The Lion's Pride Lion's Pride Volume 12 (Spring 2019) | Page 6

It’s Hard to Be Human
Cheryl A Sieloff
I just returned to college after 35 years. This essay is about events in my
life over the last 5 years. I share this story only in hopes someone else
may find inspiration to just try. It is a story I’ve wanted to tell for a
while, and Introduction to English Composition gave me the “tools” to
achieve my goal.
The longer you walk this planet, the more experiences you will have
personally and professionally. There will be times you think you are on
the right course through life, but something happens that makes you
question all your decisions. You never know what is coming. All you
think is, “It isn’t going to happen to me.” Then, one day, you wake up
and find yourself where you never thought you would be. It’s hard to be
human. There may be periods in your life where you feel like you’ve
taken two steps forward only to take three steps back. I’m sharing the
last four years in hopes others will find strength that they, too, can
overcome anything through small goals leading to a much larger goal.
I’m pursuing Human Resource Management as my next career because I
love the people side of business.
In April of 2014, my department at a well-known software company
was being dissolved. I needed to change departments, but for one reason
or another, I was complacent about moving on. I was laid off. It’s hard
to be human. As stunning as it was, I knew deep down I had not tended
to my career like a well-kept garden. I decided I needed to take a break
and reevaluate being laid off. At the time, I was hanging out with a