Perseverance

My name is Leobianny Hilario and I am stubborn. Despite what anyone tells me to do, I always do what I think is best. I am a Latina born and raised in Brooklyn, New York so perhaps I just have stubbornness running through my blood. I am a sophomore, here at the University at Albany and am pursing a double major in the field of English and Communications. This semester, I want to focus on perseverance  – on being  stubborn.

My hardworking parents, all though they mean well, are the smothering type whom have tried to unfeasibly save me from the world we live in. I lived most of my adolescent life in a bubble and had to learn about the unfairness of life by myself and yes, it was a slow and embarrassing process. I am the oldest of three and first generation which means that I had no one to guide me in any direction. This is partially the reason I am stubborn to begin with. Learning to guide yourself through the hardships of living in an impoverished neighborhood, and having the added pressure of being the symbol of your family’s success is difficult and requires you to make a lot of decisions you think are best, whether they turn out to be or not.

So when my family rejected the idea of my moving away to Albany for higher education, I stubbornly went through with my plans anyways. When my friends questioned my choice of major and “advised” me to choose a different path, I stayed firm in my decision to pursue an English degree. Why? Because I believed in myself. Sure I had my doubts and it was the scariest decision I had ever made at the time, but I knew that my wonderfully crowded neighborhood wasn’t where I needed to be. I wanted to experience something new and live on my own, I wanted to prove my parents wrong and show them that I could survive without them, and I wanted to be an example for my siblings. I was out on a mission with something to prove. I was proving to my extended family that going away for college is a not a bad thing, I was showing my siblings to be independent, most importantly, I was proving myself wrong. All the voices in my head that said that I couldn’t do it, that going away was a mistake, that I should study something more practical.

I’ll be honest, my first semester didn’t go as planned. But that tends to happen in my life (Ha!). I struggled with acclimating to this new environment/campus life and balancing the new found freedom and responsibilities. However, I found that with time and the support of my friends things started to fall into their place, and of course I had to put in hard work.

Through this blog series and interactive workshops I will be doing with Project MyStory, I hope to promote higher self-esteem and create a new level of confidence among UAlbany students who may be too self-critical or doubtful of themselves and their work. Everyone
has those moments where they feel down and hopeless, but the overall goal of my blogs and workshops will be to offer optimism and confidence on a plate because everything we do in life revolves around our outlook on life and self.

I know I am not the only one who’s been through hardships and self-doubt hopefully, sharing my story will help others feel confident in their decisions. My piece of advice to you is to be stubborn! Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t be what you set out to be, be stubborn and do it anyways, don’t worry I believe in you.

Please Note: The views of our student bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the UAlbany Advisement Services Center. These are their stories and their voices.

About the Author:

Leobianny H.
Class of 2019
Majors: English & Communication
Past Workshop & Blog Theme:
Embracing the Uncomfortable
Current Blog Theme:
Perseverance