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During the beginning of my journey at UofL, I decided that I wanted to go get football tickets so my boyfriend and I could go to a game. I looked it up online and with my phone in my hand, I began my trek around campus to find these tickets. I didn’t know the campus very well (all of my classes that semester were in the same building) so I had trouble figuring out where the athletics office was. At one point, I’d walked around the outside of the SAC twice. My anxiety was at a high point because it was August in Kentucky and sweltering, so by the time I found the athletics office and they told me that they’d relocated their box office to the football stadium, I was nearly in tears. I gave up my search for football tickets because I didn’t even know where the stadium was and retreated to the library to do homework. My mind had gone from zero to panic in that search and I was convinced that if I couldn’t figure out my way around campus then I’d never figure out how to get through grad school and my boyfriend would leave me because I was a failure and I never got the damn tickets. None of this was true, but you might say I’m one to jump to conclusions.    

The following week, I was still on edge because I had to find my professor’s office to tell her the topic of our first assignment. I walked into her office and sat across from her and she asked me how my first couple weeks had been. It was a simple question, but it gave me such a sense of relief. I don’t know if it was just her inquiring about how I was doing or if it was her soothing tone, but somehow I answered “fine” with a smile and I meant it. I’ll always be thankful for Dr. Sharon Moore at the Kent School because even in our social work first class, she told us that even though our eyes were wide and there was fear in our hearts, we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t suited to be here. I just needed the reminder of that.

I have had so many wonderful opportunities and experiences thanks to my time at the University of Louisville, from organizing community events to presenting at the Kentucky Association of Social Work ³ÉÈËÖ±²¥. I have traveled across the world, fueled my passion for helping others, and grown as a person to have the confidence to jump in with both feet to whatever life brings me. Nonetheless, I’ll never forget that moment when I finally felt capable of broadening my horizons, sitting in that chair in Oppenheimer Hall.