The Hardship That Came With Furthering My Education

I recently found a list of goals that I had written 20 years ago. Most of the goals were realistic and I was able to achieve them. While I was checking the items off my list that I accomplished, there was one that I have debated about for many years—returning to school to earn a degree. Returning to school has always been achievable; however, as each year of my life sped by and I got older, I always came up with more and more excuses as to why I should not return to school. One day I received a course catalog in the mail showing online classes at the college. I decide that an online class would be the first step to my future. I am so grateful for the first day of that class. All the excuses and delays regarding returning to school

I’ve been lucky enough to have experienced a tremendous amount of success and opportunity throughout my life. I had always performed well in school, I took advanced courses, I got into the private high school my mother went to, and because my parents owned a little Thai restaurant since I was four, I had an extracurricular that taught me people skills and offered me more work experience than any of my peers had. When I realized that I was exceeding the expectations of my parents and those around me, I became content with not reaching my full potential. It was until much later that I realized that adopting that mindset was where I went wrong. When my high school decided not to accept me into the National Honor Society during my junior year, I was devastated.

Nine years ago, I never could have imagined I’d be writing this essay. I was a senior in high school, and, like the rest of my classmates, I was apprehensive about the future. Unlike my classmates, I felt like I had missed the proverbial “you need to get your life together” message. I watched my classmates apply to colleges, their majors already decided and their future careers mapped out. While I was an above average student, I felt I lacked the decisiveness my classmates seemed to have. I did not feel passionate about a career or even a field of study. I felt defective. This was compounded by the financial strain I knew attending college would have on my family. It seemed wasteful to try to “find my passion” at school while squandering

I miss the old days of only worrying about the next homework assignment. I miss the sweet relaxation I had when college admissions seemed distant: just a faraway obstacle, I’d get through sometime in the

It has been a long and hard road toward obtaining my higher learning credentials. Immediately after high school I attended college, falling short academically in my first several years of college led me to be to believe that I wasn’t smart enough to attend college. At the base of my soul, I knew I was college material, I just needed the right tools to exert that drive and ambition. On and off again routine of my educational pursuit led me to the disgust of own myself. At the age of 31, I reach my breaking point, thinking I will never graduate with my bachelor’s degree. Most people pursue higher learning to increase their earning potential but at that point in my life, I reached my financial goal. A coworker told me about the University of

Receiving this email was able to put my worrying heart at ease concerning my SAT results but put me in a depressed state thinking about what would happen to my imminent college applications this fall.

I wish to prove to the committee that I, despite all appearances, am worth investing in. Without apprehension, I believe that National University is the institution most suited toward honing my potential and handing me the tools needed to build a future of my own design. I’ve taken steps toward that end on my own; I’ve shifted careers and started at the bottom in a city library so that I may gather experience in a field I’ve respected since childhood, and I set aside an hour - at least - every day so that I may write uninterrupted. Writing is my passion, and I know this university will transform a passion and hobby into a worthy livelihood. Before I reach that goal, however, I must first explain the events which lead to my unsuccessful foray into higher education.

I am finally here after many years of trying to line things up to go to college. I’m taking my first real college courses. I was ecstatic when I was told that my financial aid went through and I could register for classes. The night before my first class I cried on the way home from work because I was so happy. I have all these goals and dreams I wish desperately to make happen; I want to work hard and make them into a reality that I can be proud of. And here I am, taking my first steps.

Sometimes a task can seem monumental when you try to visualize the entire thing, but if you break it down into smaller goals suddenly it can become manageable. When I first started to consider going to college so that I could make a better life for myself. I thought it was going to be almost impossible. It wasn’t until the spring of 2013, when my mother was murdered by her landlord that the law and fighting for justice really hit home for me. Working along the side of my lawyer and doing research for my mother’s wrongful death case. I felt empowered and in an environment that was for me. It was a way for me to cope with the death of my mother and at the same time fight for justice.

For a long time, I have lived with fear. It may be cliched to say it, but my fear of failure has been with me for years. It was what caused my hands to shake during a calculus test. It was what caused me to cry when I received my rejection notice from Texas A&M University the first time I applied. In a way it has been a defining feature of my academic career, always a shadow in the back of my mind murmuring the deadly phrase “but can you really do it?”. That small voice has been largely responsible for my reluctance to push myself academically, to actually see what I am capable of. Last semester, my first at Texas A&M, I mustered up enough courage to block out that voice and attempt something I had never done

I was fine at first, knowing that I probably wouldn’t get any responses for a while, but then, like blips on a radar screen everyone else seemed to be getting answers from their dream universities, whether it was a yes, a no, or annoyingly being deferred, they were all getting answers.

I had my whole life planned out and I knew what the next ten years where going to be like. I was going to get my master’s degree in clinical psychology and then my doctrine degree as well. I had my life planned out and I knew where I was going. However, as we grow as people we meet certain roadblocks within our lives that we must overcome. Sometimes the simplest of ways is not the easiest accessed. Sometimes we must take a different road to bypass the obstacle and this can take us off our path. However, my path has taken me far off my original plan, that I do not recognize the person I am

Being that I was just a small-town girl from Dinwiddie, VA, no one ever expected much from me academic wise. Early on in life, by friends and family alike, I was expected to barely get through high school and to then settle for a blue-collar job just as most people in Dinwiddie do. While I do firmly believe that there is no fault in settling for the simple life at all, settling was a concept that I never learned. I strove to do my best and to prove everyone wrong. The road was not an easy trial, but somehow, even the with the greater knowledge I acquired, the phrase “give up” never found its way into my vocabulary. Today, I am currently concurrently enrolled at Dinwiddie High School and John Tyler Community College with aspirations to earn

After months of tests, quizzes, homework, and salty tears; it's finally over. The feeling of relief after being accepted into college and almost finishing school is the cold steel which slayed my dragon.

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly,” Robert F. Kennedy. Those who are brave enough to take the chance despite the negative impact the situation could potentially have, are the people that ultimately reach their full potential and reach satisfaction and happiness in their life. Now, this is a valuable asset to have in this world, the ability to say to one’s self, “ I am going for it, despite the outcome.” This is an asset that can be developed, it does not necessarily need to be acquired at a young age or birth, it can be acquired at anytime. For me, this was not an asset that I had since birth or a young age, in fact, it was a trait that I did not think I even had. I did not