With graduation season being in full swing it has got me really thinking about my life and where I am at. It is hard for me to believe that 15 years ago I was getting ready to graduate from Provo High School and set out to make something of my life.
During my senior year of high school I had life all figured out (just like most seniors do)... I was going to go to UVU (since my parents insisted we had no money for me to go anywhere else) and get a degree in Education. From the time I was able to start reading I knew that being a teacher was my calling. I spent my summer vacations "teaching" my younger brother, sister and neighbors school. I had plans to inspire the minds of our youth and make a difference in the world. I felt fortunate enough to receive a PTA scholarship for my first semester and life couldn't be better. Not only did I have school all figured out but life in general as well. I had big plans to marry my high school sweetheart and live happily ever after with our adorable family....
But of course... Life has a way of messing up even the best laid out plans!
Fast forward to the end of my second semester (I ended up wanting to be an overachiever and started at UVU the same month that I graduated high school). I felt like my life was spiraling out of control. I was completely bored with my Elementary Education classes and started not taking attending class seriously. I was also having major issues with my boyfriend. After I graduated from high school he became a totally different person and things got pretty bad. Finally during finals week we broke up... So much for my little "happy ending".
Spring semester came around and I decided that maybe working on generals would be a smart choice for me. One of the classes I ended up taking was a class that counted for either Elementary Education or Psychology. I found myself fascinated with what we talked about and wanted to learn more. I finally found a subject that challenged me. For the next few semesters I kinda wet my feet some with Psychology (while working on getting my generals out of the way) and liked what I saw. Not to mention that it really helped me with the ex boyfriend that didn't want me but didn't want to let me go either... And finally after a long roller coaster relationship I found myself moving on from my original dream.
January 2003 came rolling around and I was loving life. I had been completely single for a little while and my best friend and I set our schedules up to be the same. What could be better than having every class with your best friend??? We were going to live the semester up and just have fun... Enter Sean... or as I like to call him... MY BIGGEST MISTAKE! I first noticed him on the first day of school. He wasn't hard to miss seeing that he was one of only 3 boys in one of our classes. I let it roll off my shoulder though and went on with my life. About a month into the semester Brenna wasn't able to go to class one Friday because she was feeling really sick so I ended up heading over to class early. Sean happened to get there around the same time and began talking to me. We ended up talking for quite a while and I walked away with a date for the next night. To make a long story short after that date we were inseparable for the next little while. We got engaged and ended up getting married at the end of the semester.... Like I said earlier... BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE!
For the next 2 years I struggled with what I really wanted to do with my life. Every semester I went back and forth, back and forth... Do I work on my teaching degree or stick with the whole Behavioral Science thing. I finally went with the Behavioral Science thing because it would be the easiest degree for me to get(and Sean was insistant that I hurry through school so that we could get away from family, friends, etc).... In the Spring of 2005 I ended up graduating with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Behavioral Science with an emphasis in Social Work. Yay me!
Within a year of graduating my life was at an all time low. My marriage of 3 years was basically beyond repair (we won't get into all the horrible details of it) and my dad suddenly passed away. I was super depressed and really struggling! After my divorce was finalized I started counseling and while I found that my counselor was not helpful whatsoever I found that my education really was. I slowly was able to pick myself up (with help of family, friends, etc.) and start feeling better. Yes I still have days where I struggle but I am thankful for my degree even though I quickly realized it was not what I wanted to do professionally.
Fast forward a few years (I think during the Spring of 2008 or 2009) I had a random dream about going back to school and working on my Education degree. In this dream I was going to school at SUU (Southern Utah University) and I woke up excited. I knew nothing of the campus but knew this was where I wanted to go. I dragged my sister Whitney down there for a tour and instantly fell in love with the campus. A few months later on our way down to Vegas for a concert we stopped in there again and took our sister Cori around and showed her everything... (I instantly bonded with the Bell Tower)...
Of course life once again went on and my dream was soon forgotten... I stayed working at UVU and eventually met Eric, got married, moved back East, moved back to Utah... and that was when everything hit me once again. We had been living in a camper trailer in my mom's side yard for about 4 months and every place we went to look into moving to fell through. I was getting discouraged and randomly one night I started talking to Eric about making a random move to Cedar City, Utah and looking into school. He went along with my crazy idea and within a few weeks we were able to find a place to live, get admitted for school and start the Summer semester.
Here I am a year later and I am so thankful that I did come down to school here. During that summer I took a Western Civilization class where I was introduced to Ancient Greek history. We unfortunately were only able to brush the top of it but I was hooked. During the fall semester I was able to take the Ancient Greek history class and I knew without a doubt that this was the thing I was supposed to find. This fall I am looking forward to taking Ancient Greek as a language and learning all I can about this amazing civilization.
While my life has definitely taken some interesting twists and turns over the past 15 years since graduating from high school I finally feel like I am on the right path and ready to move forward with the life I have always wanted to have. I am extremely grateful to my husband who is along for the ride!
