By Monica Angel, Medical Billing Graduate

I am thankful for the opportunity to speak here today at our graduation ceremony. It is both an honor and a privilege and something that I could have never imagined when I first began my journey as a student at Laurus College.

I want to say thank you to everyone at Laurus College for everything that you have done, not just for me, but for all of us who are here today. I especially want to acknowledge and thank all of the instructors who shared their time, knowledge, and talents with us. They demonstrated over and over again just how much our success mattered.

Additionally, I would like to offer special thank you to Dr. J, because if it had not been for him, I would not be standing here today. Dr. J saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself and without his help and encouragement, I am sure that I would not be graduating here today.

I still remember the time when I was a beverage server and Dr. J said to me “You are so young. Why don’t you go back to school?”

My every day excuse was “I am very busy and I don’t have time. I am a wife, a mom, and I have a full time job.”  But Dr. J never gave up encouraging me to go back to school and one day I decided to stop making excuses and take the opportunity to go back to school and pursue my education.

It was shortly after that day, that I decided to call Laurus College and enroll in school. As you can imagine, I was very nervous as I dialed the number, but from the first person who I spoke with—Mr. Joe Avila—to the instructor of my last class—everyone was friendly and helpful and understanding.

I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to God and my family. I owe so many thanks to my family for being so patient with me these last two years of studies, because without their support, I could not have achieved this goal. Thanks to my husband for washing clothes and cleaning the house, when I was studying and doing my homework. Thanks to my children for understanding that I didn’t get much time to play with them because I had to study and work.

It was not easy, but it was worth all the sacrifices we went through together. I want to thank Jesus Christ for all the many blessings and for giving me the opportunity to be here today with all of my fellow students, family, and friends who are celebrating our graduation.

 Honestly, there were times when I felt that I couldn’t deal with the stress of working until one in the morning and then going home to do homework until 3:30 in the morning and then waking up at 7 in the morning to prepare my children for school and finally, having to be in class from 11 am until 1:30 pm.  And then, I would pick up my children from school and take them to my mother in law’s house, so she could take care of them while my husband and I worked. That was not just something that we did for a day or two, but for two years. It was a very busy and stressful routine for me and my family, and I am betting that it was the same for many of you as you made your way down the road to our graduation. We have achieved our goal that we worked towards for two long years.

We should all be proud of ourselves and know that if we could accomplish this goal, we can accomplish whatever else we put our minds to achieving. This is just the beginning of our dreams, to finding our dream jobs and having a better future for ourselves and our families.

As we go out into the world, let’s promise ourselves that we will stay positive and understand that everything in our lives happens for a reason—even if we can’t see it at the time. Let’s promise ourselves that we won’t ever give up, that we’ll keep fighting for our dreams, and that we’ll keep dreaming big, because dreams really do come true.

Congratulations to all of us and God Bless everyone here today.

Thank you.