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Like a well-written novel, 2019 was full of twists, challenges, change, and triumph.

It began with my job being eliminated mid-January, which forced me to reevaluate what I wanted to do for a living. I decided I’d rather piece together part-time jobs and work twice as many hours than go back to working as a floor nurse.

I applied for laboratory positions at hospitals (before becoming a nurse, I worked very happily as a phlebotomist), I applied at bookstores (of course it’s my dream job), and I applied at schools, hoping to get a position as a teacher’s assistant.

I ended up getting a weekend job as a phlebotomist which paid nearly as well as my nursing job. And then, over the summer, I received an offer for a TA position with Tempe Elementary School District. Awesome! Only … although this position was at an elementary school, it was actually in a preschool.

Hmm. Many years had passed since I’d been around three and four year olds. I had bleary memories of little balls of energy with the attention spans of puppies and shocking fits of temper. Still, kids are kids. I took the job.

And I completely fell in love with it. The 18 children that I’m privileged to spend 20 hours a week with bring me so much joy; instead of feeling drained at the end of the work day, I feel energized. And I’ve rediscovered something I once knew—that I belong in the classroom. It doesn’t matter if they’re preschoolers, second graders, fourth graders, or middle schoolers. I enjoy being around children, and I truly feel as if I can make a difference to them.

With this in mind, I tentatively reached out to the teaching certification program I’d dropped out of in November of 2016. At the time I was burned out on school, having just earned my bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University, and due to events of that month that I need not name, I’d lost hope in making any kind of positive change in the world.

The teaching program had great news; although it had been three years, I was still technically enrolled and only had to register for classes to jump back in. I did, switching from elementary education to early childhood (I mentioned I fell in love with preschoolers, right?), and already I’m halfway through my first semester. This time next year I will be preparing to student teach, and by spring of 2021 I will be a certified teacher.

The saying “everything happens for a reason” irks many, and I can see why, but in most cases I feel it is true. There’s no doubt that if my position hadn’t been cut at the beginning of the year, something that felt pretty awful at the time, I would not have ended up in a job I love and on my way toward a career that matches my interests and personality.

I also wouldn’t have met the 18 little people who make me laugh and warm my heart every single day. It feels as if everything has fallen into a place I was meant to be.

On to writerly things! Here are a few highlights from 2019:

In January, my short story “Gratitude” won runner-up in Women on Writing’s flash fiction contest.

In April, Women on Writing featured me in an interview on their blog.

In September, my essay “Growing Pains” was published in Mothers Always Write.

In December, Motherwell announced that my essay, published in fall, was one of their seven most read pieces of the year.

I drafted several new short stories and essays in my fall writing workshop; added some layers and an epilogue to my fourth book, The House on Linden Way; drafted a novella that I’d been wanting to write for several years, about boys and volcanoes and the trappings of faith; and spent a month plotting a cozy mystery which I’m now nearly done drafting —it will be finished in late January.

Goals for 2020 include reading a lot (52 books minimum), writing a lot, and finding an agent. This last one is key. I haven’t tried hard enough to find representation for my books; in fact, throughout the years I’ve submitted my second book to maybe six agents, my third to two or three, and my fourth to about a dozen.

Why the anemic effort? Part of it is that I tend to focus on the aspects of writing completely within my control, like the actual writing. Part of it is that I fragment my attention working on novels, short stories, essays, and articles. Part of it is that because I publish short stories and essays fairly regularly I put most of my submission efforts into those.

In 2020 that all changes.

Happy New Year, everyone!