There's also been a lot of change.
For starters, we got a cat. I have been wanting my own cat for SO long. I love cats so much but unfortunately, Jordan did not so I had resorted myself to the fact that a cat was not happening for us. I did not want to get a cat myself and deal with living with someone that could skirt all the responsibilities of an animal in our shared home. No way Jose. Then one day Jordan turned to me and said "You wanna get a cat together?" I responded with "YUP." This was the day I was waiting for (crazy cat ladies unite!). Jordan had finally broken down and felt guilty for denying me a cat for so long. That's how Peter came along. We went to the humane society and picked him out together. Now we take care of him together, cuddle him together, and bitch about how much of an asshole he can be together. True cat ownership!
The biggest change that happened to me was my entire career was turned upside down. While working at my customer service corporate job I had the opportunity to go on a tour with the United Way. The company I worked for did a lot of fundraising and they wanted to show us where the fundraising actually goes in our community. We took a tour of a youth homeless shelter and I immediately felt so drawn to the shelter. I could not stop thinking about how much I wanted to be a part of what that place did. I emailed the shelter and applied to be a volunteer and after a short interview, I was in. Volunteering at the shelter was one of the scariest experiences I had ever gotten myself into. I felt completely uncomfortable, completely unqualified, and completely in over my head. But I kept coming back. I volunteered every week and started to feel so much more comfortable helping out there. I got to know the kids better and my passion for social work grew. I officially made the decision that a career in social work was what I truly wanted. I have been researching schools ever since and have decided that I will be getting a masters of social work within the next couple of years.
During that time I received the offer to go work with Jordan and my parents at their financial planning firm. Since I'd been in the insurance industry now for almost two years in my current job, it would be an easy transition. It also offered me a lot more flexibility to go back to school in the future and to be honest, I was miserable at my current job and this was just the opportunity I needed to finally get out of there. I was worried I would regret my decision but I'm so much happier now and know that this was definitely the right choice for me.
A couple of months ago there were openings for part time staff at the homeless shelter I was volunteering at and after a few pushes from the staff there I decided to apply. I felt completely unqualified but the staff continued to reassure me that schooling means so much less than the natural instinct they have felt that I'd been exhibiting. I took the leap to apply and ended up getting the job! Now I work at the shelter part time and it feels SO amazing. I truly love this job and it feels like I had a dream and I actually took the steps to achieve it. So now I'll be working there for a couple years before I apply for my masters. It's definitely a long plan but I'm incredibly excited about what it will bring me one day.
This may have been the year of Trump and Harambe but a lot of good happened for me personally and I'm excited to see what can happen next year.
Here's to 2017 and hoping even better things are on the horizon (like a Trump impeachment maybe?)
From the desk of:
Taylor Brown
Part Time Social Worker (WOO!)
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