What Achieving a Degree Means to Me Essay Example for Free

What Achieving a Degree Means to Me Essay Hello my name is ______________ I am a twenty nine year old married mother of two. Ive been married for twelve years and I have an eight years old boy and a two years old girl. Since I was nineteen years old in the fall of 1991 Ive attempted to earn a college degree attending first Tarrant County Junior College and second Weatherford College stop and starting back again several times over the years trying to reach my goal. In the summer of 1995 when my oldest was two my husband and I moved our mobile home on to new land, which required my assistance helping out financially. I started working for a great company that I loved, Auto Rail Services of Texas they are an afflation of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway were I worked part time in the evenings doing data entry. Six months later I started working full time as the assistant office manager in charge of the day-to-day operations. I was sent to Tarrant County Junior College to gain a certificate in Microsoft Office applications. I continued to advance with in the company and enjoyed working there but in the July of 1998 the company suffered financially when Ford Motor Company moved there business to Union Pacific Railway, which caused downsizing in the company I was laid off. I contemplated going back to school after this but couldnt financially afford to stop working full time. The following October I became pregnant with our second child and after her birth my husband and I decided to downsize our financial situation so that I could remain home with the baby. When the child was seven months old I took a part time position in my aunts security company where I assisted in the office and was able to bring my child with me. Not long after my aunts company was forced to go out of business, which caused me to relay on unemployment compensation, threw Texas Workforce Commission there I was informed I could return to college and receive assistance with childcare. I began all the necessary proceedings for the program and was informed before I could actually get the assistance I would need to pass the TASP test a mandatory test required before you are eligible to receive a degree in the State of Texas. Having passed all but the math section of the test I decided I would take a preparatory tasp math class. The next six months I attended two such classes and in August of 2001 was successful in pass the math portion of the tasp. In June of that same year our home suffered water damage from a roof attempting to be put on but not finish before a storm hit water leaked in every where causing on the ceilings in the home to cave in. From June until September when were living in a hotel awaiting the finish of our home. Having so much going on at that time I decided not to attend college that fall. I am currently enrolled at Weatherford College 9 semester hours. Do the all the kayos this summer I was never able to update Texas Workforce Commission with my status and to ask for assistance with childcare. I had qualified for a seven hundred and fifty dollar federal Pell grant, which barely covered the costs and enrolled. I took a part time position as a tutor for Fort Worth Independent School District and I have received assistance from two family members with childcare on a temporary bases. Now that I have introduced myself and caught you up on my life history I would like to start telling you how strongly I feel and how important it is to me that I reach my goal of obtaining a college degree. I am going after a degree in the business field and I hope to eventually get a master degree as well. I know that people say that being a mother is a great accomplishment in itself. Dont get me wrong I too know it is, but sometimes is just not enough for some of us I just happen to be one of those some bodies. I love being a mom first and foremost but growing up as a young girl I always wanted and even thought that for sure I was gone be a great something or do something grand in life just what that was though I didnt quite know. Life some how takes you this way then that way and you sometimes end up off course as though you had a sail on our back a the wind was just drifting you around through life. Then some times being stubborn headed and getting way a head of yourself also contributes to blowing you way off course but you manage to grow in time and slowly start to see the way back on course but getting back on course isnt as easy as getting off course was. Even though it takes a slow, long and hard course back you get there you just stay strong, driven, and wanting it oh so bad. When the day finally comes that I do have my degree in hand and decided after all that maybe being a moms is grand enough I would at least have the self-satisfaction of know I did it I reached my ultimate goal and knowing the pleasures that come along with it such as independence, and knowledge gained. No longer needing to worry if anything ever happened would you be able to survive on your own, care for your children and maintain your lifestyle. How great it would feel to hang a plaque on the wall showing your accomplishment for all to see especially your children after all how could you expect them to accomplish such a task if you yourself never did. It has recently come to my attention the importance of just why I need this knowledge see I realized that one day my children would need my help with a school assignment and should be able to assist them. I need to be an example not to mention being able to keep up with current events around the world, the local economy as well as government issues such as politics. I say forget that I am not going threw life blind I want to always have at least one eye open at all times. That little voice that I use to hear inside of me telling me you are going to do something grand well shes getting louder and its time to listen. I know that over the course of my life I havent always made the right decision or took the right course or maybe even done some things a little backwards but I have always been able to see the light open up my eyes and see things for what they really are and find my way back around again. Some times it takes time, time to grow, to grow up, and to stop being so darn stubborn. Then it also takes just plan old school of hard nocks were you just plan have to live and learn for yourself. Ive lived and Ive learned knowledge is power and theres nothing you cant accomplish or learn once you try. Here is some things Ive learned over the years some even by mistake like getting married, buying your first home, land, a car, furniture, going to college and maintaining a fulltime job to support your household, doing your taxes, becoming a mother, attending college and being a mother, credit cards, mortgages, real estate taxes and insurance. Losing your credit, burial of a loved one after watching them die, to winning, to loosing, to finding new things out about yourself your crafty, creative, and resourceful, remodel your own home from tile, to drywall tape, bed, and texture, to cabinets and counters, to paint, you even learn over the years about the mechanics of cars these are just a few examples of where knowledge has got me so far. For me having a degree means accomplishment, independence, and knowledge. If it takes me the rest of my life to accomplish my goal of a degree I will no matter what obstacles come my way. I would just like to end by saying thank you for being out there trying to help people accomplish there goals and dreams and for making it a little easier to do so.