My perspective of severe weather began to changed on April 22nd, Good Friday, when St. Louis was hit by an EF-4 tornado. For the first time, I knew people who had been affected. My grandmother's house was severely damaged and her next door neighbor, that I have known all my life, had her house completely destroyed. I walked through the damage and saw first hand the sheer destruction. I prayed I would never have to see something like that again.
This is my Grandmother's next door neighbor, Mary's house... Well what was left of it.
But exactly one month later, the unthinkable happened. My life was forever changed following the May 22nd Joplin Tornado. And I thought the damage in St. Louis was bad. I have never seen EF-5 tornado damage. To this day, I can close my eyes and see myself standing on the hill looking down on Joplin High School. No one is around, night is falling, and it is silent. All around me, complete devastation. That will haunt me for the rest of my life. Because of this experience, I have a new perspective on life. Anytime I think I am having a bad day, I think of the people that I have met in Joplin. It could always be worse. Please, if the sirens are going off, heed them. Go down in the basement. Just do it. It's only 15 minutes of your time, it could save your life.
As we moved into fall exciting things continued. I was moved from the weekends into the weekday evening shows. While it took some getting used to, I have really grown to love this shift. I enjoy working with the people I do. They have become like family. KOMU really does have some of the best people in the business, both in the jobs they do and the people that they are.
The fall also began my final semester of grad school at Mizzou. I completed my degree in December and am officially a Master of Meteorology... if that adds any credibility to what I do ;) It took me a full two years to complete and I am happy to be done with school until I decide to go back and get a Doctorate.
2012 has already had its ups and downs, just like any other year. But I am looking forward to working towards my next big goal: obtaining my CBM Seal. AKA the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal. It is a tough one to get, but I am starting to study and work towards taking the test. Once that is complete, I am going to have to start thinking of a new project or goal.
