“Why is she 25 and in college?”

First of all, I’m 27 and I didn’t know pursuing your first bachelor’s degree had an age limit.

I am not your traditional aged college student and that is okay, until you get someone, or in my case, people behind my back, say it is not.

I graduated from Northridge Academy High School about nine years ago, in 2015. Although I would not go to my 10 year reunion if we had one, high school was memorable. It was full of the good and the bad; basketball was the good for me.

My love for sports began when I was just 4 years old and my parents signed me up to play basketball at Valley Plaza Recreation Center in North Hollywood. I was so excited because my team name was the Lakers and I was number 32, like the great Magic Johnson.

I played many sports as a child, but basketball was my heart and soul. I managed to make the girls varsity basketball team in high school and played all four years, winning MVP from my sophomore to senior year.

During my senior year, I applied to CSUN in hopes of getting accepted into their kinesiology program. I wanted to become a sports physiotherapist and be surrounded by what I love: sports. A few months later I received the big white envelope in the mail and officially became a Matador.

After my freshman year, I came to the conclusion that I did not want to pursue anything in the medical field, so I took a semester off to determine what I truly wanted to study. However, after the semester passed, I didn’t go back. Mainly because I didn’t want to waste my time and money going back to a university when I didn’t know what I wanted to do.

I worked full time for a while and then 2020 happened: my idol, Kobe Bryant, passed away and a pandemic took over the world.

During the lockdown, I thought long and hard about my life. I decided to go back to school, so I applied to College of the Canyons (COC). By that time, I was 23 years old, the age I was ‘supposed’ to have my bachelor’s degree and be working in my chosen field.

I decided to pursue a career in journalism because I enjoy writing and English had always been my favorite subject throughout my grade school. I also love sports, so I decided to combine the two and become a sports journalist.

I signed up for journalism classes and I felt like I belonged, like I was going down the right path. I was at COC for three semesters and I finished with straight A’s and a 4.0 GPA. I had never academically succeeded in that way before, but I continue to do so here at CSUN. It may not be a flawless 4.0, but I have managed to be on the dean’s list every semester since I transferred.

Everybody’s journey is different. There is nothing bad about being a 27-year-old in college pursuing a degree. Education is not restricted by age.