I am a R.E.A.L. student. I’ve been confused with professors, graduate students and TAs more often than I can count. I am well over the minimum age of twenty-four and currently one of the oldest R.E.A.L. students. My story is not the same as others in the program, but it is similar. My path back to school was long and hard. My time at Tufts has been a struggle, but it is one I do not regret.
I graduated from Medford High School before many traditional-age students here at Tufts were born. In my senior year, I applied to Tufts but was rejected. I was not a good student in high school. I didn’t know what I wanted to do and some days even now, I still don’t. I enrolled in UMass Amherst because I was “supposed” to go to school. That was not the path I was meant to take.
My first semester was awful. I was put on academic probation even before my second semester. In an attempt to figure out what I wanted to do, I planned on taking a year off to work full-time in retail before returning to school. That did not happen either.
I hated working in retail but I liked the independence of having a job and paying my own way. I left retail and took a chance on a job that would allow me to travel -- I became a flight attendant. I was flying on Sept. 11. I saw the definition of terrorism change. I was about as close as you could get without physically being there. I continued flying for ten more years. I was scared knowing that a terrorist attack could happen on any flight, including my own, but I was seeing the world. I would never have another chance like that again.
Years later, I left the airline and took on an office job, because I wanted something more stable. I interviewed at many places and was turned down time after time. Finally, someone told me that it was because I didn’t have a degree. I needed a degree to get to where I wanted to be.
I went back to school. I attended Bunker Hill Community College full time while also working full time. For two and a half years, I wrote papers at midnight and company policies at noon. After I graduated with my associate's degree, I applied to Tufts on a whim. I never expected to get in. Even if I did, how was I going to afford it? But I was accepted and received financial aid, so I quit my job.
Coming to Tufts was one of the best things that I have ever done. It was also one of the hardest things I have ever done. I went from straight As in community college to hoping I would not fail at Tufts. Somehow, I managed to succeed and I am now completing my final semester here.
It was a long road and a complicated path, but one that was necessary for me to be where I am today. I would never suggest that someone else follow my path, but I will say that it’s never too late for a dream to come true.
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