The Most Magical Place on Earth

It's 3 o'clock in the morning and I feel like a 5 year old waiting for Santa. I've never been to Disney World or Universal, but that's going to change in about five hours!! Me and nine other people on my trip will be heading to Universal Studios bright and early tomorrow and I could not be more excited. To be honest, the only place that could really top the magic of Disney World or Universal is the Give Kids the World resort that I've been working at for the past three days.

DAY 1:
(Monday May 16, 2011)
We arrived at GKTW for the first time at 7:15am. I knew that my assigned position was going to be in the "Gingerbread House" which is the venue for all the families' meals. Come to find out, I was serving food to the incredible kids and their families. This was the most kid interactive day for me and I'm so glad that I got to know so many of the children. They ranged from all ages and all types of sicknesses. Sometimes I could tell if they were sick and sometimes I couldn't. This was the day that I met Gwyn; the (almost) three year old that stole my heart. As you all may know, I am a HUGE fan of Toms Shoes, well as soon as I saw this adorable little girl wearing children's Toms, I was in love.
After my shift at the Gingerbread House, I learned how to play Mafia which became a staple of our free time. I'm not going to explain how to play but I encourage all of you to find friends and play because it is a lot of fun. We had a tour of the GKTW property (pictures will be on Facebook after I return home).
For the night shift, I worked in the Castle of Miracles. This place is a hard concept to understand without seeing it. Basically, all of the "Make a Wish" children get to decorate a star and it goes on the roof of the castle. I can just sum it up by saying that it was an incredibly special place.

DAY 2:
(Tuesday May 17, 2011)
Again, I was up, showered, hair-straightened, and ready by 7:15. My shift was in the Welcome Hut. The Welcome Hut is really just that, the place that welcomes people into GKTW. It was one of the more lonely jobs, but I actually enjoyed the time to reflect on everything that was going on. We are doing our own blog for the trip and I was able to start it while on this shift.
After lots and lots of Mafia, we came home, napped and prepared for the evening shift. This was one of my favorite shifts. I got to work the Cookie Cart with one of the people I got the closest to on the trip (who was actually my orientation leader). We had lots of fun driving around the complex, giving out cookies, and coming up with ridiculous things to entertain ourselves with.
I should also mention that after each day of service we did reflections about our days. I really enjoyed my small group and especially my small group leader. The effort that he put into making it special for us definitely did not go unnoticed :)

DAY 3:
(Wednesday May 18, 2011)
I started off my day in the Castle of Dreams again, but I was excited to get to work with three new people that I had not gotten to work with before. It was so much fun to see their strengths and watch them interact with the kids as well as my own personal interaction with the kids.
I think this is the point in the trip where I truly realized how much I was enjoying myself. This type of service was different than any type I've done before, but I learned so much about myself. I also realized the connections that I've made with so many of the people on this trip and I can only pray that I get the opportunity to see them through the rest of their college careers.
My night shift was in the concessions stand during the "Village Idol." One of the most special moments of the week happened then. One of the sisters of a "Make a Wish" child found out that Hallelujah is one of my favorite songs. She found me in the concessions stand and she and I sang a duet of the song with a lot of people around. I was blown away by her confidence and poise at such a young age. It was definitely a tear jerker.
This is also where I encountered Gwyn again (wearing the same shoes). Some of us started talking with her mother and she decided to share with us that Gwyn is in remission and she is on her way to being considered a survivor. When those words came out of her mouth, I couldn't have been more happy. I was able to get some contact information to keep up with her status and I only hope she knows how much she touched me.

To all my trip members:
I love you from the bottom of my heart and I want all of you to know that you have all made a difference in my life in some way. Thank you for being so wonderful and thank you for becoming family.


I hope that wasn't too boring to read. It was certainly nice to relive such an awesome few days! I'll be sure to update about my Universal Studios experience soon. For GKTW pictures please refer to Facebook within the next week or so.


Southern Love.

Everything is okay in the end

One of my favorite quotes is "Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end." And I guess it could be taken a lot of different ways, but I see it as positive reinforcement to persevere. For some reason this semester was really difficult for me. My classes weren't impossible, but I could definitely see a difference between this semester and last semester. And there were several points in the semester where I just had no idea how my grades were going to end up or how I was going to have the time to finish certain things. 

But the good news is, I finished my freshman year with a 4.0 and I'll be HOPE eligible in the fall. That might not mean a whole lot to some of you, but to me it was a huge accomplishment. To see the relief and excitement on my parents face was something that definitely meant a lot to me and I know that my 4.0 means a lot to their pocket. But I also want to congratulate my favorite boy in the whole world on his 4.0 as well :) 

So, in the end I made time for everything, I pulled my grades out, I kept up a part-time job and I had the opportunity to serve others on several occasions. All in all, I couldn't be happier with the crazy busy, but incredibly awesome semester I had! 

