Finally

My first day of college:

Well, it's about time.  I am now a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa. It has been a long. haul.  Six years is most likely no record, but it's quite long enough.  I thought graduation would be be filled with nothing but celebration, relief, and pure joy.  However, as I was packing away graduation memoriliba and filing student teaching papers this giant feeling of, "But..what now!?" came over me.  Thanks to college, I have worked long and hard on the self-talk that eases anxiety of frequent freak-outs.  So, I quickly provided myself an answer.  Now I am moving onto a new chapter where I get to apply for jobs that people with degrees can consider. I can start my career, have an income, and feel like a grown up (come with that what may).  I am done talking to snooty advisors, pleading with professors to let me in full classes, and sprinting across campus in snow/sleet/and rain to ensure my 2 attendance points.  However, apart from a degree in my pocket and being free of minor college hassles, I do not know what is next.  And with my self-talk and Jerimiah 29:11, I am trying really hard to be okay with that.  I am sure there are a small handful of recent graduates who are feeling the same way.

Like my entire college career, my family was with me at my graduation cheering me on.  I am still trying to figure out a bigger way to say thank you to my parents.  Saying the same words to the man who bags my groceries and my parents who supported me through a pain-in-the-butt college career just seems wrong.  Since I have yet to come up with something, a thank you from the deepest part of my heart will have to do.  Someday when I am a rich teacher (ha) I will send them on a fancy European tour or buy them a shiny yacht named, "It's about time". 

Each year of college has held events, people, and friends that have given me memories and shaped who I am.  Through college I have not only gained a degree, but also confidence.  I have seen kindness move mountains, the importance of family/support, and the value of education.

Graduation pics below: My cheerteam keeps getting cuter.  By the time I get my Master's I'm going to be taking a big family of knock-outs to the ceremony.