Now that I am a senior at USF, I can look back at all the twist and turns that I have been through since I have turned 18.

I was very eager to leave for college when I graduated high school. I quickly left Evansville in anticipation to meet new people and begin a new life at college. The idea of living on my own, doing what I want, and no curfews was amazing. But once I started I realized how hard college really was. As I signed up for classes I realized that most of my classes were gordon-rule classes. These were not what I expected and at the end of the semester I wasnt doing as well as I wanted to. As I tried to make some excuses to tell my parents I realized I was just slowly wasting money. I was mad and ashamed of myself because I didnt do as good as I wanted to. What did I do wrong?

The next turn in my life presented itself as a job offer to become a flight attendant. A job where I have the opportunity to fly all over the world. At my job interview I was very impressive and was highered on the spot. I passed the training with flying colors and was ready to fly. After four years of service the attack of 9/11 stunned me. And my work related injury, a ruptured ear drum, caused by more terrorist made me decide to move on.

I decided to go back to school, the second time I finally got it right. Im a sucessful senior now at USF working toward a degree in accounting. Being an optimist has helped me through many obsticals that would slow down other people. But I used them all as a learning tool. As Winston Churchill said, "Be an optimist. There is not much use being anything else."