Finding Dina
Ten years ago I was in my 20s, I was a full time student and I had a part time job. I met and started dating my husband; we fell in love and decided to get married that year. Everything was working out perfectly, almost like a modern fairytale. The most stressful thing about my life at that time was the wedding planning because I wanted it to be perfect. And it was that desire for perfection that led me to making the worst decision of my life: taking a break from school.
I planned on taking one semester off to have a stress free wedding, a glorious honeymoon and blissful first few months of marriage. I saw no harm in taking a little break because I only had one more year left to get my bachelors. I was young and I thought I knew it all, had it all under control. But one thing you never know is what may be waiting for you around the corner.
That semester off? You guessed it. It stretched into years.
The company my husband worked for laid him off and then went bankrupt a few months later. Many companies followed suit and jobs were hard to come by. This was 2001, the year of 9/11 when tragedy struck our country and the first whispers of recession were becoming audible.
I found work as a secretary in a hospital, a great job with great benefits. And we needed those benefits as a young married couple that hoped to start a family someday. I worked full time and was happy there. I quietly gave up on my dream of becoming a teacher because I thought it would be too hard to work full time and go to school.
Then one day one of the new doctors was chatting with us while he was waiting for his patient to return from a test in another department. This doctor looked so young that we liked to call him Doogie Houser. On this particular day he was telling us about his wife who was pregnant with their second child and by the end of our chat I knew that his wife was to become my inspiration. This day and this conversation literally changed my life. Why? Because this pregnant woman who was already mom to a toddler was also keeping herself occupied by being the Chief Resident at one of the leading hospitals in the state.
And I thought my life was busy? I thought it would be too hard for me to go back to school? I was willing to give up on myself so easily? No. I needed to get back to ME.
The next day I filled out the application to go back to school and I enrolled in classes for the new semester. It took me a little bit longer to finish as a part time student, but a couple of years later I graduated, with honors.
Finally. I was ME again.
You can find more of Dina @30ish_Mama and also http://30ishmama.blogspot.com where she writes about motherhood, toddlerhood and her random thoughts. She is married to her own personal Clark Kent/Superman and is mom to one sparkly little princess.