I remember being a freshman in college, and deciding to try out to be a leader for the freshman orientation program.  It had been such a fun experience for me, and I wanted to be a part of sharing it with incoming freshmen, and I felt like I would be a great leader.  I went to Georgia Tech, a school that is all about perfection, performing, and achieving (and I did really love it - not that I was necessarily a perfectionist, exceptionally high performer, or extreme over achiever).

(dreamy dresses from EleStory; rug; photos by Paige Molina)

The application process to be a leader for this program was a bit extensive, and not something I expected.  It involved coming up with a skit and performing it in front of a crowd, having to be funny in front of people, and a super intense interview with four or five upper classmen.  It was intimidating at the very least.  It was also a bit disheartening, because I felt like I could really be great at this, but these "tests" were all things that I failed at, miserably.

The interview was the final piece of the puzzle.  It was something I had never experienced.  I mean, I could talk to people, I liked to have fun, but this . . . this was something different.  I sat in front of these intimidating upperclassmen with their intimidating questions, and felt like I was fifty feet up in the air on a ropes course, shaking like a leaf.  I only recall one of their questions with clarity; I'm not sure if it's because that was the point where the wheels really fell off the wagon, or if it's because it just stuck out to me for some reason.

The question was, "What is your five year plan?  Where do you see yourself five years after college graduation?"  In my head, I thought, "oh, I have this!  I can say with conviction where I want to be five years after graduation - that is an easy one!"  So, I said, "In five years, I would like to be married, starting a family, and running my own design business."  I could feel the blank stares.  That was not the right answer.  The right answer would have been more like, "In five years I plan to be climbing the corporate ladder of my company at an astonishing rate because of my incredible ability to design unbelievably efficient and cost-saving programs that are essential to the astronomical success of said company."  Or, you know, something along those lines.

I mean, starting a family?  Having a design business?  Who does that, and what does it even mean?  At that time, there was no blogging, it wasn't easy to strike out on your own and make money as a freelancer - it just really didn't exist.  (And I'm not talking badly about those leaders - they were and are people I look up to, and are all around awesome - I just didn't fit into that type.)  So, I didn't make the program.  I failed.  And I'm pretty sure I was quite sad about it.

Fast forward, though, five years after graduation.  I was pregnant with Vivi, and pondering a few things, and it occurred to me just where I was.  Five years after graduation.   I was starting my family, and running a graphic design business that I loved and I almost had more work than I could handle.  I did it.  I didn't fail, after all.  Maybe I didn't get to be a freshman orientation leader, but I did accomplish my five year plan, which at the time sounded a bit off the wall and maybe crazy.

And that plan led me to here, where I'm still running a design business of sorts and doing what I love while staying home with my girls.  I'm not crazy successful, I don't have the biggest following out there, I often am not sure what I am doing, but I do know that I love what I am doing.  And the even crazier part is, that what I am doing wasn't even a thing when I was in college.  It didn't exist.  Not a bit.

But now it does.  And I love seeing so many other women out there following their dreams of being a creative, a business owner, pursuing their dreams, all while having a family and supporting them in a big way.  So really, I suppose my point is that as I talk to my girls about their dreams, it's true that they can do anything.  What they want to do and what makes their pulse quicken may not even exist yet.

They can be anything.  And I can't wait to see what that will be.