Your biggest achievement

quidditchcapn1120

In order to balance out my depressing thread from yesterday, let's talk about the things in life that you are most proud to say you did.  To make it interesting, make it something not kid related.

Or if you really want to include a kid related achievement, also list something not kid related.

catchafallingstar76

I graduated high school and completed a beauty school course.

HenHen25

Graduating from law school with high honors.

LadyXaverian

I took a job what felt like a million miles away from home. Packed up and moved with just a suit case, a few dollars in my bank account, and no secured place to live.

It paid off. The job sucked, but I learned so much that year. I ended up getting a great apartment, and because of that move, I was able to connect IRL with my now husband, with whom I had an internet-only friendship for 5.5 years at that point.

quidditchcapn1120

Finishing dental school.  That shizz was traumatic, yo.

Being completely independent financially from my parents since the day I graduated high school.

LadyXaverian

MrsSkull1107:

Moving to the US and completing the clusterfvck that is gaining my permanent residence.

Been there, survived that.

catycate

Graduating from college. I did it on my own, it took 7 years and me finally getting over what everyone in my family thought.

Making it on my own after being kicked out at 17- never went to jail for longer than 15 hours, never had to go to rehab, never moved back home, never borrowed money from my parents, despite everyone in my family thinking I was the worst person ever.

Through the years of working as a behavioral therapist, all the kids whom I helped to make huge strides towards independence. I know I wasn't doing the majority of work, the kids were, but I'm filled with pride when I remember a 6 year old saying "Mommy" for the first time or being there when potty training finally "clicked" for a 12 year old. 

shannonmur

Spooko:

SarahL77:

MrsSkull1107:

Moving to the US and completing the clusterfvck that is gaining my permanent residence.

Been there, survived that.

Yep. Mine wasn't for myself, but for DH, and unfortunately he was subjected to the 10 year ban. That's what I was saying about him leaving and us not knowing for how long. Fortunately, I wrote a kickass waiver and I think my grandpa pulled a few strings from heaven and it was approved. 

Another survivor of the uscis over here. Also super proud of my 18 year old self for solo traveling around Ireland for awhile.

LadyXaverian

MrsSkull1107:

SarahL77:

MrsSkull1107:

Moving to the US and completing the clusterfvck that is gaining my permanent residence.

Been there, survived that.

It's awful, right?

Are you a US citizen? H and I have discussed my getting it but we haven't yet. 

Not yet. I want to get dual citizenship, but keeps getting put on the back burner. I figure I'll do it before it's time to renew my green card because I don't want to go through that shiz again.

Which SC did you have to deal with? I had to go through Texas. Spork my eye out.

Manateearmz

Snagging DH from the grips of bachelorhood. 

missyishere

I really think my best achievement is yet to come, that isn't kid related. I have recently picked up running and overall fitness. I am in a really good place, and I have some big goals in mind. When I achieve those, I will feel very accomplished.

Andplusalso, Saturday will be two years smoke free for this gal. That is a major achievement in my eyes.

LadyXaverian

I Heart The 80s:

I was pretty terrible to someone in high school. Terrible. She was a few years younger, and I made things hard for her. Looking back I realize I was jealous. Plain and simple. About 12 years later I tracked her down, apologized and we went to lunch. It was so fun, and we are still friends. We live far away from eachother now, but stay in touch. I even apologized to her mother. Anyway, it may not be my biggest accomplishment, but it was a big thing for me. She put up with a lot, and could have told me to F off. Luckily, she didn't.

This is pretty impressive. There is someone from junior high who I wish would do this for me. He made my life miserable for a couple of years.

NotSharknado

This thread makes me feel like a loser. I guess my biggest achievement would be beating the statistics of growing up in poverty and living in an abusive environment. At a very young age I decided to just live differently. Some if my siblings are repeating that cycle and I just made it my goal to live different.

NotSharknado

Spooko:

Major props to I heart the 80s.

Ditto.

mben1119

Married Dh. Bought a house. Paid off one of my student loans.

quidditchcapn1120

shanado:

This thread makes me feel like a loser. I guess my biggest achievement would be beating the statistics of growing up in poverty and living in an abusive environment. At a very young age I decided to just live differently. Some if my siblings are repeating that cycle and I just made it my goal to live different.

I think this is an amazing accomplishment!  You should feel great!

missyishere

Packerfan79:

missyleaferg:

I really think my best achievement is yet to come, that isn't kid related. I have recently picked up running and overall fitness. I am in a really good place, and I have some big goals in mind. When I achieve those, I will feel very accomplished.

Andplusalso, Saturday will be two years smoke free for this gal. That is a major achievement in my eyes.

YAY Missy! 

Thanks, dear.

And props to I heart 80s. Maybe you should speak publicly about your change of heart?!

NotSharknado

Thanks Spook and quid! It's comforting to know that my kids will never have to live the life I did as a child.

NotSharknado

Missy, I applaud you! Good for you. Quitting smoking and starting exercise is the definition of hard.

NotSharknado

Packerfan79:

shanado:

This thread makes me feel like a loser. I guess my biggest achievement would be beating the statistics of growing up in poverty and living in an abusive environment. At a very young age I decided to just live differently. Some if my siblings are
repeating that cycle and I just made it
my goal to live
different.

That is a huge
achievement! 

Thank you!

NotSharknado

MrsSkull1107:

Graduating college despite losing my parents during that time.Planning and going on our backpacking trip across Western Europe.nbsp;Buying our first house.Moving to the US and
completing the clusterfvck that is
gaining my permanent
residence.nbsp;

You are one strong lady. I admire you.

LoveBeingAWife33008

I am 4th in the nation in women's arm wrestling.

I have 17 beauty pageant titles.

I have a Masters degree.

