Reflection

Well things have been pretty hectic around the Raike household. I got offered a new job and I am starting on Monday at the Bowling Green Social Security office. My official title will be a Claims Representative. It will be rough at first, there is a 13 week training period. Once I get through that and get into it will be pretty intense trying to catch on, but I will stick it out and in the end it will be well worth it. I am really lucky at my age to get into such a secure position, this is definately a career move for me and I'm really grateful for the opportunity. I wasn't even looking for a job right now, but from when my resume was sent out before the wedding, it was kept on file and I recently received an email and the rest is history. I haven't had too much time the past couple of weeks to really get focused and concentrate on the new move because work at the Guidance Center has been overloading me. Only one more day there and then onto bigger and better things. I have learned so much over the past 2 years at the Guidance Center, it's unreal. When I started there I was fresh out of college with little to no experience, and now I feel like I have a decent grasp on human behavior and a much better understanding of adults with severe and chronic mental illness. Although, I would become frustrated sometimes at work, I wouldn't have changed my experience. It has opened my eyes to so many things. I think sometimes we get caught up in the world and forget about life in general. I am blessed to have had a very good childhood and upbringing, some were not so fortunate and really do need some extra help/support. I was lucky enough to have the ability to help some of those folks for the past 2 years. I know that I made an impact on some of my clients and it was tough for them to see me go, but the funny thing is, they have impacted my life and my thinking so much that they would never even realize it. I have learned just as much or more from them than I could ever give to them. I have so much respect for these folks trying to do the best they can despite being given such an obstacle to overcome. I hope that in my new position I will still have the ability to impact people and that I never forget how lucky I am. I just love to help people but even more I just love to see people smile and enjoy life the best that they can and that view will never change. Again, I was blessed to be able to expand my horizons, although challenging at times I had a good experience. I hope that the negative connotation of mentally ill people stops and that society thinks about what they say/do before they do it. After all, these are human beings too and they deserved to be treated with respect and dignity just like the rest of us. We could all learn a good lesson from some of these folks who have overcome some absolutely horrible things in their lives. They are the strong ones. Well onto the next adventure/challenge in my life. I hope that this one impacts me as much as my first job!