See it Through

I was sitting here reflecting on these past few months yesterday. I went back to school in August to finish getting my Associate's degree. I was taking five classes in total and three of them were completely online. I've struggled with online classes in the past because its so easy to forget due dates. But this time I was determined to get all A's for the semester.

I didn‘t realize how much I had going on until I sat here thinking back on it. I would take my niece to daycare in the morning three days a week and at my job I had to close four days a week. So during the weekdays I didn't get home until maybe 1:30am and on the weekends I wouldn't get home until 2:30am. It was pretty stressful because I had to try and find time to do my homework whenever I could. There were times I didn‘t have enough time to finish my homework so I would take it to work with me. I thought about giving up a few times, but I could feel the people around me praying for me and encouraging me. I felt God pushing me to keep going. Not only that but I had made a promise to myself and I wanted to see it through.

Around November is when things started to get more stressful. The house I shared with my best friend starting falling apart. I felt God telling us to pack in October, but by November we literally had to move because we couldn't stay there anymore. First, the sewage backed up. We cleaned it but then it happened again. Then, the heat stopped working. I bought a cheap heater from Walmart and one day my best friend used it while I was gone. It ended up shorting out the entire house. She was able to get all the lights back on except for the lights in the living room and the bedroom that we had turned into a studio. Then we learned that because the sewage had backed up it was toxic so we couldn't stay there. I moved to my mom's house and my best friend moved to her parents house.

While all of this was happening I was still in school. I went back and forth from my moms house to my house whenever I could to pack up the house and throw stuff away. That month was the most stressful because I also had finals coming up and it felt like I didn't have time to study. I still managed to finish the semester with all A’s and B’s. I’m so proud I stuck with it. I‘m the first of my siblings to get a degree. I’m planning on finishing my BA too but I’m so proud of what I've already accomplished. Now I’m traveling the world with my best friend. I never knew my life would end up like this. I’m so grateful for each and every step of this journey.

I want to encourage you guys to keep going. Don’t give up even when it gets hard. Don’t let all your hard work go to waste. Because now I'm graduating in two weeks and getting my Associates degree. I honestly couldn't have done it without God and everyone else encouraging me along the way. Whatever it is that you want to accomplish you have to first believe that you can do it. I was pushing myself along too. Telling myself that I can do it. Reminding myself that I wanted to get all A's because I didn't want to have to repeat a class. While everyone else encouraging me was nice and helped me to keep going, I think the fact that I wanted it so badly was what was really pushing me to keep going. Know that you have the ability to speak life into yourself. That whatever it is that you put your mind to you can do. Don't give up on yourself. You'd be surprised by just how much you can accomplish.