My Journey

I almost didn’t finish high school. Science and math scared me. I thought I would fail. But I kept going.

In the 90s I stepped into Diablo Valley College, a real community college, and proved to myself I could continue. From there life took me many places. I worked. I learned. I started at Heald College in every city it seemed, searching for the right fit.

Then I entered a certificate program that wasn’t a community college education. It was a program for people who had real pain in their lives, struggles you could see in their eyes. Sitting there taught me compassion and showed me I wasn’t alone in my fight.

In 2012 I told myself, “I’m going back.” I went back to Heald in Concord. By 2015 I completed it. That finish line mattered.

Then I walked into Northwest Christian College. I struggled, especially with writing, math, and science. My grades weren’t always the greatest, but I got through it. Finishing was the victory.

Vocational rehab rarely pays for private college, but in my case they did. That opened the door to Northcentral University. I looked within. I refused to let mental health stop me.

During the pandemic, while the noise of the world was loud, I kept working and I completed my master’s degree.

Now I’m walking into National University in a PhD program. It’s the same school that connects me back to the one I walked into in Pleasant Hill, California in the 90s. That thread connects me to JFK University, where a friend of the family graduated from law.

This is how powerful the Holy Spirit is when you simply keep pursuing and do not let fear stop you.

Every school, every struggle, every door, from high school to community college, from certificate programs to Christian college, from master’s to PhD student, was a step God used to build me. Science and math once scared me, but they didn’t get the final word. Pain tried to define me, but it didn’t get the final word.

I kept going. I looked within. I leaned on the Spirit. I honored my mother’s love and guidance. I stuck to my roots.

And that is how a girl who almost didn’t pass high school became a woman who walks in purpose, telling her story so others know they can finish too.