The other day I was driving down the road, sitting in Atlanta gridlock on a rare little-free outing, and I started thinking … what is my proudest, most illustrious, down right colossal, personal achievement?
And even before the thought had fully formed, when it was just an inkling of an idea skittering about the outer reaches of my brain, I knew the answer…
It was hands down, without a doubt, the most challenging four years of my life. There were times when I was wracked with exhaustion, and formulas and sequences and limits tormented my dreams. There were nights when I called Mother and Daddy-O bawling, saying I just didn’t know how I could go on…begging them to come get me. And there were moments when I wondered what crazy path ever led me there. I mean, I was *supposed* to be a ballerina, for crying out loud.
It all sounds dramatic, I realize, but it was darn HARD. I’m not the kind of person that can hear something once and remember it, or can pick up a book the night before an exam and learn it. I had to study every.single.day. Sure, I had my fair share of fun, probably not as much as many others, but I never lost sight of why I was there. I couldn’t. And I didn’t. I, the little so-Southern ballerina girl from Savannah, graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology as an Industrial Engineer. It was a helluva ride becoming a helluva engineer! That piece of paper has opened many doors, continues to offer countless opportunities, and engrained in me the traits of tenacity, hard work, problem solving, and persistence. And it would bring me immense joy to see the littles become Yellow Jackets themselves.
This past week the 2013 Georgia Tech Freshman Convocation speech went viral – it’s an entertaining and reminiscent watch, particularly for the geeky. Mark my words, Nick Selby is going far in life. It’s not often that the world is offered a mechanical engineer that’s captivating, charismatic and passionate. Trust me.
So, I want to know… What is YOUR proudest personal achievement? I don’t mean the kids and the husbands – it goes without saying that we’re proud of those. What did you do for yourself in this life that pushed you to your limits to achieve?
xoxo
I would have to say my career. I've worked my a– off to be where I am today and I'm darn proud of what I've accomplished and still working in the field I majored in and being successful.
I saw parts of that speech earlier this week and loved it!
I'd have to say my biggest, and most rewarding achievement was providing rehabilitation services to our veterans for over 35 years. My second would be my degree from the University of Florida.
Love it! Shared that video on Facebook the other day.
No one realizes how difficult a GT degree can be unless you have attended Tech. My engineering degree was definitely EARNED! When we first moved near Athens (where we live, now) we would tell our then small kids as we drove through the heart of UGA – "roll down your window and they will throw a diploma in!" Not nice, but close to true. I probably just lost a few readers with that statement.
Graduating from Tech is probably one of my proudest accomplishments, as well.
Go Jackets!
Trish
I love this!!! I don't know if I have just one! I had a great career at one point. I think my dig my heels in things would have to be breast feeding each Of my children for 2 1/2 years. And having the tenacity to find help for my little boys feeding issues/ speech issues. He has apraxia. I also think I've had a ton of personal growth throughout the years and really have worked hard to be a Better person, wife and friend.
Like you, I am proud of graduating from GaTech and proud of being a helluva Engineer. I've seen people roll their eyes when I said, going to Tech is hard…people can't comprehend.
My degree and school opened many opportunities for me, and has given me lots advantages on my career.
My hubs graduated from GT in 1973, 1975 and 1978…getting his bachelors, masters and PHD from GT so I know how hard it is and he did it in the day when there were no tutors etc. As he put it, you hoped one of your friends could help you out. He is a proud GT grad and as you have said, GT opens doors!! His degree was in physics but he now works as an engineer in homeland defense. I am very proud of him. I think my greatest achievement was graduating with a nursing diploma from Georgia Baptist Nursing School. Many of my friends married Tech men and we are all happy as clams!!
Running marathons, hiking the Grand Canyon, losing 50 lbs.
I have two — winning a silver medal at my first intercollegiate figure skating competition, and second, my years covering the White House and Capitol Hill as an education correspondent.
I have two — winning a silver medal at my first intercollegiate figure skating competition, and second, my years covering the White House and Capitol Hill as an education correspondent.
Amanda,
What a speech!
It sounds like you have plenty to be proud of earning your degree. Your looks haven't changed a bit since your graduation photo!
