I was grateful for the experience that I had, and will never forget all that they had done for me. Setting foot on that stage, hearing the applause from the crowd, and succeeding after setting a goal was a feeling unlike any other. The E.L. Jaycees opened my eyes to the wonderful world of The Miss America Organization and I knew that one day I would compete again.
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My mother is a hairdresser and growing up I had always watched her work on her clients in the salon she had set up in our house. I wanted to follow in her footsteps and take over, or so I thought. I already knew how to cut hair and would often do my mother's monthly haircut and color. One day late that summer I woke up and decided I was going to attend cosmetology school. It was a very sudden decision but at the time it felt right. I enrolled at Springfield Technical Community College in their one-year cosmetology program and decided that I was going to be a hairdresser.
I loved doing hair and the school experience was amazing, my heart however was telling me something different. I did not have the same passion for hair that my mother and classmates had. If you are a cosmetologist, you know how important it is to have this passion. I felt my creativity fading as I was just going through the motions to finish my semester. At the time this was the hardest decision that I had ever had to make. After a lot of thought, I decided not to go back for the second semester to finish my license.
At first I had felt like I failed. I was not a person who gives up when the going gets rough, but hairdressing was simply not for me. I was being pulled in another direction. I decided that I would continue to work and save enough money to go back to school for general studies that fall. I was going to find out what it was I wanted to do. The only thing I knew at the time was how much I loved school, and that I would be back.
I continued working and was soon able to save up enough money to buy my own car. Most of my friends parents had bought them cars when they turned 18, but this was not a reality in my family. With my mother's help as a co-sign, I took out a loan and put a down payment on the cutest little Hyundai Elantra hatchback that I would soon be able to call my own.
I was so proud of this car and enjoyed the freedom of driving myself where I needed to go. I drove myself to work and was able to put in countless hours as a waitress at both Friendly's, and Texas Roadhouse to work toward paying off my loan. I felt so accomplished that I had earned those keys with my own money.
I am proud to say that today, June 2011, I am two payments shy of paying off this loan. I have worked hard for the past 5 years and have never missed a payment. My car has traveled many miles all over New England, and aside from a few repairs and maintenance, she (yes it's a girl!), has been my proudest purchase.
I have even learned how to change my own tire! It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it!
I did not realize it at the time but I was taking all of the right steps in the right direction and my hard work would soon begin to pay off...
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