Once upon a time, about four years ago, me and Chris moved to Louisville. It was a difficult transition for me adjusting to life away from my family, friends, and a job that I loved very much. I was in a foreign city (foreign to me at least) constantly getting lost and frustrated and feeling lonely.
Not only was I finding myself geographically lost most of the time, but I was also feeling lost on a personal level. We moved to Louisville so that Chris could have better work opportunities in a larger city and also it was where he always dreamed of living and raising a family. I was ready for the move if it meant that we could start having babies right away!
Well, as life tends to do, plans didn't go exactly as I expected. To my surprise, that little white stick didn't turn pink after the first month of moving. It also didn't happen the second month or the third month and so on and so forth. It was heartbreaking, and I felt very much alone with my struggle (with the exception of Chris of course) because I didn't want to worry my family or friends too much with what I was going through.
So, one day, as Chris and I were sitting at a UofL basketball game (go CARDS!), I was hit with an epiphany. I was no longer going to sit around and wait for things to happen for me. It was time for me to take action and distract my mind away from the things that were dragging me down.
I turned to Chris and said, "Mark my words. In a few years from now, you are going to see me walk across that court to receive my master's degree. And you are going to be sitting in the stands holding our future child."
So, thus began my journey to pursue my master's degree. My first semester began in January 2014. I enrolled in two online courses which met weekly on a course website. I quickly discovered that our very outdated computer did not have the capability to run the software needed to view the slideshow presentations and participate in the group chat, so I was forced to sign on each week from the inconveniently small screen on my iPhone.
In addition to starting graduate school, I was inspired to train for a half marathon. I did not want a spare second of free time to sit around and feel sorry for myself. I wanted to be excited about the things going on in my life. All of the exercise was wonderful for my mood and perspective. Those endorphins were kicking in like magic and making me wake up each day with a new found energy and outlook.
Fast forward to May 2014. I had just completed my first semester of master's classes (with 2 A's, might I add). A week later I ran in my first half marathon and had never felt better. Life was great!
The last weekend of May, I surprised Chris with a weekend away to stay in a bed and breakfast in Chicago for his birthday. Despite the endorphins from the exercise and the pride from the good grades, I found myself spending the weekend in a terrible mood. I felt like my hormones had taken over my body and I did not recognize myself as I would swing from raging angry to a crying sappy puddle.
As you might imagine, if you do the math in your head...I was pregnant.
Now, for the record, I 100% know that God is the reason that I got pregnant at that particular moment in time. That was the time that He was ready to make Chris and I parents, no doubt in my mind. BUT. I cannot tell you how much easier it made life for me during those months to distract myself with school and running.
But now I was pregnant and all I could think about every second of every day was pregnancy and baby-related things. I had no space in my brain to focus on taking tests and writing papers. So, I quickly dropped my two summer classes without a second thought. My dreams were coming true - I was having a baby! Who cared about grad school? Not me!
Fast forward a year later. It was about to be summer of 2015. I had a gorgeous wonderful baby girl and hadn't thought about grad school all year long. An opportunity arose at my university for a great advancement in my career and I was excited to go for it. During the interview process, it became clear to me that the one thing that was distinguishing me from the other candidates was that I was pursuing my master's degree. Oh fiddlesticks. I knew that meant I had to get back on the grad school horse and see it through to the end.
Are you still with me? I know this is the longest story ever, but hopefully it is a more interesting read than the history of the American university which I found myself reading in June 2015.
Picture this. Four month old baby. Mom who hasn't slept longer than 2 hour increments in four months. Learning a new job. Taking two graduate classes on a phone screen. Trying to remember that I have a husband and dog who occasionally need me too. I was what you might call "stretched thin".
So long story short, I persevered. I kept taking those classes. I wrote papers on my lunch break. I rocked my baby and changed her diapers while listening to my professor talk about organizational theory.
And last night, I walked across that court at the KFC Yum! Center and I received my master's degree....while my husband and daughter sat in the stands cheering for me.
I know it is not very humble of me, but I'm too excited not to share that I graduated with a 4.0 GPA. I have worked so very hard for the past two years to earn that, and I heard something at the graduation ceremony last night that resonated with me. The student speaker shared a quote from Max Ehrmann:
"Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans."
I have the tendency to get caught up in planning things. A lot of the time I think I get more excited about the planning of things than the actual event itself. But I'm taking those words to heart this time and enjoying this achievement. I'm proud of myself. And I hope that Amelia is proud of her Mommy.
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