Wednesday, May 18, 2011

So Tell Me... #5

This is currently the story of my life. As some of you may have noticed (and I apologize) I haven't been posting regularly. I don't have any real excuse for it other than I didn't have anything to post. I've been battling a sore throat for a week now while trying to find (and apply and register in) a new school. I had a mid-college crisis and have decided to switch majors (again!) and switch schools. Honestly I feel like I'm starting from square one. I will be attending a two year community college before transferring to the school of my dreams.

Why did I not take that route in the first place you ask? Well it all started the summer after I graduated from high school. I got a full time job at an office and the money started flowing in. I was hooked on getting a paycheck, I never had so much money in my life! When the time came to registering for school I decided that it would be too inconvenient (or really really hard since I didn't drive) to attend school and work 9-5. My coworker was attending an online school and I did some research and found an online school that worked for me.

At first it was heaven: I worked at my own pace, I didn't have to travel anywhere, and most importantly I didn't have to navigate around a school I didn't know surrounded by strangers. If you know me in real life you know that I am shy. So being cooped up in my home was my comfort zone. After a few months my schoolwork fell by the wayside as I dealt with stress from work and home. So I quit my job. Now I was home all the time with little social interaction other than a new hobby I had picked up (blogging!). Looking back now I can say that this was the best and worst time of my life. My shyness became so bad I sought treatment with a psychiatrist after one episode where I went to a store alone and almost broke down in tears because I was so uncomfortable being there.

Fast forward some more time and I am now back at that office job part time and continuing the online school. At this point I am majoring in K-8 Education and am content with life. Then I begin writing. It's love at first type(?) word(?) whatever. I just enjoyed it. As I wrote more and more I realized that I had a lot of polishing up to do. I wasn't going to learn much about writing in my current program and I wasn't happy with my decision anymore so I withdrew. Writing about it now makes it sound so simple but I was so scared to tell my Dad about my decision, he's one of those parents who think school is everything, my ticket to success, the one thing that will help later in life. I thought he would get angry and start lecturing or grill me with questions as to why I was making the decision to withdraw. I was dead wrong.

We ended up having a heart to heart conversation that (almost) made me cry. I was so relieved and so glad I had his support, I'm pretty sure he saw how unhappy I was. Aside from looking at two year colleges I am also looking at four year universities. As a teen in high school I dreamed with attending a well-known school and participating in school events and cheering on the school's football team. I now have the power to make that happen and the process of looking at different schools is a ton of fun. I wish I would've done this during high school and gone straight to a four year, but I know I wouldn't have learned so much about myself and I wouldn't have started my own blog let alone know about the world of blogging. So now I embark on a new stage of life.

If you made it this far I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my story. If it helped anyone at all it would be the extra chocolate chips on my pancakes. If you have any questions or feel the need to talk (about anything!) please don't hesitate in contacting me!

So tell me... What is your story? 
Feel free to write your own post on your blog and leave a link or leave your story in a comment, even if it is super long I will read it!
images from weheartit

3 comments:

  1. I don't have much of a story but I enjoyed yours.

    I went from high school to my state flagship school and took community college classes in the summer (cheaper). So then I started teaching as part of Teach for America. I enjoyed the experience but I realized it wasn't for me. I worked in what is called a Title I school. So it was basically the kind of school that no teachers (or students) wanted to be. There were fights, teachers giving up, and teachers sleeping with students. Think of some dramatic movie.

    But the problem was not the students. It was the teachers and administration and I felt like I didn't have enough power to make the necessary decisions for my students. So I decided to go to law school.

    I felt really selfish for the decision and didn't want to tell anyone. I thought my dad would be upset and my then fiance (now husband) because I was quitting a job when people couldn't get one.

    It all worked out. I'm going into my third year of law school and I hope to focus on education law. There's my really really long comment :)

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  2. Nice site, nice and easy on the eyes and great content too.

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  3. Ahhh....money!! The root of all evil, I say :) I'm so glad you finally decided to do what makes you happy. Those paychecks can be quite convincing until you wake up 20 years from now and wonder where your life has gone. It's also wonderful knowing that you have your father's blessing. It shouldn't stop you from pursuing your dreams, but it's always nice to have a support system in place. I discovered blogging during the worst/best part of my life too. Best because I really had time to sit back and reflect on the direction my life was heading and on who I was going to live out the rest of my life. Worst because change is always painful when you're going through it. But I'm glad I've come out the otherside a much better peson for it. Without the pain, I wouldn't be the person I am today. Glad you are starting to see that already for yourself as well :)

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