Privilege

To think about where I was in my life one year ago is just crazy. I don't know that I can even process all of the changes and how every detail has impacted my life in some way. Last year at this time I was living in Texas and working on my internship so that I could graduate. I still had a few months of hard work before the end of the school year. In that time I was working on planning our wedding and we were trying to make ends meet financially. I was starting to apply for jobs in Ohio and had no idea of what my future held or what my life was going to look like.

Now, I am living in Ohio, Matt and I are married, we just bought a house, and we are working on fixing up things around our place to make it our own. We are both working full-time as school psychologists in the same district and have so many responsibilities, that I forget what my life looked like only one year ago. If you would have told me that I would be spending hours picking out new paint colors and trying to figure out how to paint 14 foot walls (which is a puzzle in itself) I would not have believed you. I do know that it took a lot of hard work to get where we are today, but it was also a lot of luck. We were very lucky that we were hired by the same district at the same time and we were very fortunate to find a rental home so quickly. We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to graduate school and to move to Texas just because we thought it would be fun.

I am so glad that we did move to Texas and I would not trade it for the world, although it caused a lot of stress and I know it would have been easier if we went to graduate school in Ohio, it was worth it. Now that we are back in Ohio and getting settled into our house, I am reminded of the road we took to get here. We had a lot of support from our family and friends. And even though we have stressful jobs and I doubt myself at times, we are fortunate to have jobs. And we are fortunate to afford a nice house and simple luxuries that others do not have. I am reminded by this every day but many times I take it for granted. I get caught up in my own life and my own troubles and I forget that I am privileged to have the opportunities that have shaped who I am today. I was able to go to college and graduate school, to move across the country, to have a beautiful wedding, to have a reliable job, and to have a loving family and many friends.

Even just thinking of how far I have come from one year ago, I realize that it was a difficult battle to get where I am. But I am privileged to have that battle, because so many never have the opportunity to go to college, graduate school, or move across the country. Yes, my experiences have shaped who I am but sometimes I need to remind myself that I am lucky.