The Struggle is Real

This is a continuation from my school post so if you have not read that post first, I suggest that you read it here.  The last four years have been extremely interesting for me. January 2015, I went back to college; since that time a lot has taken place but one thing I can say for certain, is I never gave up on my education.

The intention of this particular post is to try and help you understand how important receiving my education was to me; but also, some of the obstacles that I had to face. I think some people feel as though it's easy for some and that their own situation is too hard, and they can't do it. But honey, I will tell you, all things are possible if you want them enough. In 2015, shortly after I went back to school, I also got braces about two weeks into classes. For whatever reason this pissed my daughter off and we got into an argument. Mind you, my daughter didn't typically argue with me, but she was talking on the phone with her friend making smart remarks and I overheard her so at that point she decided she was going to move out and go live with her friend, she was 18 so I let her go. She was gone out of the house for a couple of months and decided on her own to come back home. A few months later she graduated from high school and went to off to college. While she's in college I'm covering her portion of the tuition that the scholarship didn't cover while working full-time, taking care of my son, and going to school full-time.

My daughter started having issues at the school that became a lot worse her second year so now we're into 2016 and she starts having health-related issues and I'm receiving calls often that she's in the hospital from having anxiety attacks and blacking out. So now its May of 2017 and she decided to come home, and she just wasn't the same, she was different and by the end of 2017 we had got into it again and she left the house. This is all taking place at the end of my final semester right before I had to take a test. I remember right after she left out the door, I went upstairs, and I took my test.  Over the years I have noticed to not allow things to affect me personally.

A couple of days later I go into work and I am told that my department is going to be outsourced, and now I have no job. I had another week left in my quarter before I was to graduate with my Associate's degree, so that's all I focused on. I didn't have time to focus on the job or my child who was feeling like she wanted to be on her own and do her own thing. I had to focus on finishing my mission and raising the child I was still responsible for. A few days after finishing my quarter, I took my son to Mexico on a mini vacation to celebrate completing my AA degree.

When we got back from Mexico, I had some requests for interviews. I completed the interviews and was offered a supervisor's position starting in January. So now, I'm starting a new job and my bachelor's degree program at the exact same time. Those first few months were brutal with the new job and learning how things work and how to manage a team of people that I was not familiar with and coming into what was a broken system and having to completely rebuild it from the ground up.

It would be April before my daughter moved back home and she was four months pregnant with my grandbaby. It all started when I reached out to her and asked her to stay at the house with her brother while I went to Europe and she decided to just stay.

Let’s fast-forward a few months. I am on summer vacation with two successful 4.0 quarters under my belt. My team is now running like a well-oiled machine and we have the best results in the organization. One day, the manager at the time who started a month before I started, (so yes, we were learning everything about the job and the company together) decided to leave. She was moving on to bigger and better things as a Director at a hospital (not to mention she completed her MBA that April while being a single mother of 5). But, I wanted to stay with the company so that I could just finish school and have some consistency. But they decided that they were not going to open the management position, mostly in an effort to save money. However, they did use the excuse that my department would eventually be going away within the next year or so. So, I inherited all of the management tasks on top of my supervisory tasks for the same pay. I didn’t complain though, I was grateful for the opportunity to learn and showcase my talents. However, I decided it was time for me to start looking for another job; this was in September of 2018 and I was also offered a job as a supervisor where my old manager was now a director.

I began interviewing in September, the same month my granddaughter was born. I also started fall quarter one week after that. I applied and interviewed for about 3 different positions and was offered two (I literally just heard back from one about a day ago); I decided on accepting the offer closest to home. The position was for a Manager’s position with a $30,000 pay increase per year plus a 10% bonus. I could not pass up such a great opportunity for myself and my family. It was a true testament to the hard work that I have been putting in and everything that I have missed out on to finish my education.

There is so much in the story that I have not explained to you, but I want you to just know that my social life decreased; however my travel life increased, my income has doubled within the last year. I'm back to being a new person in a leadership role; right now and probably one of the hardest quarters I've had since starting my bachelor's degree program. This quarter consists of a lot more strenuous work and the demands on me and the assignments are a lot harder. However, I am in my final week of the quarter and I still maintain my perfect a 4.0 grade point average.

Over the past four years I've had many ups and downs that I'm not going to go into, but I want you to know that it has all been worth it. I have lost some people on this journey and I am truly at peace with that because before I started this journey I knew that not everyone was meant to complete it with me. Those that are meant to complete this journey with me will do so while the remainder will falter but through it all I'm at the end of the tunnel for this chapter in my life and it won't be until fall of 2020 that I'll be starting my master's program.

I remember when I first mentioned going back to school there were some people who felt my life was too busy to focus on a full school schedule; let alone do it with a 4.0 grade point average while raising two children and staying involved in everything that they do. While some things have faltered like my obsession with the gym, other things have prospered. I want you to know that what you want in this life is yours and trust me when I say God Will Make A Way because you would be surprised, and you may not even believe me if I told you the different ways that he came through for me. Just know that when you're ready there is no one who can deter you because what God has planned for you no one can destroy.

And...It Is What It Is!