2016 Graduate of the Year Essay Submission
by daricesharp86 from Pennsylvania
My Journey to Graduation
An important event in my life has been getting my high school diploma. When I was a teenager, I was caught up in the foster care system. I couldn't finish high school. From the age of 16 - 25, I was busy having my children and raising family. But when I turned 26, I saw other mother getting their diploma, and I want to try it too. I heard lot of other mother getting their GED. I was busy taking care of my kids, so were they. I was trying to survive. I didn't think I had the time to do it. But if so other mother could do it , why couldn't I do it too? I decided to try.
First, I tried getting my diploma at Oliver High School in Pittsburgh. However, I wasn't able to finish because the work was hard, my kids where young, and I had to travel to and from the high school. After one year, I stopped going to that program. I move to Penn Hills which to far from Oliver High School. I had to kept to bus every day. It took me an hour and half I miss breakfast every morning to get there. The school looked very horrible. It did not look clean at all. It had stuff all over the floor and walls. It had writing on the walls and garbage on the floor. The school is supposed to be clean. I did not like going there because it was not clean. I did not feel comfortable being there because it was on the Northside. That area is part of the hood. The hood is dangerous. There are sometimes shootings on the Northside. Because of this I did not think I could do this. Also the other students were picking on me so that made me not want to go.
I moved to Beaver Falls, and tried getting GED through and Adult Literacy program. I thought it was free and easy to do. However, I didn't have enough academic support. The work was hard, and I felt frustrated. So, after one year, I stopped using that program. There was no one to help, no one on one. This made it tough for me to do. People told me that it was going to be hard. Other people doing the program kept to themselves. I did not like the teacher because they did not help all the student with all their work. By this time, I was feeling very discouraged because I hadn't completed my goat.
Then, someone told me about Penn Foster. I did like the idea of getting a diploma and not just a GED. so I signed up. I felt nervous about starting , but I set my mind to doing it. I liked that you can take the exam more than once. You can talk to the instructors and get help from them. I got help from my financial coaches whenever I needed her. This time it worked because I had support and I was paying for my diploma so I can get it . So I would not quit because I was paying. My kids gave me a lot of support and my boyfriend helped get my diploma and he was very supportive, too.
I feel so good now that I am almost done with my diploma. I felt for a long time like I couldn't do it, and that gave me low self -esteem. Now that I am close to being done, I am so proud of my self for achieving my goal. I am also excited about my future. I hope someday I get a good job, and to make my children proud. I want to go college to work in a medical position. I will be learning different things in the medical field. I will learn different parts of the body. I will be learning how to take people's blood and learning to use the computer. I will be in class doing the same thing they are doing. I believe that I will have financial support. I think that the work is going to be hard. I that I can take the exams more then ones. I hope I get to meet every one at the college that I decide to go to. In conclusion, I am thankful that after trying and failing to get my GED I am about to get my high school diploma.