Autobiography

As I complete this Master's program in School Library Media at the University of Georgia, I reflect on where I've been and where I'm going. So settle in - this may get wordy!

After graduating from high school in 1997, I had no money to go away to school and frankly I didn't like the idea of accumulating school debt at age 18, so I opted to stay at home and attend Georgia Perimeter College in Lawrenceville, GA. Of course, at the time it was called Decatur College. I breezed through my core classes, I think I did so because I wasted no time in starting college, I began that first summer after high school. I had no major in mind, so I finished Perimeter with an A.S. in Business. Now where do I go? I had begun working for Bank of America as a teller during my sophomore year and in order to save more money I decided to take a semester off after Perimeter. I could work full time and save every dime. During this semester off I was promoted several times with the bank.

My dad encouraged me to attend Brenau University's Evening and Weekend College so I could continue working full-time with the bank and take classes at night. Just what I needed - a private school - with private school tuition! So I broke down and got that student loan, but soon after starting Brenau my grandmother passed away and left me enough money to pay off the loan and finish my last two years at Brenau debt free. So what major? I didn't know what I wanted to do. My mother graduated cum laude from Georgia State with a business degree, so I figured that sounded safe enough and I was already in the business world - working for the bank. I breezed through and graduated in May 2001 with a B.B.A. in Marketing. Now - to find that career job! And as a side note - all that living at home and working full-time allowed me to purchase my own home in Winder, GA at the age of 23! Take note people!

I applied everywhere for marketing positions and guess what? I had no marketing experience! I did however have banking experience. This led to yet another promotion with Bank of America and more money, so I stayed where I was. Then one year after graduation - while I was planning my wedding to Matt Losch - I got a call from The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. They were looking for someone with a business background and banking experience - that's me! I started my new job as Financial Examiner with the GA DBF one month after I got married. It was miserable! I worked with either "newbies" like me or old, old examiners getting ready for retirement (who only talked about banks or retirement). We would travel from bank to bank across the northeastern quadrant of Georgia analyzing financial statements and calculating capital ratios. Ugh! One day I looked around and realized I was surrounded by old, fat men, who only discussed banking. I had to get out. My husband Matt, a special education teacher, encouraged me to teach. Why had I not done that before? Why had I not gone to school for an education degree in the first place? I was going to be a teacher!

Well, once you hatch an idea, something always comes along and messes up your plans. In April 2005, I prepared myself to donate a kidney to my father-in-law in West Virginia. The DBF was giving me eight weeks off with pay for recovery. I hatched a plan: take my leave, and then take my exit. I told all those closest to me that I wasn't coming back to the DBF after surgery. One examiner who had left to work for a local community bank told me to call him when I got back - he thought he could help me. I called him and he said they had a compliance officer position open at his family-owned financial institution in Loganville, GA. It paid $10,000 more than I was currently making. The teaching plans went on hold. Life was okay at the bank. I received many, many raises and benefits, but money sometimes isn't enough. My happiness was more important to me than cash. After two years I told my husband the teaching plans were back on the table. At almost the same time, my mother, the TST at Brookwood High School received an e-mail from Dr. Mary Ann Fitzgerald about recruitment for the SLM program at UGA. I couldn't believe it! It was a sign! I don't know why it had never occurred to me before based upon my love of reading and interest in technology - being a media specialist was perfect!

In the beginning I worked for the bank while going to school, but at the start of my second year in the program, I decided I needed some hands on experience in a school if I'm going to make it in this field. My husband applied for and received a new teaching job at the Outdoor Therapeutic Program in Cleveland, GA. So we had to move. I took this opportunity to make my move as well. In July 2007 I began work as a Special Education Paraprofessional at White County Middle School. I love it! I really should have been doing this a long time ago! I have also learned that I love middle grade students. They are still children, but yet you can speak to them like adults (some of the time). This position has definitely cemented my feelings about education - it's for me!

And that leads to today - preparing to graduate from UGA. I'm so excited and frightened all at the same time! Will I get a job? I've never taught before, will that ruin my chances at a job? What if I mess up? What do I do? That's just a small piece of how I feel at this time. Anxious and nervous all wrapped into one. I am so thankful to my husband for the opportunity he has afforded me, especially when I said I want to cut my salary by 75% and become a parapro. We budgeted and are currently managing. Without him this wouldn't have been possible. He is a life-long learner, now working on his leadership add-on, and I can't say enough how much I love him.

So I look forward to the day when I have my own media center. When I can get just as excited as the students over the newest novels. When I can read a children's book and have someone to talk to about it. I know most of this autobiography is my adult life, but I don't want to diminish my childhood. It was wonderful. I loved reading, as I'm sure all my cohorters will say. My favorite in particular was anything by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I often thought I was Laura - based upon the name of course. I would get lost in those stories on the banks of Plum Creek and enjoyed every minute of it. I believe if you don't get lost in a novel at some point in your life, you're not living! Loose yourself in a whole other world!

Thank you for bearing with me on this long look back at where I've been and where I hope to go.