My Journey to Black Belt

Part of our testing for black belt is to write an essay.  I am posting mine here for the world to see.

My Journey to Black Belt  

By Randi Mathieu 

Five years ago I asked my then 5 year old son what he wanted for his birthday.  His good buddy, that is 4 years older than he is, was taking karate and so in order to be more like him, my son replied that he wanted to take karate. I made an appointment and we all went in to the Dojang to see what it was like. While there I saw many different people of varying ages – not just kids training and thought it might be fun to try.  As I discussed it with my husband we decided that all 3 of us would give it a try. In the back of my mind I thought hey we will give it a couple months and see how it goes.   

See here’s the thing about me – I’m a quitter. When I would ask to take dance lessons or music lessons as a child I would only last a few months before I was bored with it.  By middle school I decided to try band – that lasted until sophomore year.  Goals I dreamt about – becoming the first female NFL player, becoming the first female fighter pilot, even becoming a Japanese interpreter – never came to fruition because I didn’t really try.  My life has been easy and has been handed to me.  Even after Jim and I were married the quitting continued – swing dance lessons, aikido, and many jobs lie in my wake.  So naturally that February five years ago I thought we had no chance of making to even green belt. 

Something in me changed along the way in this 5 year journey.  There were times that I thought – maybe this is as far as we go.  But some how I pushed through.  Each test I said “ok Randi one more level” Our karate compatriots became a second family to us and help encourage me even though they never knew they did.  It was the thought of disappointing my new found karate-sisters that kept me coming back for more.  It was the regret at never letting myself get any good at anything before I quit and not wanting my son to have the same regrets.  It was also the challenge to myself that I could make something happen for me! 

Now here I am a red-4 and just paid the registration fee for test.  I can’t believe I am here and doing this.  I may not be the first female blackbelt but I am the first Randi Mathieu to become a blackbelt.  I’ve worked hard and know that I have pushed myself harder than I ever have.  I want this – not just to get a blackbelt but to be a blackbelt. I need to know that “I Can and I Will” is not just a personal mantra but a way of life.  I am excited for the mental change I know will happen when I tie that midnight blue on and the confidence that I can set goals and I will achieve them. 

#52Ancestors Week 5

So I'm a little behind but I'll catch up.  This weeks post is "In the Census" and my favorite census story is finding Pierre and Ezilda Mathieu in the 1880 census.  Pierre and Ezlida had immigrated from Quebec and were native French speakers.  Due to the fact that I knew their children were born in Sprague CT I knew where they should be in the 1880 census.  Alas anytime I did a search on Ancestry or Familysearch nothing came up.  Finally I decided to go old school and page through the 1880 census for New London County Connecticut.  Using other facts I knew about the family (Pierre had a brother Joseph and their father was Michel).  I came across a page which was promising.  Sure enough everything matched up with what I knew about the family except the spelling of the names.  

The french speakers vs and english census taker!  This is the family, they owned the Union Shoe Store for many years. The Soundex function didn't work with such a far off spelling.  It just shows that sometimes you have to go old school and do the work yourself.