10 Years From Now...

A little over a year before I was born, my parents and grandfather opened up a gourmet breakfast and lunch restaurant outside of Chicago. 23 years later, there are 15. I've grown up with the company and have come to love the employees and the atmosphere. For the past few years I've been hostessing and serving at one of the restaurants. This summer I was able to intern and learn more about what would be involved in going into management for the company.

Ten years from now, I'd like to be actively involved in the business. I'll be graduating this May and returning to Chicago to start my career. When I get back, I'll continue serving until I'm promoted to service team leader. From there, I'll work my way up to Co-Manager and then to General Manager. Once I feel like I have a good enough grasp on the company, I'll expand the chain to the suburbs of Atlanta. We already have a good number of employees from Chicago who are wanting to come to Atlanta with me when I open one, so the added experience will be very helpful! Once I'm in Atlanta, I'll gauge the restaurant's success and hopefully open additional restaurants as time goes on!

I'm 21 years old right now and am hoping that by the time I'm 31 I'll be married and starting a family. I'd also love to do some more traveling in the next ten years. In May (pretty soon I after I graduate), I plan on going to Europe for about two weeks to visit some of the friends I made while I was studying abroad in Australia. After that, I'll have to plan trips to fit in with my work and family life!

It's difficult to say for sure where I'll be ten years from now, but I feel like I have a pretty good idea of the direction I want to take after college. I suppose only time will tell!