Leaf Twenty-eight: Perseverance

This past week has been an absolute whirlwind.  I am incredibly thankful and blessed and thrilled for the next chapter of my life to begin. Leaf twenty-eight is about working hard, being who you are, and owning your story. These three things helped me persevere through a challenging, trying year and essentially opened up an unexpected opportunity for my future.

A couple weeks ago I got a phone call from one of my supervisors for a clinic I work at in East County. She was calling to offer me a job interview for a position opening up at the high school next year. She stated the position had already officially been closed, but wanted to give me the opportunity to apply as she knew me and my work ethic over the course of the past year. I was surprised by the call and in the moment it was a lot to wrap my head around. I agreed to the interview and spent the following few days really considering what the job would mean for me at this time in my life.

As the reality of having a potential job before I finished school set it, I was overwhelmed with excitement and at the same time absolutely terrified of screwing things up. My anxiety levels shot through the roof as I prepared for the interview. I had the initial interview on Tuesday with my supervisor. She was warm and already knew a lot about me so it helped calm my nerves. With that being said, the questions were challenging and encouraged me to think about who I was as a therapist. Afterwards she told me there was a high chance I would qualify for the second interview on Thursday with the school principal, head guidance counselor and another woman who held a strong role in alternative education. She stated they would be making the final decision and that the individual I was competing against would be tough competition.

When she called to offer me the second interview, she stated that I needed to enter the interview with the goal to sell myself completely. As you can imagine, my nerves were over stimulated with excitement as well as fear of rejection. Knowing what my triggers are and the need to be perfect, I spent the following day preparing what I wanted to accomplish out this interview. Immediately, I knew that I had to make my first goal about staying real. Like I talked about a few weeks earlier, a huge trigger for shame for me is entering an environment with a need to be accepted versus owning my story and being my authentic self. I really began to think about what my strengths were in my field and how I was going to articulate them in an interview room. I have difficulty expressing pride for myself out of a fear that it makes me appear haughty or self-centered. For the interview, I knew that I needed to own my strengths and to be proud of the hard work I had committed to over the years.

At this moment I am incredibly thankful for the personal journey I devoted the past year too and the amount of time I put into self-discovery. It is one the reasons I am fortunate and blessed to have a job lined up as I complete my graduate program. There are so many that helped me persevere along this pathway and my gratitude to them is never ending. As I entered the interview having faith in myself and expressing my passion for what I do, I left knowing that whatever happened in the end, I had grown as a person. Despite being incredibly nervous, I never waivered from my goal of being myself and owning my strengths. Leaf twenty-eight marks an exciting, joyous beginning to a new era of my life.

“With ordinary talents and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable” –Sir Thomas Buxton