This Town...My Life

This town I live in is a college town. Approximately 30,000 students roll in here every August and out again in May. In August of this year I will have been here for 21 years. I've seen a lot of changes in that time. The clothing styles I was wearing when I rolled into town in 1989 are almost exactly the same as what I see the students wearing on campus today. It doesn't seem like that long ago but it's been long enough that those clothing styles have come back in fashion 21 years later. A lot of changes but much is the same.

I don't know if I ever really planned to stay here. I planned to go to school and I didn't really have any plans other than that. School didn't work out right away and I ended up working for this company that was unbelievable, to say the least. 1989 was right smack in the upswing of the tech bubble and I got to be part of it by working for a very successful software development company right here in this town. We got to experience much of what the software companies were offering their employees on the coasts. Amazing. A great experience for a young, small town girl. I learned a lot that would serve me well in my future and in those years I also grew to love this town.

Today, as I walked across campus and saw some students in their graduation robes I was thinking how lucky we are to live in this College Town. My town isn't huge by some standards...approximately 100,000 people plus those extra 30,000 or so students. This town is huge compared to the rural area where I'm from. It seemed practically city-like when I moved here 21 years ago. It doesn't feel that way to me now. We have most of the amenities of bigger cities including a traffic problem on most of the major streets. I count myself lucky to live in such a diverse town with different cultures and religions. I love that my children have friends who speak another language at home and were born in different countries. It opens up their world and teaches them to be accepting of people who are different than they are. And what I find is that this town isn't really big at all. For the most part, people are friendly, helpful and it's not uncommon to run into people you know almost everywhere you go.

So, in the past few months I've been evaluating my life. My work, my education, my goals and dreams. I'm 21 years into my work life and, God willing, I have approximately 21 more years before I retire. 21 years is a long time in some respects and a very short amount of time in others. The fact that 21 years here in this town have already passed by tells me how fast time is moving for me.

So how do I want to spend the next 21 years? I'm not sure if I will ever completely know what my career path should be. As a woman in my 40's I know where my strengths are and where they are not. I know I don't want to waste time on selfish endeavors. I don't want to climb career ladders. It's not about me. I want to make a difference in someone else's life. I want to help other women know their value in this world and no matter what their circumstances are they can have a life they have dreamed about. I have some ideas about how to do that and maybe I'll see them become reality sometime in the next 21 years

There are possibly 1000's of students graduating this weekend here in this town. They are starting their new lives right now. Isn't that exciting? They are moving on to new endeavors and probably even new towns. So, what about this town? This town will get 1000's of new students in the fall who are excited to start their own new journey. And...this town is my home. I can't imagine living anywhere else. Most of my new journeys have taken place right here. Although I have dreams of things I want to do... my most important journey is with my children. I look forward to seeing where their lives take off right here... from this town.

**photo--senior sendoff is a tradition held before graduation every year. Seniors run through the columns away from campus symbolizing their new journeys as alumni instead of students. Also, every August the new freshmen run through the columns toward campus symbolizing their new journey as college students.