Four years ago on my high school graduation I was given the Dr. Seuss book,
Oh the Places you will Go. In the highly fantasized book, the characters go to a series of different places all leading them to their final destination. Because my four years have college are coming to an end in less than a month (yes, I am attending summer school in June to take one studio art class but hey I had mono my freshmen year so my life isn't on hold for too long) I have began thinking about all of the events and the places that have happened and taken place in my life in the past four years that have made me the person I am today, led me to the wonderful people/person in my life and most importantly is leading me to a place where I plan and dream of starting my career as a young professional.
Looking back on my freshman move in day, there was an array of emotions. I was excited, skeptical and nervous about what this whole college life was really about. Once my parents had moved me in to my lovely pink and green freshman dorm room in Greene Residence Hall, my father told me one thing that I will always remember. The summer of 2011 was when the iconic movie The Help hit theaters. A few weeks before I went to college I saw it with my parents. When they were saying their final goodbyes and tearing up my father said something to lighten the mood. He said, quoting the movie and book The Help, "You is kind, you is smart and you is important." While we all had a little laugh, I have never realized how much these three words would carry me through my college career and make me the woman I am today.
Little did I know that I would need to believe these words sooner than later at the start of my freshmen year. After only two weeks of being in school, I somehow got glass in my eye and had to go through an excruciatingly painful procedure to have it removed....all before sorority rush!!!! If that was not bad enough, I was diagnosed with mono right before Thanksgiving break that same year. Due to mono I barely passed a lot of my classes because I simply didn't have the strength or the energy to do the work and believe me, it was tough for me because I have such a type A personality. The second half of my freshman year fared better but I knew I would have a long road ahead of me especially because I needed to pull my grades up from being so sick. That summer I worked at the US National White Water Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. I did not absolutely love the job but I was in sales and learned how to actually work hard and be a responsible person. I learned valuable lessons from my summer spent at the National White Water Center.
Moving into my sophomore year I was more excited than ever! I went in hard and fast and studied like crazy to pull my grades back up. I was able to achieve that goal and life began to look up. My motto was, "You is kind, you is smart and you is important." As the summer was approaching I needed a summer job and I happened upon a nannying position, My sorority sister recommended the family to me and I was overjoyed to have a summer job where I worked 3 days a week and made $240 or more each week simply by watching a cute three year old little girl! While my sophomore year was fun and exciting it also had one piece in it that liberated me and made me a better human being. This incident would be breaking up with my Pike boyfriend that I had dated for 1 1/2 years. He was not a good individual and he brought me down. I knew my self worth was way more than he thought and so I cut ties. It was difficult at the time but looking back, but I became a better person the day I told him to hit the road.
Before I knew it, the crazy summer was coming to an end and it was time for junior year! Junior year was a year of strictly fun times and great grades! I simply was having the time of my life with my fabulous friends. Boys sucked at the time but I had to remember what my father told me. While I was having oodles of fun I knew that my senior year was approaching and that I needed an internship. Being an Art History major, I applied to major museums, one being the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally from Georgia, I was no stranger to the museum but knew how incredibly difficult it was to acquire and internship there. In early April 2014 I received the news that was had gotten the internship and would be the intern to the Decorative Arts curator and her assistants as well as helping in the social media department. I was overjoyed, not only because I had landed this amazing internship but because I was the first Wofford College student in the history of Wofford to receive an internship from this museum even though others had applied in the past. I was truly honored. With this great news I spent my spring break planning where I would live and found an adorable townhouse in Buckhead close to the museum.
Now....drum roll please......the summer of my life began on June 2, 2014. This summer would turn out to be the greatest summer for so many reasons and truly shaped and molded me into the person I am today. Throughout my time in Atlanta I learned so much from the curator and her assistants. I learned how to run a photo shoot, catalog images in museum, do museum research, and I created the Tumblr page for the High Museums as well as did so many other incredible things that I am so greatly and thankful for. While I was learning so much I am thankful to one of my friends from college who came to visit me one weekend and begged that we go out to the Buckhead bars. I was reluctant but decided to go and I am thankful I did. After my friend and I had been at the Lost Dog in Buckhead for maybe 30 minutes this man came and approached me. This man has turned out to be my long term boyfriend and he means the world to me. I love him so much and I am so thankful that he saw me that night and that I went out. Who knows what my life would have been like if I had not had gone out. Sad to think about. But anyway, when I was not doing awesome things at the High Museum I was out with him. He has become such a strong and influential person in my life and he's ready for graduation so I can be back in Atlanta with him! Being in Atlanta made me get to know who I really am. Over the summer I grew up...I know that sounds silly but I did. I learned what was actually important and what was petty. I learned that there were different types of people and just because someone is not exactly like you does not mean that they aren't someone you should talk to! It's cool and fun to have lots of different friends. This concept it foreign to a lot of the people where I go to school....sad to say but true.
While it was hard to leave Atlanta, my boyfriend and I see each other basically every weekend so we have made it work! He's awesome! :) While it was tough leaving Atlanta it was even harder going back to Wofford College. My senior year has been one of the toughest academic years in my entire LIFE! For several reasons that I never in my wildest dreams could imagine such incidents would happen to me. No matter what happened, I remembered the saying, "You is kind, you is smart and you is important." But my loving and amazing boyfriend and family stuck with me through it all and it's almost over. When December came I began talking to people in Atlanta, particular in the art field that could give me some pointers in the Atlanta art world. Since then I have applied to several jobs, spoken to many people and gained some experts advice. Now I wait until someone hires me! It's exciting but nerve racking at the same time. (Someone please hire me! haha)
This long winded post has a point. Throughout each of my college years whether life was going my way or life and circumstances were harder than I ever imagined possible, one quote remained in my head and I repeat it to myself all the time. "You is kind, you is smart and you is important." Dr. Seuss's book,
Oh the Places You'll Go, was a wonderful graduation gift from a friend when I graduated high school. You never know where you will go in life and where it will lead you to your ultimate destination...or your end goal. For me my end goal is to have a job hopefully by the end of June in Atlanta, working in the art field and to finally be with my wonderful boyfriend in the same city! When you start a journey you never know where life will take you. Wherever it takes you and wherever the circumstances lead you have to remain strong and remind yourself of how awesome you are! God would not allow events in our life if he knew we couldn't handle them or they wouldn't make you a better person. Looking back over these four years I am thankful for the bad things that happened to me and I forgive the people that wronged me and hurt me. If none of these terrible things would have happened I might not have ended up in Atlanta with a wonderful internship and meeting an awesome man who I want to be with for the rest of my life. But most importantly if these terrible circumstances had not occurred I probably would not have grown in my faith with the Lord. I am thankful for the good and the bad in my life and where life has taken me thus far. Through the good and the bad always remember that, "You is kind, you is smart and you is important."
