Mount Wachusett made my dreams come alive. It has brought me many challenges and made me work beyond my comfort zone. It has given me confidence; it has empowered me to go further.
I was brought up in a family of first-generation Italian Americans, where education wasn鈥檛 valued, where dreams were quickly dashed, and encouragement fell short. I was taught that when you finished high school you went to work out of necessity, it didn鈥檛 matter what it was, it was needed to support your family.
As I raised my family, I always thought that there was something more. That bouncing from one bad job to the next wasn鈥檛 my dream. I found myself explaining to my children the importance of education, yet I was missing it myself.
What led me to finally come to Mount Wachusett Community College was the remembrance of a day in 1970, in my family鈥檚 dark basement TV room. I sat there with my dad, or as we kids called him 鈥淭he Old Man.鈥� Every weekend we would watch old westerns or war movies down there with him.
I couldn鈥檛 tell you what we were watching on that day, but it was a conversation that we had that I will never forget.
As the commercial came on and I looked at 鈥淭he Old Man鈥� and I asked him, 鈥淲hat is the worse that could happen?鈥�
My father turned to me and said, 鈥淭he 鈥榃hat ifs鈥�.鈥�
I asked him what he meant, and he replied, 鈥淲hatifIdon鈥檛makeit,whatifIdon鈥檛succeed, what if I don’t see family and friends again?鈥�
The movie came back on, and we sat there together in silence. It wasn鈥檛 until years later that I understood my father鈥檚 鈥淲hat if,鈥� it was a story he told to my little brother.
I never knew a lot of what had happened to my dad when he was in WWII. It wasn鈥檛 until a few days, before he passed away, that he started to really go into detail about his experiences. That is when we learned of this one.
Operation Overlord, D-Day, 鈥淭he day of days鈥�. 聽My dad was only 20 years old, when he jumped into Normandy, France, and right into the middle of a German infantry company. When he hit the ground, he became entangled in his chute. When he became free, he was face to face with a German soldier, who smashed his face in with the butt of his rifle. His buddy killed the soldier. He cut free, grabbed his rifle, and ran straight into hell.
Never once did he question what he was doing. He never talked about the death or destruction he saw. Never talked about the atrocities of the small concentration camp they liberated. My dad didn鈥檛 let his 鈥淲hat ifs鈥� take control of him. He moved forward to get to his objective and ultimately freedom.
My own 鈥淲hat ifs鈥�? 聽What if I went to college? What if I didn鈥檛 listen to others saying I couldn鈥檛 do it? My 鈥渨hat if鈥� stayed with me all my adult life. It was in the back of my mind nagging at me, telling me 鈥淲hat if I went to college?鈥� Finally, I had enough of the 鈥淲hat ifs鈥�.
Once my eldest graduated from college, I realized then that it was now my turn. It was time to follow my dream. And my dream was to further my education. I called Mount Wachusett Community College, met my advisor, and I was on my way. I had met the challenges along the way.
I struggle with hearing loss and learning disabilities. Mount Wachusett gave me the tools that I needed to become a successful student. The Mount gave me the confidence to finish what I had started, to go beyond, and to continue my education. Over the past several months with the support and encouragement from my family and friends, I have a job that I once dreamed of, and I owe that to Mount Wachusett Community College.
My education is giving me the opportunities and confidence to go after what I once thought was unachievable. To make myself proud of how far I have come, not to look back but, to keep looking forward. That climbing a mountain is hard work but if you work hard, you can achieve anything.
Theresa Davis, of Athol, MA is graduating with her associate’s in Business Administration.