For a reason.

I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason.
The bad things.
The good things.
They all get you to where you are now.
I can only hope that where you are now is where you are your happiest.

My last relationship, as turbulent and heartbreaking as it was, was for a reason. It showed me that I have the ability to truly love, unconditionally, and that I can bring a lot to someone else's life.

My need financially to drive to Michigan rather than flying or any other sort of transportation showed me just how strong I am. I never thing about that fact that I drove over 3,000 miles, alone, and saw some of the most amazing views of this country.

I never thought I would be in graduate school let alone in the state of Michigan or with people that I have grown to love so much. There is a reason that I am here, with these people, in this program, at this time.

There is a reason that I was randomly told about the NODA internship opportunities and decided to use that program to look for internships before searching for other avenues. It was fate that my first internship interview was royally awkward and that my second interview was great.

It was fate that intervened when I was feeling jaded and discouraged in my current job and found an internship that gave me a renewed sense of motivation, direction, and self-esteem. It was fate that I worked with people that inspired me, made me laugh, and made me feel like I belonged.

It is fate, hard work, and self-confidence that has gotten me to where I am for this semester: teaching, internship working with a special group of students, and maintaining my job as an advisor which I have a new enthusiasm about.

Sometimes I look at my life, look at the past 12 years that were challenging, and at times, impossible, and wonder how the hell I got to this place that I am now.

I can finally say that I am proud of myself.