First year student at IOM in 2008 (left) and ninth year at
IOM, now serving on the Board of Regents 2016 (right)
I don’t have a great memory, but
there are a few times and places that I can remember clearly. One of them
happened nine years ago this week.
I was sitting in the audience of the
graduation ceremony for the U.S. Chamber Institute for Organization Management.
I was a first year attendee and the fourth years were finishing their program
and earning their IOM certification.
The classes had made speeches and
talked about their four years in the program. As the Vice Chair of the Board of
Regents read off the graduate’s names, they crossed the stage to receive their
certificate and pose for a photo with the Chair.
I can very clearly remember sitting
in the audience thinking: I don’t want to cross that stage.
I was embarrassed of my appearance.
I had gained so much weight and lost so much confidence.
“Institute” holds so many fond
memories for me but one of them is relevant to this blog. It’s where I made the
decision to lose weight. You can read about that in this blog post.
And I did end up crossing the stage
after four years in the program and 50 lbs. lighter. That was a proud moment
that you can read about here.
Those stories are very important and
special to me. They make up so much of what I write about in this blog. But
this next story goes even deeper.
When I was younger I was extremely
shy. The thought of public speaking was terrifying to me. The spotlight was not
where I wanted to be. But I was very drawn to those types of people (and I
married one!).
As I’ve gotten older, I have push
myself outside of my comfort zone and I’m always driven to achieve the next
step – whatever it may be. It never comes easy to me. I have to work so hard in
those situations that can come so easy to the extroverts that I love to be
around.
My IOM experience has been such a
journey. I remember sitting in my first class being nervous when we were doing
the icebreakers.
And here I am NINE years later and I’ve been asked to serve as the IOM Vice
Chair for 2017. That girl in the beginning of this story that was terrified of
crossing the stage and now I’m going to be the Vice Chair on that stage –
reading off the names. It just pumps me up to know that I am that person.
I am so proud.
P.S. Since starting my Facebook "Like" Page back in March 2015
(be sure to like it!) my blog has taken a hiatus. That is my New Year's
Resolution - to start blogging again. I really miss it. It is really time
consuming, but I can say so much more in a blog post than I can a Facebook
post.
I have some other goals that I'm working on for 2016 and I can't wait to share
them here once I can get them out of my head and onto paper. I'm so excited for
what I can accomplish this year!!!
