I Am Thankful for the Opportunity to Gain an Education

November 12: An Opportunity

You guys, I will be graduating with my associates degree at the end of this semester. Crossing my fingers that I pass the math class that I've been surviving (thanks to my brother) this semester. (Last year I told everyone in our Christmas letter that I took the last math class I'd ever have to take, and then I didn't pass it so that turned out to be a lie...) It's crazy to think that three years ago I was just finishing up my first semester back to school and discovering that I couldn't tackle as many credits in one semester as I originally thought I could. 

When I decided to go back to school, I had no idea what I was going to major in. I already had my cosmetology license and a lot of people wondered why I was going back to "real" college. I have always wanted a degree of some kind, I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. I made a goal to get my associates degree and decided that I'd see where it went from there.

I'm about a month away from achieving that goal, and I'm planning on going on to get more schooling. I want to major in Family Studies and get a minor in Child Development. I'm so glad I have that goal for myself because without it, I think I would be done after this semester. I'm starting to get burnt out and I'm really tired of school. I've made sure to take one class for my major every semester to remind myself that I love what I'm going into and all I need to do is survive my generals.

Sometimes I have a bad attitude about school and tell people that I wish I didn't have to go or wish that I was done. I have to remind myself that this is something I really wanted to do and that I am almost finished with this one goal and well on my way to finishing another one (even though it might take another three years). It's overwhelming to be taking classes, working full time, keeping up my clientele at the salon and trying to live life at the same time. But I am so glad that I can go to school and get as much education as possible.

My schooling will help me raise a family, provide opportunities for me to contribute to the income of our household, and be great to fall back on if I ever need to in the future. I am so glad we have the money to pay for my classes each semester without having to go into debt.  Even though Joe isn't a huge fan of college, he supports me in my decision to get my degree and if I ever think about quitting or suggest it as a way to save more money each month, he won't even think about it and encourages me to keep going!