As the end of the 2016-2017 school year has come to an end, I've had some much needed "soul searching time" to reflect on my time at San Diego State University. Four years ago, I set foot on the SDSU campus as a naive young girl. I didn’t know what I wanted to major in but most importantly I didn’t know who I wanted to be. Before settling down in the dorms, I had never truly spent time away from my family or ever had to fend for myself.

I wanted to be the girl that had her life together. I wanted to follow my dreams. I wanted to know exactly where I was going, who was coming with me, and the steps that I needed to take to get to where I wanted to be. Then life hit me. Work, going out, class work, tests, and paying for my rent made it harder and harder to keep that mindset. At times, I felt so alone. Why hadn’t my parents set up a college fund for me? They knew that I was going to go to college, pressured me even. So why weren’t the proper precautions set into place? Why did I have to work 40 hours a week just to make ends meet while other people seemed to be having the times of their lives?

After my pity party, I came to the realization that every person is on their own path. Every person is on their own journey set with road blocks. The people that I envied that had loads of free time, were facing their own personal trials and obstacles. My path over the past four years has changed many times but has always had the same core foundation. I am truly grateful for every person and experience that I have survived because it made me the person that I am today.

When I was finally able to stop comparing myself to others, I was able to give my full, undivided attention to my own personal journey. I buckled down on my course work and gave everything that I had to my classes. I stopped treating my education as "school" and started viewing it as my "career."

Today, I can proudly say that I am officially a fifth-year undergraduate student double majoring in Political Science and Journalism major with an emphasis in Public Relations with an auxiliary discipline in History.

Although I have eight more classes left, I feel like I just started college. To think that I'm almost done scares the life out of me. With everything that I’ve learned these past four years, I know for a fact that everything is going to be okay. Nothing goes according to plan but that’s the beauty of life. I am so grateful that I have been given the opportunity to be surrounded by amazing people and attend SDSU. I can’t picture myself anywhere else.

I will forever be grateful to SDSU for shaping me into the woman that I am today.