Find your intersection point.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012:

6am: Departure from Sioux Falls Airport

7am-8pm: Experience travel nightmare

8:30pm: Arrive at apartment in Charlottesville, sans baggage

To say yesterday was a travel disaster may be an understatement. Running on 3 hours of sleep and traveling for 15 hours wasn't exactly the way I wanted to enter back into reality, especially after coming off a refreshing and much-needed vacation back to good ol' South Dakoooooota. While the details of the day seem to blur in my mind, there was one thing that stood out: Dan. No, I didn't meet the man of my dreams on the airplane and fall in love. That would be a fun story though, wouldn't it?

Anyways, Dan and I both missed our connection from Philadelphia to Charlottesville thanks to the wonderful people of US Airways and Chicago O’Hare (insert sarcastic comment here). So, they plopped us on the next flight to Charlotte, which then connected to another flight to Charlottesville. After leaving the re-ticketing area, Dan and I parted ways, assuming I’d see him hours later in the gate area. As luck would have it, we almost literally ran into each other 15 minutes later in another terminal. After a few minutes of moaning and groaning about our flight misfortune, Dan mentioned going to grab a beer before the flight. Being the kind person I am, I volunteered to join him. I mean, I didn't want him to have to drink alone at 2pm on a Tuesday. And let’s be honest, the thought of a Blue Moon was just too good to pass up.

While sipping on our beers, we did the casual conversation thing, both sharing why we were heading to Charlottesville. He was heading to UVa for a medical school interview, so I gave him the inside scoop on the town, people, university, etc. When he asked why I was heading to Cville, I chuckled, not exactly knowing what to say.

I wasn’t heading to Charlottesville for a job anymore. What WAS I going back for? For those that don’t know, my position as Technical Coordinator for UVa Volleyball recently ended due to the resignation of the head coach. 

As I stumbled to find an answer to Dan's question, my optimism took over and I came up with this: “Well, my job recently ended so I’m heading back to rack up volunteer experience in departments I’m more interested in…it’s been GREAT so far!” Since October, I’ve been working with both athletic marketing and development to explore a potential career change. I knew working with volleyball wasn’t my passion anymore, so dabbling outside of the area was an essential move to figure out the next step.

And it totally paid off.

My experience with development has shown me my next career move, which is both exciting and terrifying! Finding where your strengths and passions intersect is crucial, and that’s what volunteering in development did for me. I also did multiple information interviews with development professionals and soaked up tons of information about the UVa development department and its initiatives. When searching for a new path, it’s easy to think a career is a good fit just by hearing about it, but until you do the research and spend hands-on time working there, it’s difficult to have a true basis for that decision. As I’ve learned, it’s definitely a “trial and error” type of thing.

As our conversation progressed, Dan asked more questions and I babbled on about the craziness that is about to happen in the next few months. Yet, I never felt my optimism waiver. Although I’m about to embark on a new adventure, having to start at the bottom yet again, I feel confident in the direction I’m going. My experience with volleyball at UVa showed me something big: Sometimes it’s more important to figure out what you DON’T want to do, rather than what you WANT to do.

As the conversation about my career and future trailed off, he noted my optimism and said something that really resonated with me:

Optimism comes from confidence.

I’d never really thought of those two being interrelated. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. After deciding volleyball operations wasn’t as fulfilling as it once was, I began a meaningful journey of questioning “What do I love to do? What are my strengths? Where do those intersect?” When I figured out that the intersection point was in development, I had confidence to pursue a new career that was a better fit for me. Because of that confidence, I’m optimistic that my steadfastness and strong background will provide an opportunity soon. In the meantime, I can enjoy the paid vacation and be thankful for the extra time to scour job boards, network my behind off, and make the most baller resume and cover letters known to mankind. (Okay, that last part may be a bit of an exaggeration, but that’s just my confidence and optimism shining through.)

So I encourage you to explore. Spend meaningful time questioning where your intersection point is. If the craziness of the past few years has shown me anything, it’s that it’s never too late to try something new. Life is too short to be unhappy. Be confident to push the boundaries and optimism will follow.