Coming Full Circle

The cost of education can be great, but the rewards are so much greater.

Throughout my life, the only person I have ever tried to seek approval from is my mom. The irony of that is my mom is the only person that doesn’t put pressure on me by telling me how I should live my life.

All she wants from me is an honest day’s work.

My mother and her family are immigrants from a country formerly known as Yugoslavia. When my mother was little, her family got a sponsor and immigrated to the United States.

For years my mother’s family lived in an apartment building that had only one washer and dryer for more than 100 people. My grandpa worked in the Pennsylvania coal mines and my grandma worked in a bakery. They were too poor to afford a car so they had to walk over five miles to and from work every day. But, they never complained about it.

After what they had been through, that was easy for them.

At the time they fled Yugoslavia, the country had just been invaded by the Axis Powers and the Croatians were in the midst of exterminating the Serbs by means of genocide. They were poor, discriminated against and scared for their lives. But, they worked hard and made better lives for themselves and their children.

I almost screwed all that up.

I dropped out of high school my senior year and started participating in activities that could have gotten me in a lot of trouble. Even during all that, my mother never judged me; she knows how tough life can be and instead of pouring salt in my wound, she told me how proud she was of me. She told me she was happy that I treated ladies like a gentleman and she was proud that I had a job, even though it was just for minimum wage at Wendys.

My mom believed in me so much that I couldn’t just settle for Wendys. That is just not a good enough reflection of what an outstanding mother she is.

So three years ago I enrolled at Sinclair and tried to get my life back together, but it wasn’t easy. I spent many hours in the ARC and even more time in the Math Lab. The classes pushed me to become a better student, a better person and a better son. So in two weeks when I receive my associate’s degree, it won’t just be for me. That degree will be for my mom, my grandpa, my grandma and everyone else who sacrificed to make my life better than theirs.

The cost of all my books for the three years I have been at Sinclair: around $1,500.

The cost of all my classes for the three years I have been at Sinclair: approximately $4,000.

Completing what my family has worked so hard for me to get: priceless!