Because I’m Happy

Today marks exactly one month from the first day of grad school. Yes, I forked out those dollars, panicked a little…a lot…and barreled head first into the most exciting, rewarding, and stimulating time of my life.

There are so many poems and essays and posts of shadows and pain, and today I’m going to write about the complete opposite because I’m happy. How strange that this has become my theme song (thanks Pharrell Williams, truly you are amazing) after so many years of ups and downs and elongated shadows of deep, deep sorrow.

My life is filled with love, with laughter (so much laughter), and the demand for higher level thinking I just can’t get enough of. I go to school Monday through Friday and hang out with the most intelligent, funny, welcoming, compassionate people I’ve ever met. Whether they are extroverts, introverts, engaged, looking for a relationship, feelers or thinkers, they are all like me in some way. We are all there because we have a burning desire in the pit of our selves that propels us into this classroom each and every day. We’re here for the kids. We are all here to teach.

When we aren’t in our classroom, we are in the field, watching and thinking and taking notes so that we can all have a drink and compare notes when we return. We agree, we disagree, but that doesn’t matter because we are all there to learn.

When I come home, I get to spend time with the man who loves me most. Whether we relax on the couch with books or homework, go to a long-awaited movie, or enjoy the reclusive sun, we are always looking in the same direction. We are set to graduate around the same time, he with his Bachelors and I with my Masters. We live in a home where sunlight reaches every corner and the space can be filled with memories and plans for the future.

I’ve waited a long time for this and now I’m right where I belong. Why? Because I’m happy.