As we all know college can be a really stressful and different time in a person's life filled with struggles, hardship, drama and most of all STRESS. However college has taught and changed me a lot, but when it all comes down to it I wouldn’t have made it to where I am today without the woman who gave me everything, my mom. If anyone reading this knows me, they know that my mom means the world to me and not a day goes by that her and I don’t at least text or talk to each other. My mom has definitely made me the man I am today. So with all that said here’s an open letter to my mom, now that I’m here in college.

Dear Mom,

Where do I start, I guess the first thing I have to say is thank you. Thank you so much for everything you do for me and for everything you’ve done for me. Since before I was born you were making sacrifices that would better my life along with yours, thank you so much for that. Thank you for moving out of Jersey City down to Mercer County, I know moving far from your family was hard for you, but in the end you did it for us, and I can’t thank you enough for that. Thank you for working as hard as you did, to give us the life you do. Without you working as hard as you did, you may not have met my father and I may not be here today. Thank you for everything big and small that you’ve done for me over the years. Without everything you did then we wouldn’t be where we are today. Now that I’m in college I’ve realized how much you’ve taught me and how important those lessons you taught me were.

For starters thank you for giving me a work ethic. From a young age you always made sure there was a value placed on work. Looking up to you, while I was growing up, seeing how hard you worked and hearing all the stories of how hard you worked, inspired me to try and work just as hard as you did, to make a future for myself and my future family. We both know I procrastinate a lot on the little things but when looking at the grand scheme of things, I do have a pretty good work ethic which is really important in college, thank you so much for instilling a good work ethic on me.

Thank you for teaching me to value commitment. College is basically one big commitment, you commit to going to class, joining a club, or going to work. No matter how often I wanted to skip an event, or quit something I was committed to. Thank you so much for teaching me how important commitment is and how much value needs to be behind that.

Thank you for teaching me to love, accept, and help people. Growing up in such a diverse family taught me to love others for who they are. You taught me not to see or judge someone just because of their race. You taught me to see someone for a person for who they are. You showed me what love really means, to accept someone for who they are and not to be superficial. That helped me so much in college, in college there are millions of different types of people that you see everyday people of every, color, shape, and size (especially in a school like Temple) You also taught me how to help people, that life isn't all about you it's about helping others and doing what will best benefit you and others. . Thank you so much for showing me that there is more to a person than what they look like or who they act, it’s who they really are that truly matters.

Last but not least, thank you for teaching me how to be me! Without you I wouldn’t be who I am today. I wouldn’t have that slight Jersey City accent or that North Jersey attitude you gave me. I wouldn’t stand up for myself the way I do without you. I wouldn’t have my awesome curly hair if it wasn’t for you. You taught me to love myself and always be myself no matter what happens. Being yourself is insanely important when you’re at college and in life, because you have to be able to be you to live your life to the fullest. When it all boils down it it I wouldn’t be me without you, thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me and for being the absolute greatest mother a kid could ask for.

Love,