More than just a work anniversary

LinkedIn reminded me that today marks two years at my job, so I'm celebrating that…

…and my haircut. But mostly the job thing.

My job at Catholic Community Schools (which includes Cathedral and all the Catholic elementary schools in the St. Cloud area) has been and continues to be such an adventure.

I had to write a paper about my dream job in undergrad. I wrote that I didn't have a dream job; I just wanted to make the world a slightly better place and be the person I needed when I was younger. And in many ways, this job (even on the hard days) has lived up to my undergraduate goals for my dream job.

Fourteen-year-old Rachel, who wanted nothing more than to escape the walls of Cathedral, would never have believed she would return to work at the same school she longed for years to leave. However, working at Cathedral and CCS has helped to heal a lot of the pain and hurt I experienced.

Before I highlight some of the areas I love and enjoy about my job, I want to be honest that the first six months after accepting this job were challenging for me mentally. And there have been very challenging moments throughout the past two years.

In January of 2021, I started seeing a therapist right after beginning my at CCS because my nightmares, which I have had since graduating high school, were happening almost nightly and were severely impacting my sleep. I have had the same reoccurring nightmare for years. Sitting with my therapist explaining this, I said, "Don't worry, it's just little 't trauma', not a big deal, plus high school happened years ago, I should be fine."

Now, as a counseling student getting my masters in clinical mental health, I know that there were so many wrong things with that statement. So often, we compare our mental health to others to downplay our emotions. Calling any trauma suffered "little t trauma" because it's not [insert any big crisis or tragic event] which inherently downplays your experience. Your mental health journey and struggles are not comparable to any other person. Your mental health is not any less important because of your life. Please don't do what I did and dismiss the pain within you.

When I said that, my therapist paused and looked at me. She said, "Trauma is different from person to person. What you're describing is trauma." She asked me to consider that I had just recently accepted a job at the place I had wanted to escape from for six years and then tried to erase the memories of my high school experience for the next five years at college. She explained that it was unsurprising that I was having immense difficulting bridging my gratitude for having a job I enjoyed with my challenging high school experience.

As challenging as this healing process has been for me, I am immensely grateful for this job and for being able to process my trauma. Despite the challenges I have faced, both with my personal experience and with everyday challenges that have come up in two years, the good has outweighed the bad.

I only have time to list some people who work for CCS that have impacted my life and work experience. Still, for the most part, the staff, principals, and students are wonderful, supportive, and lovely individuals who make my job enjoyable. There are a few people that I specifically want to capture in this time capsule of memories at this two year benchmark.

In the final round of interviewing, I found myself across from this very smiley and somehow still intimidating woman named Marit. She was instructed to "make sure you like this person enough not to push them out of a plane at 33,000 feet." Luckily Marit found me tolerable enough not to push me out of the metaphoric airplane then or now, two years later. Originally the marketing and development coordinator and currently the Director of Development, Marit has been the best mentor I could have asked for and has taught me so much about marketing and working in non-profits. She possesses so many strengths and talents that I admire, and I am constantly learning from her. Not only has Marit taught me so much about the industry, but she has also become one of my very dear friends. She makes the challenging days bearable and finds joy and magic in every moment. I would not still be in this job if it wasn't for how incredible a boss, leader, mentor, and friend Marit has been to me.

Some people dread going to HR, but Emily, the HR Coordinator at CCS, is one of my favorite people. Emily is sharp, witty, hilarious, organized, and loving. I can count on Emily for anything, whether it's directions on how to fill out a form on life insurance, a quick venting session, a shoulder to cry on, or someone to giggle with during a meeting. Emily is the first person to lend a helping hand whether or not it falls under her "job description." I am grateful to call her my friend and experience her sarcastic humor and brilliance.

Getting to work and taking photos alongside my dad has impacted me more than I can wrap my head around. Last year at the first football game, my dad handed me his extra camera, and I haven't put the camera down since. Although photography is not in my job description, it has become a significant part of my job. Whether capturing content from inside a third grade classroom or watching the high school play practice, the photos I capture help provide me with the content I post on social media and use for the marketing material I create. Over the past year, photography has become a passion of mine.

'Bonkers,' 'I'll pencil you into my diary, and 'cheers' are just three sayings that I use significantly more often now that I work alongside someone who is originally from the UK. Christiana joined the CCS team six months ago as the Director of Marketing. Christiana constantly moves at 100 miles (or kilometers) per hour and always has new and brilliant ideas for marketing. Although it's challenging juggling two people to report to (Marit and Christiana), learning from two very different and talented individuals is enjoyable.

One aspect I have loved through my job is being an honorary member of many of the Cathedral sports teams. You get to know the players and coaches very well when you spend as much time as I do on the sideline of soccer matches, gymnastic meets, or volleyball games. I capture their exciting wins and upsetting losses and have wiped both happy and sad tears away from my eyes while still trying to capture the moment. I have a greater appreciation for all sports and the physical and mental challenges each sport requires after photographing so many over the past year. Capturing a moment of pure joy when an athlete crosses the finish line as a champion, sticks a bar routine, or scores the game-winning point is priceless.

Forming connections with teachers, principals, and parents is another part of my job that brings me joy. Getting a text from Sam Leintz about something hilarious that happened in class never fails to bring a smile to my face and often makes me laugh out loud. Being thanked by a parent for capturing a moment in their child's life makes the countless extra hours taking and sorting pictures worth it. Becoming colleagues with teachers and staff members who inspired and supported me while I was at Cathedral has been so enjoyable.

For five years, when I lived in South Dakota, I felt like I missed large pieces of my siblings' lives. Now with my job, I get to watch my baby brother, Jacob, and his friends overcome challenges, take the podium as champions, and navigate their final year in high school. Getting to feel like the proud big sister, not just to an amazing little brother but to an entire class, is a feeling of pride I cannot quite put into words.

As I mentioned before, I get to work alongside my parents. I get to photograph my hilarious, creative, talented mom singing and dancing with her elementary students and stand beside my dad capturing sporting events. I constantly remind myself about how precious life is and am so grateful that I have spent so much time with my parents, watching and learning from them as professionals and treasuring every moment I get to spend with them.

I always say that the students are the best part of my job, and they are. All the positive experiences, like a third grader running down the hall to hug me, being recognized as "the picture lady," or receiving a message from a recent graduate thanking me for the photos I took of them, remind me of the paper I wrote in undergrad school about making the world a slightly better place. From the outside, I may just be the person behind the camera or the faceless voice of Cathedral's social media, but from this side of the lens and screen, it feels like a whole lot more than that. Even if just one student feels like their story is seen, celebrated, and shared through my role, I will have succeeded at being the person I needed when I was younger by making a student feel loved and supported.

I am proud of the work I have accomplished in two years, grateful for the people who have supported me along the way and look forward to the adventure still ahead.