Introduction to your future First Lady (of course I'm marrying in)

Someone once told that college is fifty percent meeting people, and fifty percent partying with those people. The naive high schooler in me might have giggled back then, but in reality, I do not think someone could have told me a more accurate statement about college. First impressions are everything. Some people will tell you they aren't important, but I feel like if someone is telling you that, then really you just made a fool out of yourself and they are trying to make you feel better. I was always taught to present my best self forward, no matter who I was meeting, no matter if it was my arch nemesis or my best friend. My parents always told me to be a transparent person. This doesn't mean spill everything about yourself to everyone, but what you do decide to say, say genuinely. My story is simple and quiet in my eyes, but maybe a little interesting to others. I grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I have my Mom, Dad, and younger brother. And that's it for family, at least thats what I usually say. The rest of my family is a minimum of three thousand miles away from me. My parents immigrated to the United States in 1994 from a tiny little costal country called Croatia, and I was born two years after. I always make the joke that I grew up in a European home in the middle of the American south. My upbringing was the best of both worlds. I spent my school years here, and my summers overseas. I was bilingual before I could even walk. But as a child, I did not notice any of these things. It was just typical life for me. I did not notice my parents heavy accents, or that we ate different types of food for dinner. What I did notice, however, was how hard my parents worked to make something for our little family. I learned from a very young age that if you want anything in this life, you have to work for it on your own. It is when we work towards something on our own that we come to appreciate it that much more. In the eyes of my father, however, before we can do any of these things, we have to be educated. He would always tell my brother and I (and still does) that if we expect anything out of this life, that we have to be educated for it. This mindset brought me to the University of Oklahoma. It kept my support system back in Oklahoma City at a reasonable distance. Frankly, I had no idea what I was getting into when I began university (not that anyone does or should). Everything that I thought I knew was tested, and pushed to limits I did not know existed. While I wish I could sit here and recap my past three years here, there is much of it that I do not remember, other than the most important thing- it built me up to be a stronger, free-willed, open minded, quicker on my feet woman than I ever thought I could be. College throws you into the most unpredictable situations, many of which you feel like there is no solution, but somehow we always get through it. When people ask me about me, I realize this person changes everyday. Everyday I am faced with new challenges, but with my family as my backbone, and my own strength, I always come out a better me.

True Loves