Sentinels of Freedom Graduation Grant Reflection

I want to first say thank you to all that assisted and helped me with the encouragement and the kind words. When I entered the program I had just given birth to my daughter on June 27th of 2016, you offered the commitment of assisting me in my housing and education, I was truly honored to accept the invitation to be an ambassador of Sentinels of Freedom (SOF). The expectation of this non-profit organization that I did not expect was that there was a community of supporters for me being an “Army Combat Veteran” and a single mother to my Son and Daughter, was a challenge but without SOF having my Back, I don’t think I would have accomplished so much.

While the time I held the title and position of being an ambassador of SOF, I had experienced some difficulties for example transitioning from two (2) minute drive to 45 to sometimes 1-hour drive to Holy Names University, I knew that they were behind me and cheering me along the way, with the annual check-ins that I spent talking to Carol Prell and other SOF staff ensured me that I was doing something that would be influential to other veteran students who were pursuing their education. My future plans now that I graduated from Holy Names University with a Bachelors degree in Sociology with an emphasis on “Human Services” is applied to the graduate program at Clark Atlanta University and obtain a Master’s degree under the school of “Social Work” with, a Sociology degree with a concentration of “Families and Children” to ultimately be offered a job position with the Department of Veteran Affairs as a Hud-Vash, employee.

What I learned about myself while being in the SOF program was that with resilience, patience, and dedication, positivity, optimistic, that my Heart will beat patriotism, I made it. My journey of being part of SOF had me endure the growing pains of being an adult student who had a humbled start at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, California, allowing me to transfer to Holy Names University in Oakland, California to prospectively become a student at a Historic Black College University (HBCU), in closing allowing me to say “I can do and will do, anything is possible with a community of believer’s and supporters”. As SOF, has been there for me going back to August 2016 to June 2020.

Thank you all!