Keeping a promise to get bachelor’s degree

In high school, people used to tell me “you are not good enough professionally” or “ you are heading towards being in jail or dead.”

I love to prove people wrong.

No one ever imagined that I would be sitting here right now, in Hawaii, only two classes away from graduating.

Growing up was never peaches and cream. I was never the person who enjoyed school. Teachers use to tell other students to stay away from people like me. I’ve never been in trouble with the law or anything it was just I couldn’t concentrate on schooling.At times I was living with my father, but in high school, I had to move back with my mother due to certain situations. That made me want to push even harder to become something and someone. Everyone loves to have an opinion on someone’s else’s life when the life of their own is not perfect. People like to tell you that you can’t do it because they failed at it. I started to realize that when I tore my ACL and people stopped believing in me. That’s when I started to change the people around me and started to surround myself with people that wanted to see themselves great and pushing me to do the same.

The only thing that got me through school was basketball; having basketball as an outlet was always important. It was something I can always run to. I had my ups and downs with the sport that I love but it also gave me an outlet to where I am now. It gave me a distraction from all the other things going on.

I am the first child of my immediate family to attend college and to graduate with an associate’s degree from Cañada College in Redwood City, California. In my second year at Cañada College I made a promise to my mother that I will get my bachelor’s degree. This something I am excited about. It was always important to make not only myself proud but my family. 

The thought of someone telling me I can’t do something motives me still to this day. After playing two years at Chaminade and signing with an agent, I will have a chance to play overseas, drawing high interest from teams in Germany, Belgium, Finland and Australia.

Promising to my mother that I will get my degree this means a lot to me. Being two classes shy from having my bachelor’s degree in Communications  is frustrating, but this is something I gave my word on. It may not come within the next couple of years but this is something I will obtain. COM 370 News Writing and COM 450 Video Production will not stop me from getting my bachelor’s degree and proving everyone wrong.