LadyXaverian

MrsSkull1107:

SarahL77:

Not yet. I want to get dual citizenship, but keeps getting put on the back burner. I figure I'll do it before it's time to renew my green card because I don't want to go through that shiz again.

Which SC did you have to deal with? I had to go through Texas. Spork my eye out.

Fluck. I have no idea. I think I blocked that shitt.

I did an adjustment of status because I was already in the states as a foreign student.

Did you do the fianc? or work visa route? 

Fiance. He liked it, so he put a ring on it.

FrickandFrack

There are a few that might seem irrelevant to some but are pretty big to me.
Getting together with DH when I was 16 and being happily married now for almost 7 years and being together for over 13 years.
Getting into a great field of work at a somewhat young age.
My 2 children.
Being smoke free for 5 years!!
Buying a house right after getting married.

Soxgirl07

Finishing the Boston Marathon in 4 hours 58 minutes and raising $5000 for an AIDS charity. I'd been doing it for 4 years at the time, but I'm really not a natural runner and my original goal was to finish before they turned the official clock off at 6:00.

missyishere

kfrix13:

There are a few that might seem irrelevant to some but are pretty big to me.
Getting together with DH when I was 16 and being happily married now for almost 7 years and being together for over 13 years.
Getting into a great field of work at a somewhat young age.
My 2 children.
Being smoke free for 5 years!!
Buying a house right after getting married.

High five, fellow smoking quitter! I tried to make that sound cooler, but it just didn't work out as I had hoped.

LadyXaverian

LoveBeingAWife33008:

I am 4th in the nation in women's arm wrestling.

I have 17 beauty pageant titles.

I have a Masters degree.

Is this that game where we have to guess which one is a lie? lol

If not, these are really cool accomplishments.

ETA: I tried to google arm wresting pageant winner, but I came back with nothing.

LoveBeingAWife33008

Spooko:

LoveBeingAWife33008:

I am 4th in the nation in women's arm wrestling.

I have 17 beauty pageant titles.

I have a Masters degree.

You wouldn't intuitively think these two go together. It's like a hidden talent! Do you hustle a lot of people at bars? 

I always drink for free.  I beat men.  They hate it.

LoveBeingAWife33008

SarahL77:

LoveBeingAWife33008:

I am 4th in the nation in women's arm wrestling.

I have 17 beauty pageant titles.

I have a Masters degree.

Is this that game where we have to guess which one is a lie? lol

If not, these are really cool accomplishments.

ETA: I tried to google arm wresting pageant winner, but I came back with nothing.

I didn't arm wrestle with my tiaras on or anything :-P but I was a state champ while holding a state title.

Kitiara5512

I took the ACT when I was 11. I was in 90%ile in English/Reading, although English is not my native language and I had only been in US for around 2 years.

Getting my citizenship at 29 was up there too.

LoveBeingAWife33008

Spooko:

So Loves, is there a secret to being a good arm wrestler? Or is it all just brute strength?

There are people that are in clubs and actually train for it.  I just show up- born with abnormally strong upper body. 

Every competition that I have been in, someone has broken an arm....always before me.  It freaks me out every time.

mammamia24

I'm the first person on my dads side of the family to actually graduate and walk across the stage in 3 generations. Everyone else has gotten their GED. I'm also the first person since my grandpa to not get into trouble with the law, that includes my 2 older brothers and both my parents. Gotta love my family.

jorkz821

I put myself through undergrad and grad school.
I bought my own condo and got my first puppy as a single 26 year old.

jorkz821

Soxgirl07:

Finishing the Boston Marathon in 4 hours 58 minutes and raising 5000 for an AIDS charity. I'd been doing it for 4 years at the time, but I'm really not a natural runner and my original goal was to finish before they turned the official clock off at 6:00.

Thats awesome! Good for you!

NastyAnnie

When Jack was 4 months old, I started graduate school. I graduated with my MA in English in December, and somehow my family is still together. Lol.

missyishere

I'm thoroughly impressed by the talent, intelligence, and motivation from all of you ladies.  If one isn't inspired today...

klondikebar

I think DH and I are most proud of our small business investments. We've created a lot of jobs in our area and help start up many small businesses when banks were not being generous in the loan department.

KJmashup

I was the first person in my family to earn a bachelor's degree, and I graduated Summa Com Laude.

Also, I was the first family member to earn a master's degree, also with a 4.0 GPA.

 

Edit: LOL @ TB censoring Summa C*m Laude 

KJmashup

HilarityEnsued:

I don't know about my biggest achievement.  A lot of it seems sort of small compared to what others were posting here.

I guess I'm rather proud of myself for graduating college in 3 years with a degree in Spanish and now have a successful career in commercial real estate finance.  

I am also proud of myself for working through the anxiety (and related depression) that plagued me in college.  It was debilitating and today I can truthfully say I'm on the other side of it and it is a part of my life I'm confident I will not revisit.

Thank you!

And major props to you for overcoming anxiety. That is a real struggle. 

RockyTopVols

Being able to provide for my family without a college degree. I self-taught most of my industry certifications and transitioned it them marketable skills. Now I work as a system engineer designing and building server infrastructure for my companies data centers in the US, Mexico, and Brazil. I also work with our international teams in Ireland, Poland, and soon to be Spain.

I would like to one day obtain a Bachelor's degree but- I am finding it hard to see that goal being reached. I know doors have been closed to me in the past because some companies do require it. Thankfully, I am moving into the "experience in lieu of"  substitution in my field so it isn't a necessity. But it def would have made things easier. And I do think education is important and I will make sure my kid has every opportunity to obtain a college education.

My wife also finished her Master's degree this past fall. I just wanted to brag on her.  

RayRay007

I don't feel like I've had any great accomplishments, but just steps down the road of life. I will feel accomplished when I get a street named after me.