Three Pillars: Pillar No. 1

Robbin Herrera

"If you believe in yourself and work hard toward your goals, then you can accomplish anything."

My parents were divorced by the time that I had turned 1 year old, which left my mother, Robbin Herrera, with the challenging task of raising me. This is not to say that she didn't have a little help from my grandparents, but she worked harder than anyone else just so I could enjoy life and have the things that I needed and wanted. I can honestly say that she was my #1 fan; she always supported me in whatever I chose to do, and she never missed a single sporting event or extracurricular activity in which I participated. I could talk to her about anything, and I could always trust that she could give me the advice I needed to guide me through any difficult situation.

On February 28, 2007, I faced a situation in which I would have to figure out how to solve without my mother's guidance...or so I thought. At the age of 44, my mother passed away due to complications with liver cancer. Being 19 years old and a sophomore at the University of Georgia, I was still learning about life and needed my #1 support system to help me along the way. How could I ever go on without her? I began to reflect a lot about life, and I needed to know what it would take for me to keep pushing forward and to become the person that my mother would want me to become. I had to find a way to look back upon the lessons and values that she had taught me over the years and find a way to apply them to a new phase in my life--a time without her.

No one said life would be easy, and life is definitely not fair either. As individuals, we must find ways to cope with the everyday situations that we face and constantly move in a direction that allows us to become a better person. Throughout life, my mother always challenged me to set high goals for myself and to "be a leader, not a follower." Now, I am trying to be that leader; a leader that demonstrates how positive work ethic leads to achieving one's goals. To honor my mother, I did exactly what she wanted me to do after she passed away—I kept going. I graduated from the University of Georgia in May of 2009 with a B.B.A. in Business Management and a B.S.Ed. in Sport Management. I am now creating my own path to success by starting my very first business, which is known as Athens Inspired. My success this far in life is a result of the confidence and determination that my mother has instilled within me. Because of her, I have the ability to turn any dream into a reality.