By 
By: RACHAEL PITTMAN
Staff Writer
@ralypitt
Greetings! I’m Rachael, and I’m elated to be writing to you from my home for our lovely little publication.
Sometimes I cannot believe I made it to where I am now. I grew up homeschooled, small-town country life in various states along the Midwest. I grew up uncertain (primarily because of my conservative, modest upbringing) of what I wanted when I grew up. The world to me is still a plethora of possibilities.
I grew up wanting to do all kinds of things from fashion design to culinary arts, but the same theme prevailed – the art of creation.
I have always taken pride in my work. Adding something new to the world was always important to me.
When I attended public high school, I began to write often, because it helped me cope with feeling out of place. I already was writing when I was homeschooled (I was always done with all my work several hours before a normal school day would end, so I didn’t have my friends to talk to right away).
When I started to use the Internet and social networking, I began to find another great satisfaction in being the first person among my friends to know about the latest gossip and news.
It was sad, though, because I did not even think about these things as a possible careers. My goal was to be rich, and I didn’t care how I got to that point. I went to school for business, dropped out, and then worked in a sandwich shop for 8 months. I began to attend school again after seeing an advisor that helped me figure out a better plan, which – not shockingly – ended up being journalism. Lesson: money is not all that it seems.
I left my job to work in a nursing home. While the change was drastic, I couldn’t bare another day crushed between the walls of a prep room or being yelled at by customers with low blood sugar. I love my job, but God has even greater plans for me in the future.
I’m pretty busy because I work 20-30 hours a week, volunteer and spend abnormal amounts of time with my boyfriend of 3.5 years, Matt Bartley, and my best friend, Nicole Hassinger. I’ll probably tell you more about how I want to be a mermaid, but you’ll have to stop me and say hello first!
