So Many Roads

It's overwhelming to think about all the different career paths I can take with my degree. It's a good thing and a bad thing. Right now I have a couple of ideas; advertising, copy writing or screen writing. I'm also still hoping to become a NY Times Bestseller. That desire will never die. As for my day job, one of the above I think I will be happy doing.
As a recent graduate...not sure when that tittle will no longer apply to me, I am taking it day by day trying not to get discouraged. I have my whole life ahead of me and its ok not to have all the answers. I think one of my biggest problems is that my close friends have full time jobs. Granted, most don't like it but they have one. Meanwhile, I hopping around with two jobs and a volunteer position. But I am blessed and I pray I never forget that. All of those positions I have can potentially lead me to a full time or at least something that will allow me to use my passion of writing. One actually lets me use two of my passions so I am grateful. I hate that I never seem to be happy long.
On a happy note, I love this quote from Bill Cosby, "In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."
He is spot on! I don't think I'm afraid of failure but I am afraid of life since I don't know for sure what I want to do. It will come in time, I just need to stop fretting.

Deafness

My goals are somewhat different than most people. When I tell people what I want to do down the road, I hear, "Make way for Mother Teressa!" It's a good feeling, don't get me wrong. Having a hearing loss made me appreciate even more what my teachers have done for me growing up. If it weren't for them, I don't think I would be the person who I am today. If my family hadn't encouraged me to do the things that I love, I wouldn't have made it this far. So I want to give back which is why I want, someday, to become a Writing teacher for the Deaf. At this point, I'm thinking high school but, many people have told me it can be quite difficult. I have tried teaching elementary and it was terrible. So maybe I will shoot for the middle. The couple of times I was able to be an assistant to 5-6th graders, I really liked it. Sometimes they were hard to control, but they listened a lot better than the elementary.
In the meantime, I want to write about deafness and Deaf culture. I recently wrote a novella which I hope to publish someday. I still have some things I want to work out in the last few chapters, but other than that I think it is ready to be viewed by a publisher. I do hope it becomes a book or maybe put into a magazine in parts. Who knows, but I do know that I will keep on writing and submitting until my dreams come true.

What does my future look like?

This is the big question. Everyone asks this at some point in their life. I ask this because so many people have told me, "You will do great things someday." I honestly believed that and am still holding onto that. Even if I never become a NY Times Bestseller, I still want to make my mark in this world. If I do become a teacher for the Deaf, I know that that will impact others in ways I can't imagine. I know that the teachers I had growing up helped mold me into the person and writer that I am today. If I didn't have the encouragement and people pushing me to be better, I probably would have skated through school and not gotten into a top school like Ithaca. I want others to never hear the words, "You can't."
"My future looks so bright, I need shades," is a quote from a shirt I saw back in middle school. I can only pray that that is true.

Georgia Time

Honestly the first word that comes to mind is....HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate humid weather. Savannah, GA has way too much of it. This is my first time being this far south, unless you count Disney World. So far Savannah has a lot of food and slow walking tourists.
The conference, the real reason why we are sweating it out, has yet to make a mark on us students. We are here to not only promote and represent Ithaca College, our Alma Mater, but to inform others from different colleges across the nation about our research on e-portfolios. We are diligently working on our presentations and slideshows for tomorrow about our experiences and what our recommendations are.
I'm slightly excited to see how this goes but also extremely nervous. It will be a great experience, that I know for sure.

Quotes

Here is an inspirational quote I found recently on lifehack.org. I am really starting to enjoy this site. There are so many neat and eye-opening articles like "6 Worthless Exercises You Probably Do" and "Let Your Man Be A Man." Anyways this quote I want to share is by Albert Einstein, "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." This is so true and inspirational for me because I feel like I am not moving. So many things have gone wrong, mistakes I made in cover letters or link addresses. I know I am not perfect, but lately I seem to feel I must sell myself like I am in order for someone to hire me. Part of my frustration seems to be the fact that I am still living at home. I honestly can't wait to move out on my own. I realize that it comes with it's huge set of responsibilities and hardships, but I'd rather push myself than sit around applying for jobs and doing errands. As Einstein said, I must keep going and never give up. This quote made me smile and I am going to keep on smiling inside even if I get yet another rejection. Plus, I know God has a plan for me.

Another quote I have to share but came from a less prominent person is, "Love is like a butterfly. If you hold it to close, you will crush it. If you hold it with an open hand, it will fly away." You need to hold it in a way that it will stay with you. I've been in love only once before and I feel like I might fall again. I don't want to squelch his desire or drive him away. My goal is to hold the relationship we have close but not in such a way that I overwhelm him. We shall see how this works. BTW I got this quote off of "The Bachelorette," TV show.