What's Next?

When I was in sixth grade, I had to write a paper about what I thought my life would be like when I was "grown up". I don't remember much of how I described my future back then, but I do know what I thought my career would be: a teacher.

Fast forward to my senior year of high school. At the beginning of the year, another teacher had us write down what we thought our lives would be like 10 years from that point in time. I remember very clearly what I wrote this time: I'll be 28 years old, pregnant with my second child, happily married, and a teacher.

Guess what this year is? It marks 10 years since I wrote that paper during my senior year of high school. And my predictions? Well, I wasn't too far off the mark. I am, in fact, 28 and happily married. I am pregnant, though not with my second child. I guess I couldn't have predicted then that infertility would not agree with my carefully planned timeline. But a teacher? That I am not, and never have been.

Somewhere during my senior year of college, I decided that maybe teaching wasn't for me after all. When I graduated from school and subsequenly moved south, I took a position as a recruiter with the company that I have worked at for the past 6 years. I'm old enough now to know that we can meticulously plan out our lives all we want to, but ultimately, circumstances that are beyond our understanding will lead us to where we're supposed to be at that point in time.

And I don't doubt that I spent the last 6 years where I was supposed to be, career wise. I started at this company when I was 22 years old and kind of an aimless soul, fresh out of college. I can safely say that I grew up while working there. I hardly remember the girl that first walked through their door just two short months after her college graduation.

But now, it's approaching the time to close that chapter of my life. In less than two months, I will no longer work there. The impending change is bittersweet, like most changes are. So, what's next for me? Well, what I know for sure is that I'll be staying home with this sweet boy for at least a year. Possibly a bit longer. But there will come a time when I will need to go back to work, and I've already begun prepping myself for that new beginning.

And what could be more appropriate than returning to my roots? I've wanted to be a teacher for most of my life. Why put it off any longer? Sure, I'll have to take some classes to get my in-state certification. No, that probably won't be super convenient when I'm also a full-time mom. But if there's anything I've learned over the past couple of years, it's that persistence ultimately pays off. And the things we appreciate most in life are the things we've worked the hardest for.

So that's what's next. I think both twelve-year-old Kerri and eighteen-year-old Kerri would give their stamp of approval.