This is the anticipated week! We are celebrating our senior clients!! Starting today we are counting down to our big 500.00 Scholarship Giveaway! One senior client from this past year will be the lucky winner!! Every day this week we will give away fun prizes to this year’s clients, post a college tip from CHAR co alumni, and a CHAR co team member will share on here on the blog a little about the path their lives took after high school. Why are we doing this? Life after high-school feels exciting, SO big and maybe just a bit scary. And for good reason! It is our goal to cheer for them, give a bit of practical advise, and celebrate this exciting time stage of life with them. Honestly, our senior clients mean the world to us and we are blessed by each and every one we have the privilege to work with. This is just a small way to show our love and appreciation.

The giveaway winners and CHAR co alumni tips will be shared daily on instagram. Be sure to follow there to stay in the loop!

Senior year of high school can be an intense time. There are so many decisions to be made. Do you go to college? Travel? Get a job? It often seems like everyone around you has a plan, and is asking what yours is. Maybe you know exactly what you want to do. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you think you should do one thing but really want to do another.

Like I said, it’s an intense time.

Know this – you are unique. Your dreams, strengths and desires are unique to you. No matter what you decide – college, job, travel – you have your own story and it is and will be beautiful. You may change your mind several times in the next several years. That’s okay. You may end up in an entirely different place in ten years than where you thought you would. That’s okay too. You may pursue your dream wholeheartedly and never look back. No matter your path – embrace it – dive in. Who knows where you will end up.

This week each team member will share a little about life when they graduated from high school and where they went from there. Just like yours, each story is uniquely them.

We are kicking off the week with our studio manager, Kathleen. Kathleen is so amazing at setting high standards of excellence, focusing on the goal, and then working hard to get there. Knowing deep down what she wants to do and not being easily distracted, this girl makes things happen! Enjoy hearing a bit of her story.

Where did you work during high school?
I started out as a busgirl at a local restaurant and then worked my way through different positions – cashiering, hostessing, and eventually ended up serving. I also worked summers part-time as an administrative assistant for a home-building company. I kept these jobs after high school and eventually was working full-time as a combination of both jobs.

Did you go to straight to college after high school? Why or why not?
I never planned on going to college. I loved learning and school, but didn’t know what I wanted to major in. I even took the SAT’s, but that’s as far as it went. I married my high school sweetheart a year after graduating from high school and since he was in college full-time, I worked to help support us. I did take a few classes at Lancaster Bible College for about a year after we got married, but eventually tuition got so high it seemed silly to keep taking classes just for fun.

What did life look like after high school / college graduation?
I stuck with my serving and administrative assistant jobs for over 6 years after high school because I made pretty good money. But eventually I started realizing these jobs were not my passion and while they gave us a decent lifestyle, they weren’t what I woke up excited about each day. When my husband graduated from Millersville four years ago this gave me the freedom to explore my options.

I decided to go to college. Five years after graduating from high school, I finally knew what I wanted to study – nutrition & dietetics.

Shortly after getting married, my husband’s health insurance offered free health screenings where I discovered I had high cholesterol (which unchecked, can lead to a host of health issues – namely a heart attack). This came as a shock. I thought I was healthy. I ate well (compared to people around me), I exercised a lot, and I didn’t even like fried food. This made me realize I had a lot to learn when it came to health and nutrition.

So I started doing research. My husband and I would go to Barnes & Noble, he would study and I would grab a huge stack of books and read through them. This made me realize two important things. First of all – there is a lot of nutrition information out there and it is really hard to know what is good information. I also realized I needed a better base in the sciences to understand what I was reading. Second, I learned I loved nutrition. I loved reading about it, studying it, talking about it and implementing. It was a very easy next step to dive into college to study to become a registered dietitian.

I am currently in my 3rd year (only one more plus an internship to go!). Oh and I got my cholesterol under control in the meantime :)

How did you end up at CHAR co?
A year after starting college (I was still at my waitressing job part-time), I realized since my husband now had a job that supported us, I could explore my options on the job-front as well. This was the start of what I now call the ‘year of madness.’  After consistently spending 10 years at the same two jobs, I single-handedly started three different jobs and quit four within one year.

But thankfully one of those three I started was here at CHAR co and I am thrilled to be here. I followed Char’s blog for years and always thought she would be wonderful to work for (not that I ever thought I would). When the position came up, I remember reading the two page long job description and thinking ‘I would love to do all of that!’ Because I had just started a job (this was in the year of madness), I told my husband about the job opening, but never thought I would apply. He realized this is something I would love far more than what I was currently doing, so he strongly encouraged me to apply.

And so here we are :) I am constantly learning and growing in my position here at CHAR co and am so blessed to be a part of the team. I feel that no matter where I end up down the road, I will take many valuable lessons and relationships with me.

Is there anything you want to share with a high school graduate?
It’s okay not to know what you want to do after high school. Many people don’t. Chances are that even if you go to college for a specific field, you may be surprised where you end up down the road. And that’s okay. We are ever changing and growing. Simply pursue what you love and develop your strengths. It may take years of hard work to get where you want to go, but I think that’s okay. There’s a lot to be learned in the trenches.

Thanks Kathleen! It was a privilege to hear a bit of your story. xo