This story tells the story of love, loss, and overcoming obstacles in the face of adversity as well as the impact my mom, Audrey Lynn Singerman, had on me. It was December 9th, 2004 when I was sent to school only to be picked up to go home an hour later. My dad came to me and told me, “Sweetheart, Mommy passed away.” I was 11 years old and my Mom had been struggling with kidney cancer the last four years. I begged her to hold on until my bat mitzvah the following year, but it was not in the cards. Losing my mom had a major impact on my life and has completely defined who I am today. There were days when I had been suicidal in junior high school and high school. Without the love and support of my friends and family, I would have not gotten through it. I was involved in the program, Teen Age Grief (TAG), which allowed me to cope with a lot of the loss I had not dealt with. My will to survive was because my mom left me her Brooklyn toughness and stubbornness. After dealing with the trauma of losing her and my friends often coming to me for advice, I discovered sociology and psychology classes at my high school. I fell in love instantly and decided that is what I wanted to do with my life. I applied to Arizona State University (ASU) in 2011 for the Psychology BA program. It was not my dream school at the time, but after my first visit to the campus it became my dream school. Little did I know, grief hits you at the worst times. While I was prepared to go to college, I was not prepared for the coping mechanisms that go with it. There were so many times that being a procrastinator and a perfectionist caused me to become burnt out, which lead to depression. I would lay in my bed crying, thinking about my mom, and how she always wanted me to get the education that she did not have. I felt that I was failing her. My mom dropped out of high school and always wanted me to graduate college. My first attempt in college was more because I was supposed to go, rather than wanting to go. This led to my academic disqualification, leaving with a 1.53 GPA. I did not even try to pass the last one and a half years of school, did not go to class or attempt assignments or exams. This led to failing all my classes. After being academically disqualified, I took four years off school and spent two years in therapy before graduating community college with my AAS in Addictions and Substance Abuse Disorders and my AA in Psychology in 2022. Next, I applied for readmission to ASU in January after a 7.5 year break, where I was accepted. After finishing this semester, I applied for academic renewal and now have a 3.96 GPA. I graduate this December with my BA in Psychology and minor in sociology. After graduating, I will attend graduate school in the marriage and family therapy or forensic psychology program. Originally going to college was for my mom, whereas now it is for me, but is inspired by my mom. Without my mom, I could not have survived all of the adversity I had faced since her loss because she prepared me for it. She raised me to be tough and strong. I miss her every day and she inspires me for anything and everything I do.