If you are reading this, know that each experience tests and teaches us about ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses, our preferences, our needs, and even our essential identities. Circumstances change but know that humans can be resilient as we cope with disappointments and losses and as we recognize our core values. As a first-generation college student, I was devastated when my father died after a short illness during the first semester of my freshman year. It was hard for me to continue my courses and to contemplate how to complete three more years of undergraduate courses. My father was the primary breadwinner in our family, and we were far from rich. At first, I couldn’t figure out how to pay for college without his income and any family savings or contributions. But advice from college administrators and Social Security funds that were at that time provided to surviving dependents attending college helped me stay on track and to graduate on time.
As a graduate student, I struggled financially but supplemented a fellowship that paid tuition and a small stipend by working various waitressing, teaching, and library jobs to pay rent and buy food. I envied those classmates who were able to rely on family support or who had been awarded more financial aid, but I have come to appreciate that teaching and working as a reference assistant in various libraries significantly contributed to my education by enhancing skills that I continue to draw on every day. Even waitressing taught me to listen to customers so that I could meet their expectations for a satisfying dining experience. I learned to care about others’ preferences and to fulfill their expectations as efficiently and as sensitively as I could.
Reaching out to others for help is not always easy for me and I am sometimes befuddled about how to help others, but I continue both practices. I must still work hard to meet household expenses and during the pandemic have followed stringent health guidelines to keep us all safe. I continue to confront each challenge, each disappointment, and each loss by seeking information and relying on or at least hoping for, community support. Recognizing that life is an unpredictable adventure, albeit not always one we choose, inspires me to navigate its many fluctuating circumstances and challenges.
Dr. Colatrella (she/her), Georgia Tech Professor in of Literature & Cultural Studies
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