Being a parent and trying to finish my degree has definitely been challenging. There are so many parental responsibilities that can cut into study and assignment time. I have to remind myself that I am inevitably doing this for my family. I initially started this journey because my oldest son was going away to college and his younger brother ways about to graduate high school. I had always preached to them that getting a college degree was the way to go but I did not have a degree of my own. My wife and I have made a decent life with only high school diplomas but we have both had to work very long and hard. That is not the life I want for my children so I set out to prove to them that a college education was worth the investment. Making the decision, at 45years old, to go back to college was not easy but it will be worth it, even if only to prove to my kids that any one can do it. Now, my oldest son is about to graduate from college and I will be graduating right behind him. I never thought I could work a full time job, be a parent of 5 children and complete my college degree, but I am over half way there. My family is very proud of my accomplishment and I have made the Deans List every semester that I have been in college. Having my degree will allow me to advance my career into management and have less time on-call so that I can continue to coach my youngest son's baseball teams and bring my youngest daughter to gymnastics and dance. I know that they will be happy to be able to spend more time with their dad.