So, ever since I got my degree a year ago I never felt like I really deserved it. Since a falling out with my nparents and my moving out (I was staying with them because I was doing post-grad studies), I finally have been able to think through the effect that they were having on me.

I always felt like I was never good enough for the degree. Like I was a fake that had never really earned it. That if I chose to frame it and hang it, it would just be an act of self aggrandisement. I realised that I had lived my life trying to make them happy, and that the pressure that they had put on me is what caused that thinking.

I was so caught up in what they wanted of me that I couldn't even take pride in finishing undergrad. Now after months of therapy and meds, I'm slowly getting there and I'm glad that I took this step. That I now have that reminder on my wall that I can achieve. That I don't have anything to prove to them.