And Holy Shit, It's Here!

I graduated in 5 days.  It doesn't seem real.  I know I am a smart person, but you see, something happened along the way.  I could blame it on getting married at 20 and immediately having a child.  A couple years later I had another child and my life has been a trying to make ends meet, bottle washing, diaper changing, potty training, carpool driving, picture book reading, Sesame Street watching, dance recital going, taxiing kiddos from this lesson to that lesson, casserole baking, dish washing splendor.  One would easily believe that with two young kids and a husband who works long hours that going to school and completing school would be daunting and completely understandable if it weren't done.  But that's not the case.

The thing is, somewhere along the way despite being told growing up the value of a college education and the mantra that if you work hard and get an education you will be rewarded, I quit believing.  I didn't quit believing in the mantra, per se.  I saw successful people all around me.  I saw people who went to college, got that degree and lived the American Dream- so no, I didn't quit believing it existed.  But I quit believing in it as a possibility for me.  I believed that I wasn't "good enough" and that I wasn't "college graduate material."  College-types were a different breed and I wasn't one of them.  

Something caused me to switch gears, thankfully.  I believe completely, wholly, and unabashedly to my core that the only way to ensure your children grow into what you want them to be is by setting a positive example.  If you want your child to be courteous, be courteous yourself.  If you want your child to be optimistic, be an optimist.  If you want your child to respect life, respect it yourself.  And if you want your child to be a college graduate, be one yourself.

I was blessed beyond reason with two amazing daughters.  The are both so very different from each other, but both equally amazing in their own right.  I want the world for them.  I want them to have every opportunity and to always believe that the world is their oyster.  But, how do you teach, really teach a child that the world is their oyster?  The only way is by making it your own.  That is exactly what I did.  If I want my girls to be successful, strong women who will do whatever their hearts desire then I had to do that myself.  I set my mind to do exactly that.  It has been three years.  Three, long, difficult years- but it is here- for that I couldn't be happier.  I know I am living what I believe and that is enough for me.