In no particular order, I would have to say the following:
- Getting up the nerve to talk to my husband. He was too shy and I had to take the first step in getting us together.
- Getting my master's degree. I may not be really using it, but the extra study and being a TA gave me much more confidence in what I do. Also, one of the hardest things I ever did was take the comps, and I am tremendously proud of that (and the half-dozen or so scholarly papers I wrote in grad school.)
- Deciding to go to a therapist. I suffered from horrible anxiety for five years. I couldn't eat in public, I couldn't eat for days before a stressful thing (like a job interview, a speech, seeing my boyfriend ...) I got all better. It was also one of the hardest things I ever did, get better from anxiety.
- Convincing my mom to let me rent the house while I finished school, since she had moved out and it was paid off. Now we own it, and if I hadn't convinced her to keep the house, we wouldn't be able to afford a house where we are.
