Receiving my new bracelet with the engraving “Go off script. Blaze your own path” as a free gift with purchase hit me stronger than I imagined as I thought about the saying and how it related to my own life. It has quickly become a favorite. Check out: Rustic Cuff // http://www.rusticcuff.com for other inspirational options! After receiving the bracelet just a few days earlier, we attended church Saturday night to hear a new sermon series: STAND — A Life of Courage. It was then that I knew I was inspired to share my own path.
Everyone has their own path in life on where they came from and how they wove through the years to where they are today. I love hearing about these journeys from new encounters, new friends and even learning more from old friends! What is your path?
Growing up in a small town with a population of 5000 was truly awesome. Some people who have never been to a town of that size can’t even imagine what that must have been like. But for me and my friends, we had nothing to compare it to and we made the very best of it in whatever we were doing……it was where our family was, where we went to school, where we played in the parks, where we ran through the streets, where we bumped into mischief, where we succeeded in school and in sports, and where we made a 1000 memories. As I grew up from the age of 3 to my senior year of High School, I always sought out to do my best, try harder, work harder and I never took anything for granted. My parents were great supporters with a heart of gold but they also taught me strong lessons and made me appreciate what I had and what I had worked hard for to buy on my own. I loved to shop from a young age so I was always saving money so I could shop when visiting our family in Kansas City. By shopping, I mean who didn’t love the GAP in the late 80s and early 90s —- plaids, baggy jeans, rugby style shirts, faded jeans cuffed at the bottom?! If I wanted to buy the expensive jeans than I needed to save my $$ and that is exactly what I did. I mowed various land for my dad to make easy cash in the Kansas heat, and the minute I turned 16 I started filling out applications to get a part-time job. I didn’t really have time for a job after school activities but I wanted to make some cash and I loved worked working with people and so I managed to fit it all in. I guess it was just the beginning of mastering those multi-tasking, time management days!
From the age of 5, I grew up on the family farm. We lived in a house that had been in my family for over 100 years so it was special to the family but 10 miles outside of the town where most of my friends lived. This made it a bit harder to see my friends as much as I would have liked as I couldn’t just open the door and run down the street. But again, I learned to entertain myself as a kid, and I had to make plans to see my friends outside of school activities, which just made time with friends more special and fun. The advantage living on a farm did grant me was a driving permit at the age of 14 which could be used to/from school or work AND maybe a few trips off that path to hang out with friends or cruise around before making that journey home.
A few days after graduation, I moved to a new city. I had always dreamed of living in a big city so my next step in life was moving to Kansas City where I had secured a summer nanny position with an amazing family that I still love to connect with today, 21 years later. I sadly said good-bye to all my dear friends and left my last summer before going to college to move to a great city. However, leaving home and moving away at the age of 18 and knowing no one else my age to hang out with was pretty dramatic. I love people though so I stayed happy and busy with the family I was staying with and went along with their schedule in life and yes we had alot of fun in Kansas City and on the many trips to their lake house for long weekends of relaxation. It was the days before cell phones so I probably made alot of calls to my friends in the evenings. It was a summer I am sure I missed out on alot of fun in my happy, known environment but something inside of me said to go for it and try something new. My parents were always supportive but I am sure they were always thinking I would get these crazy moves and ideas out of my head and eventually want to settle close by. Little did they know….it was just the beginning! And this relates back to keeping the motivation and courage and not letting it abandon you.
At the end of the summer I went off to college, which led to a few more summers living and nannying for the same Kansas City family. In my 4th year in the Interior Architecture program we had 3 choices: find a 30 week paid internship, study abroad, or stay on campus to makeup any core classes that were needed. I would say a majority of my class chose the study abroad route. Wow….did I want to do the same? Yes! I secretly researched ways to study in Australia as it was always a place I wanted to travel to but my time dwindled, the internet wasn’t what it is today and I wasn’t quite sure how I would pay for my studies as it was something my parents weren’t so excited to back at the time and gave me alot more support on the “internship route” as they thought Kansas City would be a great place as it does have several great architecture firms. Little did they know that I had been in Kansas City for a few summers already so I was ready for the next city on my life journey. I had traveled to Chicago once on spring break trip with friends and had fallen in love with that city immediately. So when thinking of an internship, I thought of nowhere else but Chicago. I sent several resumes in the mail, followed up to sit up interviews and flew there for a few days to interview. I remember a few questions from the managing principal that hired me, “How could your parents let you move to chicago from a small town in Kansas? Are you ready? Can you do this?” When I would hear those questions or hear doubts in people’s voices, that is when it pumps extra adrenalin and encourages me even more to work even harder. Luckily he believed in me and hired me for an amazing 9 month internship that allowed me to move about 6 weeks later and experienced the special city of architecture and design.
Chicago…..who doesn’t love that city? Well….people that only visit in January may not love that city, however they just don’t know what they are missing. Growing up in the midwest, the winters didn’t bother me as much as they do others. My 9 months there in the extreme cold, the hot summer weeks were filled with a memorable internship, a long list of new work contacts, new friends and a love for a new city that I wanted to permenantly live in! This crushed my parents as they were happy to watch me try new things and succeed but they were saddened that I wasn’t going to live close by. I wouldn’t say living away from family and old friends is easy, but it makes me cherish everything even more.
When people ask where I grew up, they were/are always blown away by my response and are usually left with nothing to respond back with…..a farm, a small town (both are so unfamiliar to so many). However I don’t know if my path would be similar if I had grown up in a big city. Would I still have had the passion to venture out on new journeys to new places and to explore things on my own?! Or did my past give me the motivation and drive that was needed to make these moves to new places not knowing anyone and going after my dreams to do better, work harder, and succeed in what I tried?!
I love talking to students and the younger generation and hearing about their passions. I also love to push and encourage the younger generation to go out and explore. Perhaps they go and explore and find out where they need to be, whether that is somewhere new or somewhere that they are more familiar with from their past. No matter the decision, they sought after the dream, the journey, the next steps in life and that is the important part. “What could you do if you could had the courage, or be able to encourage others?”
I think about “….blazing my own path” and that is just a small portion of my overall journey but its something I am passionate about and wanted to share as I can’t stop staring at my new bracelet. Although I will always continue to “blaze” as hard as I can in whatever I do, I have found my happy…..a place I love in both personal and professional alongside of an amazing group of friends, family, coworkers + mentors that are spread all across the country. I also thank God everyday for watching out for me and giving me the added inspiration that has been needed along the way.
Have COURAGE in all you do…..take leaps, and make your own path. “We all have courage but sometimes it gets covered up. Find it, stand in the middle of it and let it be stirred up around you.”
With that last thought…….What is your path?