Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Halloween Re-Blog

Check out this blog post I wrote for the Miller Writing Center blog. While you're at it, check out the other awesome blog posts by my wonderful co-workers.

http://millerwritingcenter.blogspot.com/2013/10/writing-center-wisdom-for-halloween.html

Come see us at the writing center!

Happy Halloween.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Four More Years?

So, I have a graduation checklist in my backpack. 
This is really scary and really sad and really exciting all at the same time.

I am not a super nostalgic person. Sure, I get a little sad for the days when I was a semi-decent sax player when I hear jazz music and I occasionally think about the good ol' days in my youth group, but I did not cry at my high school graduation. I didn't cry after it. Heck, I'm pretty sure I didn't cry until my parents moved me into my dorm freshman year.

With that being said, Auburn is my happy place. I love it here. I'm starting to get all "ohmygoodnessthisisthelastfirsttimeiwilleverstandinlinefor30minutesatchickfilaonamondayatnoonduringfallsemester" and such, which is a weird feeling for someone who left high school feeling so joyful.



I'm in this class called "Professional Development and Ethics." It's basically a class designed to help HDFS majors figure out what exactly they want to do with their lives since the major has such a broad range of careers it feeds into. Considering I'm halfway done applying to graduate programs in Audiology, the careers we talk about aren't super applicable to my life. Nonetheless, we have been required to take a bunch of personality tests to learn about ourselves and how we work with others and such in hopes that it will help guide us towards a certain career. I normally don't give personality tests much credit, but I do feel like I've learned a good bit about myself I already knew, but I didn't know...if that makes any sense.
Anyway, these career and personality tests told me that I am a detail-oriented futuristic introvert, all things I already know. The tests have given me a unique perspective on others in my life. I feel like I'm learning a lot about how other people think and process information, and as a super type A person, this type of information is important to know. It also has helped me understand how others react to my personality, which is extremely interesting.




I say all of this to say, as a futuristic detail person, not knowing where my future lies is horribly scary. This type next year, I could be living in Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky...I could even end up back at home if nothing works out with graduate school (let's hope that doesn't happen). I could also be in Auburn for another 4 years. Ask me today where I would like to be, I would tell you Auburn. Ask me tomorrow, I might change my mind. 

God is putting me to the test. I know I am stubborn, God knows I am stubborn. He often uses unexpected turns of events to get my attention. This grad school process has been no different. After being thrown a huge curveball and sorting through the application materials for almost every school in the Southeast, I have narrow my options down to 5 programs. I am excited and scared all at the same time. Only 2 of those 5 schools are in Alabama, the state I have lived in my entire life. Maybe it's time for a change, or maybe I will be a lifelong Alabama resident. 
God has it figured out. It would be nice for Him to fill me in a little on what it will all look like in just a few months, but I have to trust in the Cornerstone.


19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by[e] the Spirit.
        -Ephesians 2: 19-22


Cornerstone - Hillsong United

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Starting Over


Today, I woke up and my whole body was incredibly sore. The reason: I exercised yesterday for the first time in well over a year. Between my injured finger and my diagnosis of Graves' disease, I have not been able to exercise at all.

A week ago, I was told that my TSH levels were back to normal over 6 months after my diagnosis. This news comes along with doctor's permission to do physical activity. 
So yesterday, I went on a jog with some friends. Obviously they all easily outran me, but I was extremely proud of myself despite how difficult it was.
It's going to be a long journey, but I'm so thankful to be back. Thank you to all of my friends and family who have supported and prayed for me throughout this time, especially my parents and Brendan. 

Though God presented me with a challenge I was honestly afraid I would not overcome, I am now standing on the other side and I am thankful for this lesson. I am asking for prayer as I continue to try to get back into shape and become healthy once again.

Monday, January 7, 2013

The Casual Authenticity

Over Christmas break, I read JK Rowling's other book, "The Casual Vacancy." It sat on my bookshelf for months begging to be read, but because it was 500 pages, I did not attempt to read it during school.

I enjoyed it. It is NOT a kid's book at all. The content and language is very strong, but JK worked her magic and made me attached to numerous characters and painted a vivid picture of each character and their true personalities. This is no easy feat with over 20 characters who are all intertwined. It took me a bit to get into it because of all the characters, but I still recommend this book to adults...not kids.

Anyway, the book bothered me. This happens a lot when I read or watch movies. I escape from my own life and live in the character's, which, more often than not, plunges me into a life I don't want to experience for a short time, much less live.

In "The Casual Vacancy," the small town in which the book takes place seems to rotate around nothing but appearances. Every single character in the book cares more about what the other characters think of them than their own families or livelihood; the exception to this are the teenagers, the drug and alcohol addicted, and the mourning widow. The idea alone that youth, sorrow, and addiction brings realty is fascinating to me.

One character, a teenager named "Fats" Wall, spends the entire book pondering the idea of authenticity.  He wants to break from the charade put on in his community, school, and household. His idea of being authentic involves posting his family's secrets for the internet to see, purposely taking advantage of a girl from horrible circumstances for sex, and backstabbing his best friend. To him, doing what you want whenever you feel like it is what authenticity is. In the end of the book, he has completely isolated himself from everyone he cares about and he is anything but happy about it.

~

What makes true authenticity? I feel what Fats felt in my life all the time. I feel the apparent "show" people put on for one another. I do it myself.

It has been especially hard for me recently to hold back how I feel about certain situations and people, even though I know that it's not proper for me to be this brand of "authentic." Does authenticity even mean complete honesty?

According to Merriam-Webster....



au·then·tic

a : worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact <paints an authentic picture of our society>
b : conforming to an original so as to reproduce essential features <an authentic reproduction of a colonial farmhouse>
c : made or done the same way as an original <authentic Mexican fare>



As Christians, authenticity seems to mean "conforming to an original," who is Christ Jesus. We are to be like Christ...which is the hardest thing for man to grasp ever. Regardless, looking up this simple definition that Fats Wall brought to my attention has helped me better deal with my ideas on being authentic in my life. 





"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."   -1 Corinthians 11:1