25 Year Later

When I was in high school, it was a big social place for me. I was always disappointed at the end of the day because I had to go home - don't get me wrong, my home life was not bad AT ALL - it is just that my friends didn't live in the same house with me.

School was a time to visit, joke around and goof off. I did my school work, and my grades were good, I graduated with a 3.5 GPA (they were good if you don't count my first quarter as a freshman where I failed English and had to work my butt off to get my grade back up and was grounded for the whole rest of the semester - even from talking on the phone. Hello! Have you met me? I am on the phone CONSTANTLY even now).

When it was time to prepare for college, I knew I wanted to be an interpreter for the deaf. I also knew that I wanted to interpret in the court system, which would require extra classes. All of my classes were at night, so I worked as a receptionist during the day, and went to school at night Monday thru Thursday. (I also went out with friends on Friday and Saturday.) (You should probably note that this is also the time I got mono for doing too much all the time, and was really sick and my mom made me "cut back" on the going out on the weekends so much.)

After a couple of years I graduated and instead of taking my legal classes that I needed to take to be able to interpret in the courts, I just continued working my office job. Twenty five years later....I am still working an office job. Right now it is in the telecom industry. (Because, you know, deaf people use the phone so much and interpreting over the phone is in high demand!)

I look back on my high school days and I think of all the plans I had for myself back then and what I was going to do. Then I look at my life right now, and it is SO different.

Do you think anyone ever thinks to themselves in high school, I am going to pay to go to school, not use my degree, get a job that I can't advance in and then retire.

Not so much.

If I could just talk to that 18 year old girl and talk some sense into her...

But I can't.

So I will just work the rest of my life and probably die at my desk.

And my headstone should read...Here lies Melissa...I hope there are telephones in Heaven because that is all she enjoys doing.

And I hope Jesus like coffee. I make a mean pot of coffee!