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Feature Story | Tell us your story! |
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 BackBroken Heart, Found Education I started Miami-Dade Community College in the winter of 1996 at the age of 26. I attended for a year and a half. I never completed my education, but looking back now I don't know why I stopped going. I do remember I was happiest going to school and learning. I realized my potential while going to school and, to my surprise, I held a decent grade. I am now 32 years old and have moved away from Miami to a college town, Gainesville. But this is not the reason for me going back to school. I fell in love. Within the first two weeks I moved to this town I met a wonderful, beautiful, successful and, as luck would have it, a well-educated woman. We got along great and spent a good deal of time together. Everything about her was wonderful. We could talk for hours on any subject. As time went by I found myself falling in love with her. Finally, I declared my love for her. As I feared, she didn't respond in same. She stated that she loved me as a friend (God I hate that line) but that she could never see herself with a man who drove trucks for a living, not to mention no education. I was devastated. I remained with her as friends and hoped that maybe she would love me for the good-hearted person I am. Seven months went by and the day I dreaded came. She stated she had achieved all her goals in life and that she must now settle down to raise a family. That she would love to keep me as a friend. We parted on Jan. 31, 2002. A day for some reason I will always remember. As I walked away from her I couldn't help feeling I had lost something I will never find again. I felt a great loss and no direction in my life. I felt I had nothing to offer anyone or even myself. I felt worthless. As the weeks went by and the torment of a broken heart went on I began to look for answers. I had no friends to turn to because from the moment I arrived here I only spent my time with her, not giving me the chance to make new friends. The words she had said to me: "I can't be with a man with no education," continued to ring in my ears for weeks. I then realized I had to go back to school and finish what I had started so many years ago. So I called my old school and had my transcripts sent here. I will begin school in May. And there it was...the feeling I had once before when I was going to school, the pleasure it gave me to learn. All this from the simple act of enrolling in my local college. The idea of going back and making friends and giving my life meaning all came back to me. I am now happy and looking forward to school as an adult student. And to be honest, I'm going for the long run, Ph.D. Looking back now, I know the relationship I was in was never meant to be, plus, I'm a romantic and she was not. I believe love is what matters in a relationship above all, not status or education. But as in all trials in life I have learned a wonderful thing; I was denied acceptance in a woman's heart because of my lack of education. I realize now that if I had been accepted by her I would have settled with my current life and never have gone back to school, only to regret it in the long run. This broken heart led me to follow a dream I once had. WORDS OF WISDOM: If you are an adult and have ever wondered about going, or going back, to college: The simple act of thinking about it is your heart telling you there is more to be done. Julio Zayas (Ph.D.) ------Not yet, but it will come. ©2002 Julio Zayas. |
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Julio Zayas Gainesville, FL Bachelor's Candidate |
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