I'm not one to have big dreams. I mean I have goals like having a family and finishing my education. but I've never been the type to fantasize about touring foreign countries, living an extravagant life-style or altering the world in some large way. I just want to be happy. But for once I had a dream. It started 2 years ago when I job shadowed a sonographer technician and I knew what career path I wanted to follow. It was a rough beginning because I had to catch up on classes I hadn't needed before. having to take physics courses online and in nightschool while still taking on a full academic course load, working part-time and all the responsibility of 3 church callings almost broke and cracked me in places for sure. Sometimes I didn't have the support I wanted from everyone. Some of my friends told me I was better than an ultrasound tech and I felt looked down on for setting my sights supposedly below my potential. Not getting in the first year didn't encourage any positive sentiments of my abilities. Still, because I am so stubborn when it comes to my personal achievements, I made every possible effort to attain my dream. I moved away from my family, I re-applied, I cried and I waited. I studied, I was interviewed, I stressed and I waited. The odds were stacked with 66% failure rate AFTER being shortlisted.
One rainy tuesday morning my phone vibrated. of course not having caller ID I picked up expecting it to be my mom (who else do I talk to, really?). The unfamiliar voice asked for Naomi. And then proceeded to offer me my dream. All I heard was "we would like to give you a seat in the Diagnostic Medical Imaging program
for Sonography." She didn't tell me to sit down like they do in the movies when they give you big news!
What I found most intriguing about this was I didn't feel that great relief or excitement or overwhelming joy that I was expecting for 2 years. I think I felt more relief when I finished my Physics night course, and more excitement when I got a B in Calculus and the most overwhelming joy when I got an interview for the program. I had my triumphs all along the way and the acceptance letter was just the ribbon that tied the package together. The victory wasn't a phone call. It was the late nights I finished my homework and went to bed without a congratulatory pat on the back.
The "big" things in life were all accomplished by day to day small tasks. The little things are the big things.
