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Dear Daughter,

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 graduated from high school in May 2009 and will be receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Communications with a minor in Professional Writing from the Ohio State University in March 2012 in and out of college in less than 3 years!

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 thecollege 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 gettingdorm 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

ElleSee said…
Congratulations to your daughter! She is very lucky to have such a small loan after being done school. I came out of school with no loans as well, and had no problems getting a mortgage or a car loan. It pays off :)
thistlewoodfarm said…
What an incredible mom you are! I love this post and you have so much to be proud of.

blessings,
karianne
Stephanie said…
Congratulations--That's exciting!

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