On this day in 2005, I was at Morrow Field House on the campus of Slippery Rock University. The purpose was to receive my degree. I had completed my necessary courses in order to graduate. It was a bittersweet day. It was the end of an era. Don’t cry because it ended, smile because it happened.
I’m feeling a different mix of emotions as the college era comes to an end and the real world era is just beginning. The Steelers win their first Super Bowl in a long time, but the celebration doesn’t last long. The sunshine would be replaced by massive cloud cover, and then the rains came. That would define my mood for the next few years.
My 2006 is defined by family members getting sick and eventually passing away,, and a summer of despair and unemployment. The job search doesn’t go well as lack of work experience dooms me and I settle for working in the restaurant business because that’s all I had so far. What would my 42 year old self tell my 24 year old self? Obviously, I embrace Giant Eagle a lot more now than I did Kings in 2006. But I could have worked at it 110% and made the job a stepping stone to a better opportunity.
I chose to whine and longed for being back in my comfort zone, which was school.
Post-academic life did not begin well for me, and soon I found myself struggling to be content.. I was able to pay back my loans from Slippery Rock in a short amount of life. My 2025 self is thankful to be debt free and have money saved up while being employed at a great company. My late 2000’s self soon found himself in a quarter-life crisis that didn’t have to happen.
As the Great Recession reared its ugly head in 2008, I was toying with the idea of going back to school for a post-bac degree. It didn’t even have to be related. I’d rather sit in a classroom. It would make up for what I thought at the time was a mediocre college experience at Slippery Rock. I let others’ opinions guide me with how I felt about my job and who I should vote for. I left Kings late in 2008 as the economy continued to tank in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis. Soon, I found work at an inventory company called WIS International. I worked limited hours in 2009 and just tried to survive.
Later that year, I came to a fork in the road and started posting weather updates on social media.
During those early WIS years, I pushed peoples’ buttons. I meant well, but I got on their nerves and would eventually get burned. I was active in church, but felt out of place because my political views were different. I made the weather updates a thing and it piqued a lot of interest from my classmates at my high school reunion in November 2010.
Things began to turn a corner in the early 2010’s. I joined Toastmasters and welcomed a new member of our family. She’s 13 now and enjoying activities like karate and playing in the middle school band. It’s 2012, but things are hostile as the presidential election instills fear into my friends and I also deal with work troubles. I also had to fight the temptation of breaking down emotionally and it was difficult. That Christmas was a hard one for me and I started to think about considering my options.
The next year, in the spring of 2013, I finally accepted the past. I embraced my time at Slippery Rock. I also appreciated the experience I got working at Park Diner and Kings. But I began to share my story as I marked 10 years since setting foot on campus. The euphoria was short-lived, however, as I continued to fight the demons of my past and present.
By 2015, I was approaching my mid-30’s. I was still longing for the past. That year I took the biggest trip of my life by going to Disney World for a week during the Fall. In Toastmasters, I was serving in District Leadership and putting together contests. I was working towards the highest achievement, the Distinguished Toastmaster. The grand prize was still a few years away though. A few years later, I began to think about making some changes in my life.
2018 was the first year without a Fall Conference in Toastmasters. Instead, our District held an event in Erie that October. I gave thought to attending, but went to Homecoming that morning instead. It was clear though that after many years, this tradition had gotten stale. Best to find out on your own, though. I began to enjoy having a blog as well, and that would become reality a year later.
By 2019, I was at a good place in life. After trying out Giant Eagle for a month, I went back to WIS. Maybe I just wasn’t ready to move on yet. I built a little family there and we made some great memories, especially later in the year. I started writing and my colleagues and fellow Toastmasters were pulling for me. I achieved my Distinguished Toastmaster award that Fall. Just as I was getting comfortable, the world shut down.
COVID really changed our way of life. 2020 saw me supporting small businesses and scrapping everything that I had planned for the year. Masks and social distancing and Zoom became household names. I really began to feel the effects as the year went on. 2021 was the year that would bring major changes and transition into my life. Health issues, mergers, and a host of other events made news in my life. Other decisions I made also impacted me. My WIS era was drawing to a close and I would land at Giant Eagle; thus, beginning a new era. I’m grateful for the change though, as I’m a lot closer to home.
Since 2022, I’ve entered into my Giant Eagle era. I’m happier, I’m more content and I’m saving money. I wonder what I was thinking all those years ago when I was chasing those dreams. I’m glad I experienced what I did though. These events have helped shape my life and made me the person that I am today.
