When I grow up

"The Best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." -Chinese Proverb


I saw this quote this past week and decided it would be a good fit to this blog! As a senior in my last semester at OU, I'm noticing lots and lots of change...within myself and my friends. We're getting jobs, internships, applying for graduate schools and law schools, getting engaged or planning trips abroad. Life is speeding by right before my eyes, and this class is in what feels like an awkward limbo of uncertainty. My whole life until this moment has been evolved around what I'm going to be when I grow up. But I'm here! What's next?

When I was younger I dreamt of becoming a "pediatric pulmonologist" aka a children's asthma doctor. I grew up with terrible asthma, and I'm sure those of you who experienced years and year of hospital scares, and birthdays and holidays in the doctors offices know exactly where I'm coming from. I wanted to help others like me! But my talents told me otherwise when I couldn't focus in science classes. So here I am, graduating in May with a Business Management degree...try explaining that one to the 10 year old me!

This semester I'm taking a Sports Management class with Professor Allgood. After spending 15 seasons with the Oklahoma City Red hawks baseball team, he came back to OU to spend his Wednesday nights with students like me :) Anyways, Allgood went around the room and asked us if you had all the money in the world, and you could do ANYTHING, how would you spend your time? Most students said "buy the NFL" or "travel" or "teach" and then the occasional "PARTY all the time" came up (how embarrassing on your first day)..and then me, I said "wedding planner". He ended the class with this, "I know most of you if not all of you don't want to become sports managers, and that's okay. But if there's one thing I've learned in all my years in this business it's that you have to do something your passionate about...and the money will come to you! So, whatever you just told me you want to do in life, DO IT. What's stopping you?"

When I was in Italy I got a taste of what truly appreciating life felt like. Here in the States we center our lives around our job and what is expected of us. But in Europe they center their lives around their families, and they work just enough to get by...not for selfish ambition or to make something of themselves...they simply work to live versus living to work. It is almost impossible to have that mentality in the States with our fast pace, but I do think there's something wrong with our society when we're spending more time at a job that we don't even ENJOY than we are spending with our own families.


When I first told my friends and family about my wedding planning dream, they smiled and said that it "suits me". But it's not really a respected profession until you can truly make a name for yourself. Wedding planning takes money and lots and lots of apprenticeship until you can make that name. So, what to do? I'm a firm believer in God breaking things up so that he can put your life back together in the way he intended. As I stated before, the best time to make a change was 20 years ago, but the second best time is NOW. While I do have a job waiting for me back home, and an opportunity to have my MBA paid for, I'm going to work towards what makes me happy...planning events, believing in happily ever afters, and watching two people start that journey in matrimony. I couldn't think of anything else I'd rather be doing!

So my advice to you is it's never too late! Don't be that 65 year old, ready to retire, looking back on your life WISHING you hadn't wasted all those years on a less than mediocre job. Don't let money, or peers, or education stand in your way, because if people always did what they were "expected to do" we would still be riding wagons around town and writing letters across seas instead of flying planes or picking up the phone! I don't think there is one age that categorizes someone as "grown up". You are always growing, so don't give those dreams up that you once had. "When I grow up" is still in your reach, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!