| Bittersweet. That is all that comes to mind when I think of this summer, and bittersweet is quite the understatement. The summer before college is suppose to be the most fulfilling summer of your life, or at least one of them. It’s suppose to be filled with road trips, sleepovers, hangouts in cities, amusement parks and infinite trips to the beach and I can tell you I only did one of the following. My summer was automatically killed when I found out I needed to take a 8 week summer math class, again; and not only did I need to take the class but I could take it at SFSU. Going into the city from where I lived was basically 10 dollars a day on BART PLUS bus fare, I cried about it a lot and when my teacher wouldn’t show up to class when he was ‘sick’ I cried even more. I’ve made a lot of great friends from this class that made the horrid commute worth it and I got to know the campus better and not hate it as much as I used to. The money I had to pour into class restricted me from hanging out a lot and being stuck at home during summer is the most depressing thing ever, but on the rare occasions I got to go out I certainly lived it up. Stress played another factor in my summer, stress from my home life, stress from not getting a job; it seemed all the barriers I broke before were nothing to the titanium gates this summer was throwing at me. Every time it looked like college was out of my reach some sort of blessing always flew my way. One day, after my class I was waiting with my friends for the muni when I got an email from housing; of course I was expecting it to tell me I was 26 on the waitlist for the fourth time or simply that I would have to look somewhere else. To my surprise it was a confirmation email that I would be moving into the dorms on August 21 and at that moment everything fell into place and the iron weights on my shoulders were lifted off. I was finally able to have the first year college experience I always dreamed of. As I count down the days until move in day I can’t help but think back to the college application process, the struggle for scholarships and financial aid; and I’m thankful to have Ed Fund make my college dream a little more possible. It all leaves a bitter sweet taste that I have grown to appreciate. |
