Hardships of Education!

Many of you may know that my experience at Berkeley College wasn’t a  walk in the park.  My financial aid was depleting due to transfers, cosmetology, and things they fail to leave out upon enrolling.  This caused me to take off a year in 2012 not by choice, which really hurt me but everything happens for a reason.  I couldn’t get back into school until I paid my Summer Quarter off of  $8,900 and as a result of my financial aid depleting I would have to pay 23,000 out of pocket.  That is a total of $31,900 that was to be paid within a year and a half.   I was sure I would have to drop out but my support system didn’t allow me to!   I wrote a letter the following year and was able to get my summer quarter balance forgiven, which helped significantly.   I completed my degree December of 2014 and Graduated April 24^th, 2015.  It’s so an amazing what a letter with a splash of patience can do!   

            So as I sat down trying to get back into the groove of homework.  I received a letter from my Best Friend Linda Written by her cousin who I call Bouphachay.   The letter was beyond inspiring addressing perseverance and patience.  His family emigrated to the U.S due to escaping the chaos of what was going on in South East Asia in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.  His parents couldn’t give him the education he deserved but he continued to strive.  He was attending a college In Virginia and had to be taken out due to financial hardship.  Bouphachay continued his education at MCC while working.  The letter went into depth of the Laotian Struggle, living in an impoverished neighborhood in Rochester, Laotians being the minority of minority, and despite it all his gratitude for that particular walk of life.  This showed him that everything in life doesn’t come easy but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t continue to strive for your goals.  The letter I was reading was to YALE and they granted him a FULL SCHOLARSHIP.  He is one of the first students to transfer from MCC and get accepted into YALE UNIVERSITY.

            It can be tough when you are taking off track especially when you are doing everything you can to make it in life.  Trust the timing that LIFE presents to you, and remember everything happens for a reason.  The moment you feel like giving up in the future holds an even greater blessing for your hard work and determination!  Keep in mind that everyone’s blessing will differ from yours but that is because we all share different struggles.   CONGRATS BOUPHACHAY! <3