My Life Development

1692 Words7 Pages
On March 10, 2009, I will be 50 years old. Some changes in my growth and development have had seasonal impacts on my life while other changes seem to have had life time impacts. In this personal reflection of my life, I will share with you my educational roots which helped me develop a successful career path and shaped who I am today. I will use some of the adult development theories from the text to relate to you my education and employment experiences. Then I will take a look ahead and examine future career plans and strategies I will use to launch the next 50 years of my life. Education has been the foundation of my career progression. It took many years before I realized its true value and developed behavior patterns that would allow me to continuously launch new chapters in my life. I graduated from Lucy C. Laney High School in Augusta, Georgia on May 31, 1977. I chose business administration as my first college degree program enrolling at Augusta State University as a full time student in September 1977. Regrettably, I did not apply myself to the university’s curriculum and dropped out in February 1979. From age 20 to 26, I experienced a long chapter of life when I was “Stuck in the Doldrums” (Hudson and McLean, 2006, p.55). I had no goals, no plans, and no responsibilities. One day while walking down the road, I saw a sign up ahead that changed my life and helped me to break out of my cocoon. Road signs provide directions for reaching a desired destination. This particular sign was on the door of a military recruiting office. I was 26 years old when I joined the United States Air Force and began one of the most rewarding chapters of my entire life. The restructuring of goals, the higher standards of behavior, and the privilege to service my country gave me a new purpose in life. It was a welcomed change. I learned that one must strive to
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