T-S-A!

So, I'm sitting here at work, playing a game that I'm not supposed to. It's called Bubble Shooter, and while that's not relevent at all to anyone else, in the game, I occasionally have to use angled trajectories to get the little "bubbles" where I want them. I was thinking about these angles, and where I learned them, and it occured to me; I devoted 6 years of my life to an organization that will not impact my life one bit in the future.
Technology Student Association. TSA. I was heavily involved in this for so long. Almost a third of my so-far short life. Wow. And it really has nothing to do with my future. I am majoring in Church Music, planning on getting married (down the road) and being a full-time mom. And where does that leave all this random tech trivia? In the past.
But then I thought again. It wasn't all for naught. I loved every minute of it. I mean sure, we had our ups and downs, in events, in chapter affairs. And sure, I may have tried harder to get that State office than almost anything else, and ended up failing, but that didn't hurt me. I mean, it certainly sucked like crazy when it happened, but I kind of think it made me stronger. Failure is one of my deepest fears. But I did it. I failed, and got back up and tried it again. Until it was no longer my turn to try, and I had to step down for the "next generation" to go for it. Also in doing that, I became more prepared for the events I enjoyed, the Prepared Presentation, Extemporaneous Presentation, the design events. (I actually feel like this is starting to sound like a speech for one of those, truthfully! lol) And of course becoming more confident there has helped me in other areas of my life.
But of course that's not the most important part. The people I got to know, the ones I only saw from afar, the things I learned from these amazing people I feel privileged to get to call friends. Like the senior from Jay I met as a lowly 7th grader at my first national conference in Denver, feeling pretty lonely and lost because there were only 2 of us there, and he was much older and we hadn't really become friends yet then. She helped me figure things out, and we stayed in touch for quite a while. I don't know where she is now, but I still keep her in my prayers. And my amazing Shay, who is still one of my closest friends even though we've never lived near each other and hardly get to spend time together! I loved getting to know the officer teams from each year, seeing the dynamic in their bond.

I can't really imagine my high school years without these memories. Sadly that's all there are now, but they are so important to me, and I will never forget it all. haha Like after the Transportation Security Administration was formed, and we walked through airports gettin funny looks because we were kids and had "TSA" on our polos and the tags on our suitcases. We thought it was pretty lame that they stole the name we'd used for 25 years!
It was quite a ride, those years, but it was great. And I thank God for it.