JustLj in June

The Blog Post about Growing/Moving On

This month’s blog is an exciting one for me because I can finally share my plans post graduation. As many of you know, at least if you’ve been reading these monthly posts, I graduated from Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) last month. That said, Im sure, like myself, you all may have been wondering what comes next for me now. As the above picture and the title of this blog post suggest, that is exactly what I will be writing about this month as I tackle the topic of moving on and growing.

As I have grown and come to know myself through almost thirty years of living, one central thing I know about myself is that I must follow up on victories quickly. No matter how big or small the victory, I have to follow it up almost immediately, or my mind will rule it as a failure instead. I knew that with gaining my college degree, the stakes were going to be huge because of the time and dedication I put into it. The likelihood of falling into a deep, long depression afterward if I didn’t line something up after graduation that continued or at least aligned some way to my degree in English and Creative Writing was high. The growth of my awareness of myself redied me for this inevitability, so much so that I did not allow it to be an option by any means. In fact, I have had a job/opportunity lined up for some time now, even before my graduation, but I have been waiting till closer to time and for certain details to be finalized until I announced it. I worked my butt tirelessly the last couple of months of studying at SNHU, sending out resumes and cover letters far and wide; little did I know far and wide was exactly where this ambitious, desperate determination to move forward and onward off of my momentum of college completion would take me.

I am excited and proud to share that I will be serving as a Go Fellow with the GoFoundation through Americorps. This role will be a teaching/tutoring fellowship opportunity that will see me working with young minds in reading. Not only will I be helping to expand and grow minds, but this opportunity will also be one of great potential for my continued growth and moving on after graduation. However, this great opportunity will also literally also see me moving for a year.

I will be moving from Texas to Newark, New Jersey, for my year of service with the foundation from July 29th to June 2025. The opportunity has provided housing and other such benefits. This is something I would not have even considered even a little if it wasn’t for growth, awareness, and moving on from bad habits and limitations. Don’t get me wrong, this was not an easy decision whatsoever; lots of thought and deliberation has gone into it because I have to make sacrifices for it, such as leaving my beloved dogs with my family for the year, not to mention I have never lived outside of Texas as I depict in this poem I wrote for the occasion:

As the time for my big move gets closer I have been in deep thought over it all. I couldn’t be more grateful for my family during this time, as they have been a big help in helping me move on to this opportunity and see it as the right move to keep growing. Another big help has been reading young pueblo’s Clarity & Connection, a collection of poetry about moving on, growing, and awareness. The moral of this story, folks, is knowing yourself and seeing the growth you are making, as well as the growth you could achieve, leading to opportunity and hopefully leading then to success and happiness. I am not saying it will be easy; Lord knows it hasn’t been for me, but it being difficult shouldn’t stop you. Like the poster picture for this blog states, you have to keep moving to keep your balance, or else you will just be left stuck on the ground; life is all about growth and moving on and forward, not staying in place and looking back.