You know how you always hear about the students who have great experiences at college? They go to parties or spend time with friends. Yet, what about the difficult stories that may prepare a student or two? Knowing that it is difficult to find stories that show the other side of college, I have decided to shed a little insight on the subject.

The story that I will be telling you about actually occurred during my first semester.This has been a tough semester for me. However, I am still pushing my way through the difficult barriers that try to stop me from achieving my goals in life.

At the end of my senior year in high school, I was taking AP exams for some of my classes. The night before my first AP exam, and most important exam, was a night that changed everything. My mother had left my father that night. It was stressful for me, but I refused to show it in front of anyone. I had difficulty focusing on the exam.

After I graduated, I bought myself a car. I was the one who was paying for my car, my phone, Wi-Fi, college fees and some of the food at the house. Right before the semester started, my car broke down and it needed a completely new motor. I had no way to fix it, and I had no transportation. I was worried and stressed out.

However, I came up with an idea. I would go with my dad to his work every morning. Then, I would drive his car to school. When I was finished with classes for the day, I would drive back to his work. Some days, I would have work right after he was off. So, he would drop me off on the way home.

It was working out at the time, but problems started happening. His car started messing up, and I no longer had a reliable transportation to school. The semester wasn't even half-way over, yet. I did not know what to do to fix this problem. I almost had to drop the semester. It was a last resort option, and I did not want to do that. I was unsure about what I should do at that point.

That was the moment when I contacted the dean of students. I informed him about the issues that I was having. The dean of students helped me get ahold of the director of residence life in order to get me into a dorm. A few days later, I was able to move on to campus.

Now, you would think that my problems were fixed. I did not have to rely on transportation, so what else could happen? I thought that, too. Transportation was just the beginning of my problems. Classes were fine. Spending time with friends was great. The organizations that I were apart of helped me become who I am, now.

Speaking of organizations, moving on to the campus gave me a better perspective of the college life. I joined STAGE. I started going to Gaming Club (HINT! Going to Gaming Club helps relieve stress. You get to play board games and game system games, such as Super Mario Cart.). Also, I applied to become a creator (writer) for the Odyssey. This led me to the position that I am today.

To help cover some of the tuition, I worked at the library during every possible moment that was available. My normal shift was two or three days a week from four in the morning until eight. Sounds like a rough shift, right? Well, I enjoyed the shift. I could watch movies, listen to music, and finish my homework during that time.

Yet, when registration started, my account was put on hold. The fees for room and board were added too late, and I was unaware at the time. I was constantly going back and forth between the bursar's office and the financial aid office. This was a difficult problem for me. Neither of my parents financially supported me in college. So, I was on my own. I did everything that I could think of to take care of the fees.

The school told me that I had to get my account to four hundred dollars before I could register for classes for the next semester. I worked constantly and diligently to get that total down on my own. Three days before the end of finals, I was able to register for classes. There was only one problem. There was still four hundred dollars on my account. I had no idea about how I was going to take care of that.

Finally, a solution occurred, and I was able to get the fees taken care of. My mother's fiancé helped get two hundred dollars off of my account. The last part of it was still tricky. However, my brother helped me out and made sure that I did not have to worry about that problem. He paid the last two hundred dollars on my birthday. This meant that I was able to go to school for the next semester.

What I have told you may sound like a depressing story for the beginning of my college experience. The only thing is I don't agree with that. I loved my first semester at Bellarmine.

If someone gave me a second chance, I would do it all over again. College is tough. Doing things on your own is hard, as well. This is all a part of life. Here's the thing: Everyone faces obstacles in life. If an obstacle does appear, people have two options. They can either give up (take flight), or they can do everything possible to overcome the obstacle (fight). If you want something more than anything else, you will not give up on it.

I want to stay at Bellarmine, and I will continue to fight for what I want.

Is there something that you would not give up on?