Ever since I was young, I have had a concrete plan for everything that was ever going to happen in my life. I've dreamed of being a mother my entire life. When I was younger, I often thought about being a stay at home mom, who just cleans and takes care of the children. I have looked at pictures in books and online and wished to travel. I told myself that one day, I will visit all of the places I used to dream about. I have so many goals in life that I have promised to myself I will accomplish, but I never gave myself a real time frame for when I will accomplish them. Now that I'm older, I realized that although starting a family is a personal goal I have, my degree comes first.

When you're young, you don't understand how the real world works. You observe the "real world" working adults every day, but never truly understand what it's like to be out on your own until you reach college. Here is where I truly realized the value of my degree and my future career.

I was raised to believe that I am a strong, independent woman; no matter how cliche that sounds. To me, I know that before I am able to start a life with someone else, I have to have my own together. One of the most important things for me is being able to rely on myself before I begin to rely on others. In life, the only constant you have that is promised is yourself. Taking care of yourself is the most important step in being successful at whatever you decide to do.

For me, this is obtaining my degree. I do not know how far I want to go in my schooling quite yet, but one thing is certain, I will walk across that stage in the spring of 2022 and receive my bachelor's degree. That degree is my motivating force. A family can wait, my wanderlust can grow stronger, and I would rather be successful to provide for my family and travels than bounce around in heaps of financial stress.

I believe that personally, once I have my degree, I will be able to succeed in whatever I decide to do in life. If you look in my cover photo, you can see me, at the age of nine in front of my future university. At this age, I knew where I wanted to go to college, I knew my major, and haven't strayed. I made a promise to myself at nine I would accomplish all of my goals. This photo is proof that when you want something bad enough, you can achieve it. So now, here I am, in the same school, the same program I had wished to be in at nine. I am on the right track. I am fulfilling my promise to my nine-year-old self. My goals are secondary to my major goal, and that's chasing my degree.