College is a majorly time-consuming task, making it even more difficult to manage both school and a family at the same time. Cara Andrade, a graduating senior, said she found her family to be major motivator to drive through her studies.
“I did have my daughter, Jessenia, when I was a junior in high school,” Andrade said. “I was terrified, but she has been my motivation.”
Andrade said that she now has four daughters to take care of.
“It is super challenging getting school work done because their needs come first,”she said. “All of the stress is definitely worth it because, after all, I did this for them!”
According to Andrade, sometimes, children make it hard to concentrate.
Although it can be difficult to part with her children to attend class, they constantly motivate her to finish. She said her family played a great role in helping her finish her degree.
Andrade is graduating with a degree in sociology. It’s a fit, she said, being that she is fascinated by human behavior.
“Sociology really gives you an appreciation for diversity and love for learning about what drives culture, the behaviors within that culture and social change,” Andrade said.
Particularly, Andrade said she likes to learn about the diversity of mankind. Of course, her love of people doesn’t simply stop there. She said she loves hearing about different people’s perspectives when working with them.
The hardest task in college was getting over her fear of failing, she said.
“My journey has been a long one, but one that I am completely satisfied with,” Andrade said. “All of the lectures, essays, projects, speeches, etc. really open your eyes to the world around you and make you realize that it is so complex.”
There have been some difficulties for Andrade in getting her degree, Andrade said. The long hours of studying and sleep deprivation were hard obstacles to overcome, not to mention the difficult course material itself.
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“Some of the concepts can be a harsh reality, and others can be really confusing,” Andrade said.
As for her plans after college, she hopes to work for a few years before going to graduate school. The timing for that depends on her children; that is, she wants to return to school when her youngest daughter is in kindergarten.
In an email to the Lobo, Andrade expressed appreciation for her four daughters, Jessenia, Jisselle, Jeanelle and Jayda, for her being her motivation, to her husband for being her inspiration and to the rest of her family for never giving up on her.
“I did it!” she wrote.
Ariel Lutnesky is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ArielLutnesky.
