So I Did A Thing

So I did a thing on May 12. Well actually I did a thing on March 7 but the ceremony was May 12. 

I graduated from college. Lamar University Class of 2023!

It's been something that I have been pursuing for a while. I have always thought about going back to college to finish my bachelor’s degree. I started college like the rest of my friends when I graduated high school, but life happened, and I stopped going for one reason or another. 

In December 2011 when my husband graduated with his master’s degree, I made the decision to go back to school. So, January 2012 I started the pursuit to finish my college degree. One of the perks of working where I do is that they pay for employees to take classes, but they limit how many they pay for. When I started it was only two classes a year, one in each long semester. I had a grant for a while which allowed me to take three classes a semester but that was only for a short time so back to one class a semester when the grant ended. 

I was determined to finish and only stopped for one semester in 2017 when Hurricane Harvey hit, and I had way too much on my plate to even think about school. But it was during that time, my place of employment changed their policy for employees to take classes, it went from 2 a year to 5 a year, two in the fall and spring and one in the summer. It was that change that made me even more determined to finish this degree. 

The road hasn’t always been easy. There were many late nights studying and writing papers. Missed weekends hanging out with friends, taking trips or summer vacations. Classes that frustrated me and classes that challenged me. Classes that I needed tutoring help from my husband just to get through it and classes that I just seemed to breeze through. 

Fast forward to current day, eleven years later and I finally graduated. It all seems so surreal to me. This day always seemed so far away, and yet here I am.

I graduated on March 7, 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Arts and Sciences, and a minor in Communications. I also graduated with Summa cum laude Latin honors. I did it all while working full time, raising a family, keeping up a household, and watching my boys participate in whatever sports they were involved in. 

This journey taught me to believe in myself and to never give up, no matter what life throws at you. It also reminded me that I like to learn. I'm so proud of myself for not giving up! 

 

I did it!

 

My sweet friend, who is a professor on campus was waiting to give me a big hug.
 

Reece had baseball and could not come to actual ceremony but it didn't stop me from going to the field to get a family picture.

My four best friends and my cousin. Sonya, Wendi, Beth, Misty. Lisa, my cousin wearing the solid green dress flew in from New York just to watch me walk across the stage.