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In the Hero’s Journey, the separation stage represents when the hero leaves parts from their familiar world and are forced to go into an “unknown world”. In my case, I started with this transition when I came to Monterrey and began my life as a university student at Tecnologico de Monterrey. All of my journey had in it just like in “The Hero’s Journey” my known world, my call to adventure, and the guidance of supernatural help. Joseph Campbell explains the “Known World” as where the hero’s starting point is. In here life is described as stable but sometimes seen as boring. My known world was my life in Mexicali at my highschool: Vincent. Everyday was the same routine, with the same people, same events, and most importantly the same environment. I was obviously very happy with my life, friends, family but I sometimes felt like something was missing. I felt this mostly in my Senior year since I had been with the same people in school in the U.S. since first grade. I wanted change, but I have always been a person that's scared of change and prefers feeling stability and nothing uncomfortable rather than growing with change. As I mentioned before, I felt this more than ever in my senior year; here I felt that I wanted something else. This was my motivation that took me to applying to Tecnologico de Monterrey. I was extremely excited but also felt uncertain about my decision. Starting to study for the admission test and doing my essays was the first step I took towards leaving the comfort of my “known world”.

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In the Hero’s Journey the “Call to Adventure” is when the Hero leaves their normal/comfortable world behind. This moment in my case happened August 3, when I arrived to Monterrey. It was a bittersweet moment for me because I obviously cried a lot because I was going to miss my family and the life I had always had. I was filled with fears and doubts but excited to begin this new chapter of my life. Every night that I went to sleep I had the same questions in my head over and over: would I fit in? Would I succeed in school? To finish this, I knew it would be hard but that this step was needed for my growth.

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Now in the stage of  “Supernatural Help” the hero receives some support to guide them through their journey. In my journey, my supernatural help came from my highschool math teacher, Marcial. He always believed in my potential when I doubted myself. He taught and guided me through all of the classes I took with him which were: advanced algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus. Marcial always made sure that I was well prepared for the challenges I was going to face in university. Aside from academics, he also taught me how to believe in my abilities and to embrace change. All of the support he gave me made me have the strength to take that jump and move forward.

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Next the “First Threshold” is when the hero officially leaves their known world and goes to the unknown. As I said before, this happened on August 3 as soon as I boarded the plane. Reality hit me all at once and I cried to my mom multiple times, I had a mix of a million feelings. I was no longer in my comfort zone and was about to become a university student beginning a new adventure.

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The “Initiation Stage” represents the challenges and trials the hero starts to face in his/her journey. In my case, this stage was marked by mentors, tests, temptations, and overcoming a personal mythological creature: the Hydra. As soon as I entered Tecnológico de Monterrey, a series of challenges were brought to me which tested my determination and resilience. These were my academic struggles, financial independence, and time management. For academic struggles, I had to adjust to the teaching style and pace of my professors and their classes. The ones I am finding the most challenging are calculus and physics. I most of the time feel lost in these classes, and this gives me anxiety but most of all makes me question my abilities. Then for time management I had to (and I still have to) balance my classes, social life, and my own personal responsibilities. This up to this day is very difficult for me and I always find myself procrastinating or feeling overwhelmed by the amount of homework I have and what I have to study. Last but not least, for financial independence I had to learn how to manage my money for the first time. I am still learning how to budget while dealing with my other struggles: academic and personal responsibilities. These challenges felt never ending, and overcoming them required for me to develop new skills.

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The Hydra in Greek mythology is a multi-headed serpent that grows two heads for every one that is cut off. The Hydra symbolizes all of my University challenges and each time that I resolved one of these challenges another one would emerge. An example of this would be how when I improved my studying habits, I would struggle with my time management. This mythological creature represents how overwhelming my struggles were because they constantly tested my resilience.

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In the hero's journey, support groups and mentors give the guidance and encouragement that the hero needs to face their trials. In my case my mentors were my close friends and my mother. My mother, in particular, became my anchor and whenever I felt overwhelmed, she always reminded me of my capabilities and encouraged me to keep going no matter how much I was struggling. My close friends also played a very important role because they gave me a lot of love and helped me stay grounded during difficult times with all of the plans that they invited me to, with all of the “get-togethers”, etc.

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The “temptations” in the hero's journey are the distractions that threaten to pull the hero off of their journey. In my case, these so-called temptations include my procrastination, skipping classes, and attending parties when I need to study. While all of these activities gave me a temporary break/relief, they made me feel unproductive and not prepared. The process of learning to resist these Temptations was and still is a very important part of my journey, as it allows me to focus on my goals and to stay committed to my purpose of why I came to Monterrey.

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The “Return Stage” in the Hero’s Journey consists of the hero’s transformation and their integration of the lessons learned during their journey. In this stage, the hero starts reflecting on his/her own growth and starts preparing for future challenges. The way that I defeated the Hydra was by adopting strategies similar to what Hercules did. For my first challenge which was academic struggles, I looked for help through tutoring and online resources like YouTube videos. Next, for my time management, I created a very detailed schedule that put my responsibilities above everything. And last but not least, for my financial challenges, I started taking control of my expenses and creating a budget. All of these strategies help me gaIN control again and overcome what I thought were endless challenges.

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My virtues, or as known in the hero's journey, “super powers”, were adaptability, determination, and resilience. All of these traits allowed me to face my challenges head on and to continue but stronger than ever. My resilience always kept me going even when I felt things were impossible. Next, my adaptability helped me to adjust to new environments, and last but not least my determination made sure that I never gave up even when I thought I couldn't handle anything anymore.

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The final gift in my journey was when I realized my own potential and how I could be independent. Finishing my first semester successfully showed me how capable I was of  overcoming any challenge that was put to me. This confidence that I found is a gift that I will carry with me and will be my motivation for the rest of my journey at  Tecnologico de Monterrey.

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In the Hero’s Journey the “Mastering of Two Worlds” means balancing the lessons that I learned in my past known world with the demands of my current world. I've now learned how to include the stability and values of my old life in Mexicali with the new challenges/opportunities of my university life. This balance which I have recently found, has helped me and allowed me to grow as a person and prepare for all of the challenges that I am going to receive in the future. I am confident that I am no longer the high school student that preferred stability and comfort, and that I now am a transformed individual who is prepared and ready to face whatever comes next.