My greatest accomplishment is a book I wrote when my youngest was nine months and my oldest three years. I was snowed in and in need of an outlet!
I've never gotten it published, never found an agent, so some might see it as a failure. But I see it as something I get to do solely for myself- and as a mom of two Im sure you understand how rare that is.
My own mother doesn't even know I wrote it!
~Kandace
I saw that this morning on the news, fantastic! We showed it to my son when he got home from school and he was impressed.
Our middle daughter is a Tech grad – class of 2012. She worked extraordinarily hard for 4 years including a semester abroad. She's living her dream now of studying and educating people about whales and other marine life in Alaska… she says everything seems possible after you've survived GT. Great speech and thanks for the link. I know tech grads feel a real sense of accomplishment…
My personal achievement I'm proudest of is returning to school 30 years after getting my bachelor's degree to work on a master's degree. I'm loving every minute of it, learning all kinds of useful stuff, helpful in my post-child-raising, post-homeschooling days, working as a school counselor and administrator.
My proudest moment was that day in math class when I realized my students were making great progress. I had the degree that said I could help them learn. When I saw that I had the ability to provide them with the skills to make them great, I was more than thrilled.
Noticed you were a ZTA at Georgia Tech. I am a ZTA from Centenary College of Louisiana.
I went back to school in my late 30's with 5 children at home. It took 7 years but I graduated from nursing school at 43. It was a lot of work juggling children, home, school and a part time job but in the end it was all worth it. Working as an RN is rarely easy but I do love it and it has made me a better person.
I would have to say that becoming a teacher has been the most gratifying thing I have ever accomplished. I LOVE teaching middle school and high school students. While a teacher never chooses his/her profession for the money, the benefits FAR outweigh that. Every time I see the light go on inside a student's head…it makes all the hard work worth it. The love I receive from my students and their parents makes it all worth while.
I've been reading your blog for a little whilenow and never commented but I must say when i saw a snippet of that speech on the news all the way down under here in Australia I thought of you! You are a great advertisement for GT. I really enjoy reading your blog and seeing your lovely little family, thank you for sharing.
Anyhoo i guess my achievement is starting work as a 17 yr old apprentice and working my way up to manager, then being offered whatever hours i want at a great pay so i would go back to part time work after having my kids.
I thought of you when this video was retweeted and showed up on my timeline. I loved it. Glad you posted it for your readers to see!
Even though Auburn is not GT "hard," it was hard for me and I'm proud to say I stuck it out and finished with a Business Administration degree.
Wish AU and GT would renew their annual football clash….
Just about everyone in my family went to Tech, but I was born blessed with an analytical but creative mind. My achievement was graduating from college with a double major in English and Education with a Women's Studies minor followed by my Master's in English. I now teach Gifted English and Gifted STEM ( Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) English. My STEM students will be our future Tech students, I hope! You should check to see if your children's high school offers it even though you have awhile!
Go Jackets! I'm proud of my GT degree (ME) but prouder of my children, four of whom were adopted from Russia. Parenting all of these different personalities is tougher than anything the "shaft" threw at me.
OH my, such truth you speak! I too watched the recent Freshman Convocation and said (1) I would hate to be the speaker that has to follow Nick, and (2) He is brilliant–we will be hearing about Nick Selby again! The video was sent to my by my husband who is also a GT engineer. He graduated much earlier than you, but he still wakes up sometimes in the middle of the night in a sweat, having just dreamed that he is a student at GT and is worried that he is about to fail a class. GT brings humility to even the smartest of smarties! While I am proud of graduating from UGA, I know from the hub that graduating from GT is a huge accomplishment. And, yes, it has opened many amazing doors for him and I've been blessed to be along for the ride. When some of my Bulldog friends ask how I can cheer for GT, my answer is always, "I know whose degree pays for our mortgage!" :)
My hubby graduated from tech with a ChemE in 2001. It was a hard road made even more challenging because I was Prego with our third baby by the time he graduated!! But I look back at that time, living in married housing on 10th street, loading my babies on the stinger to go have lunch in the student center as some of the best of our life!