Taking a Leap Of Faith by Emily Sonderegger
For the last three days of Share the Love, we change
subjects to hear from those who have taken a LEAP OF FAITH at some point in
their lives. My first guest, Emily Sonderegger, shares how a nudge off the
cliff started her leap of faith.
***
Taking a leap of faith is a lot harder than it sounds. In
some cases, you leave behind everything you know and jump off into a whole
bunch of unfamiliar. It’s nerve-wracking at best and absolutely terrifying at
worst. You actually have to trust in yourself and others. If you have trust
issues, well, it’s not going to be an easy road.
My chance at a leap of faith came three years ago. I was in
a dead-end job and hated everything about it. I wanted to quit badly. I NEEDED
to quit, for my own sanity. At the same time, I was afraid to make any changes
because, CHANGE!! I’m really not a huge fan of change.
Luckily, in my case, the decision was made for me. I lost my
job and chose to take my leap of faith right then and there. I paid a visit to
a nearby university the next day and enrolled in their graduate program for the
next semester. This may not sound like such a leap of faith, but I decided to
switch gears completely and change my entire life around. I’d been working in a
finance field and switched over to education.
Education isn’t exactly the most stable field in the world
right now and there are lots of huge changes coming up in the next couple of
years. Still, it felt like the right thing to do. I’ve always been good with
kids and I knew I could make a difference.
Fast forward almost three years: I’m nearing the end of my
program and will soon be student teaching. There have been bumps along the way,
but I’ve never regretted this choice for a second. Switching career paths was a
huge leap of faith, and one that I’m glad I’ve taken. Even as a student, I’ve
made a difference in children’s lives. I’ll never take that for granted and
I’ll never be sorry that I made the choice to go this direction. It’s been a
great blessing and I’ll always be grateful for the choices that led me to this.
Emily Sonderegger:
I'm a 30-something avid reader, who would
probably rather read than breathe. I
was once asked why I read. Really, the only answer I can give to that is, how
can I NOT read? It's just a part of me and always will be.
I also love to write and otherwise exercise my
creative abilities with scrapbooking and card design.
I’m currently a graduate student in Education
and will complete my program within the next year. After that, it’s on to
teaching, molding young minds, and sharing my love of reading and writing.
***
Thank you for sharing your story. My leap, in two years, will be back into teaching. I've been at home with my own kids for a very, very long time, but to get these kiddos through college, I need a paycheck once again. Teaching, though hard at times, is also amazing. (And I, too, adore reading and stay up WAY too late most nights doing just that).
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, Barbara. I was up until 2 am finishing The False Princess. *rubs eyes* It's gonna be a long day. Thanks for stopping in!
DeleteThank you for giving me the chance to share!
ReplyDeleteTeaching has seriously been the best thing that's happened to me, and I'm not even in my own classroom yet. Hooray for leaps of faith!