Welcome

I always get really reflective right around my birthday. Asking questions such as where am I going, am I on the right track, am I happy with the direction I have chosen, among others.

Asking those questions of myself over the past week I have had a lot of thoughts.

A year ago today I was living in Tampa, FL, working for the New York Times Company and keeping my move to Indiana a secret. I had already found the apartment I am living in now and had made the arrangements to move my stuff.

On the evening of my birthday last year I went to the beach where I sat on some rocks along the shore and watched the sunset.

As I sat there I thought about the road ahead of me. A move to a place where I knew no one, almost a thousand miles away from family and friends. A climate I had never dealt with before and would have to figure out how to survive in. I had visited other places but had never lived outside of Florida until now.

I remember the day I told my bosses I was leaving. I was really nervous about it since I really did enjoy my job and the people I worked with. I wasn't sure how I was going to do it but I wanted to let them know a month in advance since I had been with the company for so long. I worked for this company for 4 years. I was hired by one of the divisions a few months after I graduated from college. This is the only company I had known.

My direct supervisor had a party for me at his house. It was really nice and all of my work friends showed up. After everyone left it was just me and my boss sitting out by his pool talking. I remember talking to him and both of us getting upset. He started crying and then I did. That is when the reality of moving hit me. It was scary for me but not nearly as scary as the experience that the international students have had being hundreds of thousands of miles away from everyone they know.

The next day the movers showed up at 9 and started packing up everything in my little apartment. I was really going to do this, it was happening.

At the end of the day I looked at all of my stuff on the truck knowing the next time I would see it would be in Indiana. I came back the next day to clean out my apartment and pack up some things I would take in the car with me.

The next day my mom and I left for Indiana. We stopped in Atlanta for the night and then drove the rest of the way to Bloomington. I remember crossing the bridge over the Ohio river in Louisville in to Indiana and feeling somewhat relieved to be in the state yet strange at the same time. The drive down the windy road from 65 near Columbus to Bloomington seemed really long. At that point I was anxious to be there and settled again.

I picked up the keys to my apartment that Sunday hoping my stuff would show up on Tuesday. My mom helped me run errands while I was in orientation and had planned to be here when the movers brought my stuff. Unfortunately that plan did not work out since she left Wednesday and the movers came on Thursday.

The morning my mom left was difficult for both of us. She had to take the shuttle to the airport because I had orientation activities that day so we said our goodbyes and she left for the airport.

When my stuff finally showed up it was a mess and I had only a few days before school started to unpack.

The semester started off with a bang. The first week we had two projects due in two of our classes and it would continue this way for the first few months of the semester.

The last few months have been full of uncertainty at first as to whether I would get an internship at all, then where would I end up going, would this company get me an offer before another one did. I was very happy when this was all settled a few weeks ago.

Through my work with the Women in Computing outreach program, JustBe, I have been inspired even more to teach. I am hoping to get an assistant instructor position next year to work with undergraduates. I think I have a good shot since the professors like me and I am well thought of by many people. The idea of getting a PhD to become a professor has come back into my mind. I know I can't do that now due to my pile of debt from my undergrad and first year of my Master's program. It is not a done deal but a possible path for me later.

Many people set goals such as I want to be married by the time I am a certain age. My goal was to have my Master's degree by the time I turned 30. This is something I could control. I am going to miss it by a few weeks due to the graduation date but I am going to consider it accomplished.

Looking back at the past year I would say that yes I am on the right track. I know generally where I am going and I am happy with the decisions I have made. I have come a long way in the past year. The path has been difficult and frustrating at times the thoughts of giving up did cross my mind but were quickly dismissed by my determination.

My loneness for people I knew back home and the area I grew up in was quickly replaced by the joy of making new friends here and exploring Bloomington. I really care about my friends here. They are some of the greatest people I have met in a while.

Now on my 29th birthday I find myself looking into the horizon seeing a new adventure. Three months in California for an internship. Back to Indiana for my last year of school and then who knows where I will be working next summer.

One thing I do know is that I will not be sitting here on my 30th birthday saying I wonder what would have happened if I would have taken the risk of going back to school.