My parents became doctors yesterday.
“But Steph, I thought your parents only had high school diplomas..“
Well if we’re being technical, my dad doesn’t have a high school diploma. He left school to help his family and had to get the Colombian equivalent of a GRE. What I’m saying is, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐢 𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐢. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐃𝐫. 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐝𝐨 𝐄𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐎, 𝐌𝐏𝐇.
Here’s Why:
– My parents left Colombia with the sole purpose of giving their children a better life. They almost lost their lives in the process, made it with only the clothes on their backs, but somehow never gave up on that dream.
– When my dad was working three jobs and had to come home to lay on the floor because of his debilitating back pain, he didn’t complain once.
– No matter how bad things were financially, my dad promised that as long as I was going to school I wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. 20 years of schooling and not once did he falter.
– Even if they didn’t understand exactly what i was going through in the pursuit of our dreams, they gave me unwavering support. I lost count of all the times they dropped everything they were doing just to see me for an hour, bring me food, or comfort me after a bad exam or anxiety attack.
– With every degree I earned, every interview or audition rotation I obtained, my mom couldn’t wait to go back to work and tell them how “amazing her baby” is or post blurry pictures on Facebook so everyone could see.
𝐒𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝: 𝐁𝐀, 𝐌𝐏𝐇, 𝐃𝐎…. 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌.
Even if this wasn’t the graduation we envisioned, it hits differently when you know everything your parents have done to see their dreams come true through you.
I am eternally proud & grateful.
Thank you for teaching me resilience. Thank you for carrying me this far. Mami y papi, esta es para ustedes. Los amo!! You did it.
-𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝟸.𝟾% 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚘𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚂.