When I was about seven years old if anyone would have stopped me and asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have answered the same way that I do now, “A writer.”

I was born in Medford, Ore., in December of 1985. Being raised in a military family, we moved more than the average family.

In my life, I have been to three elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school and, now, two different colleges.

In 1999, my dad retired from the Navy and decided to take a job in Kennesaw, Ga, which was what brought me to Cartersville.

In 2003, after high school and one semester of classes at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., I decided to take a break from school and “live life.”

I got a couple of jobs (because back then I only needed three hours of sleep to survive) and found myself spending money as quickly as I made it and not on anything of real value.

A couple of years of reckless behavior went by, and I met a boy and fell in love. Two kids later, the topic of going back to school may as well have been as far away as the moon.

Shortly after, I became a single mom, and I was finally forced to begin my journey of “growing up.”

It was 2011 when I finally looked at my life and saw that it needed to be something more than what it had become.

I was living at home with my parents and my two little girls and working a job that paid little more than minimum wage. I looked at my daughters, and I decided that I needed to set a better example for them.

I applied for financial aid and quit my job to go back to school.

Georgia Highlands was so close to me, and I had heard many really good things.  After my first semester back in school (a seven year stint), I realized that this is where I needed to be.

I am 28 years old now (29 at the end of the year), and although I’m surrounded by 19 and 20 year olds getting their start on school (and making me feel old), I  have realized that it is never too late to get my degree so that I can be what I have always dreamt of being, a writer.