Proud of You

Most things in my life are things I have done to please other people. I strived to hear the words “I’m proud of you” come out of other people’s mouths. I made sure I stayed home if I thought my parents wouldn’t appreciate me leaving and not eating dinner at home. I would never put in a suggestion for dinner because I wanted to make sure everyone else got what they wanted to eat. I picked a major in college that was popular because the one I actually wanted to choose was too “broad”. I missed out on plenty as a child because I was too afraid to speak up about what I wanted which turned me into a quiet and worried adult.

As a quiet and worried adult, you start to realize that taking a risk is a horribly scary thing. Going out to a career fair and talking to people who want to ask me a ton of questions about myself was never something I would have done on my own a few years ago. When things started to change for me and I took that risk, I walked into an organization that helped to change me in the best way.

To make a list of things that I gained here at TCP as an intern would take a lot of time to read so instead I will highlight the things that the organization changed about me.

• I have a voice, and not the “hey look at me I’m better than you” type of voice but the kind that gets you to speak up and come up with plans to help a place move forward.
• I get to do what I have always wanted to do. The other day my professor brought up how I started 2017 bouncing around from all of my retail jobs to my classes and never getting to do what I truly wanted to do, which was make a difference somewhere.
• I see a future for myself. Everything I have done here has been impactful. That is something no one can take away from me. It has allowed me to have a future where someone wants to hire me because of what I have accomplished.
• A full-time job. They decided to keep me as a full-time employee which completely changed everything for me.
• The last thing that I want to highlight is something I thought that I would not find for a long time because everyone is always telling you that it takes a lifetime to find yourself. I think that you can find yourself a few times and the first time I really found myself was here at TCP.

What that last point has given me is an opportunity to feel accomplished and like my time here has meant something. I am forever grateful for their belief in me and continuing to give me opportunity after opportunity to grow. Their choice to keep me as part of their team full-time finally made me think to myself “I’m proud of you.”