Growing up I had the high ambitions of becoming a professional football player. That was was my thing. Football was going to get me through school and pave the way for my future. I came from a family where no one had been to college and there was no real talk about college or push for me to attend college one day, but I knew that if I wanted to go pro in football that I had to go to college, and so that was the plan.
My senior year I decided to end my dream of playing and focus on school. After having a real difficult and sketch childhood that left my sisters and I raising ourselves, I knew that I wanted better for my family and kids one day. I knew that college was my way of bettering my life and setting up future for success. And that would also be the standard and norm that I would set for my kids. I could not pick the family I was born into and raised from, but I could pick the kind of home and environment that I would bring my kids into, and they are going to have a better one that I did. So there you go kids, I went through school with you in mind and for you and your futures.
Growing up without a focus or push for academics, I never found a joy or ease in school. It was hard for me and I had to work really hard just to get by. Coming home from school each day since sixth grade to hammered mother did not necessarily set up the most studious or focused environment. Not to mention she never cared or asked about school or made sure that I was doing my homework and doing well on tests, she just wanted to keep her drunk going and blame the world for all of her issues. That is why I am so self driven today. I never had anyone to push me or to motivate me. It all came from the inside. In all honesty, it came from God. I cannot take any credit. There is no way that I would be here or would have been able to endure and take the hits from life it was not for the big Man watching over me.
It was the struggles and adversity that I faced when I was younger that prepared me for today. It is why I am successful. It is why I understand life and love everything about it and can be so genuine and honest in everything I do. The same reasons and struggles that should have kept me from being where I am today are the exact reasons that I am having the success that I am.
I love the idea that statistically speaking or socially speaking or whatever, that I should not be in college. The idea that a kid from a broken home who's dad committed suicide and mom became an alcoholic at when he was twelve is about to graduate college just sounds so crazy. That is inspirational though. It plays into what I think is part of God's plan for me. None of this was ever about me or how great or incredible it was that I have turned my life into something special from a childhood that should have absolutely wrecked me. It is all about the people that will be touched. The inspiration and the hope it will give those out there in similar situations. It has allowed me and will allow me to connect and reach out to so many different people.
Graduating college is so much more than an education or a diploma to me. It is a sign of hope. It is glory to God. It is a statement that no matter what cards life dealt you, you have a choice to make things better and to better yourself. The opportunity is there and there is no one or nothing that can stop you. All you need is confidence in yourself, faith in God and some fight.
My journey to complete college is almost to an end. What has made it so amazing is the struggle and the fight I had to put up just to get here. The day I walk that stage there are going to be some tears running down my face. I am appreciative and blessed to have had this opportunity. I am going to make the most of these next couple months until I walk that stage.
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