Being a parent has affected my journey through higher education immensely. I became a parent at the age of twenty and at that time decided I wanted to go into the nursing field. This is something that would not only provide for my son and I, but would also give me a sense of career fulfillment. It took me almost double the average time to complete my prerequisites due to my need to work full time and now having a young child. Once I completed the necessary classes, I applied to a few programs and felt lost when I was not accepted into the programs I had applied to. I was so discouraged and felt that this was the end of the road, so I decided to change directions and pursue a higher degree in business administration. I graduated with my Bachelor's Degree and began working in an office, but found myself becoming increasingly unfulfilled. I entertained the idea of going back to school for nursing and to my surprise, I was accepted this time around. I t is still a challenge to manage my time efficiently, but feel that I'm doing well figuring it out. I plan on using my license in order to work in a hospital and eventually get into medical aesthetics which will be able to provide for myself and my child at this time and in the future. Going forward, I know that nursing presents an endless amount of opportunities which I plan to explore throughout my career. Besides the monetary aspect nursing provides, I feel that it also allows me opportunities to give back to the communities around me. I feel that this will provide the example to my own child so that he draws inspiration from that with the hope that he will continue to give back in the future.