Ever since the 4th grade, I wanted to be a musician. Even though I was wearing hearing aids, I believed I could overcome my difficulties and be the best music performer ever! By college, I realized that following my dream with my hearing was impossible. I was faced with no longer having a dream and couldn’t find anything that grabbed my attention.
The turning point came years later when my husband and I decided to buy a house. The night we put our first offer in, the Carr fire exploded. My husband and I decided to put off buying a home and instead invest in my schooling. In my first semester at Shasta College, I had to take English, Precalculus, and Social Psychology. Sometimes life changes with a single click. It was in Precalculus that life just clicked. Kevin Fox, my math teacher, was instrumental in me switching my major to mathematics. He absolutely loved math, and you could see it shine through in his classes.
Last fall, I needed an extra class to fill out my schedule. My classmate was taking tennis and suggested it, so I joined. The coach, Heidi Lee, helped me improve my game from non-existent to relatively capable and convinced me to join the tennis team. Being 40, out of shape, and playing against kids in their prime, I did pretty well. I only lost one game the whole season while being undefeated for the rest!
I now tutor math, play on the tennis team, drive for Uber and Lyft, have been on the Dean’s List three semesters in a row, and am present for my family. Shasta College gave me a chance to restart my life and change my path. Without the courage to go back and start again, even at this stage in my life, I would not be the happiest I have been in years.
Andrea
Shasta College Knight