My phone buzzed in my pocket. An email from the university. I’d been awarded a scholarship for non-traditional students who’d overcome hardship to return to education. Full tuition for next year.
I smiled, put my phone away, and kept walking toward my apartment. Toward my future. Toward a life where I was finally investing in myself instead of someone who didn’t deserve it.
I spent six years building someone else’s dream. Now it was time to build my own. And this time, the foundation was solid.
Because it was built on my own worth, not someone else’s approval. That was enough. That was everything.
