A valued education

Thanksgiving is a time to gather with family. To reflect on the things that we are grateful for and to take a moment and appreciate the opportunities that we have been presented.

I am thankful for my amazing family and friends that I have been given. Without them I truly would have nothing.

As corny as it sounds, I am thankful for my Mary Kay business. Some people are struggling to find work right now and I am thankful that I have been presented with an opportunity to work my business out of a full service salon and spa.

Three days a week I get to help women feel good about their selves. For the couple of hours that our incredible clients are at the salon they get to forget about screaming children, a dirty house, what they’re cooking for dinner and some even deeper issues. The fantastic women at The Strand and I get to enrich women’s lives and not only make them look good, but feel empowered as well.

If I had to tell you one thing that I am mainly fond of and appreciate the most it would be my education. Anyone who knows me well could tell you that I value my education and the education of others.

I am so appreciative that I have had the opportunity to attend Piedmont and receive an interesting liberal arts education. I am more grateful that I was able to take time off to handle life, but when I was ready to pick up where I left off that Piedmont readmitted me and allowed me to finish the journey that I had started.

In today’s scarce job market a person needs an education to compete for good paying jobs. The greatest part is that we all can attend a post secondary institution. Colleges and Universities alike have developed a completely different set of criteria to accept non-traditional students. Most schools, including Piedmont, have gone above and beyond and created scholarships just for these students. A post secondary education has never been more accessible.

I met a beautiful woman the other day. She was as sweet as she could be, but extremely uneducated. My heart went out to her. As I was talking to her and listening to her speak about her financial troubles, I realized that she could very well remain in her financial dilemma. She doesn’t possess an education that could help her advance to a higher paying job. She doesn’t have the people skills, professional skills or initiative to do more. The saddest part, she is so uneducated, she doesn’t know she can change her situation.

I am blessed to have a job right now, but I am thankful that when I finish my education at Piedmont I will have choices. I will have the choice to use my education and start a new chapter in my life. I will have the choice to further my education. I will have a choice to obtain a job that requires a higher education.

I will have a choice whether to move ahead or stand still.