I’m Finally Walking That Stage

Wow, it’s been about 6 months since I last wrote a blog post. I’m alive, lol! It’s actually very fitting that this is the post you get to read. The truth is I have been overwhelmingly busy with school and work, and I hope this posts helps update you on some of the things that have been going on this past year. 

(I apologize ahead of time for the long post):

Many of you have followed along my journey when I graduated a couple years ago with my undergraduate degree. Some may not know what I’m talking about but this blog post may help you catch up. A couple of years ago I never got to experience what it felt like to walk across the stage and “celebrate” my graduation. My family and I experienced a really hard time when we lost my grandma the same day I was supposed to walk. It was an unexpected loss. Walking across the stage is like the cherry on top to all the hard work of every student that gets to graduate. Some care, and others don’t. But I think being a first generation and daughter of immigrants, has a lot more meaning behind it. It’s an opportunity for my parents to see their hard work pay off, along with my own.

I always knew I wanted to continue pursuing my education after my bachelor’s, but I didn’t know it was going to be so quick. I started the Master of Business Administrative program at the University of Nevada, Reno in spring 2017, without having actually been accepted into the program. It’s was pretty cool that I was able to do this to get ahead. I wanted to start the program as soon as possible, to not lose time by just sitting around. I only took a semester break in between my undergrad and starting the graduate program.By the time fall 2017 (only my second semester) came around, my silly self decided to apply for another position as a graduate assistant. This position aligned with my passion of working with social media, marketing, and some web development. This meant that besides my full-time position, I was going to be working another part-time job. I roughly worked 50-65 hours a week since August 2017 and actually just finished doing that this past week. It was really difficult because I was taking full schedules at the university, as well. However, I am so thankful I was able to learn more about marketing, graphic design, and social media to help me with blogging. It was a sacrifice I had to make, learn more about marketing and take a break from blogging. But don’t get me wrong I missed not having time to create content.

During this time, I also decided to move cities and become a commuter. That is another long story that I hope I can squeeze in here. Alonso and I have always wanted to move back to our hometown to be closer to our parents. We both decided October 2017 to buy a house we fell in love with in Yerington, NV. Alonso and I owned a home in Reno so this meant we would have to sell our home in order to purchase a new one. To cut to the chase, we got an offer within a week. We moved out all of our stuff and a week before we were going to close, the buyers backed out. This happened to us twice! The sellers of the house we wanted to buy wanted us to pay way over the appraisal price. So we put an offer on another house and this also happened to us, AGAIN. In other words we spent a lot of money trying to sell our house and buy a new one. It was so frustrating trying to find a place to live, commuting, and living out of a suitcase these past 3-4 months. But in all honesty, Alonso and I have the baddest supporters that were always there for us. I couldn’t have done any of this without my parents and family helping us so much. My family helped us pack, clean our old house, and move all of our stuff while I was in class. Seriously I just want to cry 😭 knowing how amazing they are. So blessed!

Since I had to commute, this meant that I would be waking up between 4am-5am and getting home anywhere between 8:30pm-11p! By the time I was home, all the lights were off but there was Alonso with his light on waiting for me to get home. But it is so rewarding being home with our family, we wouldn’t change anything!

To sum it up, I had the worst stress I had ever encountered. I never ate, never slept, rarely hung out with my boyfriend, friends, or family. This was and is probably the hardest I have ever worked for something. My eating schedule was completely thrown off. The lack of sleep really wore on me. I was so tired and moody and if I could grab 10 minutes to nap I would take them! However, these were all choices and sacrifices I had to make in order to accomplish all my goals.

Everyday I would just wonder when would this all be over? I kept thinking to myself is anyone else this tired, or is it just me? Don’t get me wrong everyday when I just couldn’t do this anymore I would open up my phone and see pictures of my nieces, my parents, and family, just to help through my day. It’s so easy to just want to give up but it’s so important to take a step back and appreciate the hardships. We are truly blessed to be able to go to school and further our education.

Many people have the privilege of working part time or only one job. Yet, there are some of us go getters, that want to do everything and anything and somehow try to manage it all without exploding haha. I feel like none of the sleepless nights, hungry days, or stressful moments, compare to how hard my parents have worked. My work ethic is a representation of the skills my parents taught me. Work isn’t everything and I understand you have to enjoy each day. However, some people enjoy their careers and also want to work towards their own personal goals and that requires hard work and sacrifices. None of the goals we want to accomplish are just handed to us, I mean it would be nice if they did. My parents have sacrificed so much that I can’t even put it into words. Just imagine sacrificing your life in one country to seek another, for the unknown. Not sure where you’re going to work, not sure where you might live, but very certain you want a better life. That unknown scares all of us, but that’s exactly where we grow as people and what ends up defining us.

This graduation means a lot to every single one of us in my family. I am not sure who it means more to. It means a lot to Alonso because he can finally sleep without hearing me stress out lol. But for me personally, I have waited 6 years for the opportunity to walk and experience my own graduation instead of someone else’s. I truly wanted to experience this 2 years ago, but being with my family during a difficult time was by far the best decision I could have ever made. I have learned to become selfless, and put others before me. It truly is my happiness to see a smile on my family’s face. That’s my purpose in life. This experience has taught me to work twice as hard for my dreams and never give up. It has also made me realize to be very appreciative of the people around me during the hard times. My boyfriend, my best friends, my family have guided me through this, and I couldn’t thank them enough for pushing me.

My favorite quote that truly represents how I am feeling now is from Gina Rodriguez:

“My dad used to tell me to wake up each day and say, ‘I can and I will.’ Well dad, today’s a great day. I can and I did.”

-Patty G