By Behind every success story, there’s someone who made it possible. Someone who gave up something so someone else could gain everything.
For me, those people who stood behind me – supporting, encouraging and motivating – were my mom and stepdad. My life is stitched together by the quiet, often unnoticed choices they made – choices that cost them more than I ever understood at the time.
I was only a year old when my mom, just 20, signed the papers for her first home. It wasn’t fancy. The carpet was worn, and the heater made weird noises in the winter. It was just me and my mom, celebrating the ups and surviving the downs – together.
Mom worked double shifts to afford the house, food and bills. She came home with tired eyes, all the while navigating a difficult relationship with my father who was no longer living with us. At the time, I could not see those clouds; she vowed to shelter me from her silent struggles.
Years later, I came to understand just how much of herself she gave up so I could chase my dreams.
In time, she found love again with my stepdad, while my biological dad, accepting that he and my mom weren’t meant to be together, found his own path but remained part of my life.
Mom poured countless hours and dollars into my sports, giving up personal luxuries so I could play.
She was the proverbial soccer mom: driving me 30 minutes to practice and 30 back. Then devoting entire weekends to traveling, covering hotel costs and making sure I could join team dinners.
Even when money was tight, she found a way.
I didn’t notice those sacrifices then.
I can see them now.
I asked her why she did all of those things for me.
“It was never about what I had to give up,” mom said, reflecting back. “It was about what I got to give you and I found joy in that.”
My stepdad came into our lives when I was 5. He wasn’t loud about it, didn’t try to win me over with gifts or grand gestures. He was the one who taught me the basics of life: how to shake a hand properly, how to change a tire, how to treat a woman, and all those little lessons that shape a person.
He was working full-time, juggling a career change and pursuing an online degree, yet still found time to come to my games and help with a school project that made no sense to either of us.
I remember more than a few of my classic dinner table meltdowns. I’d be in tears, convinced the math problem was written in ancient code, while he sat beside me, trying his best to convince me otherwise.
Honestly, just keeping a straight face while I declared the assignment impossible might’ve been the biggest sacrifice of all.
Choosing to show up for a child who isn’t yours by blood is a quiet kind of courage. It’s not flashy, not expected, but deeply meaningful.
He never made a show of it, never asked for credit, but he was always there. In the big moments and the small ones, he stood beside me—not because he had to, but because he wanted to.
That choice, repeated day after day, was his greatest gift.
It’s easy to overlook the quiet sacrifices our parents and guardians make. They don’t always come with dramatic speeches or grand gestures.
Sometimes, those sacrifices are as simple as staying up late to help with homework. Whether it’s time, or money, our parents set aside their own desires to afford ours.
They carry burdens so we never have to feel that weight.
Those are the sacrifices that shape us the most.
I know I’m not alone in this.
Behind every student walking across this campus, there’s a story of sacrifice. We often take pride in our successes, but the truth is, they are shared victories – built on the quiet, unseen sacrifices of those who believed in us.
It’s easy to overlook these sacrifices when they are given freely, without expectation of thanks.
But those sacrifices matter. They shape us. They make our success possible.
To my family and all the other families quietly supporting all of us: your sacrifices are neitherot unnoticed, nor unappreciated. Your sacrifices live inside every degree earned, every dream pursued.
And for that, every student who walks these halls is grateful.
As for me, I’m more aware than ever of the small, unnoticed choices that shaped my life.
My mom coming home late after long shifts, but finding the energy to care for me.
My step-dad sitting beside me through frustrating math problems.
My mom and my step dad are the quiet strength behind every step I take, every goal I reach.
I stand on their shoulders.
I am grateful.
