You CAN do it!

I was 19 when I dropped out of college. I was actually placed on academic probation because my husband (married at 18) kept telling me it was a waste of time and didn’t support me at all. My parents didn’t go to college. I struggled so I just never went back. I had my daughter a few months later, and it became especially hard with a baby to even consider college.

I later found out my husband at the time had a drug problem, on top of the alcohol problem I realized he had. We lived off of family members, he kept getting fired from different jobs, and we couldn’t survive on my income alone. After I found out that he was stealing my dads pain pills, I kicked him out (we were living with my parents), and filed for divorce. Less than a week after our divorce was final, he moved ten hours away. He usually only sees his daughter once a year at Thanksgiving and a FaceTime session a couple times a month.

I started dating a guy that I dated in high school- my first love. He encouraged me to go back to college, and promised to help me. He fell in love with my daughter, and proposed three months after we began dating. My daughter calls him daddy, and he loves her with everything he has in him. There is no “step”, just pure love.

He pushed me to go back to school, and I did. He spent many late nights helping me in math or history, and holding me when I got so overwhelmed I would cry.

I have a beautiful family now. My daughter is 4, and about to start school in a few weeks. My husband is amazing and super excited that we’re having a son in October. I am almost done with my Bachelor’s- I only have about 20 day’s left until my last classes end, and I’ll be graduating with a 3.6 GPA.

I got accepted into a Master’s program today.

Life is good. If you ever doubt yourself, you CAN do anything. Don’t let naysayers make you feel like you can’t or aren’t worthy. Surround yourself with a good support system and anything is possible!