Sorry, I can't. I'm busy until 2012.

At times, I still find it hard to believe that I am actually starting graduate school to become a therapist. For years I've thought this could be my calling, my fate, my destiny...and yet I tried several other majors and career paths before I finally gave in to what I desired all along.

I tried being a creative writing major before I stopped writing altogether. That wasn't for me. Then I tried to be an elementary education major. I would be a teacher. I would influence the lives of young people a la Erin Gruwell (who, in case you did not know, started the Freedom Writers). I was excited about this option. I dreamed of teaching first grade, of being loved by my young students. Of instilling a love for learning and reading. Of being Teacher of the Year. Of loving my job every day even though I would be overworked and extremely underpaid.

And then the classes started to get to me: all the discussions over No Child Left Behind and all the ways I could possibly get into trouble with parents, administrators, and the law. The knowledge that perhaps I would have to teach to a test and not teach in the creative way I desired. I lost interest. The flame of hope, of excitement, that had once burned so brightly was lost. I was lost.

What saved me was my minor program of study: Family and Child Sciences. Almost all of my instructors were doctors of Marriage and Family Therapy. They told stories about their clients and their experiences. I was hooked. It was what I wanted all along, and I was finally ready to reach out and grab it. I switched my major to their program and began taking classes in family crisis, parenting, child development, child guidance. I was thrilled. I knew what I wanted to do, and I went for it. My senior year of undergrad, I applied to a university in Orlando for their Marriage and Family Therapy program. I was asked for an interview and later accepted into their newest class of students. According to my advisor, I will be graduating in the summer of 2012 after spending three years in year-round, full time classes (including summer, obviously).

Here's to the next chapter.