Fast forward a year and some change. I'm sitting behind a desk in the Learning Information Services department of the Davenport Community School District as a Data Analyst. Bryce is proclaiming in one ear how there's no such thing as too much love. Two 19-inch wide screen monitors sit in front of me along with a comfortable salary, health benefits, premium retirement options and vacation time. I live in a brand new condominium in the Deer Meadows sub-division in Silvis, Illinois with two good friends. Sounds ideal? It is.
After I stepped off that stage at graduation, I went on to work for a little over a year at the Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque, Iowa as a database analyst for Peninsula Gaming Corporation. Was this what I wanted to do? Yes. Did I learn and grow both as an indvidual and as a
database professional? Yes. Overall, did I enjoy my time with Diamond Jo? Definitely. I knew shortly after starting at the casino however that this was not where a large portion of my journey was going to be spent. But it was merely another series of steps to be taken that would inevitably lead to another opportunity and another transition.
Two successful interviews and a few months of preparation later, I was ready to embark on a very important leg of my journey. Ready to move?
One more quick Tarantino and I'll be back to the present.
I was born at Mercy Hospital in Dubuque, Iowa. I have lived my entire life here in Dubuque. Uprooting my life is proving to be the biggest change in my life to date. There's nothing like some new sets of scenery to put certain things in perspective. Priorities shift, behaviors alter, people AND hobbies are found, lost and rediscovered. But despite any misconceived notions of "success", I have come to realize that my devotion to my life, my love and the happiness of both myself and others is the form that success has taken for me.
So a job or two, a few apartments and a handful of relationships later, I sit at this desk working on absolutely nothing and theoretically getting paid to write this blog. Time and its passing are humbling concepts to think about. As this initial two-part blog ends and a doorway is opened for future musings; I extend both a formal invitation to join me on my journey and a polite request to let me join you on your's.
Top 5 Songs You Should Listen To...this week at least
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
A Start to Something - Part 1
How does that saying go? Every journey begins with one step.
That's probably a rough paraphrase to be honest but for the purposes of this "blog", I think we're safe. I couldn't agree more with the saying but then again, who doesn't agree with centuries old proverbs and fortune cookie adages?
So one step? Wonderful mentality but the real shame? Who really remembers that first step? Or even the second? Or better yet, the order in which any specific step fell. I've recently embarked on a journey of my own. One full of adventure, excitement and peril. But more importantly, fire breathing dragons.
I'm talking about the journey that has recently had me moving to a little place called the Quad Cities. This "journey" as I will now so eloquently refer to it as, was and still continues to be comprised of LITERALLY...dozens of steps. The first? I frankly have no clue. Was it me clicking Submit Application at the Davenport Community School District's job site? Or maybe it was sometime last January or so? When Mikey and I first starting throwing around the idea of leaving Dubuque. First it was Ankeny. And then Moline. Or maybe we need to go even further back. Possibly as far back as to the moment I walked across the stage at 5 Flags a couple Mays ago. In the 9 seconds it took for me step on that stage, casually stroll across it, shake a hand or two, grab my fake diploma and step off the other side; a lot happened. I left childhood and entered adulthood in one fell swoop. Did I feel something huge change in me? Not exactly. But rather, I felt a subtle "shifting" if you will that caused something to settle in me. A sense of accomplishment, a sense of pride but much more important to this story, a sense of OMG I GRADUATED!!!
Unlike a lot of graduating college students, I did have some of the other basic feelings down. A sense of direction? I had a full time job in my career field lined up starting the Thursday after I walked the stage. A sense of belonging? The job was in Dubuque and I knew I'd be surrounded my family, friends and loved ones as I took the next few steps in my "immediately following college" journey. Finally, a sense of happiness? I was and still am to this day, madly in love with life.
My love affair with life was a gradual and slow moving process that started a number of years ago, hit some hard times a year or two ago and only continues to grow and strengthen with each passing day. It is this love that has been the fuel behind each and every step I've taken down the pathway of my journey. More on my affair at a later date I'm sure.
Looking back now, I think those 12 or so steps I took walking across that stage were really the "one step" beginning my journey. There was no real turning back at that point. The weight of the commitments I had made leaving college sunk in and just added to that shifting, settling feeling. Things just sort of locked into place. Like a Transformer but instead of a sentient robotic life force, it was the door to escape life's responsibilities that was locking up nice and tight on me like Megan Fox's ass. Was I scared? Not at all. A little forlorn perhaps, a lot nostalgic certainly but through it all, my excitement and love carried me across that stage and into the opening acts of my journey.
That's probably a rough paraphrase to be honest but for the purposes of this "blog", I think we're safe. I couldn't agree more with the saying but then again, who doesn't agree with centuries old proverbs and fortune cookie adages?
So one step? Wonderful mentality but the real shame? Who really remembers that first step? Or even the second? Or better yet, the order in which any specific step fell. I've recently embarked on a journey of my own. One full of adventure, excitement and peril. But more importantly, fire breathing dragons.
I'm talking about the journey that has recently had me moving to a little place called the Quad Cities. This "journey" as I will now so eloquently refer to it as, was and still continues to be comprised of LITERALLY...dozens of steps. The first? I frankly have no clue. Was it me clicking Submit Application at the Davenport Community School District's job site? Or maybe it was sometime last January or so? When Mikey and I first starting throwing around the idea of leaving Dubuque. First it was Ankeny. And then Moline. Or maybe we need to go even further back. Possibly as far back as to the moment I walked across the stage at 5 Flags a couple Mays ago. In the 9 seconds it took for me step on that stage, casually stroll across it, shake a hand or two, grab my fake diploma and step off the other side; a lot happened. I left childhood and entered adulthood in one fell swoop. Did I feel something huge change in me? Not exactly. But rather, I felt a subtle "shifting" if you will that caused something to settle in me. A sense of accomplishment, a sense of pride but much more important to this story, a sense of OMG I GRADUATED!!!
Unlike a lot of graduating college students, I did have some of the other basic feelings down. A sense of direction? I had a full time job in my career field lined up starting the Thursday after I walked the stage. A sense of belonging? The job was in Dubuque and I knew I'd be surrounded my family, friends and loved ones as I took the next few steps in my "immediately following college" journey. Finally, a sense of happiness? I was and still am to this day, madly in love with life.
My love affair with life was a gradual and slow moving process that started a number of years ago, hit some hard times a year or two ago and only continues to grow and strengthen with each passing day. It is this love that has been the fuel behind each and every step I've taken down the pathway of my journey. More on my affair at a later date I'm sure.
Looking back now, I think those 12 or so steps I took walking across that stage were really the "one step" beginning my journey. There was no real turning back at that point. The weight of the commitments I had made leaving college sunk in and just added to that shifting, settling feeling. Things just sort of locked into place. Like a Transformer but instead of a sentient robotic life force, it was the door to escape life's responsibilities that was locking up nice and tight on me like Megan Fox's ass. Was I scared? Not at all. A little forlorn perhaps, a lot nostalgic certainly but through it all, my excitement and love carried me across that stage and into the opening acts of my journey.
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