The biggest investment a person can make is in oneself. Hello, my name is Michael and I am a 1st year freshman at Southern Adventist University located in Collegedale, TN. Personally, pursuing a quality education has played a life changing role. After graduating high school in 2020, I was faced with two decisions: I could either start working or go to college. The facts where that I did not have money and all my mother could do, being our family's only guardian, was to help me with three-hundred dollars a month. The rest was on me. I remember being faced with this life changing decision, a decision I had to make without experience, without any skills to offer in the workforce and with limited support from my mother. I needed to either find a way to receive an education or hustle as a laborer. Frustration covered my mind as my stress slowly got to me and my depression increased in seeing how big the financial void I needed to cross was in order to receive an education and achieve my dreams. I worked hard that summer. I had no specific motivation and my goals and aspirations where drowned by my living reality. I tried to find meaning as hard as it was to find. I will never forget and cease to be grateful when my current school, Southern Adventist University, reached out to me by email encouraging me to apply and become a part of their institution. I half-heartedly applied before I rushed to work that morning. After a few more process requirements I received an official letter from the university's president stating my official enrollment and acceptance. I will be honest and say that my heart filled with hope. I was still realistic, I did not have the money, I still suffered from depression, and trust issues but there was some hope, an open door. I am the first out of four children to go to college. I don't deserve such blessing of receiving an education of such good quality as I am receiving now at Southern. Nevertheless, I am grateful. I am majoring as a BA in Psychology. Education has opened the doors to opportunities. Opportunities to help people and make a difference in the world. I am still learning and finding my purpose but my interest in dealing with people through crisis counseling will not fade. Through my education I want to become qualified and gain the experience needed to support those who lack the needed support. Through education, I plan to help treat mental illness and give hope to those who think they have lost it. I know that my education at Southern has brought back to life my dreams and aspirations. This is the part that education has played in my life.