The power of perseverance
Dear friends:
If you can dream it, you can do it.——Walt Disney
It was a long four years. Even after I had actually graduated, the nightmares began to haunt me, the university would call to say I hadn’t truly graduated. There had been a mistake and there was just one more class I needed to take. I was always so relieved to wake up and realize that it had only been a bad dream. In reality, I had completed every course needed for my degree, and I was a full-fledged college graduate!
Now, the rest of my life loomed ahead of me. Sometimes a bachelor’s degree prepares you for a specific occupation——you train to be an accountant, you graduate and get a position in an accounting firm. Often, however, your stint in college only prepares you to make further decisions regarding your future. You’re pretty sure what you don’t want to do!
During my senior year of college, I had toyed with the idea of changing my major. At that point, I had finally discovered what captured my heart. But, wanting to finally be finishing school was a stronger pull. So, I took a few courses in physiology and exercise science, but not enough to receive a degree in physical therapy. That would require advanced schooling, beyond my bachelor’s degree——and I just wasn’tready to tackle that. Having completed my B.C. degree, I didn’t have any intentions of furthering my education.
So, I did the safe thing and got an office job——the very thing I was sure that I didn’t want to do! I detested the office policies, the suits I had to wear and the downtown environment that I had to drive to every day. I knew this was not where I belonged.
But god knew what path my career was to follow. A position opened up at the most exclusive health club in our city, so I applied. This was my kind of environment——an active, vibrant kind of place——completely at the opposite end of the spectrum from the office environment where I found myself. The position required that I work Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. Perfect, I thought! I could keep my office job Monday through Friday and work at my dream job on the weekends. This arrangement lasted several months until, eventually, a full-time position opened up and I was able to resign from my office job.
Over the next few years, I worked my way up the leader, gaining experience in several different departments. I found my niche as the director of member services——catering to our clientele and providing them with numerous cutting-edge programs. I would have stayed at that job forever——it seemed to be the pinnacle of all my dreams fulfilled. Here were fellow employees who had a passion for the same things that I did——health and fitness. Yet again, god had other plans for my life.Within two years, a newer, bigger, better and more state-of-the-art health club facility was built——just five miles down the road. And, in turn, the owner lost many members to that club. And, in turn, the owner lost thousands of dollars. One by one we were each laid off.
After trying unsuccessfully to land another similar position elsewhere, I knew what I had to do. Go back to school!thanks!
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