I recently wrote a blog post for my company about my experience with commitment. So, I thought I would share it here as well. Many of you may know my journey towards my Bachelor’s degree, but here it is in one post. Enjoy.

Some of you may have already heard, but this last May I graduated from the California State University of Sacramento with my BA. What you may not know, is the journey I took to get there! 

I went to college right out of high school. I first attended Biola University in La Mirada, California. I was a Journalism major and I loved the school. All of a sudden my classes were getting cancelled because they had no one to teach them. I took a class with a first time professor and she needed more time to fine tune her skills, so to say the least, I did not get much out of the class. The Journalism Department was falling apart. And Biola is a private school, so I didn’t want to see my money go to waste. I decided to part ways with Biola at the end of the year and transfer to a new school.

Next, I went to another great school, the University of Nevada, Reno. I decided to go there because they have an outstanding Journalism Dept. I  also had some friends there already, so that would make the transition easier. I had a great  two years there. And was planning to graduate in a year and half when I switched gears again. 

I spent the summer after my third year of college volunteering for the youth department at the church I grew up in. I had so much fun working in the office and working with middle school and high school students. At the end of the summer I was asked to stay on staff. That would mean transferring yet again.

I struggled with the decision for a while. What would people think? How much longer would it take me to finish? But in the end, I chose to go with what gave me the most joy.

I moved back to Sacramento and decided to finish my schooling at Sac State. My plan was to still study Journalism, but I sat in one class, for one day, and decided it was not what I wanted to do. So, in my fourth year of school I changed my major. I perused the list of majors Sac State offered and chose Humanities with an emphasis in Religious Studies.

I love everything about my major. Learning about other cultures, their belief systems, and how those beliefs shape how they live day-to-day fascinates me.

One would think this is where my journey ends, but  that would be incorrect. Because of my young and adventurous mind, I left Sac State before I finished my degree. I had about a semester left, but was offered a fun new opportunity in Austin, TX. I had never lived that far away, I had nothing holding me to California (besides school), and didn’t know when something like this would appear again so, I jumped ship…again!

I spent two glorious years in Texas. The food alone can make you want to relocate 🙂 I always tell people I would have stayed if my family lived there. I learned I did not like being that far from my family. I missed too many birthdays, holidays, and memories.

I decided to move back to California, but to the southern region instead. I know my opinion is not favorable with many who live in NorCal, but I love LA. The traffic doesn’t bug me, I love the Dodgers (save your jeers Giants fans), the weather, being able to walk from my apartment to a grocery store or a great restaurant, seeing celebrities at the coffee shop,  going to movie premieres, walking to the beach on my lunch break, and best of all DISNEYLAND. I had some dreams of what I would do in LA, but they didn’t end up coming to fruition. I had an amazing time and would have stayed if I could, but after two years (do you see a trend?) I decided to move back to Sacramento and finish my degree!

It took a little time to get settled back, get a job (TaxAudit.com), figure out what classes I had left,  and if my requirements had changed since I had been out of school for a while. 

In the Spring of 2014 I took a class at Folsom Lake College and applied to get back into Sac State. I was accepted. I then took two classes in the fall at Sac State and then took one more class at Sac City (it’s cheaper) this last spring to finish it off. 

And on May 23, 2015 at Sleep Train Arena, I finally graduated! After 13 years, 15 moves, 3 schools, and 2 majors, I finally finished. 

I may have took one of the craziest paths to get my degree, but I was COMMITTED to finishing! I did it and that’s all that matters! 

My AMAZINGLY decorated cap!

I did it!