So I just realized that I haven't posted anything for over a month. Whoops! Since my last post a lot has happened. I haven't been crazy busy, but a lot of what I thought I wanted to do in the future has changed. I guess it'd be best to just start at the beginning.
For a while I'd been surprised at how sad I was that this was my last year writing for the Post. I was going to miss the interviews, the screenings, the back-and-forth-never-ending emails with my editors, and the little jolts of adrenalin that I always got when ever something of mine was in the paper. Yeah, writing is not my favorite thing in the world, but that didn't mean that I wanted to stop.
You can only imagine my excitement when I got a call on July 15th from the Denver Post offering me a year-long position as a Youth Reporter Adviser. I was told that this is the first time they've ever tried something like this, and when they started the whole process, they only had me in mind. Basically, I get to keep doing what I'm doing with the addition of bigger, more complex stories. I'll assist new reporters by answer their questions and giving them tips. Oh, and did I mention I'll get paid?
This in its self is not such a big deal. The realization that came along with it was.
Let me back up again. (Sorry!) Back in May when I found out that I wasn't accepted into Legacy's Student Government, I was crushed. Yeah, when I first applied, I had doubts about if I wanted to do it or not. From what I had heard, Freshman year in L2K would be insane and over the past 5 years that I've done Student Government, I can't say that I particularly loved it. Even with my many wavering feelings about StuGo, it still stung when I found out I was rejected when so many of my peers were not.
It wasn't until July 15th that an idea started forming. It was something that my head wouldn't consider and my heart wouldn't let go of. What if what I had planned wasn't what God had planned? What if me not getting into StuGo was God telling me that he has something bigger and better in store for me? I had figured that by this time of the year, with my writing gig over and school starting, Student Government would be a perfect fit. In no way would I have thought writing would still be taking the front seat!
All of this, as minuscule and unimportant as it may seem, has got me thinking. What if a degree in Psychology from Yale followed by a career as a councilor with World Vision in the Congo isn't what I'm supposed to do? I've had everything planned out with no room for changes for as long as I can remember, and time after time nothing turns out the way I thought it would. At the beginning of 8th grade if you asked me where I was going to high school, I would have said anywhere but Legacy. And then when the time came to choose between my top two schools and L2K, for some odd reason I felt like Legacy was where I was supposed to end up. If you know me at all, you know that I like to plan ahead when it comes to these things. Like, way, way ahead. Well, maybe I should give up on planning.
On a side note, Devyn, a girl with an incredible story (dnmslife.wordpress.com), went from having her life planed out (all the way down to what she would name her two golden retrievers) to not knowing what she was going to be doing next month. She's the perfect example of someone who put their life in God's hands and then actually listened to where He told her to go. I think one of the most amazing things about her is that she didn't give up on Him, even when a dream of hers was turned down, what she had planned was canceled, and people looked down on her for not knowing what she was going to do after high school. I definitely consider her to be one of my role models, and wish that I had her incredible faith and her strength to persevere.
