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A year ago, I graduated from the University of Missouri. 

And honestly, what I remember most about graduation day was wanting it to be over. 

Not because I wasn’t proud, 

but because by the time I crossed the stage, I was exhausted. 

Originally, I didn’t even want to walk the stage. 

If it were entirely up to me, I probably wouldn’t have crossed the stage at all. I mostly did it for my family, for the expectations that had followed me through most of my academic life. 

And by graduation, I was tired of expectations. 

Tired of timelines. 

Tired of feeling like adulthood was something everyone else seemed to understand better than I did. 

There was also a quiet pressure I carried for years: 

I didn’t want my younger sister to graduate before me. 

She’s four years younger than I am, and somehow that became my motivation, even if it was fueled more by stubbornness than inspiration. 

I graduated one semester before her.  I flew to Texas for her graduation in December last year. 

And while that sounds small, at the time it felt enormous. 

Because my path through college never looked the way I thought it would.

 

One of the hardest decisions I made early on was choosing not to go to college under someone else’s rules, including dormitories. 

I moved out of my childhood home, even though it meant giving up free rent, and decided to work while going to school. 

At the time, it felt important to prove something to myself. 

That whatever education I earned would be because of me. 

Not because someone handed it to me. 

And that decision changed everything. 

It made college harder. 

There were gaps in my education, periods where I genuinely didn’t know if I would finish, and moments where I lacked the support system I needed. 

But it also made the experience feel earned differently. 

What kept me going wasn’t perfection. 

It was proving wrong the people who quietly assumed I wouldn’t finish because I left home and chose a harder path. 

Graduating at 26 never made me feel behind academically. 

Part of why my degree took longer was simple: 

I didn’t know what I wanted. 

And no one really talks about how overwhelming that feels when you’re told to decide your future so young. 

I started with an Associate’s degree in Business Administration before eventually earning my Bachelor’s degree in Communication. 

Not because I was lost. 

But because I genuinely enjoyed too many things, it was hard to choose. 

And I think a lot more students feel that way than people admit. 

Mizzou became more than just a university to me. 

It became a second chance. 

I honestly didn’t think I would get accepted into a major state school. When I first applied, I was denied because of my GPA. 

But the university allowed me to submit an appeal letter. 

So I did. 

And somehow, that appeal letter changed my life. 

Because I got in. 

And over time, the same university I once thought I wasn’t good enough for became a place where I found confidence in myself academically and personally. 

During my time at Mizzou, I was awarded the Department of Curators Scholarship through the Department of Communications, which felt especially meaningful given how my journey there began. I was also inducted into the Lambda Pi Eta Honor Fraternity, a Communications Honor Society Chapter at Mizzou, where I later served as an officer during my senior year. 

Because for a long time, I doubted whether I even belonged at a university like Mizzou in the first place. 

And despite being an online student, I found something I never expected: 

Community. 

The esports clubs at Mizzou, especially the League of Legends, VALORANT, and Overwatch clubs, made university feel like a real university experience. 

The competitions, leadership opportunities, friendships, and support from previous club presidents gave me something I didn’t realize I needed. 

Confidence.
Especially as someone who assumed being online would prevent me from fully participating in campus life. 

Instead, I became deeply involved in it. 

I became the first online student to serve as president of a club, an officer in a club, and an officer in an honor society at Mizzou. 

And for me, that mattered because it challenged the idea that online students are disconnected from campus involvement or leadership opportunities. 

Some of the most meaningful experiences I had in college came from communities I almost convinced myself I wouldn’t fit into. 

Now, one year after graduating, life still doesn’t look exactly how I imagined it would. 

I’m still working at the same job I had when I graduated. 

But I haven’t stopped growing either. 

Since graduating, I started my MBA at Western Governors University, where I now have only 10 credits left. 

I completed a contract internship through HubSpot and HubSpot Academy, gaining hands-on experience in marketing and digital media with real companies. 

And I’ve continued pushing myself creatively through the articles I write and the projects I pursue. 

So maybe success after graduation doesn’t always look dramatic. 

Maybe sometimes it looks like continuing. 

Continuing to learn. 

Continuing to build. 

Continuing to figure yourself out.