Here is Sibling Assignment #194 that I assigned. While attending Cosette’s graduation recently,
it got me thinking about when I graduated from college, what I did and didn’t
remember from that day, and where I was at regarding my future. Think
back to when you graduated and received your bachelor’s degree. What happened
next in your life, and how do you remember feeling at this crossroads of your
life? Bill's assignment is here, and Christy's will be here.
I graduated from the
University of Idaho in May 1985 with a Bachelor of Science degree in
Communications: Public Relations, and a minor in English. Earlier that spring I had decided I wanted to
work for either a hospital or a college as a Public Relations professional. I targeted different hospitals and colleges
in the Pacific Northwest, and sent them my letter and resume. I heard back from one college. The name of the college was Dawson Community
College, located in Glendive, Montana.
The funny thing about
this college contacting me is the comment I received from Paul earlier that
spring when he saw this particular letter that I was sending to the
college. Paul had attended Western
Montana College in Dillon, Montana, and was familiar with Glendive. His comment was, “You don’t want to move
there!!” Well, God had different plans.
But, let me back up a
bit. When I was in high school, I made
told myself that when I graduated from college (this was not really an option
in my life. It was expected that I would
attend college), I would work on my own for a year before I got married. That was my plan.
When Paul and I started
dating, we had a conversation early on in our relationship about my plan. That was the best thing I could have shared
with him. As he tells the story, he
loved the fact that I had a plan, I wasn’t pressuring him into marriage, and,
for him, it took all the pressure off!!
So when he proposed to me in December of 1984, and I said yes, he knew
part of the deal would be for me to go somewhere and live on my own for a year
before we were married. And he was okay
with that plan. In fact, he encouraged
it!!
So, back to graduation
day. I don’t remember a lot. One thing I do remember, and maybe this is
because there is a photograph of it, is having my picture taken with two of my
sorority sisters, Barbie Rahe and Karen Connolly, by Karen’s dad. And then the local newspaper took a
photograph of Mr. Connolly taking our picture, and it ended up in the
newspaper. I think it may have ended up
in the U of I Yearbook as well.
After graduation, I
loaded up all my stuff from the Delta Delta Delta house and moved back
home. And then it was time to play the
waiting game. I arrived home mid May,
and I think it was sometime at the end of May or first part of June when I
received a phone call one morning from Paul Fasting, who was the Dean of Students
and Financial Aid Director at Dawson Community College. He was going to be in Missoula the next week,
and wondered if I wanted to come over to Missoula to meet with him and find out
about the job. I said I would. So I think Mom and Dad drove me over to
Missoula to meet with Paul. We had a
good conversation which eventually led to me taking the Greyhound bus from
Kellogg to Glendive for an interview.
The job I was interviewing for was the Director of Admissions and Public
Relations. This was quite a job for a
21-year-old recent college graduate. The
interview went well, and I was offered the job.
Mom, Dad and Paul all
drove me to Glendive at the end of July so I could begin my job during the
beginning of August. I found an
apartment, we moved my stuff into the apartment, and I got settled in. It was a touch year, but a good year living
on my own in Glendive. My dad described
Glendive like this…”it isn’t the end of the world, but you can see it from
there.”
I have never regretting
my decision to move to Glendive and live on my own for a year. I learned
a lot about myself, and I believe it made me a much better person.
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