16 years ago I was an unwed teenage mother working for min wage living in a trailer in Alabama.

Today, I’m officially a grad student with a career earning a high salary, w/ a home I own. My son is prepping for college in a 3 years.

Don’t let your dreams be dreams.

The year my son was born my aunt commented how disappointed she was that I’d never amount to anything because I was a mother now.

I promised out loud to anyone who’d listen that I’d be on the favorable side of the statistic and wasn’t going to stop until I’d proven them wrong.

So, here I am. First to graduate college in my family, not once, but twice, and working on grad school. Made something of my life and showed them that I could be both a mother AND a professional and a provider.

And now, my son will have it just a little bit easier. Going to college isn’t an uncertainty over affordability for him. While I did a lot of this to prove “them” wrong, I also did it because my kid, my husband, and I deserved 100% of my effort.

And don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t a fairytale. I spent 10 years getting that first degree with a couple false starts and a few breaks because life with a grade schooler is hard. I worked nights a lot. I had an amazing partner who insisted on helping me when I couldn’t ...

... afford a $400 prescription and was severely sick with an infection.

My credit was terrible and I went into a lot of debt to prove people wrong. But it DOES get better. The 1st time I accepted an offer for more than $15 an hour I felt like I had arrived. But i didn’t stop.

Because by then I had a fire, and I felt like I had ground I wanted to make up. So I threw myself entirely into the work I loved and that sense of accomplishment made my marriage better, gave my son a role model, and my self confidence soared.

I sat back on June 1, holding my acceptance letter for grad school and my newly minted account for an absolute dream company to work for, signed the papers on our forever home and went “holy shit, I made it”. (Yes. All in the same week)

But it doesn’t have to stop here, either

I guess I say all this to say - those of you who feel lost, like you’re behind, and rents due and you’re exhausted. I see you. I’ve been you. And 15 years from now I hope you’re telling this same story, because if I can do all this, so can you.