Last month, I made the little announcement that I finally graduated college.

Well. It was no small thing. That day was 10 years in the making.

Ten years.

Nearly 10 years prior, to the day, I graduated high school with some great friends:

Graduating senior photos

My bachelor’s degree began in 2012 at the University of Utah. I was newly single, newly employed, and newly moved out. My career plans were pretty straightforward.

• Get a bachelor’s degree in filmmaking
• Get married at 25
• Become a creative director for Pixar
• Maybe have a few kids at some point?

At first, all was according to plan. And then… they only got better. 🙂

Within a short time in college, I met some people who would end up being my absolute best friends:

I also moved into my own apartment with these girls whom I adored:

I also met this funny looking dude in my freshman year. He was also a student at the U of U:

My career plans pivoted pretty quickly though. Unfortunately, my film professor was what the experts would call “a regular old pervert”. He really soured my U of U experience. I left right after that first semester and transferred to LDS Business College.

I took all evening classes at LDSBC. By morning I worked as bank teller for the money and by afternoon I worked as the campus videographer. Still hanging on that dream for Pixar!

Then, another big pivot: Taylor and I decided to get married about a year and a half of meeting. He was 23! I was 19! (Why Taylor was even interested in a fetus like me says a lot more about him than does me.) In hindsight, we really should have waited until after I graduated to tie the knot. Especially when we found out we would be having a honeymoon baby!

Starting a family with no real means of providing for ourselves was immensely difficult.

At first, I sacrificed school to stay at home in my in-law’s basement while Taylor took classes in between shifts working for a plumber. The sacrifice of my college degree felt wrong. To be clear, I didn’t regret becoming a mother! Though motherhood came earlier than expected, it opened my eyes to a glorious world I hadn’t imagined. What felt wrong was choosing between a dedicated mother and becoming educated. Eventually, I figured out that God had a plan for me, and that I had a plan for me, and I was going to get this degree!

Juggling the weight of finishing our two degrees and the care for our precious baby girl was difficult but so worth it. After two years of toughing out the grind (and developing a full-blown anxiety disorder, wheeeee!), I eventually graduated with my associate’s degree in digital media marketing from LDSBC.

Little Archer was right there with me, just a bean in the belly! 🙂

Taylor graduated weeks later with his bachelor’s degree in exercise science!

After graduation, I was hired in video production. The job was a lot of interviewing candidates for videos, scriptwriting, and other little rando jobs that the new kids get to do… like pick up meals and take script notes during rehearsal. I loved every minute of it.

On a work trip, I visited Southern Virginia University and fell in love with the school. My contract with my job was coming to an end and I really, really wanted to have a bachelor’s degree. To my complete shock, I was offered a full-ride scholarship to SVU.

Taylor and I decided SVU was the right choice. We quit our jobs, packed everything that would fit in an SUV, and moved from northern Utah to southern Virginia. (I’m not sure if our mothers ever forgave us for moving their only grandchildren away!) I remember thinking how weird it was to attend classes with all these little freshmen when I was at the very mature age of 25, already married with 2 little kids at home.

lmaoooo. LITTLE DID I KNOW WHAT WAS TO COME.

After 3 full, exhausting semesters, it was time to bring little Sander into the family 🙂 We had been in Virginia for two years but were nowhere close to graduating. Our housing situation was desperate, as well. Walls were punctured with gaping holes and no heating. The roof leaked everywhere. Ticks and giant hornets were a constant battle. Pretty soon, it became apparent we needed to leave for a better life in Utah. My heart was broken. I was so close to graduating, but so far. Strangely, I had nudges in my heart that I would be able to finish at SVU. I didn’t understand how but I held on to hope.

Welp. That hope turned into the pandemic.

COVID, obviously, was a nightmare. I don’t intend to make light of the suffering it caused. However, I am grateful for the remote-learning classes. I re-enrolled at SVU and did some serious sweet talking (begging) to continue remote learning after the school returned to in-person learning. I am SO grateful that the admin and teachers allowed me to do so.

Two years later: the dream finally came true!

Somewhere along the way, my dream to work for Pixar fizzled away. And that’s a good thing. It took ten years to explore different fields and discover my true love (financial literacy) and a flexible career (marketing). One day I’ll merge these two together. But having a bachelor’s degree continues to open doors to different opportunities.

It’s not very humble to say I’m proud of myself, but I am. I’m a first-gen college student and a young mother. I did it during nap times and then during PJ Masks at 10:30 every morning 🙂

There were a lot of sacrifices… I ate poorly, barely helped around the house, and wasn’t as involved in other activities as usual. And that anxiety disorder was in full swing again. However I maintained a good relationship with my family, and with that foundation, I feel that I graduated with few to no regrets.

Thank you, Taylor, for supporting me through all of this.

Thank you, God, for the many chances to complete this education.

And thank you, little Chauntel, for making those dreams into plans.