Experience that had the most positive impact on your life!

I was thinking back to the diff. experiences in my life and realized that the smallest thing in our lives as a child actually had the most positive impact. My dad was in the military and we were stationed in germany for 4 years. There was a problem with the Dept. of Defense schools at the time and so I went to a german elementary school for one year. I was only in the third grade, and the impact of that seems questionable. But if I hadn't had that experience, I would never have studied german in college or gone on my exchange year, and I would have never met Thomas or had my three children......



That one small thing at such a young age influenced my life in positive ways that I would have never imagined.



Today is our 8th Wedding Anniversary.



Kris
Time is a Dressmaker, Specializing in Alterations!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KRIS & THOMAS!!!!!!!!

I wish i knew how to make that colored and larger!! in lieu of that, I will repeat it:



****************HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!**********************



That's wonderful!

[DCJenn]

I think that is such an interseting story! Eight years is something to be proud of!!



For me, it was the selection of my college. I was accepted at some large universities and a couple small colleges. I decided on a college that was close to home, but not too close. I could get there in an hour if I needed to, but it was all back roads and there needed to be a good reason to go.



I made some very important and life-lasting decisions and had experiences that still color who I am today. I interned my senior year for a Senior Center (I didn't have a car so I needed to find something that was walking distance from campus) They had a program for senior adults with disabilities- they had been institutionalized for their entire lives and were just experiencing life for the first time. It was phenomenal and that is what I do today- make it possible for people to have a life outside of an institution.



Pretty cool huh?



Jenn

[houseelf]

Jenn and Kris-



These are great stories! Isn't it amazing how a single seemingly insignificant experience can leave an indeliable imprint on the rest of your life? I can't really single out one experience which made more of a difference than any other, but recently, I remembered an experience which did profoundly alter my life course.



I was in 8th grade and struggling with normal adolescent angst: "Mom, I just CAN'T go to school with this big pimple in the middle of my face". (Hmm. I WISH that this was my biggest problem now!) I had just entered a large junior high school with a much more demanding academic load than my previous smaller school. In the middle of my first semester, I received two referrals for low grades, one in Algebra and one in Spanish. My mom went to the school and put me into an after school Math program called mathlab and arranged for two tutors to come to the house. This totally changed my view of my education. I went from being a passive learner to someone who actively participated and sought outside resources. I began to think of myself as a good student. Long story short, this experience changed my outlook on education and I ended up graduating from college Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Accounting and Spanish.



I think about how differently things might have turned out if my mom didn't take the initiative. Or what would have happened if she merely grounded me for bad grades without looking into the situation further? I think that this is a good lesson for me to keep in mind when it comes to my son's education.



Now that I think about this, I will tell my mom this story. I'm sure that she has no idea what kind of gift she gave me.



Kelly