2200 Silver Lane #302 New Brigthon MN, 55112

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Silvia Montenegro 21840720 250201

2200 Silver Lane #302 New Brigthon MN, 55112

Myname isSilvia, I am31 yearsold andI am originally fromGuatemala, I came to the United States when I was 16 years old. In high school I meet the love of my life and after two years of relationship we got married, I was 19 years old and he was 20 years old, a year after been married we have our first and only child.
Aftera long time withoutattending school, my husband and Idecided it wasa good idea toenroll in collegeand get a degree in early childhoodbecause we have the idea that in the future we can open our own daycare, because since I remember I always wanted to be a preschool teacher. At firstmy familywasvery excited, my mom and sister was thrilled with the idea, and my husband was really proud with my decision, and IfeltI had made thebest decision because my daughter was old enough and independent, and I think that it was the perfect time to do it and make my a dream come true.I've always beenvery organizedand determinedand thoughtit would bevery easy for me to manage all the different platforms in my life.When I told my daughterthe good news she was fascinated withthe ideaof knowing thatnowher momalsowould spendtime doinghomework at night, andshe wasalso very determinate toencouragingandsupporting meto accomplishmy goal. At the beginning everything was working well and maybe because of the excitement that was around me I didn’t felt overwhelmed at all, after a few monthsattending school, I startedto notice thestress and problemsthatthis decisionwas generating not only in me but also in my family. I have afull-timejob in a Spanish immersion preschool, I am a preschool teacher and I also teach Spanish as a second language in the afternoons. My schedule at work was a little bit extended and I usually get home late. My 10-year old daughter always waits for meto do homeworktogether,myhusband has a full time job too, he is the manager of a painting and decorating company and although his schedule is flexiblehe usually don’t get home until dinner time, and that’s one of the reasons why Iam always in chargeof prepare dinner for the three of us. Besides the responsibility of family, work and school I am the one how cleans the house on Saturdays, pay the bills once a month, do laundry every other Tuesday, take my daughter to her dance class on Mondays, do grocery shopping on Thursday, attend meetings at my daughter school,I am in charge to set up doctor’s and dentist appointments for my daughter, myself and husband, I attend church every Wednesday night and Sunday morning and if this is not enough at church I am in charge of the bible study every other Friday. Time flies and I feel like the hours of the day are not enough for me, I am always rushing, always running, always late. When I finally have time for myself I am always super tired and the last thing that I want to do is sit down in front of the computer and do homework, or read my books, sometimes I leave my alarm really early in the mornings so I can do homework while everyone is sleeping but it is really hard to wake up so early when the only thing that I want to do is to keep sleeping. A few months ago I ended up in the hospital because I had a panic attack, I didn’t knew what it was until the doctor came to me and told me what it was, after a few hours in the ER the doctors recommend me to rest and take it easy and they give some prescriptions to control the panic attacks and also the stress, butat that moment in my head all that I could think was: How am I going to rest and take it easy if I have so many things to get done?!

After this situation I have been thinking if been at school it is really worthy, if this was the best decision, if this is the right time, if I was ready for all of this, and sometimes I think that maybe the best decision is to quit school besides I already have a good job and maybe if I don’t continue with school I will not have too much stress.

After the incident in the hospital, and been diagnosed with a panic attack, and dealing with the stress that I was going thru, I took some time off at work and also ask for a break at school. After a week and a half, when I was feeling better my husband and I had a long conversation to discuss why and how I ended up with this health issues and also how he can support me and help me to make this dream come true.If I want to succeed in school we realize that it was time to make some changes and arranges in our schedules, andalso thathe really need it to compromise and help me a little bit more with all my responsibilities, not just by word but by actions.

The first thing that we change was the responsibilities around the house, although I feel that giving responsibilities to the rest of my family wasn’t the better idea I truly need it to let go and start trusting in them even that it was really hard for me . This is how my schedule looks like I am still in charge of is taking my daughter to dance class on Mondays, helping her with homework and attending school meeting. I cook on Sunday night and what I do know is that I cook different dishes for dinner for 3 or 4 days and I refrigerate everything in toper wares so that way when I come home from work I just have to grab the food from the refrigerator put it in the microwave and dinner is ready. I occasionally help with the bible story at church, I am not teaching anymore but I help with the set-up, and also with the refreshments.

My husband is helping me with grocery shopping I just make the list for him and he buys all of it, he also help me with paying bills, we take turns to take our daughter to her doctors or dentist appointments, we clean the house together on Saturdays, and we also do our laundry together, and this whole situation help me a lot because now even my daughter is more involve with the chores around the house, she helps by cleaning her room and she also does her laundry. I still attend church every Sunday but now I only attend twice a month on Wednesdays. One of the hardest decision was to switched my full time job to a part time job , I had the full time job to help my husband to pay school and bills,now I just work as a Spanish teacher and even that we don’t have the same income anymore I can see and feel the difference. My health is getting better, I have more time to do all my responsibilities and I don’t feel frustrated or tired and I fell that the hours of the day are enough for me, I enjoy being with my family, and the best thing is that now I have plenty oftime to do my homework andnow I actually can sit down in front of the computer with the expectative that step by step I am approaching my goal. Today I don’t feel like getting myself into this was a bad idea or a bad decision, now I know that with a good schedule and the support of my family I will succeed, and even that I went thru a hard time I can say that everything happen for a reason, now I realize how important is to have the support and love of my family and that this is not just my dream, is not just my journal, but is also my family’s dream, that I have all of them, that they are here for me, and that everyone it is really proud of me, because they know that I am not going to give up.