10 years in short

My 10 year high school reunion is in 2 weekends. My sister will be out here visiting that weekend, so I won't be making the trip back for the reunion. Part of me wishes I could be there to see how everyone turned out, but really, it's OK that I'm not going.

I am, however, sending in a brief bio to the organizer so it can be shared with the rest of my former classmates. They've asked each of us to send a bio and pictures if possible so that people who can't be there (like yours truly) can get updates on everyone else. I figure I can handle that.

So here's how I've decided to represent my life in the past 10 years. I can't imagine that any of this will be new news to any of you, but feel free to read if you're interested:

Since graduation, I’ve become a bit of a nomad. I didn’t plan to become such a wanderer, but sometimes life throws us an unexpected twist or two. Ten years ago I don’t think I could have told you where I’d be today and if I had tried, I’m sure I would have been wrong.

After graduating high school, I moved to Vermillion to attend USD. At the time I thought I wanted to be a journalist and picked mass communication as my major. I quickly realized that journalism was not for me, and I switched my major to English and my minor to psychology. Since I had no intention of using my degree to teach, I started investigating graduate programs in English after my junior year. I had two major criteria for the programs: 1) a solid academic reputation, and 2) a location anywhere out of the Midwest.

I ended up accepting an offer from the University of Nevada, Reno, so in summer 2002, I packed up and headed west to the “Biggest Little City in the World.” Reno was never a place I had imagined myself, but it ended up being the best possible place for me. I loved my graduate work there and was surprised to find myself calling Reno home. After South Dakota, Reno is still my second home, and given the chance, I would move back in a heartbeat.

After finishing my MA in English, I moved back east, this time to Bloomington, Indiana, to become a Hoosier for about 18 months. While at IU, I completed my Masters in Library Science (yes, you do need a master’s degree to become a librarian) and finally put myself on the job market. I graduated in December 2005, and in January 2006, I moved to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to start a job as English Librarian at James Madison University.

I’ve been at JMU for about two and a half years now. I haven’t fallen in love with the South, but this has been a good place to be for a time. No matter where I’ve lived, I’ve always loved getting to know a new culture and new people. My job allows a lot of freedom to research and travel, and there’s always something new. I’m currently writing a book on how to research literature from the Victorian and Edwardian Ages. It’s been a daunting task at times, but I know the end result will be worth all the hard work. For the past year, I’ve also volunteered with a local organization, helping immigrants learn English. Working with ESL learners has been one of the most difficult and rewarding things I’ve ever done.

There’s no husband or kids for me yet, but I have a wonderful boyfriend and overall am very happy with my life. There have certainly been a lot of twists and turns, but God has been good along the way.