already lost two of my other aunts the same year and they had all died three months apart. I didn’t want tell my mom that

Hardships are a somewhat unavoidable fate waiting to throw unpredictable circumstances your way, thankfully it is in these moments that we reflect on the past to better our future.

In the last two years, I almost lost my dad and almost flunked out of college. Having been taking care of him and watching him slowly decline to heart disease and other obesity related diseases, I finally checked him into the hospital. Going in for open heart surgery at age 72 and 428 pounds with type two diabetes, his chances of survival were slim. I will never forget his words to me before he went in for the surgery. "Don't worry about me, you haven't graduated from college, so I can't die yet". Even though he barely survived his surgery, the post complications are even more troublesome than before. With my dad receiving professional help, I am free to pursue my long desired education. I got myself out of academic dismissal and finally

The end of my junior year marked a point in my life that has changed the way I see sacrifice and determinism. I received a call from my mother telling me that she decided to no longer work for the career she has been doing for the past twenty years. She told me that the stress and responsibility that came with her job was too overwhelming and causing her to become depressed. This shift in my life helped show me that I should take on some of the responsibilities that she has been carrying for many years. My mom has molded her life to fit what I need, so I feel that I owe it back to her so she can figure out the new career that she would like to pursue.

Following the completion of high school I faced many obstacles. I was very eager to attend college, however me nor my parents where in the financial position to pay for my college expenses. Determined to make my dreams a reality I decided to get a second job, as taking out a student loan was not an option. I was unable to save the sufficient funds needed to attend college that semester, but I was able to attend that following spring. At this time it was difficult to manage the stresses of holding a full time job and being a new full time student, but I managed to overcome these challenges by simply planning my time wisely and prioritizing my life.

Today I started my internship in the Office of Registration. The supervisor I reported to were Theresa Keuss, Director of Registrar and Mary Tackett, Assistant to Registrar. At 3:00 p.m. when I arrived, Ms. Tackett had the Degree Verification list prepared for me to work on. Degree verification is an official document taken directly from student records. Its information provided for agencies to officially verify the student’s degree awarded by the university. However, I verified the information by student action, Id number, last, first, and middle name, academic program, academic plan, and academic sub-plan description.

When thinking of myself, the first adjective that comes to my mind is: committed. Commitment to me is the promise that a person makes to others and themselves to follow through when they are needed. It is the act of putting your all into completing a purpose, no matter the challenges you may face on the way there. Whenever I have a goal in mind, my passion for success takes over and my zeal kicks in. I believe in the saying that “If you commit to nothing, you’ll be distracted by everything.” Meaning that if someone really wants to reach a goal in their life, they must be complete devoted to what they pursue. This quote is what follows me throughout my life and the decisions that I make. My entire passion and dedication are engraved in all that I do, and that is where I see a common ground between Lehigh University and myself.

My college search did not start out on a good note. During my senior year of high school, I was at a difficult time in my life, and filling out college applications was not at the top of my list. I figured that it did not matter what school I went to, so long as I got an education. My older brother and sister attended James Madison University and they seemed happy so I decided to give it a shot. I turned in the applications for JMU with only hours to spare. I figured I had done my part and everything would move along smoothly after that. I did not discover the error of my ways until my first semester at JMU.

I have faced a lot and learned a lot from that. I think I had fallen into the woes of blaming my background for my less than stellar grades in the beginning of my college years. I have also faced hardships as well. I have worked off and on during that time to help with keeping my family afloat during the major economic recession. It has gotten to the point where I had to take a step back and leave my family's household to get my life together because all these things were affecting my grades and my health.

As I begin to reflect on my development, I would have to contribute it receiving my high school diploma and passing the Praxis Para-Pro assessment. I chose these two events because they because they have shaped my development in terms of gaining opportunities, increased confidence, and self-respect. These two events have also taught me the importance of remaining diligent and persistent in my academics and working career. I will be sharing how Bronfenbrenner’s rings of microsystem, macro system, and mesosystem (Mossler, 2013) had a huge impact on my development and more importantly how it supports me today as an online learner.

Since I was young I have observed many struggles that occurred in my family; the main struggle was how to get through life one day at a time. My mother never graduated from high school, since she gave birth to me and my sister.

Shocked and confused, I had no clue what the future would hold for my mother, my family, and myself. I was about to begin my final year of college and struggled with the decision to take time off or push through and graduate on time, in four years. My mother encouraged me to finish my senior year and continue on with my education, so I stayed in Colorado. Being over a thousand miles away from home during such a sensitive and rough time was not easy, and I feared being too distracted from my studies and even my social life. However, I converted all of the emotions about my mother’s terminal diagnosis into motivation that pushed me to surpass all of my expectations during my last year in college.