You know you’ve made it to the real world when you reach college, or trade school, anything that now influences your future tremendously. It can be a bit scary at first but once you settle in and realize that you hit reality, it’s kind of exciting. You now are able to do whatever you want; you can now begin what your life will be like for the rest of your life. Hopefully you take your resources and tools to do something positive, you don’t want to give up after high school. If you do then you could get stuck in some sort of trans that makes you think you have all the time in the world to “figure it out,” when really-you don’t. I think that time should be taken for granted. It should be valued every second of every day because you never know when it will be the last. That’s why I always get things done right away because I think about how I may not be able to “get it done later.” People think that “you have a long life to live,” yet you don’t know that. Live in the moment, take that for granted. Make room for mistakes, lessons, adventures, and more. The story begins after high school, it begins when you have the capability to create the life you’ve always wanted.

As for me, my story has just begun. I’ve just started college and I could not be happier. Not to brag but I truly am so happy to be here. I didn’t think I’d be here if I’m being honest. My family has struggled financially for my whole life, so I thought it was impossible. But luckily, I made it! Starting a life that takes me on the road to where my life will be forever is amazing. Having the ability to do things I couldn’t imagine doing, for example like participating in the study abroad program to Ireland. I always loved to travel so having the opportunity to travel and earn credit for my degree, is incredible. Anyways, the point I want to make is your story starts after high school, after high school life matters more than what you went through in high school. You are given wonderful opportunities to have the life you want.

By: Ariana N. Baez