Decisions of a Reflective Woman
Finding Your Own Path: How I Reclaimed My Dreams and Earned My Degree on My Terms
During the pandemic, we were forced to sit with ourselves.
We were forced to reflect. We were forced to confront our discomfort and reevaluate our lives in ways we never had before.
It was during this time that I decided it was finally time for me to return to school and pursue my passion for learning.
I had spent most of my life working toward goals, but truthfully, many of those goals were not mine. They were goals and dreams that others had influenced me to pursue. But something inside me wanted to finally make a decision for myself—and see it through.
In all transparency, I had to ask myself:
What would make this time different?
I had attempted higher education several times before, but each attempt came with its own unique challenges—from struggling to get financial aid processed to navigating an unplanned pregnancy, caring for loved ones experiencing declining health, raising a child, and working full-time on Chicago's South Side.
Coming from the inner city, survival often came before self-discovery, and ambition sometimes felt secondary to responsibility. At times, it seemed that every time I tried to move forward, life demanded something else from me first. Somewhere along the way, my goals kept getting pushed aside while I focused on surviving and showing up for everyone else.
That's when I realized the only way this journey would work was if I did it on my terms.
I felt like I needed to do something that would change my life forever. I needed to commit to something for myself. I needed to prove to myself that I could see something through.
So I made the decision to return to school and complete my bachelor's degree as a single parent while working full-time. It was finally time to bet on myself.
This time felt different because I knew myself better. After trying multiple times without succeeding, I finally understood the level of discipline, sacrifice, and consistency it would take. I also believed the maturity I had gained through life's experiences would help me remain focused and committed.
I quietly set a personal goal to complete my degree before turning 30. I never shared that goal publicly. I carried it privately and worked toward it one class at a time.
I also changed majors.
I no longer wanted to pursue the path other people thought I should follow. I wanted to pursue what I genuinely felt called to do.
And after nearly two years of balancing part-time classes, motherhood, work, and life, I walked across the stage with my son and my aunt in the audience.
In that moment, I became the first college graduate among my siblings and my grandmother's first grandchild to earn a degree.
Although my grandmother was no longer physically present, I could hear her words echoing in my spirit, almost as though they were guiding me and reassuring me that everything meant for me would be mine in its own time.
In the irony of it all, everyone was proud of me for finally living up to my potential—the same potential I had spent years trying to discover for myself.
Despite the challenges.
Despite the adversity.
Despite the people who told me I was taking on too much.
Despite the people who were skeptical of my passions.
I did it.
And the most important part was this:
I did it for me.
It was in that moment that I realized if I could accomplish this under those circumstances, I could accomplish anything with the right mindset, discipline, and belief in myself.
I was finally able to see in myself what others had seen in me all along.
Anedria S. Pritchett
