As I wind through my last few days with my current job, I've taken a position of reflection. I started in this agency 4 and a half years ago. It was the beginning of my junior year at Oregon State, and I was petrified. I'd just been hires as a 'Child and Adolescent Treatment Specialist' for a psychiatric residential treatment facility for kids. I was in no way a specialist of anything (except maybe procrastinating my school work) let alone of any kind of treatment or kids. I think I had taken one directly related class on the mental health system. I'd heard such horror stories about this job and my mindset walking in was, 'I can always quit'. But hey, they were willing to pay me WAY over minimum wage, a whole $9.06/hr!
Well, four and a half years later and I've moved from a direct care staff to management, from residential to community programs and most recently in admissions. I feel like I've covered it all, well everything you can do without a Masters degree. It is bittersweet, my departure. I'm excited to move forward in my professional career, but am sad to leave the people I've come to know and care about as they have made this experience positive. Because goodness knows getting spit on, yelled at (by kids and parents), and enduring the beast that are insurance companies isn't the ONLY reason I stayed as long as I did.
In my experience, aside from some hilarious/sad/traumatizing/scary stories of working with the kids, my co-workers have made this the most formative professional experience I've had thus far. I'm walking away with some amazing friendships that have endured geographic changes, career changes, marriages, houses and babies. In all of that, I'm struck by the stories of those around me. That I've been privileged to at least lay witness and in some cases be a part of some people's stories.
In this season, I've met what were not only two hilarious and wonderful people, but people that would become my roommates for one of the more challenging seasons of my life. I've forged stronger friendships with some people that I had known prior to my employment with the agency.
Others that I have met amaze me with their intelligence, humor, skill and humility and have learned that despite whatever ideological or spiritual or personal differences there may be, you can always laugh together. Because we are all human, and if I've learned one thing, you can't take life THAT seriously.
I've watched others make poor professional or life decisions, they are in the midst of their own story and I've been lucky to have others walk with me through my own challenges.
Being able to hear the stories of those kids and staff I've worked with have helped me; to understand the world around me a little better, to have a little more empathy and compassion for the myriad of stories going on out there. There are some really great ones being lived, and there are some really tragic ones. I'm in the midst of my own and with this experience almost in my rear view mirror, as much as I've grown and grown up, I still don't know what to do with my life. Mostly, I feel motivated to not just live a good story, regardless of what that looks like, but to step into others stories. To be present for a season or a lifetime.
Finally, in Donald Miller's book, 'A Million Miles in a Thousand Years', he talks about this idea, of living a better story. On the last page of the book I think Miller sums it up nicely, "How brightly a better story shines. How easily the world looks to it in wonder."
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