Pushing Through the Storm

By: Bobbi

The year 2020 rocked the entire world, but for me, 2020 was the year that a piece of me left this earth. On February 9th, I lost the patriarch of my family. I remember that Sunday morning so vividly. I woke up to an absurd amount of phone calls. My family wouldn't tell me what was going on because they didn't want me to be upset while driving home. However, I somehow knew something happened to my Dad. Making a 3-hour drive home and knowing something terrible happened was gut-wrenching.

I missed almost three weeks of in-person classes but attended every online class. One would think I would use this time to properly grieve and focus on my family. But no, I chose to sit in a virtual classroom and attempt to retain the material (which turned out to be little to no information). My father's death was hard for me, and to this day, many people don't know about it. My family and I are extremely private. I might have even felt slightly embarrassed because God gives people second chances at life every day. Why couldn't my Dad survive and recover? It was through this traumatic event that my relationship with God flourished. I came to terms with my Dad's work on earth being complete and God calling him home.

During this time, there were many moments where I wanted to quit doing life. I wanted to quit school, quit working, and stay home doing nothing. But I knew deep down that's not what my Dad would've wanted. Every day he worked hard to provide for our family, and he helped me get where I am today. I also knew that quitting wasn't who I was! I came too far to give up everything that I worked for. I pushed myself to keep going and not fall behind, so I could graduate with my class.

One of the main stressors during this time was finding an externship for my last year of school. After making countless phone calls, typing up various emails, having interviews, not being selected, crying, I became discouraged. I had a placement in mind that I was interested in, but the location was not ideal. I prayed about it and asked God to order my footsteps. I completed the interview process and was offered the position! Everything works out the way that it does for a reason. I had to remain faithful, patient, and remember that sometimes the things you want aren't necessarily what you need. Now here I am with a little over a year left of school, my externship starting in May, and I'm a few weeks away from receiving my white coat as I pursue my clinical doctorate in Audiology. My life is falling into place, and I'm continuously healing every day.