The day I turned my dream job down.

In the past few months I've been gambling. In fact it has turned into quite an obsession. I've taken risks that I was sure people would call me crazy, and maybe some did. But what I didn't realize is that so many people would believe in me....even when I turned down a $5,500 educational award, traveling, a supervisory role and free health insurance, at one time.
Two months ago I told my friends and family that I turned down a semester-long internship at the Colorado Olympic Training Center and instead accepted a three month camp position in the middle of no where Michigan. Some people were surprised but no one told me I made the wrong choice.
So I packed up my things, said my goodbyes and drove by myself to where I am now, Camp Eberhart. I've absolutely loved it here! The pay is again less than spectacular, the food is on repeat and my apartment was infested with a super hive. Knowing these stories, people are texting, messaging and posting comments of how awesome what I do is and where I work. They tell me their proud of me and can tell I'm really happy here. If I didn't have that encouragement I don't think I could have done what I did yesterday.
If you know me then you probably know I waited over a year before I could apply for the AmeriCorps NCCC program and you would also know that since then I applied at least three times over the course of a year and a half. A month and a half ago I had a phone interview with them and Monday morning I received a call, I was offered the Team Leader position for their newest program, FEMA Corps, at the California campus. They would pay for my transportation, food and housing. In addition they would provide me with all my equipment, a living stipend, health insurance and at the end of my service, an education award just over five grand. It would be ten months guaranteed and I would be in charge of 10-15 young adults. I worked so hard to get this position and now that I was offered it, I was unsure of what to do. So I did the logical thing, I called and texted people. My parents were on Tango (like Skype) for two hours with me, my advisor in college was instant messaging me on Facebook and I was texting my first summer camp cadet for advice. They all made great sounding boards but even after hiking in the woods and talking to people, at the end of the night I was still so confused. I was in a quandary and my poor roommate had to deal with me randomly staring off into space thinking during the middle of conventions.
After a night of sleep I felt much better about the situation. I talked with my current boss and decided to sleep on it one more night. So yestday I did what I never thought I would do. I declined the AmeriCorps position along with all its' benefits. If you told me a month and a half ago that I would turn it down, I would have laughed at you.
Now I know that was quite the story but I want the world to know that it's amazing how far you can go when someone (or lots of someones) believes in you. I'm not sure I could have traveled across the country on short notice leaving my friends and family in a different timezone nor turn down a job with benefits if I hadn't had so much support.
So to each of you, thank you.