Education: A Future Worth Looking Forward to

At the age of 6, I moved with my family from my home country to the United States. Although children tend to adapt faster than adults, the change was still challenging for me, specially in school. I did not know the language so I was not able to communicate effectively and that did not help my academic progress. However, as the time went by, I developed my language skills and began to progress in my studies. Taking time to study and learning the value of an education got me motivated to look forward to and get more involved with where I wanted my education path to go. As I look back to where I came from and am today, I realized that dedication is a valuable part of my life.

Personally, I did not have a great understanding of what process I should follow to get higer education, but through different resources I was able to make my dreams start to come to life. Althoug I did not have a clear vision at first of how I was to do it, I knew that I would be going to school. I believe that God put me in the place I needed to be one Sunday afternoon where we had a guest speaker at my church. She was a young woman who had been in a very similiar situation to mine, but then shared how she had made it to college and she was now teacher. I took everything she said to heart and applied it during my remaining years of middle school and then all my highschool years. That knowledge and other research activities helped me get the necssary information to get to the school I wanted.

I feel like in the area where I grew up  many of the kids were in the same situation where they did not know how to get higher education. Although my school became more active in promoting higher education, the kids had other worries about what going though a higher education was like. Before graduation some of them dropped-out, while others began families and decided to stop their education. Each person's situation is different, so in no way is my intention to judge, but it made me sad to see how such a valuable opportunity was not taken advantage of. I understant that at times we face hardships in our lives, but we can still make choices that can help us deal with and overcome such challenges. The process might not be easy or very fast, but with time and dedication challenges can be overcome.

I am really grateful that early on I found people that shared their experiences of going to school and how they accomplished it. Their stories and knowledge that they shared changed the way I saw the world and where I could go. Although I am just starting my second year of school, I look forward to more years of learning. I'll also look forward to help inspire more people along the way to get higher education. Education can be a way to progress and I hope that as many people as possible can find a way to continue on that path to get more.