“Life on Legendary Mode”

By: Dallas Jones

I’ve spent years procrastinating on starting college. When I graduated high school I had already spent one unpaid year and one paid year as an intern for a small mortgage company, and that chair at their front desk had already molded perfectly to me. After graduation I planted myself in that comfy chair, and that’s where I stayed for the next two years. It never occurred to me I should be trying to go to school at the same time. I already had my foot in the door of the grown-up working world. So I worked, and I worked, and I worked.

That was eight years ago. Finally I’m here, a college student at long last, college student who also works full-time, college student who not only works full-time, but is also a mother. As a friend so kindly put it the other day, “You’re playing life on Legendary Mode.” The first three weeks of school I felt invincible. Now that week four is closing out, I feel like my body is mostly composed of Red Bull, espresso, and trail mix.

At this point I’ve skipped a class solely because I was tired. I’ve missed an assignment because I didn’t write it down properly. I’ve discovered only on the day that a particular assignment was due that I didn’t even have the proper edition of my textbook and I’ve been using the wrong textbook for the past four weeks. I’ve watched dozens of YouTube videos, and I’m still fairly certain I don’t have a grasp on D2L (though from what I’ve heard, that may never occur.) However, I’ve really been hit hard by something that is said to every generation: you have to fight for what you want.


Every minor obstacle has felt like another sign that I shouldn’t be doing this. Sometimes it’s overwhelmingly discouraging. Especially since it is just my first semester here at Trident Tech, but I know what I want. I’ve known since middle school what I want to do with my life, and I know that the pursuit of my degree is the first major step of accomplishing it. So, I’m going to grab my gear, grab my espresso and trail mix, and keep at it. To any other students out there who are feeling discouraged: keep fighting. You can do this. You are legendary.