Hello 2012

They say this is the year. The year the Mayan calendar ends. Depending on which presidential candidate you believe, it could mark the last year in which our country can be saved. It is the year I will turn 30, the year the Grizzlies will win the NBA Championship (it could happen!) and the year our little Penny Cat turns 1. It could be the year the world ends, in spite of NASA's reassurances.

It is the second year of my studies in the MBA program with University of Memphis. I am happy to report that I ended my first semester with straight A's. I learned a lot about time management, stress, and priorities. For instance, it is very easy to spread yourself too thin, and I simply cannot devote 100% to everything. I have to choose those important piece of my life that will get my 100% and those that will have to take less. I hope that I've learned not to freak out about every topic we approach in my classes with which I am unfamiliar. I spent much of last semester fretting over how to prepare the perfect equity report or how to create workable project budget. For each new encounter, I wasted precious energy looking at the big picture of the project with doom and gloom (how would I ever get it done?) only to later break it down into sensible pieces that weren't so hard after all. This semester I endeavor to skip that first step.

This will be a year in which I will focus on career development. I am oozing with potential on many fronts, and I do not want to look at my career in twenty years and think, "What happened to that motivated, talented girl who was going to make her mark in her field?" I will actively seek opportunities for growth, and I encourage anyone reading this blog to do the same. We are only ever as good as we want to be. In the adult world, if you don't push yourself, no one else will. I'm pushing myself.

2012 will be a year of growth and new fronts. Some of the coming changes are things within my control. Many are not. (Did I mention I'm turning 30?) I will have to put some goals on hold while I tackle the big ones this year. Priorities. Hopefully in twelve months I will be able to reflect on this year and all the ways I've grown.