"No man can tell whether he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher
The weekend before last (meaning 2 weekends ago) something really cool happened. My mom graduated with her MA in educational administration. This has been a dream of hers since before I can remember and to see her walking across that stage...I still smile just thinking about it. This has been a life long dream of hers and to see her complete something 20 years in the making was the best feeling in the world.
This, invariably, led to discussions about what she's doing after college--and somehow my sister and I were dragged into the middle of the conversations. People started asking what our majors are and when they heard Law and Engineering they were thoroughly impressed.
Let me take a moment and tell a quick story.
It's about a girl, born in the middle of a heat wave. There's nothing particularly interesting about her family, middle working class with a dog. Let's skip ahead a few years. The little girl is about 3 and every other word out of her mouth is a question. Why? How? What? They were questions she always asked and her parents, at their wits end, started making up answers just to appease her. She was so inquisitive, always wanting to know how things worked or why they worked, what would happen if...fill in the blank. Her parents knew this girl was born with mechanics in her blood.
Now let's skip ahead to when she's about 5. One day she comes home and tells her parents she knows what she wants to do when she grows up. Her mom smiles and asks, expecting the usual answer of 'ballerina' or 'president' or 'actress'. The little girl answers "an engineer". After a few questions, the parents realize their daughter does know what engineering is ("It's fixing things") and considering her abilities, she'd make a great engineer. Let me take a second to also say this little girl was also sociable--when she went to the grocery store she'd start up conversations with strangers as if they were her best friends. Mechanical ability with social grace; an odd combination if there ever was one. For all you scientists out there, you know mechanics and social ability takes both sides of the brain, meaning this little girl had no problem being local and emotional when need be.
Let's get back to our story. We're fast-forwarding to today. The little girl grew up with the bumps and bruises of childhood and trying to jump off the roof to try to fly, but she made in through in one piece. She's sitting here writing this post. As of now, she's about 3/4 of the way through her Engineering program. When she graduates, she will be an engineer.
Back to my mom's graduation. People were amazed my sister and I were going into such enriching fields of study and were practically fawning over the money we were going to make. Let me make one thing clear: I don't care if I invent the next facebook or Microsoft or Apple or IBM or whatever. To me, money doesn't matter. If I'm doing what I love, helping others in a significant way, and honoring my God in a pleasing way, I don't care if I make $30,000 a year or $300,000 a year. People don't seem to understand that there's more to life than money.
When I tell them I'm considering the Navy or Marines (a lot are saying Navy because you don't run the risk of getting shot. I just want to be on a boat), their jaw drops. "But there are better ways to use your talents!" they argue. I argue that I'm going to serve a country I love with my skills, what better use of my talents are there than that?
Anyway, back to my mom. Her graduation was a celebration, we went home that night and were exhausted. I got a little sunburned and the set up was odd but to celebrate with my mom something that she has worked for, for so long was encouraging. I know one day I'll be walking across that stage to receive my diploma with my family and friends cheering me the entire way.
~Katie
The weekend before last (meaning 2 weekends ago) something really cool happened. My mom graduated with her MA in educational administration. This has been a dream of hers since before I can remember and to see her walking across that stage...I still smile just thinking about it. This has been a life long dream of hers and to see her complete something 20 years in the making was the best feeling in the world.
This, invariably, led to discussions about what she's doing after college--and somehow my sister and I were dragged into the middle of the conversations. People started asking what our majors are and when they heard Law and Engineering they were thoroughly impressed.
Let me take a moment and tell a quick story.
It's about a girl, born in the middle of a heat wave. There's nothing particularly interesting about her family, middle working class with a dog. Let's skip ahead a few years. The little girl is about 3 and every other word out of her mouth is a question. Why? How? What? They were questions she always asked and her parents, at their wits end, started making up answers just to appease her. She was so inquisitive, always wanting to know how things worked or why they worked, what would happen if...fill in the blank. Her parents knew this girl was born with mechanics in her blood.
Now let's skip ahead to when she's about 5. One day she comes home and tells her parents she knows what she wants to do when she grows up. Her mom smiles and asks, expecting the usual answer of 'ballerina' or 'president' or 'actress'. The little girl answers "an engineer". After a few questions, the parents realize their daughter does know what engineering is ("It's fixing things") and considering her abilities, she'd make a great engineer. Let me take a second to also say this little girl was also sociable--when she went to the grocery store she'd start up conversations with strangers as if they were her best friends. Mechanical ability with social grace; an odd combination if there ever was one. For all you scientists out there, you know mechanics and social ability takes both sides of the brain, meaning this little girl had no problem being local and emotional when need be.
Let's get back to our story. We're fast-forwarding to today. The little girl grew up with the bumps and bruises of childhood and trying to jump off the roof to try to fly, but she made in through in one piece. She's sitting here writing this post. As of now, she's about 3/4 of the way through her Engineering program. When she graduates, she will be an engineer.
Back to my mom's graduation. People were amazed my sister and I were going into such enriching fields of study and were practically fawning over the money we were going to make. Let me make one thing clear: I don't care if I invent the next facebook or Microsoft or Apple or IBM or whatever. To me, money doesn't matter. If I'm doing what I love, helping others in a significant way, and honoring my God in a pleasing way, I don't care if I make $30,000 a year or $300,000 a year. People don't seem to understand that there's more to life than money.
When I tell them I'm considering the Navy or Marines (a lot are saying Navy because you don't run the risk of getting shot. I just want to be on a boat), their jaw drops. "But there are better ways to use your talents!" they argue. I argue that I'm going to serve a country I love with my skills, what better use of my talents are there than that?
Anyway, back to my mom. Her graduation was a celebration, we went home that night and were exhausted. I got a little sunburned and the set up was odd but to celebrate with my mom something that she has worked for, for so long was encouraging. I know one day I'll be walking across that stage to receive my diploma with my family and friends cheering me the entire way.
~Katie
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