The Things I Am Grateful for in My Life

As a college student, I am thankful for having the opportunity of being able to continue my education and beyond. At first, I was rejected from my dream college, but rejection means redirection. Though I came to realize we shouldn’t just attend a school just for the title and do what makes yourself comfortable. After high school, I started off at a community college route and transferred to San Jose State University as a sociology major was the best decision I’ve ever made and I don’t regret one bit. It was a rough journey but take every opportunity that is thrown in your way. Oftentimes, the high amount of stress at school sometimes makes us forget that we have the privilege to study. In grade school, you have the chance to study for free but in college, you have to take your studies seriously since you’re paying for your education when you obtain a degree. As a matter of fact, I have learned that using your energy, effort, and your creativity truly pays off at the end if you set your mind into it. In order for that to happen, we need to be realistic with ourselves by setting long term goals. In this case, long term goals help us keep our life well organized in the process. For this reason, education can help us open doors to new opportunities in our lives. As for myself, I am a first-generation college student coming from an immigrant family. To point out, I am extremely thankful for my parent’s effort for taking the time out of their day to support me on a daily basis even when life gets difficult at times. My parents couldn’t attend college in their home country when they were my age at the time because they can’t afford it and had to start working to support their family in their early 20s. Additionally, they’re counting on me to do well in school. In particular, they want me to set a good example for my younger sister by excelling in getting good grades, obtain a degree, and find a job with a bright future. In fact, I want to make my parents proud since they’re the ones who raised me to the person I became today.

Together with the blessings of friends and family, they’re definitely at the top of my list, the ones who were there for me since day one. Despite the long-distance, no matter how busy they’re, we all have each other for support as backbones. As a matter of fact, I am grateful to live in a healthy family household. Family is always a priority since they’re the ones who took care of us since we as children we need them for emotional support and for our mental health. In contrast, I have friends who come from broken families, divorced parents, or didn’t have a healthy relationship with their parents made me realize how lucky that I still have both of my parents truly hits me to understand why people’s personalities act a certain way. At the same time, I came to understand that people come from different backgrounds and cultures. However, I still want to treat them as they’re my second family because that’s what friends are for and you learn and grow together. Growing up, I didn’t have that many friends in grade school because I was often labeled as “strange” or stereotyping me as the “non-smart Asian”. In the past, I’ve dealt with toxic friends, however, friends come and go but its a learning experience and life lessons. The best way to eliminate yourself from a toxic relationship or friendship is to carry on because you deserve to be happier. Letting go toxicity helps you come out as a much stronger version of yourself. From time to time, I didn’t find a stable group of friends until my second year of college but that’s the year when I found myself on who my true friends are so good things generally take time and patience.

In the event of the COVID-19 pandemic, it made me recognize the privileges I have such as having shelter, food & water, and the comfort to do online school from home. On the positive side, their many things I am thankful is having family time bonding, being able to go out into nature, increase creativity time, and restoring ourselves. Next, we should also take this time to work on ourselves, not to mention we will probably never have this time again so cherish what you have the moment while we’re recharging. In quarantine, it gives me the time to pause and reflect on my thoughts by improving my self-esteem. I am also grateful that I still have a job as an essential worker who’s currently working part-time for Amazon as a Whole Foods Shopper in responses to COVID-19. Ever since the pandemic started, it’s heartbreaking to see many jobs going out of business. For one thing, I still want to help out the community by delivering groceries to customers who are in need who are unable to go out during these unprecedented times. Gladly in general, I am relieved to see my friends, family, and including myself are staying healthy and safe.

In the long run, they’re many things I am thankful for in life. Again, being thankful is the feeling of appreciation for the positive things we receive in life. Most importantly, we should give life a chance that there are kindness and positivity in this world. Having an education is a privilege but it can help you gain knowledge in preparation for the real world. To emphasize, always surround yourself with the right people who make you happy. The feeling of having gratitude for our friends and family brings us joy truly makes our life much easier. In reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, we came to realize how much we took things for granted with our normal life. Above all, education, friends & family, and learning about ourselves in a midst of a crisis boosts us to come out as much stronger people including myself.