January, 2012, I enrolled at Nunez Community College, majoring in Industrial Technology. My mother's co-worker had introduced me to the program and advised me of the opportunities in the industrial field including learning a skill with hands-on training while earning an associate degree. Although I have been out of school for over ten years, I was excited and overly confident I would do well and earn my degree within two years. Now, it has been over two years and the great pressures of the college life came as a surprise balancing family, a full time job and the constant fear of failure. Its been a struggle and "I will hang in there ", but I never thought the pressures would be so overwhelming.
Providing a better life for my family is the primary one reason I began to take college classes. However, In the process of working eight hour days and enrolling as a full time student I lost my family. My fiance' cheated and left me for an ex-convict with no job or car someone who could sit home all day like herself and give all the attention she required. The hurt of trying to do right and feel like I lost everything in the process, causing me to withdraw, miss, and fail some classes for not attending. With the help of the Lord I overcame the depression and agony of the pain; I began to explore and enjoy life to the fullest. As life and school began to get back on track, my job started to take a turn for the worst.
Life started looking better for me after realizing my ex was definitely not the one. The pressures of my job at BCCY, a juvenile detention center, were in full force. I was one man with Fourteen teenage boys on an open dorm, responsible for maintaining order at all times. I worked the graveyard shift with a partner who quit due to health issues and was never replaced. Because the high turnover rate the facility was always short of employees; working double shift became very common.