beginnings

my name tag and business cards arrived today

today i walked home form work in a caffeine-induced high. after an espresso at 2:30 pm, i was more than ready to take on the world. unfortunately, my energy and excitement kicked in right as my day was winding down. my co-acd has been out of town for the past 3 work days to attend a funeral, so i was thrust into handling all office-related business on my own (well, my ac helped more than a little. she rocks). to be honest, it was a fun challenge and as i was wrapping things up today, i realized that i had survived three days just fine.

it might have been the caffeine, or it might have been that a month here was just the amount of time that i needed, but somewhere between crossing lemon street and unlocking my apartment door, i realized how much i really do love it here. and to be honest, i think this is as close to perfect as life can get. i have a great staff and co-acd, my supervisor is very talented and very sweet (and she did just fine when i cried in her office for the first time), the weather is beautiful and i can't get over how absolutely perfect the asu campus is. unpacked and organized, my apartment is even starting to grow on me. i think i'll be here for a while.

i've thought about the last year a lot and how much my life has changed. how a year ago i had just barely started my life as a cc at suu. i was in very much the same position as i am now: balancing being giddy with excitement and terrified of making mistakes. when i left, i had this false sense that i knew everything and could handle everything. i wonder if a year from now i'll feel that way about asu. i don't feel different, but i know that i am. being here, where no one knows me, i feel like i'm more myself than i've been in awhile. without the pressures of fitting neatly into a faith-based stereotype, i get to just be katie and no one asks questions or shakes their heads because of it.

i still miss suu. i am constantly thinking of what i left behind and the people i loved, some for five years, and how they are doing. i hope that someday i'll go back-- after i've completed this journey, earned my masters degree in higher ed, and i can make a great impact. i mean, wouldn't it be fitting if i ended up right where i began? there's a lot of steps between here and there, and for now i'm more than satisfied being here.

hassayampa academic village behind the palm trees

in love love love with all the fruit trees!

my first asu basketball game!