I owe so much of my overwhelming success at the
university to you.
Without your encouragement, I never would have even
applied, and without you I never would have learned
about imposter syndrome until it was such an issue
that I would have dropped out.
Even though it's been hard, and I wanted to quit a million
times, your quiet support and always believing
that I could do this has kept me going more times than
I could count.
Especially because people that I've always thought I
could depend on for support weren't there for me on
this journey, you being there has been even more
special to me. I feel like this journey has been ours,
not just mine.
I'm actually the first in my family to go to college.
I grew up with two parents that were immigrants from
Mexico. I knew they couldn't send me to college
with the resources that we had at home,
but they always really emphasized that if you don't know
the answer to something, or if you think you, you know,
can't pursue something, always ask questions,
and it really took some self advocacy.
Just putting in so much effort, and dedication, and work
into everything that I've done,
Sometimes I felt like it wasn't enough, but
looking back on it, I feel like knowing what I know now,
I feel like I did do a lot.
Just reaffirming, like,  the feelings that you are going
through are normal, and they are okay, but
keep going because you are doing great things.
Being successful in college has nothing to do with
intelligence, it has to do with effort,
and if you are willing to put forth the effort, you can
be successful, and to know that as a university and
really as a country we're now taking the time to say
"Wow! What you are doing is hard, and it's
valid, and we support your efforts and we ...
We see you."
There are always people that are making sure that
we succeed, and kind of just ... You've got this.
Trust you've got this.
