Has your whole generation of family members successfully graduated college? I am the only one out of my entire family line that has been active in college and has been on the pathway to graduating. College is so important to me because I think a college degree is a necessity and can change your life. I understand some people do not have the needs to go through college which has been a reoccurring problem in my family. Education is so expensive and some people simply just can not afford it. It would mean the world to me to be the first person in my entire family to graduate college. A college degree would be life changing for me because I want to be successful and happy in my everyday life for as long as I live. I know a college degree will open so many doors for me and create so many opportunities I would not have without one. College paves a way to a successful and happy life in my opinion. The last thing in the world I want to do when I am a “grown up” is to worry about money and have to settle for mediocre jobs because I do not have the education to do what inspires me. I have currently been working at Olive Garden for two years to pay my way through college and I work as much as I need to for my school. I have had to take off some semester because food was more important than school. Neither of my parents have a college education and I have first hand seen the challenges they have faced over the course of my lifetime. My mom is my main inspiration for wanting to graduate college. She works over 60 hours a week sometimes just to make ends meet for my sister and I. She works more and harder than she should because she simply does not have a college degree backing her up. There has been countless times when I was a kid and we had to put groceries back or could not do the fun things we wanted to do because we were financially struggling. My mom always did the best she could but sometimes we did struggle. I do not want my kids to have to go through that. A college education to me would ensure that I would be able to provide a great and stable life for myself and my future kids.