I can’t believe it. It’s been a whole year. I drove past the UVA Grounds today and saw all the students in their robes and the memories started rushing into my head. I can’t grasp the concept that it has been an entire year since I walked down the lawn. I stood at the top of the Rotunda steps and had the biggest grin on my face…I had done it. brad_walk_happy_FIX

It still ranks as the best day of my life to date. Walking across the stage in the AFC and getting that diploma is a real foggy memory because I had so much adrenaline pumping at the time, I couldn’t think straight but looking at the pictures, I just can’t help but smile. That day meant a lot to me and a big thank you to everyone that was there. Without all the love and support through that 4 years, I don’t know where I’d be right now.

The one year anniversary of starting my job is coming up a month from today as well. I just had my yearly review with the boss and he couldn’t find a single complaint about my work. He told me that I have a place at DSA as long as I want to work there. Starting out the hiring process he said he never had in mind that he would hire someone straight out of college, then I came along. He couldn’t be happier with my performance and says that I have exceeded everything he was looking for in a new employee. I think the outlook for this job is quite good. We talked about different certifications that I can look into getting like the CPC (Certified Personnel Consultant) and the PHR (Professional in Human Resources), both of which require a good deal of further education in the field. He agreed to pay for the certifications and testing material but the study time is on me. To have this kind of opportunity one year out of college is unbelieveable. When we talked about compensation for next year I was straight and to the point that I’d like to put myself in a situation by a year from today and have no debt, and enough money to buy my first house. If I read his reaction right, that doesn’t seem like it will be a problem. I got really lucky with this job. It offers me insane flexibility, a great boss, the ability to work from home about 3 days a week, amazing contacts with the head honchos at Fortune 500 companies, and an amazingly stable position. I can’t ask for any more.

On the more personal side, I’m having the time of my life. I just recently finished up my season for soccer. We finished with a winning record but I can’t remember exactly how many we won. I think we’re moving up into an even more competitive league next season. We seem to be crushing the competition in the middle of the three divisions.

I’m also on a kickball team made up of my roomate, Mike, a guy from my soccer team and a random group of peope we joined up to play with. It turns out that most of the people are in the Psychology graduate department here at UVA and a few of them were even my TA’s while I was in school. They are a really fun group. We get together every Sunday until the middle of summer for a kickball game against other teams. Its all really for fun so the scores don’t matter. We just enjoy the weather, have fun meeting a ton of new people and kick the crap out of a ball.

Now that summer is coming up, I can’t think of a single complaint I have. I’m changing up my schedule a little so that I hit the gym before work so I can have my afternoons this summer to hang out with friends outside. It should be a great one. I have three pools, a basketball court, a tennis court and a volleyball court in my complex to keep me busy. Plus there’s a river I can tube down, a lake about 20 minutes away and I have stored up all my vacation time to take a few beach weekend trips. Then once summer is coming to an end, I’m lined up to be a camera man again for UVA football. I’ll be right behind the endzone again. I can’t wait for that first game against USC. We’re going to get our butts kicked but there’s going to be a ton of energy in the stadium.

Like I said, I have not one single complaint in my life right now. I’m excited to see where I’m at a year from now.