A Defining Moment

About a month ago I received my degree in the mail. When I opened it I just sat down and stared at it for a minute. I remembered thinking to myself, "Is this it? Is this what defines you?" It made me proud but angry at the same time because yes, this is what society says makes you better than others and more worthy to have a better job than others. At that moment, the past two years of my life just kind of flashed before my eyes and I was remembering all the hard work and sacrifice that my family and I had gone through including all the bullshit, and all I had to show for it was a stupid piece of paper that says yes you are worthy of doing your job? I didn't seem to feel satisfied. I busted my ass for two years! I was pretty much gone from my family every night, I worked for free at hospitals for 6 months, I studied every weekend, I barely saw my husband and kids and I was the one in the beginning convincing them that this would make our life better in the long run? After about a year into it, it didn't seem very convincing anymore. I saw my life changing before my eyes and in my heart I wasn't happy. I was falling apart. But I had invested so much into this already that there was no turning back now. I had to suck it up and keep moving forward. So I guess you could imagine how I felt when I received my piece of paper in the mail, the paper that was suppose to make all of this worth it. In fact it just didn't seem worth it at all. I felt that the past 2 years of my life was done in vein. My mind completely changed on Monday 11/16/08. I got the call I had been envisioning exactly 2 years ago in my head. I was offered a job at Banner Desert Medical Center working in the pediatrics department! I was so happy I cried because I knew what a blessing it was for me to be able to have that job. At that moment I knew exactly what all my hard work and sacrifice was for. To be able to have the opportunity to contribute to my community in a noble way, to be able to say to my kids, "You can do anything if you work hard and believe in yourself." And to be able to help give that financial support that only my husband has provided all these years for us and being able to say to him, "Go ahead and take the day off tomorrow since you drank like a fish watching your football game tonight." That makes it worth it lol. In the end, I believe that only we can truly define ourselves. Although society does want that "piece of paper".....anyone can get that "piece of paper." Its how you live your life once you get it that really counts.