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Sunday, May 4, 2014

decade

According to my Facebook friends who also attended Bethel College, I graduated ten years ago this weekend. It seems impossible to be ten years removed from college life and my dreams from that period of time. My life looks nothing like I thought it would at this point. And that's okay!!

When I left Bethel College, I thought...
I would move to Chicago and teach at an inner city high school--and maybe even start a community center. Instead I taught middle school reading in Mishawaka, English as a foreign language in Haiti, and now high school English in Goshen. Even though the location hasn't been what I thought it would  be, my desire to work with students who come from low income backgrounds has been realized. And my dreams of starting a community center are still alive and well--I just picture myself running community programs in Haiti instead of the inner city.
I would be married by age 25 or 26, with multiple kids by age 30. In reality I didn't get married until a week before my 30th birthday. But, I'm not complaining. I love my husband, and I'm really, really thankful I trusted God and waited for Arold.
I would maintain my close relationships with my college friends. I was determined that I was not going to be one of those people who left college and promptly forgot about my BFFs. The truth is I was unprepared for how much work friendships take when you don't live in the same building. There are a small handful of friends from college that I regularly talk to, but I do wish I had done a better job of keeping up with my roommate and suite-mates from sophomore year.

Rest assured, some things haven't changed.

  1. Most days you still can't see the surface of my desk or dining room table.
  2. The alarm goes off multiple times before I roll out of bed in the morning.
  3. I would much rather stay up late with my girlfriends talking than do school work.
  4. Discussing grammar is still fascinating. (Seriously.)
Most importantly, though, I still want to serve God with my whole life. I'm just learning that sometimes that looks different than I imagined it would.