Career Goals

Early in my youth, I thought I was worthless. I had no mentors or guidance from my family or my school. I can remember the only time I met my high school guidance counselor in my senior year. It was a five-minute meeting where she asked me, “Are you enrolled to go to college anywhere?” My reply was, “No, I cannot afford to go away to college.” She told me to have a nice day, which was the end of our conversation.

After graduating high school, I reluctantly applied to Indian River Community College and tried some courses to become a paralegal. I really disliked these courses and did not try very hard. It, unfortunately, was reflected in the grades that I received and quite frankly deserved. I then tried to go back to night school with encouragement from a high school friend, where I still achieved only mediocre grades. I did not yet know what I wanted to do in life, nor did I have the money to continue attending school. One might say it was not my time to thrive!

I traveled 9,000 miles away from my home in Florida to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This was such an adventure as, in the early 90s, no one had ever heard of the place. I got to experience so much beautiful culture, diversity, and a new way of life. I had a daughter while living there and enjoyed five fantastic years abroad. I moved back to Florida after successfully constructing three of the first golf courses in Dubai.

Every parent says this, but I have two exceptional children. As adults, they recognized that I felt unfulfilled in my academic career. They often tried to encourage me to obtain my collegiate goals. When my son graduated via zoom because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we witnessed an elderly gentleman graduating from Florida. My daughter said, “Okay, mom, it is your turn now!". I took one online class to evaluate if I had the discipline to handle the “online” structure, and I loved it.

I look forward to completing my bachelor's degree in Education Science at the University of Florida. I would love to become a guidance counselor in the next five to ten years. I understand that children and teens need a lot of counseling and advice. My vision is to help young adults facilitate a college degree if they are ready to discover and understand what could be holding them back from success. Not every child is prepared for college but may be ready for a vocational school. I know that there are ways for students to get scholarships for both college and vocational schools. I do not want any teenager to feel as I did and not have any encouragement or direction. I know I am ready now to triumph and continue with my desire to graduate from the University of Florida with a degree in educational science.