JOURNALING SAYS:

In October, 1990, I graduated from university with a Bachelor of Arts in Honours Psychology. Did it change my life? Not the way I had envisioned. Sure, I was proud of myself for having achieved something no one else in my family had ever achieved, but it didnt lead to a career like Id hoped. I had originally wanted to be a psychologist. I planned to go on to graduate school and eventually get my PhD. I enjoyed going to school and Id always been told I was smart and that anything was possible for me. I had always had all educational doors open to me. But for the first time in my life, not only was I faced with a lot of closed doors, but I couldnt even open a window for myself. You see, no one had told me that in order to go to graduate school for clinical psychology I would need to maintain an average of about 97% in university! Well, Im smart but Im not a genius. Those kinds of grades just werent possible for me no matter how much I studied. I worked really hard in university but the highest mark I ever received was an A-. When I applied to graduate school in clinical psychology I thought I was keeping my options open by also applying for a graduate program in Marriage and Family Counselling and for teachers college. I assumed that I would be accepted into at least one of those programs, but I was not. I remember when I received the last rejection letter. I threw myself on my bed and just sobbed. I honestly thought my life was over. How could I have the life I had scripted for myself now? But, you see, that was my mistake. You cant script your life like a movie. Life will always throw you some curves. So what happened? Well, within a few months of that I found God, met my husband, got married and received a position as a teachers assistant in a French Immersion (half English, half French) class. You see, Im fully bilingual in English and French. I had always taken my bilingualism for granted because it was normal to me, but it turned out that it was that skill that got me nearly every job after that. Eventually I started my own tutoring business, teaching students from a private bilingual school nearby. Even though I was making far less money than I would have made as a psychologist, those were some of the most satisfying years of my life. I soon realized that this is where I belonged. I loved teaching and I was really good at it. I didnt even need to advertise. I got all my clients by word of mouth. And I was finally proud of myself once more.

CREDITS:
Background Paper: from Magical Moments Freebie by Vera Lim
Green Paper: from Romanza by Cinzia Loosemore
Floral Paper: from Thankful for You by Cinzia Loosemore
Flowers: from Sometimes by Ninascraps (colour altered)
Buttons: from Dialogue by Paislee Press
Staple: from Every{day} Life 1 by Cinzia Loosemore
Alpha: from 52 Inspirations 2011: Basics by Vicki Stegall