After so many years of putting it off I decided to take my exam. I felt my stomach sunk into the floor. Being so nervous of taking the exam, I felt the computer pulling me in and the walls closing in. Sweating in fear, afraid of what the results would be. Afraid of having to go again like a failure of retaking the exam. I knew I was afraid of taking the exam but I had to do it otherwise, I wouldn’t how hard it was I, would I? People are already afraid of taking the exam, “but see, to me, in my opinion, it tells others that at least he has some type of knowledge.”
I hear the notification coming through letting me know the results were in, once I opened the email I was brought back to earth seeing the results. Feeling like I was on top of the world because I was finally able to achieved one of my longest goals. My parents bursted out in tears but tears of happiness, my siblings teasing us saying that we looked like the “Llorona”.
I remember my mother cooking my favorite dish “Enchiladas rojas” to celebrate me, the smell of the spicy red sauce filled the kitchen as soon as the tortilla hit the griddle. I wasn’t able to contain how hungry I was that my stomach growled so loudly everyone around me was able to hear it, jokingly everyone said their stomach was rumbling quietly.
Seeing my family around the table enjoying our food, all because I was able to achieve one of my goals, made me wanna jump around of joy. Knowing that was just the first step for bigger and better things, the world was mine to grab. With my family having my back every step of the way I was ready to achieve anything.
I made one bad decisions when I turned 18, and that one decision made it into a domino effect. I made bad decisions left and right. Being 18, you seem to have no care in the world, thinking you’re young and nothing applies to you, nor can stop you. I skipped a lot during high school, and my bad decision led me to not being able to graduate with my class. I had the option to do summer classes. But again, as a 18 year old, I had a lot of pride, I decided not to do it and concentrate on working. That went downhill pretty fast. I started having car problems, relationship problems, financial problems, every problem you could imagine.
Eventually, everything was too much for me to handle by myself. I left that relationship, went back to my parents, and they motivated me every day to do better and to get my GED. I never saw a need for it then; I had a job, a car, and everything I could need. Many people like me never thought we needed one, and that’s one of the main reasons why the percentage of “No High School Diploma or GED” was so low. How often do GED recipients complete college: “The research also shows that only 1 in 10 GED recipients earn a college degree.”
As I got older, I wanted a better-paying job, but guess what I didn’t have? That’s right, my GED. Another close family member was in the process of taking their GED, and he would make it sound so hard and impossible to pass. He made me want to back out real quick. But I knew that in order of getting a better job, I needed my GED. So I took the first subject, and it felt like a piece of cake. My other family member and I were even having a little friendly competition to see who would get their GED first. A lot of us are looking for better way to fix the mistakes that we made in the past, “the GED is a credential for high school dropouts looking for a second chance.” Most of us who drop out of high school end up taking our GED to be able to go into college so we can better our lives for the future.
Guess who finished first? I did. It truly wasn’t a competition; it was more of a motivation to not give up when it was getting hard, and as a result, we both got our GEDs. My parents couldn’t be happier for me because, as the saying goes, “There’s always light at the end of the tunnel.”
Never in a million years would I have thought that getting that GED was only the beginning. After so many years of getting my GED, I decided to go to college. Knowing that I'm able to do so because I decided to go after my GED. It felt like I had to go through all those hardships in order to be able to enjoy the better things that were to come. Having the courage to take that step of taking my GED gave me another chance to do things better than the first time: “GED is a credential for high school dropouts looking for a second chance.”
Work Cited Page
Sanchez, Claudio. “In Today’s Economy, How Far Can a Ged Take You?” NPR, NPR, 18 Feb. 2012, www.npr.org/2012/02/18/147015513/in-todays-economy-how-far-can-a-ged-take-you.
Diana Carpinteyro is a student at Houston Community College studying in Education.