 January of 2012 I was working at Rocky Rococo and was sent home after one and a half hours of my shift due to lack of customers for the day. It finally hit me that I would never get my kids out of public housing or off of government assistance if I did not do something to increase my skills to find a better job. I went straight home that day and to find out more information about going back to school. When I contacted Midstate I was immediately pointed in the right direction and guided through the process. All of the people who helped me were great. I was sold. This was the perfect school for me. When I first came to Midstate I didn't think I was going to do very well. I had in high school I had struggled. My grades were poor all four years. At one point my GPA had dipped to a 0.4 so I just assumed I was going to struggle here as well. I started my education by improving my skills by working with our academic success center. While preparing for the Accuplacer exam I found out my math skills were only at a sixth grade level. My self-esteem was at an all time low but with a lot of hard work and determination I now have the math skills of a freshman in college. I have come a long way since taking this chance at Midstate. I earned a 4.0 last semester and I am hoping to do the same this semester. More importantly the MSTC staff has instilled in me the confidence to give this speech and complete my degree in business management.