Introduction

   

     Hi, my name is Almendra and I'm majoring in marriage and family studies at BYU-Idaho. I'll be honest to admit that I had no idea that this major even existed until I started college with my husband. On top of that, I had no intention of getting married at a young age either. Most people don't start college as a newlywed freshman couple like we did, but we have made it through almost 2 years of college and marriage together so far. 

    When I was 20, I was at a point in my life where I began to prepare for college and marriage around the same time. The thoughts of college and marriage have always been major stressors in my life that I had never really imagined myself doing. Right before I was born, my parents and older siblings emigrated from Peru to start a new life in the U.S. with their limited resources and education. As I saw my older siblings progress out of high school and start jobs right away, I didn't view college as a priority for my life. Because of that, I had very limited knowledge of what college was and how it worked. I had no idea how to apply for a college and the resources you could use to help pay for tuition (e.g. FAFSA, scholarships). For the majority of my life, I had a skewed vision that college was only for middle-class families because they were the ones that could afford it. 

    Similar to my view of college, I had a negative view of marriage as well. My parents had gotten divorced when I was 14. Before their divorce, I could tell that things were tense between them and they didn't seem very happy. As my siblings got older and started getting married, their relationships began to fall apart as well. From that point, I thought, "What is the point of getting married and having kids if it is just going to be miserable?" The idea of marriage to me seemed more like a burden rather than a blessing, especially the idea of becoming a mother one day.

    While it has only been a few years since I started college and gotten married, my perspective on these two ideas has definitely changed to a more positive viewpoint. However, I still struggle with the idea of being able to finish college and being able to sustain a healthy marriage and family. Even though I had no control over what type of circumstances I would be born into, I still believe that I, and really anyone, can have the ability to change their mindset on anything. While I may seem quiet and shy to most people in person, I will be sharing my raw, blunt thoughts online. The whole purpose of this blog will be to help provide another perspective of marriage and the family to anyone that desires to learn about it and perhaps be able to relate. I know that I am young in marriage with much to learn, I hope that this blog can help benefit anyone in any way.