The Graduate

”Hello. I’ve waited here for you…everlong” - Foo Fighters (Everlong).

In late January of 2016 I went to a job interview at the restaurant Bojangles which was about a five to seven minute drive from my house. I really needed this job because I was flat broke and had been out of school for six months due to problems with my financial aid. I lived with my dad and I was struggling so bad that I had to walk 45 minutes to this interview because I didn’t have a car. When I made it there the supervisor who was interviewing me asked me what were my life plans while working at Bojangles and I told him that my plans were to save up enough money to buy a car, get back in school, and graduate so that I could earned a degree. I successfully was hired. It took some doing, but after a short couple of years I finally earned my degree, this is my journey.

I started working as the biscuit maker at Bojangles and worked hard to pull myself out of the financial slump I was in before. As the year progressed I got so preoccupied with my job that I wasn’t really focused on school by the close of the year. By the arrival of 2017 I started back going to church with one of my best friends who I met while attending Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, North Carolina. With a newfound church life and after watching my friend progress in her educational life I was inspired to get back in school so that I could earn my degree. Because financial aid was still giving me problems I decided that I was gonna do it all by myself.

I started saving up my work money and eventually received my tax season money and by the end of 2017 I had bought my way back into school for the Spring 2018 semester. My plan was to stay in school for every semester in 2018 and acquire the last class credits I needed to graduate with hopes of walking across that stage by May of 2019. By January of 2018 I started class, but still didn’t have a car yet so I was taking the bus to school two days a week. I have to admit that when I first came back to school it was hard getting back on the academic ball. My dad wasn’t exactly pleased with the idea that I started back school without a car and mentally I was struggling to find my rhythm when flexing those school muscles again after having not been in class for over two years time. I started to wonder if maybe I had made a mistake in coming back to school after those first couple of weeks in and getting readjusted. After checking my grades and seeing that I had all A’s and a couple of B’s in all my classes I realized that I made the right choice.

I’m glad to say I wasn’t alone in this journey. My work family and my church family were all cheering me to victory. A couple of my coworkers and close friends from Bojangles were also at school with me at Guilford Tech and working towards their degrees at the same pace that I was working. As my journey progressed it seemed like I had 2018 in the bag, but then tragedy struck. Between May and July of 2018 an old friend of mine, a cousin I was close with and my grandfather all passed away within mere weeks of each other, all while I was still in my summer semester. I felt so overwhelmed with pain and grief that I wanted to stop everything I was doing, but I knew I couldn’t give up on my academics. I felt like I owed it to everyone who passed away to finish working toward my goal.

“Don’t give up, you’ve got the music in you. One dance left, this world is gonna pull through”. - New Radicals (You Get What You Give).

I picked up the pieces of my grief and successfully finished my summer semester. By the fall of 2018 I had finally purchased a car and began my final full semester at Guilford Tech taking my final math class. I studied every chance I had day and night because math was never my strong suit and by the end of the semester I passed the final exam and passed the class. As all of my classes were finished I went to my faculty coach and obtained my graduation packet, filled it out, turned it in and was ready for May of 2019. By early 2019 I had to take my graduation mini semester course so I could graduate and was done with it by the end of April. During that last week of class I finally went to go pick up my cap and gown because it was time to graduate.

May 9th finally arrived and not a moment too soon. I spent the earlier part of the day at graduation rehearsal which was humorously unorganized. All afternoon and into the evening I spent the rest of the day listening to my internal soundtrack to my graduation that was made up of these songs: “Heroes” by David Bowie, “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross, “All The Stars” by Kendrick Lamar & Sza, “Ain’t Got No Haters” by Ice Cube ft. Too Short, “Everlong” by Foo Fighters and “You Get What You Give” by New Radicals. These songs were my battle cries and victory dances on my road to graduation. As I made my way to the Greensboro coliseum in my car I drove pass the bus stops that I would ride past when I was riding the bus when I first got back in school only a year prior. During that drive I thought to myself, I really have come a long way.

I made it inside the coliseum by 5:30pm where I was surrounded by many of my college classmates and teachers as we all marveled at how fortunate we were to have made it to this point. I couldn’t wait for the commencement to begin. I started thinking about all my favorite celebrity commencement speeches from stars like Denzel Washington, Charlie Day and Chadwick Boseman. Commencement - to begin. This wasn’t the end of my college journey, but the start of a new chapter towards who I was meant to become. As we all walked out to that center stage we were surrounded by thousands. I’m thankful to say many of my own family members and loved ones were there sitting in front and cheering me on. After we were given our commencement speech we all proudly walked across that stage like the stars we were.

“This may be the night that my dreams might let me know, all the stars are closer” - Sza (All The Stars).

As I walked across that stage, a stage that I shared with friends and loved ones I geeked out feeling like every one of my favorite fictional characters from all of my favorite movies and stories. I knew in that moment I was utterly amazing and this day in time belonged to me.

I left that stage with congratulations from all of my teachers who were there with me that helped me along the way, including my English Literature teacher who was the very first teacher I had when I first returned to school in 2018, he helped put me on the path to discovering my passion as a writer. My family members and loved ones also embraced me with congratulations as we celebrated the night away.

“If everything could ever be this real forever, if everything could ever be this good again. The only thing I’ll ever ask of you, you gotta promise not to stop when I say when” - Foo Fighters (Everlong).

Not even a full two weeks after graduating I hit another milestone, I was accepted into the University Of North Carolina in Greensboro where I started my studies in media and now I’m on a mission to be the greatest writer that ever lived.

What is it that I want the reader to take from this story? On my journey to earning my first degree I made a lot of poor decisions that costed me a great deal. I went through alot of heartache along the way and faced some serious uphill battles. Nevertheless I kept going and made it my sole mission to let nothing stop me from achieving my goal. Moral of the story? When you’ve been given a second chance or in my case a one millionth chance after all the stupid choices you’ve made, DO NOT WASTE IT, we only have so much time in this world, so use it wisely. Last but certainly not least, never let pitfalls and setbacks keep you from your dreams and aspirations, because hard times will inevitably come, no exceptions, but how you get back up after life knocks you down is all that matters. Always be a warrior, always be an overcomer, always keep fighting and never surrender to the pressures of life. - Signed, The Graduate.

“Don’t give up, you’ve got a reason to live. Can’t forget, we only get what we give.” - New Radicals (You Get What You Give).