pride

Pride- "A satisfied sense of attachment toward one's own or another's choices or actions".

 I was recently told by a friend of mine that I'm too hard on myself. I never realized it until she said it, but, she is 100 % right. I have an easy time recognizing others for their good tributes, a harder time recognizing my own. So tonight, I'm going to answer two simple questions.

 1. When have you been most proud of someone else?
My immediate answer is "Yesterday". Yesterday, I found out that Cristo Rey reached a 100% graduation rate. This is huge on so many levels. First of all, this is DCR's very first every graduating class, and the fact that every last one of them have been accepted to college is incredible. It just goes to show you what hard work can do. Those kids earned every last one of those acceptance letters. And the staff/faculty deserve the pride that comes with it. We all knew this journey was not going to be easy, but look how far they have come. It makes me cry just thinking about it. See when I had those kids they were sophomores in high school- still babies. Now, in just a few weeks, they will be graduating high school. Taking steps toward their future. They will each be finding their own place in the world and that just gives me the goosebumps. They just proved themselves to every single person who's ever told them "you won't make it". So, I'm proud of the kids, the teachers/staff, the families. I'm proud to be considered a part of the Cristo Rey family, because it's an amazing institution, giving kids in Detroit a promising future and excellent education.

 2. What is your personal proudest moment?
Well, one of the things that I'm excited to say about myself is that I still have a lot of living left to do. I still have a lot to accomplish, a lot that I want to accomplish. But, so far, in my 24 years of living, I think my proudest moment was completing a 1/2 marathon. That or completing a year of volunteer service. Both took an immense amount of focus and dedication. My year of service was something way out of my comfort zone, even though I was still living in my home state, it was something I never thought I could do- live with complete strangers and work at a high school. But I did it, and I loved it- more than I can ever express. My 1/2 marathon, though, was something I literally did not think I could ever do. How can a bigger, out of shape girl walk 13 miles? Training, motivation, and hard work, that's how. Because I did it. Sometimes I FORGET I did it, because I still can't believe I did it. I still remember the feeling I got as I reached the top of the hill on that last 3 miles (the hill itself was about 2)- I had to wipe away tears as I took water from a little girl wearing a Taylor Swift t shirt, we locked eyes, and she said "you're almost there, my friend". She was right. I was almost there. What that little girl didn't know was how big that moment was for me. So yeah, I'm pretty proud about that moment. :)

 So, anyone who reads this, those two questions coming back at ya! Answer in the comments. And okay, I know about a zillion of my itunes collection mention pride/self confidence, but this is the only one that keeps popping in my head. So here you go. A little Drake for this Wednesday night! (Note: Obscene language)