My Educational Journey

My education started not long after I was born in 1989. I attended Ruth Washburn Nursery School, for 3 years, but I don’t have a lot of memories of what I learned. 3 things stand out to me. This was a place of great fun!! I learned how to love running. I could run for ages. Secondly the plecostomus’s were the coolest fish in the fish tank! Lastly I remember the song that goes, “Love is something if you give it away, give it away, give it away.”

To accomplish anything in life, you must set goals. These goals must be realistic and achievable. Two years ago, I was at a point in my life that I never believed I would see. I was finally at my associate’s degree graduation day. Becoming at teen mom at 17, college had never even crossed my mind. This was a moment in my life where I was able to not be your average teen mom statistic. Continuing to better my life and my daughter’s I set a new goal after graduation to achieve my bachelor’s degree. After speaking with UMUC counselors, I decided to obtain my bachelor’s degree in Social Science with a minor in Emergency Management. Currently, I am in my final two classes at UMUC with a scheduled graduation date of May 15.

Getting my education has always been important to me, however I have not always had the motivation to continue pursuing my degree. For the past four years I have been on and off of school due to my military training, and when I finally became a full-time student, I was determined to only go as far as getting my associate’s degree. As bills were piling up, my frustration grew and I could only think about getting a full-time job to be able to support myself and my family, and attaining my bachelor’s became a distant dream shoved under a list of all my other life priorities. I would not have considered working towards my bachelor’s degree if it was not for my girlfriend. We have been together for five years and have been living together for the

My educational history is very diverse. I went to Catholic school from kindergarten to sixth grade, then went to public school from seventh to twelfth grade. The transition from Catholic school to public school was very complicated but at the same time it was effortless. I did not have to wear a uniform, go to church, or learn religion anymore.

Twenty-six years ago. I began the quest to find the perfect college. As I drove down the driveway of Bay Path College, I knew this was the college I was going to attend. I was drawn to the rural setting, the beautiful campus and the small academic community. My intent for life after high school was to get my associates degree, earn some money, then begin working toward my bachelor degree. In retrospect, I did not possess the confidence or drive needed to be a good student. I struggled for the next couple of years to earn my Associates degree, however was apprehensive to commit to the time or expense it would take to continue my education. After a very long break in schooling, I now approach education with a new mindset and ready to commit

One day in 2011, I had an epiphany that I wanted to become the CEO of a hospital one day. The CEO of Rose Medical Center became aware of this and informed me that I could certainly have his job one day, but I must first go back to school and get my Master's degree. He is not the only person that has hounded me about going back to school. Many other managers, administrators and even family members have said the same. Clearly they see something in me that I had not quite yet see in myself. I think I am finally coming to the realization that if they think I can obtain a Master's degree, then I certainly possess the skills, knowledge and motivation to go back to school. It is time for me to shake up my content, routine life and take the step to bettering myself and fulfilling the commitment I made to myself on December 31,

As you’ll see in from my transcripts, my undergraduate grades were not consistently stellar with my average GPA being under a 3.0. While I did support myself through college with full-time employment, I do believe that I should have been able to earn better grades more consistently while completing my undergraduate degree. My impression of that time in my life was that I lacked the ability to manage my time and I wasn’t able to focus on multiple goals. After starting a career in real estate, I began to regret the lack of focus that I had while completing my degree. I wanted to prove to myself that I could manage my time wisely and do well in my career while furthering my education so, nearly two years after completing my bachelor’s degree; I enrolled into an online master’s in finance degree with Kaplan University. While working 45-50 hours a week as a mortgage underwriter, I

In the previous years, I have made the decision to work concurrently with my education. I have been working as a waitress in a local restaurant for years. My parents were opposed to my working since they wanted me to focus on my grades, but I wanted to lessen the financial burden for them. Both of my parents never received an education and they wanted me to solely focus on school to secure myself a better future despite our poverty.

I knew the payoff and sacrifice at the end of my journey would prove to my children and family that it is possible to achieve something greater. I have always had a knack for being good at numbers. Naturally I decided that I was going to enroll in a program which would put me in a position to graduate with a degree in business. Determined to finish my Undergraduate degree quickly, my workload per semester was maxed out. At this point in my life, I was waking up around four in the morning each day and attending class in the morning until twelve. Then following school I went straight into work which usually ended at nine each night. After a full days’ worth of school and work, I still had manage to make time to be with my daughter and completing homework, resulted in days where I would only get three to four hours’ worth of sleep. The dividends paid off, two and half years later I was a graduated from the University of North Texas and DCCCD. Obtaining both my Associates and Bachelor’s degree in Finance was an achievement on its

Public school systems need to be more sensitive to their students. Parents play the major role in determining a child’s academic outcome, but the school system needs to notice children who don’t necessarily acknowledge their gift. These children need guidance -- I believe it is the schools’ responsibility to provide it to them. I have been through a situation that makes me feel strongly about the subject. My example is an indisputable case in point.

When we were kids, my sister and I always had one question. My parents have said that they would be pushing us both in a stroller in the middle of the mall and my older sister would ask “what’s his name?” She would keep repeating this until they gave her an answer—whether or not it was an accurate one. Sitting next to her, I would then pipe up saying “why?” and (as expected) this question stumped them. This “why” question established my interest in the field of psychology and in my future pursuit of academia. Why do people act and feel the way they do?

When I was a kid, school for me was waking up early in the morning. I also have to study a lot in school, then after school I have to do homework. I remember my first day at school. My mom and dad, both were so happy and prepared but I was so nervous and cheerless. I didn’t like to wake up early in the morning for school , but as time flew by I started loving school which made me wake up with energy instead of tiredness. I began to enjoy the school as I made new friends and I got to know how it is like when you meet people out of your neighborhood. With my friends I had lunch together and study together. I started to understand what the purpose of the education system. Based on what I understood I think the purpose of education is really aimed at helping students get to the point where they can learn to be on their own. In this journey of education I had a lot of positive and few negative experiences,but the negative experiences also helped me growing. Positive experiences are my teachers helping me improve, and I improved more when I moved to the United States.

This story has to begin in my middle school years. At this age, I was already being tested annually amongst my peers. My parents had already received grades from the prior year letting them know that I was excelling in math and science. This year was different, this year they kept emphasizing on how it counts. And how it did. The grade I had received on these standardized tests statewide were enough to push me to the next level.

Education is a journey through the universe. The universe is enormous and seems to have no end. If a person wants to be truly educated, he or she must spend years in school studying both important and trivial information. The material in the solar system represents the years a student spends in school. The remaining space in the universe is the endless learning one does outside of the classroom.

I began my journey of writing on May 7, 2017 when I began taking English 1301 at Texas State Technical College. When entering the course, I did not feel that the course was relevant to complete my educational journey. Writing was not one of my strongest points, so this journey was a difficult one. During the course I learned how to better prepare myself for writing and composing assignments, how to construct an outline, proper sentence structure, and punctuation. I feel this journey will better prepare me for continuing my education and help me to communicate better as a professional.