Life in Rewind

This is a project I have my students do to reflect on life and how it is ever changing. When I was writing my lesson plans I started to think about my this assignment even more and here is my life in rewind. I think it is pretty cool to see where I have been and where I still want to go. Sometimes it takes writing things out on paper to see the full depth of your journey.

10 Years Ago:

Oh the turn of 2000 the scare of Y2K and I was 18 years old getting ready to graduate high school. As most of my classmates were excited about this event, my focus was more on the actual end result: never having to be required to go to school again. However, I went on and finished 8 more years of higher education. Ironic I guess. I never really had a major attachment to my high school and leaving was easy. I was lucky to have one of the best friends in the world as my walking partner Ms. Stephanie Wright :). I was working as a student hire for the school district so after graduation my job ended and I ended up taking a position with Lifetouch photography for the summer. The job sounded really fun on paper, but then turned into sweatshop style labor laminating school ID cards all summer (oh good times). At the end of the summer of 2000, I said goodbye to two of my best friends Stephanie and Jocelyn who left for college and I stayed around and went to Lane Community College. As two of my best friends were leaving my cousin Kayci moved to the area and went to college with me.

8 Years Ago:

2002, I was still working away on my degree at Lane Community College and was working almost full time at ULane O credit Union and managed to save up enough money to move into my an apartment with Kayci and Adrianne. Working at the credit union was crazy some well most of the time, but I met some of the best people out of the job. I learned the public is a crewel bunch of people and nothing makes people more upset than problems with their money. They may have 10K in their checking account, but watch out if you try to charge them for a $1.00 cashiers check. I learned how to be verbally abused by members who had overdrawn their checking account and all the while stand there and smile. However, it was all worth it when you could joke about it with some of the funniest people you would ever meet after they left. Most importantly I learned people will steal free anything if it isn't chained down and the value of the mute button in drive up in invaluable.

6 Years Ago:

2004, Hello England! In 2003 Joey and I got married in Huntington, England. He joined the Air Force and was given orders to England. I stayed behind in OR for the first 9 months he was over there to finish school, but in September 2003 we tied the knot. England was a roller coaster ride. I think between the culture change of American to British culture and becoming a military wife I felt like everything I had known was all turned upside down. I learned/survived driving on the other side of the road and got a chance to travel all over England and Europe. The jobs in England were pretty slim and most people I knew who got there gave up their profession to "moonlight" as something else in order to make due with the job options we had. For me I became a bartender. It was a fun job. Listen to music, chat with people about their problems, and the tips weren't to bad either. On top of working at the club I took several side jobs to help pay the tuition. I worked as a high school volleyball coach, assistant to the program manager of the loan locker program and airman and family readiness, and drop in here and there at the ed center. I took several classes online, but my biggest adventure was driving 45 minutes at 90 miles an hour down the A14 in my british honda accord to math class every night for a year. I would play my Jack Johnson cd and listen to the track "where did all the good people go". Before moving in 2005 I finished my B.S degree from the University of Maryland Europe.

4 Years Ago:

2006, I just survived my first 6 months in Missouri. I think that is the craziest part of the military life. You move to places you have never been and the only knowledge you have is google. I remember driving to Missouri from Oregon. A lady at the hotel breakfast in New Mexico was talking to me and goes "oh honey, you are going to the Show-Me State" I remember a wave of panic set in at that point. I knew nothing about Missouri. I remember falling asleep on Hwy 50 and waking up at the point between Lee Summit and Knob Noster (anyone from there knows what part I am talking about) the area of the mile long barn yard strip clubs. Yes, they are barn exotic dancing areas. I remember thinking this was going to be the longest two years of my life and cried the whole way to the base! I learned a lot during my time in Missouri and made some life long friends that have forever changed my life. About this time 4 years ago, I was applying for graduate assistant positions at the University of Central Missouri. For anyone that doesn't know what these positions are they are your golden ticket so to speak. It provides a part time job and full tuition for you while you finish your degree. While I was one of the most driven people you could ever meet to finish my degree it was hard in a small local community to convince anyone that I could do the job. After rejection letter after rejection letter rolled in I finally got a call! I had an interview with TRIO! A program I had become familiar with at LCC over six years ago. I remember being the first one to interview and thought I had done well, but wasn't going to get my hopes up. A little over two week later I got a call I had the job! I remember jumping up and down then forcing myself to get off the phone before they changed their minds. May 2006 marked my first semester of my graduate degree.

2 Years Ago:

The end of the college era 2008. I just finished my thesis, I was graduating with a 4.0 GPA, and we were moving once again..... on to Colorado. Joey had just finished space training school in CA and was coming back to Missouri for the first time in over 6 months. Leaving Missouri was bitter sweet. We left on that same Hwy we had drove in on 2 years earlier, but Knob Noster was no longer a town that reminded me of the cast of He-haw it was a town that had built me into the person I am today. I had two years at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg that had given me a wealth of knowledge both on an academic level and on a personal level. The TRIO program had believed in me and given me a chance to pursue my dreams and I made friends who will be part of my life forever.


Today:

What a journey the last 10 years have been. I feel like I still have so much more I want to do, but I guess that is life. We are still in Colorado and glad to say we aren't going any where for for a long while. We have a beautiful baby girl Ms. Isla Gabrielle and our two first born fur babies are now almost 5. Reflecting back on the last 10 years makes be appreciate even more all of the amazing people I have met along the way and continue to be a part of my life.

I asked my students looking back over the last 10 years what people, events, or circumstances have made you into the person you are today? Sometimes hurdles and challenges that seem overwhelming at the time are just opportunities hidden in life's events.