Pinch Me!

        I Am Done!!!

Feeling very Rocky-like...

     After going back to college to prepare myself for a new career in web development, I'm finally finished. In two and a half years, I've taken 50 credits (give or take), worth of classes, spent countless hours reading textbooks, taking notes, researching topics, completing homework assignments and class projects, and studying for quizzes and exams. I won't lie, it was hard. Really hard. I think it was the hardest thing I have ever done. It required many sacrifices, not just on my part, but on the part of my entire family. I missed my kids’ concerts, soccer games, conferences, holiday events and more. Many times, my family ate meals out of cans, boxes or the drive-thru. I spent more time with my laptop than my family. I spent many late nights working on school work, up way, way, waaay past midnight, getting by on just a few hours of sleep. I shed a good number of tears over code, sometimes privately, sometimes not. My husband, who owns his own business and already works well over 40 hours a week, picked up the slack, how, I'll never know. My parents, extended family and friends were tireless in their support of my endeavor, offering encouraging words (many times on facebook) and forgiving me a multitude of times for not visiting, not returning calls and not staying in touch outside of school breaks. I missed birthdays, get-togethers and sadly, several funerals as well. I neglected my flower and vegetable gardens along with a lot of home maintenance. I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.

     In the end, though, I accomplished what I set out to do. I gained a new skill set and got a job doing what I love. Actually, I got a dream job. I went in to interview for an internship and left with a job I couldn’t wait to start! I’ve been feeling like the luckiest person on the planet lately, but when I think about what it took to get to where I am right now, I have to say, I contributed a lot to that “luck.” I worked incredibly hard (harder than my first time through college, in all honesty), made many sacrifices, stayed determined and kept a positive attitude throughout this adventure. Unlike my first time through college (when I was a very young adult), this time around, I knew what I wanted, what I was working for and where I wanted to go with my future. My eye never left the prize, not once. I often said, “I’m on a mission,” and I meant it. Still, I do feel very lucky that NMC offered the web developer program, that my husband was so supportive, that I was able to rewire my brain to think like a coder, and that the company that hired me exists in my town and needed someone like me when I needed a position.

     I am done... and so incredibly thankful and joyful!!!