2004-05: Year 18

2005-06: Year 19

2006-07: Year 20

Life never stays the same for long. The changes that it brings are swift and as sure as the wind blowing on a March day. These three years of my life were definitely filled with changes as I began to “grow up” and start down the pathway of becoming my own person.

Eighteenth Year: Thankful for Graduation

I’m thankful for getting to be a valedictorian with thirteen other classmates … thankful to have given my speech with Stephanie … thankful to walk across the stage of the Opera House and breathe a deep sigh of relief as I accepted my diploma. I’m thankful for the love and support I received from so many people as I graduated and the words of advice and wisdom they gave to me. Oftentimes I take grades and academics for granted, but I thank God for parents who always challenged me to do my best, and I thank God for the motivation He gave me to persevere to the end.

Nineteenth Year: Thankful for a Job

Another thing that’s easy to take for granted is a job … but when you’ve searched and searched, and put in all kinds of applications, your sense of gratitude is heightened when you finally land one – even if it is at WalMart. 🙂 I actually really enjoyed my first “real” job working as a cashier at WalMart for nine months. I loved the interaction with customers, the variety of products I saw come across my scanner, the people I met and worked with … who were so kind as to give me a going-away present and card when I left! I learned many an important skill on that job that I would remember for future experiences. And as a past WalMart employee, I can say with confidence that NO, WalMart does not import their employees from other planets! 😉

Twentieth Year: Thankful for People Who Believed in Me

At the same time, I’m also thankful for new jobs … for this was the year I started working for CYT in the office. And I really can’t say too much about this job, because there’s a whole blog post coming soon dedicated to just that, but here, I’d like to say thank you to Doug and Nickle, who believed in this young nineteen-year old and gave her that CYT office position 5 years ago. I was quite inexperienced, but they trusted me and trained me, and because of that, I grew in so many ways, and had opportunities at CYT that I never would have had otherwise. Thank you to both of you for seeing the potential and helping to shape it into something much greater than I could have imagined.

Overall, I’m thankful to God for continually revealing Himself to me one day, one experience at a time … giving me that time to grow and mature into who He made me to be. I might have been frustrated at times, not knowing where my future was going to go, but He had patience with me, and blessed me greatly in those post-high school days. My story looked different from everyone else’s, but that’s okay. I’m grateful that it was non-traditional and unique … and that the journey has taken me to where I am today. God’s plan truly is best.