Year One

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my moving to Maryland.  One year ago, I was an unemployed college graduate with few prospects of becoming a professional.  I had never lived alone before and, other than for my mission and college, I had never lived outside of my parent's home.  All that and more changed this year.

I've definitely had a bumpy start to my career.  Six months at half-time for OSU's library, four months at RJM, and about six weeks at Prometric (though about half of that time was disrupted due to my seizure).  Even so, I've gotten nothing but positive feedback from all of my employers and I'll be starting my latest endeavor on Monday.  A rough beginning to be sure, but I'm making progress and I'm just as excited as ever to be writing in a professional capacity.

I lived completely on my own for nine months.  While the freedom that affords is nice, I've always been a social creature, so living alone never felt completely natural.  And this time around, it's my home with someone else as the guest, which is a first.

I've faced a lot of challenges.  Three of the four times I went to the emergency room in 2013 happened in Maryland, and I still don't know the allergen that sent me there.  I had a seizure.  I was unemployed - twice.  I got really depressed.  I got fat.  However, one positive side to challenges is that when you overcome them, you become a stronger, better person.  While I still don't know what's been causing my allergic reactions, I can recognize the signs of one much faster and I don't have to go to the ER anymore.  I've been prescribed anti-seizure medication to prevent me from having both seizures and aphasias.  I overcame my depression and lost my kumerspeck, then I found a job - I suspect that that order of events was no accident.

I recently shared with someone that I was approaching my one year mark of moving to the Maryland of Opportunity and they asked me if the year was a slow or a fast one.  I had to say "yes" because all parts the year did not move at the same pace.  Some parts moved quickly, while other parts (like the last three months) seemed to drag on at a snail's pace.  An unbalanced year does not a bad year make, though.  In fact, even with all of the trials I've had, this was a year that I needed.  I'm sure that if I were to meet myself from one solar orbit previous, I would hardly recognize me. But that's fine because as professional person who is healthy both physically and emotionally, I'm in a better place now.

So now comes the challenge: to make this next year (3/13/2014 - 3/13/2015) even better.