I am different.

I'm thrilled to report that my master's certificate arrived a few days ago. I still need to attend graduation in January to close out this chapter of my life, but I earned my degree. It means everything to me.

Looking back, I realize the personal sacrifices I had to make to earn my bachelor's and master's degrees were significant. For the past three years I spent countless hours in front of our home computer, typing until my hands hurt and my ass went numb. I gained thirty pounds. I spent thousands of dollars on textbooks and textbook rentals. I was forced to ignore my family to write papers on topics I didn't care about and won't remember. I skipped church services for a year and a half to dedicate Sundays to my coursework. Some weekends I worked ten or twelve straight hours on both Saturday and Sunday with just a few breaks to use the bathroom and eat. I broke down in tears as I toiled through math classes that dredged up memories of absolute failure in middle school. I lugged my laptop and books with me everywhere. I got up at the crack of dawn to work in hotel business centers while on vacation. I remained focused, though there were many distractions and my heart wasn't always in my work. My grandmother - who was so proud that I was earning my graduate degree - died just before my final class. In no way has this journey been an easy one. And now that it's all done, I have tens of thousands in student loans repay.

What did I learn through this experience? For one thing, I have a whole new respect for adults who choose to pursue higher education, especially those with full time jobs and kids. I learned to write for specific audiences and purposes, manage my time, and plan my workload. I already knew I worked well under pressure, but this experience showed how to maintain momentum over longer spans of time. I learned who my true friends were; they're the ones I could count on to understand why I wasn't able to hang out with them on the weekends, but they still asked me anyway. I learned I have no interest in pursuing a doctorate unless it is a) easy, b) pays for itself and/or c) there are really good reasons for me to do so (six figures, for example). I formed alliances with my coworkers. I have a renewed appreciation for my family, who understood mine was a goal I could not achieve without their support. And while my empathy for individuals and causes grew by leaps and bounds, my tolerance for ignorance, laziness, drama, and bullshit disappeared entirely.

I am different.

In closing, I leave you with a series of quotes that helped me get through difficult days and keep my eye on the prize:

"There is no greater education than one that is self-driven."
- Neil deGrasse Tyson

"Education must not simply teach work - it must teach LIFE."
- W.E.B. Du Bois

"In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It's their normal life. But in other parts of the world, we are starving for education... it's like a precious gift. It's like a diamond."
- Malala Yousafzai

"Education is the movement from darkness into light."
- Allan Bloom

"You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward."
- Conrad Hall

"I never lose. I either win or learn."
- Nelson Mandela

"A human being is not attaining [his/her] full heights until [she/he] is educated."
- Horace Mann

"The very spring and root of honesty and virtue lie in good education."
- Plutarch

"Why are fanatics so terrified of girls' education? Because there's no force more powerful to transform a society. The greatest threat to extremism isn't drones firing missiles, but girls reading books."
- Nicholas Kristof

"I know what it feels like to struggle to get the education that you need."
- Michelle Obama

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.