Currently I'm blogging from my wonderful room in Kissemee, Florida. I start work tomorrow at Give Kids the World resort and I couldn't be more excited! More to come...

Craziness

So amidst finals, work, and packing for Disney, I have also had to pack up everything so that my amazing parents can come pick it all up this Friday. The picture below only shows half of the organized mess I have going on in my dorm. I would have taken a more encompassing picture, but my partner in crime wanted to be in it so I had to accommodate.

As excited as I am to be done with school, I can't say that I am very excited to not be a freshman anymore. That sounds crazy because in high school, I counted down the days until I wasn't on the bottom end of the totem pole anymore. But college is so different! In high school, I couldn't wait to graduate and there was not a single tear of sadness shed, but in college I can't even think about graduation. Maybe it's because I'm happier here, maybe not.

Whoever said that high school is the best years of your life definitely didn't make it to college. I really just want to slow everything down and make sure that I take advantage of every opportunity. In my LEAD class this semester we heard a speaker speak on "Lollipop moments." The speaker defined these moments based on a personal story that happened to him. These are moments when someone makes a significant impact on your life just by doing something small. And I guess you could say that my goal is to give as many Lollipop moments as I can and be sure to appreciate them when I receive them. Basically, I'm just not ready for college to be over. Good thing I have at least three more years here in the best little town in Georgia!

Good luck to everyone taking finals. And if I don't see you before Friday, have a great summer! Remember, don't overlook your Lollipop moments :)

Southern Love.

Oh that bike...

For those of you who have spent time around me this semester, you are probably aware of my feelings toward my boyfriend, Alex's, new bike. From the day he built it with his friend, I have hated it for several reasons. 1. I didn't really understand how someone could spend $350 on a bicycle. 2. He rides it late at night after work and doesn't have any sort of reflectors. 3. (the selfish reason) He doesn't walk me to class anymore because he rides his bike. I know I probably sound like a little brat right now, but that's just how I felt about it and I made it very known to everyone I came into contact with.

Well, within the last two weeks I have officially changed my viewpoint on this bike. And I can officially call it a lifesaver. He was going to have his car fixed by May when I'm leaving Statesboro, but about two weeks ago he found out that it isn't going to be fixed by then. So, thanks to this amazing, fantastic, incredible bike he has transportation to and from work now. And I officially take back all the terrible things I said about it.

I said all of that to say this... I have determined that I, too, would like a bike. So you can only imagine how excited Alex was when I said this, and this weekend he ordered all the parts and such. And his friend painted my frame this weekend as well. So I went from hating all bicycles to being REALLY excited to get my own. I'll post a picture when it gets all done :) PS: Her name is going to be Kate, after my favorite newlywed!


Southern Love.

The End of the Beginning

Wow. To say that this year has flown by would be an extreme understatement. I was woken up this morning by roommate beginning the moving out process. Moving out is such a crazy thought. As excited as I am for my living arrangements next year, I can't believe that this time next week I will no longer have access to the room I'm in right now. I want to use this blog to help me remember all the amazing experiences I have had/am having. So in order to recap my freshman year, I'm going back to where it all started, Kennedy Hall.

I came to Statesboro with two very important people in my life, my boyfriend and my best friend. However, after participating in the summer BUILD program, I gained a lot of new friends. One that would even turn out to be my roommate next year. I solidified a friendship with someone I've known since before flat irons were popular and through some mistakes made, I started to appreciate the amazing relationship I was in. But that wasn't all that BUILD taught me. I realized that there's so much more to college than friends, fun, and school. I realized my heart to serve others, and my passion for college. Passion could never have been used to describe my high school experience. I lived a day at a time, didn't work to my full potential, and kept my focus on everything it shouldn't have been on. Looking back on my first year in college, I couldn't be happier with the person I've become, the friends I've made, the experiences I've taken part in, and the memories I've made. Some of the things that stick out the most are:

• Working at Langston Chapel Elementary After School Program and falling in love with all the precious little kids.
• Starting my mentor relationship with Michelle, my Statesboro mom.
• Getting to know my BCM family.
• Alex's baptism.
• My one year anniversary :)
• Homecoming game where GSU beat #1 ranked App St. 
• Luke Bryan!
• Reading the whole Pretty Little Liar series with my Beccas.
• All my parents visits!
• LeaderShape!!
• Visiting Columbus and Athens.
• Becoming a Student Assistant in the Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement.
• Having dinner with Bill Rancic!
• My amazing Spring Break trip to Port Charlotte, Florida.
• Becoming a real gamer.
• Southern Ambassador Interviews.
• And most importantly, realizing my calling. 

And I'll soon be able to add to that, my trip to Disney World to work with terminally ill children. I couldn't be more excited to see what God has in store for me this summer and throughout the rest of my time at Georgia Southern. 

Southern Love.