Letters To My Daughters Summary

In the book Letters to My Daughters poet Maya Angelou wrote, “I am a spring leaf trembling in anticipation of full growth” (163). The anticipation Ms. Angelou speaks of is an accurate description of how I feel about becoming a thirty-six year old college freshman. In addition to anticipation; anxiety, self-doubt, and dogged determination are on the list of emotions I am experiencing. In January of 2015, I applied to South Plains College, bringing me one step closer to becoming a Physician’s Assistant. I’ve always believed that earning my degree will afford me opportunities working in a call center could not give me. Providing my children with security, conquering my anxiety related to failure, finding true happiness in my career and are just a few things that hold my hand as I take this leap into higher education. Only when I took the time to slow down, did I realize how much I have excluded my own growth. My mother especially couldn’t understand why I would quit a good job to be a starving college kid. I see their …show more content…
I cope with the anxiety and self-doubt now on a daily basis. This crippling fear is a major contributing factor in my applying to South Plains College. I had to tell myself “You’ll never know if you don’t try.” Over and over Kelly, my fiancée, helped me work through being afraid of a rejection letter when I applied. I took the plunge and by clicking submit I proudly gained the first triumph against my anxiety. Diving head first into my school work is empowering. As the weeks have jetted past, I can see that taking on this challenge of being a college student is helping to make me stronger. Each time a professor post a grade in Blackboard, my heart does a happy little flip flop. Silencing the little demons that say, “You are not smart enough to finish this assignment. It was foolish to waste time and money on school.” In short, daily homework assignments and test have become a warped type of medicine for some of my