Fighting for the "American Dream" + $50 Visa Gift Card

Do you ever sit down and think about your story?  You know, the one that got you to where you are today. What led up to now. What brought you here. What path did you take and what challenges did you face in order to get here?

I do.

I think about this a lot, and I think about how I could have very well been in a different place in my life had I not chased my dreams, fought for my future, and made sacrifices along the way. It's important for us to appreciate challenges, as hard as they seem at times. I believe that not having an easy road makes us stronger at times. I know it does for me. I learned to appreciate things more, love my family more, and desire more with each day that passes.

But it took me a while to get there.
To get to here.
To get to my dream of having a family, owning a home, and be in a career that I am so proud of.

You see, we moved here at a young age. Where is here? The United States. From Russia. Belarus to be exact. Although most people don't know what Belarus is, so often times I say Russia. It's a country that split from Russia.

I was 7. Turning 7 in a couple weeks actually. I was scared. I knew no one aside from my parents, brother, and grandparents. I didn't know the language. I didn't recognize the things around me, and I was faced with a brand new start. A clean slate. One that would prove to be very difficult at times.

My parents didn't have money. Hardly any. They worked multiple jobs in restaurants, pizza delivery, and any other place you can think of that would hire someone that knew barely any English. I'm being generous here with "barely"... close to none. But watching them work 16+ hours a day, barely making ends meet, and somehow still getting food on the table, clothes on our back, an apartment to live in {later a home}, cars to drive, and a Christmas present each during the holiday, was all it took for me to realize that I wanted to prove to them that this was worth it. This?

Us moving here. Them sacrificing everything they knew and family that they loved just to provide a better future for us.

I worked hard in school. I didn't have the luxury of parents helping with homework as they were often working or didn't even understand the assignment given to me.  I got straight A's the first two years of high school, a few B's toward the end, and graduated in the top 10% of my class with a 3.875. I got into one of the best nursing schools in the state at Purdue University, and I was proud. They were proud.

And then I blew it. Then I became a "big" girl, all on my own, and I blew it.

I partied too hard, my priorities were in all the wrong places, and my "friends" were not the friends that I needed to surround myself by.

I knew this how? Because I came home from my first semester of college with a 1.75 gpa.

My parents were disappointed. They didn't even yell. They had no words. And at that moment, I don't even think they knew who I was. These parents that fought so hard for our future, and here I was blowing it all away. Not to mention, blowing away the money that my dad had taken out a loan for just so I could go to college. The money that I knew he just didn't have.

That was that. My parents told me they would not be paying for my school and I had to figure it out.

That was my wake up call. The look on my parents faces, the 1.75 staring at me, the "future" that I could see that very moment was not the future that I envisioned for myself.

I quit my sorority, I let go of the "friends" I no longer needed, and I buried myself into books and kicking my rear so that I could graduate on time, bring up my gpa, and make my parents proud again. More importantly, reach that dream of mine in finishing what I started.

I did. I graduated with a 3.4, passed my nursing boards, and just this past May celebrated 5 years as a registered nurse.

So as I sit here and reflect on my dreams, on my past, and the decisions that I made, I realize that things in life may not come easy, that challenges will always be among us, but it is what we decide to do with those bumps in the road that make us who we are today.

Stronger, wiser, and accomplished.

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Following your dreams and never giving up is something I want to pass along to our kids. I will share them my story that lead me to the live that we live today. I want them to always know the importance of perseverance. So together, as a family, we watched the Monster's University together with a bowl of popcorn in hand. It brought back my own University memories. Great news is you can own it first on Digital HD 10/8 & Blu-ray™ Combo Pack 10/29.

GIVEAWAY

1. Win a $50 visa gift card+ a Monsters University Blu Ray Combo Pack.

2. Comment below: All you have to do to enter is answer this question : "How did you believe in yourself and achieve your Dream?”

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “”#SweepstakesEntry”"; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post”
c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 10/3/13 – 11/3/13.
Be sure to visit the Monsters University Page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!