World, I bequeath to you today,
one amazing young lady. I trust that you
will treat her well….
This weekend, my daughter will be graduating from college.
She accomplished this feat by taking college courses during her senior year of high school (for free!) and taking a few summer classes at a community college during her first two years.
She is graduating with less than $2500 in
student loans, pretty darn amazing! She did not receive any financial
aid.
I am so proud of her!
She worked no less than two jobs and paid for two thirds of her tuition with money earned from those
jobs.
I still don’t think she realizes how lucky she is to be graduating almost debt
free when most students are graduating with $20,000 or more in student
loan debt.
That $2500 she borrowed was from
her very first semester at a school two hours away from home…she wanted the
“college experience” of
living in a
dorm. Unfortunately, she was often
driving home on the weekends and I constantly
worried about that long drive home. So, after
getting “dorm life” out of her system, she moved back
home and transferred to OSU.
She lived at home the next year and a half,
worked at a popular downtown bar where she made great tips, interned at two different places to get communication and Public Relations
experience, and carried a full course load at OSU. There were times when I wondered how she was keeping it all
together.
One weekend, she worked till 2:30 a.m. and
was on Good Morning Columbus at 8:00 a.m. for
a
short segment on Dog
Adoption (this was through one of her
internships) the very next morning! It must be nice to be so young and full of
energy!
I think she is a very driven person which will do her well as she enters the workforce as a young
adult. I wonder what she will be when she grows
up? I still ask that question of myself from time to time. I hope she figures it out and does something
that she loves.
She moved out six months
ago, she wanted a little more freedom and I knew it was time to let her
go.
I cried after she left that weekend. As I was cleaning her room and taking
stuff off the walls, I cried – but not for too long. I
remembered that I was cleaning the room of
a daughter who had merely moved out,
not the room of a daughter that will never come home again.
That thought really put things into perspective and I was happy
again :)
I just want to say
congratulations to my first born daughter. I became a single parent when you were 3,
and quickly realized the value of an
education. You attended my graduation when you were 5
years old and then again at
9
when I got my MBA. Now,
I
get to see you walk across that grand
stage I am so incredibly proud of
you!
So world, I bequeath to you today
one amazing young lady. I trust you will treat
her well!
Love, Mom
Comments
blessings,
karianne