Gratitude: 6

I feel so very grateful for being a midwifery student at Bastyr.  I remember how I felt this time last year: finishing my pre-reqs, getting my interview letter.  I couldn't believe how happy I was to get an interview for the school.  I also held back my feelings about it, while I felt like I was pretty sure to get in to the school, I also felt that if I got my hopes up too high and then didn't get in, I'd be devastated.  Now I think about something I read in Brene Brown's The Gifts of Imperfection, that getting our hopes up and being let down doesn't make it hurt any less although that is the point of not getting our hopes up.  What it does do is in that moment when we do achieve that what we were hoping for, the reward does not feel as great.  Next time I am up for something like this: interviewing for a job or what not, I want to let myself feel excitement and hope.  The letdown if it doesn't happen will still hurt, but the joy if it does happen will be greater. 

Many years ago I considered going to Seattle Midwifery School, even while I was still a student at UW.  Now SMS is integrated into Bastyr, and I am so thankful that this is the path to midwifery I am on.  I love the perspective that is taught at Bastyr.  I can already feel it changing me into a different person; I am not the person I was in September when it started.  I find it hard to believe in 2.5 years I will be graduating as a green, but competent midwife.  I look forward to how this program will change me as a person.  I know there will be growing pains, and I hope in those moments I can remember that the end result will be worth the potholes in the road.

-insert gorgeous picture of the sunrise taken during our drive in to Bastyr in the morning-  Grateful for beautiful moments and savoring the Pacific Northwest.