Weekly Summer Link Up

Mondays now include two link ups...the Weekly Summer Link Up and the TPT Seller Challenge.  This week for the Weekly Summer Link Up hosted by I Heart Grade 3...the topic is: One Item That Means the World to Me.

My one item that means the world to me is my college diploma from MSSU.

I worked so hard throughout school to get where I am.  I graduated in December 2011 Cum Laude with my degree in Elementary Education - Early Childhood (of course my emphasis is Early Childhood and I have the extra semester it shows for it...but they told me they don't put the emphasis on the diploma. Boo).

My dad had gone to college and graduated and is now an architect.  My mom wanted to be a teacher and got a few semesters in and realized she couldn't afford it all on her own.  None of my grandparents had gone to college.  Many of my older cousins got degrees.

I'd say more than 1/2 of the girls I went to high school with started college and then eventually stopped due to a boyfriend who convinced them otherwise, having a child, money problems, or just life happening.  I worked at the Y after school program, did classes in the mornings, and kept my focus strong.  I have always been focused on my goals when I set them.  College was no different.  

I have my diploma framed and hanging in my classroom by my desk.  In a couple of years I'll have my master's degree diploma below it.  :)

I believe education is something that you can't have taken away from you.  You can have all your material items taken away...but no one can take away your knowledge.  

My little brother Hank and I at my graduation.  In 3 years Hank will graduate from the University of Arkansas with his degree in architecture!