2018 was a big year and it is hard to believe that some things I did, happened a whole year ago. I am excited to share all the adventures and my professional career as well. So lets begin, shall we?
2018 started off with my cruise in the middle of January. The cruise was for school credit as we were “taking” a class while on the ship. We went on a 7 day cruise to the Caribbean. We sailed to the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the Cayman islands. It was a fun cruise and I met a few new cool people on that trip. We had to have class for a few hours on two of the days but it was well worth the trip. This was the first real trip without my family or even friends as I went by myself. I will be writing a blog more in depth about my cruise later on, so continuing on…
In March, I turned 21 and In April, my brother got married and I got to be a bridesmaid. Both of those events were lots of fun.
Next I knew that I had enough credits to graduate earlier and was ready to apply to graduate after the Spring semester ended. My application to graduate was preliminarily accepted as I still had a few classes to take that summer. I was not able to walk in that graduation ceremony; however, my brother did and I went to celebrate him. I applied to graduate right before the graduation ceremonies and applied to grad school. I got accepted into grad school at the end of May before my trip in May.
The end of may, I went on a trip to San Diego, California to visit my good friend and her daughter. I went to high school with this friend and we were super close during that time. I had planned this trip and it was so much fun. This was my first time on the West Coast as I have not been further west ever. I went to London in my senior year of high school and the Caribbean but never further west. We went to the San Diego zoo, Coronado beach, and small amusement/carnival park on one of the beaches. This trip was so fun and I enjoyed eating all the wonderful Mexican food (so delicious) and of course In-N-Out burger.
After I got back, I had to complete my classes for that summer. While the summer went on, I went to an awesome Paramore concert and Busch Gardens; but still continued working on my summer classes. I completed all my classes and passed in August and started grad school 2 days later. In September, my degree was conferred and I received my diploma. I now have a bachelors of science in business administration: project management and am in the MBA in project management at my university.
During this time, my dad lost his job as a change in VP happened and they got rid of the top paying directors under him to make way for a lower paid, younger person. At this time, I did not know what I was going to do as I still lived at home and this meant possibly moving. My dad was scared something like this would happen for over two years, even before the change in VP since other offices were experiencing this. This also meant, no more free tuition for me as my dad would no longer be working there. The day after my dad got layed off, a new university called him about a position and 2 weeks later they bumped the job up from director to dean and he got the job. My dad moved down the first week in October and started his new job on October 1st. During this time, I realized that I would be moving two states away and was excited but did not fully feel at peace. Two days later on October 3rd, I was reached out to about a potential job and eventually got the job. I will write more about the way all this worked out in another blog as well, but I am happy to say I no longer work for target and now work full time as a project manager apprentice at the IT department where I work.
Last few things that I did was I started my first full time job on December 3rd, I moved into my apartment December 21-22, and I completed my first semester of grad school with a 3.66 gpa (1 A, 1 A-, and 1 B+).
This year has been crazy and there has been so many ups and downs. This year was one of the best, from graduating a year early, starting grad school, starting my first full time job; 2018 was a great year for my professional career. Not only was my professional career great, but I have so many memories from events with family and friends as well as trips that I will remember for many years to come. This is what I did and accomplished in 2018. Lets see if 2019 can live up to it….
Jess being myself 