Finally, an answer to "what's next?"

Throughout my time in school, I've always looked to summer as a time for relaxing. There's no hectic schedule of classes, work, or extracurricular activities to worry about for a few brief months. Instead, there are a few baseball games, some concerts and a lot of time with friends. However, this summer before my senior year at Vanderbilt has so far seemed to include a little more stress than usual. I can't even believe that I just confirmed my final two semesters' class schedules, just to make sure I'm still set to graduate in May. And to add to the stress of finalizing my last year at Vandy, for some reason, people seem to keep asking me what I plan to do with the rest of my life. How should I know?? I don't even know what I'm going to be doing this weekend, let alone next year.

After multiple times of hearing this question, however, I was forced to finally ask myself the same things, "Where are you going to go when you graduate? And what are you going to do with your life?" Luckily for me, the internship I have this summer has been somewhat helpful in guiding my thoughts when trying to figure my life out. Working for the Indiana Department of Education has given me new perspective on education and the institutions in which I would like to work. I have also been exposed to some of the many issues related to education that teachers, students, and parents face, and I've been able to sit in on meetings in which the Indiana State Government tries to negotiate the best solutions to these problems.

This summer's internship has provided me with more experience with the various types of schools and teaching opportunities that may be available to me in the future. As of now, my personal hope would be to work in some sort of charter school, so that I can combine my passion for teaching, my love of service and my leadership skills to make the most of my experiences in the classroom. There is just something about the love of teaching and the passion that I see in charter school teachers and administrators that makes me want to be a part of that world. With so many different types of charter schools and other factors to consider, I know that this is just the beginning of the vast amount of decisions I will have to make in the next year. And though I still have absolutely no idea about the location in which I will be next year, I know that there are many factors, including my love for Vine Street Christian Church, that will help guide me in that decision.

The combination of my experiences — my internships and my involvement in HELM, my faith, along with my education — will hopefully guide me in the right direction over the next year. Along with these experiences, I know that I have surrounded myself with wonderful resources to help me and advise me in this process. My family, my friends and teachers at school, my church family and Vine Street, everyone at HELM, and other mentors in my life have already been very helpful and guiding me along my path to this point, and I know that I will have a lot of support going into these next few months of insanity as I try to put all of the pieces together.

I'm about to venture into my final year at Vanderbilt. That just sounds so strange to me. The time has gone so quickly, but I know that I've learned and grown so much over the past three years. My experiences with HELM, the amazing times I've spent with the youth of Vine Street Christian Church and everything I've learned already from my mentor Hope Hodnett have all played a part in shaping my college career into a worthwhile and powerful learning experience. I'm very excited to see what my last two semesters will hold.