Thoughtful Thursday | When Opportunities Arise

“Take advantage of every opportunity to practice your communication skills so that when important occasions arise, you will have the gift, the style, the sharpness, the clarity, and the emotions to affect other people.” 

                                                                          –Jim Rohn, entrepreneur and author

I aspire to be one of the greatest journalists of our time. I do not wish for mediocrity. I wish to be the best. In order to accomplish this dream, it is my job to not wait for opportunities to come knocking. It is my job to chase down these opportunities, tackle them, and claim them for myself. I do not care if these occasions are inconvenient or require a little hard work and dedication on my part – it is the experience that will help me achieve my dreams.

As this semester draws to a close, I am forever grateful for the priceless experience I have received while working for the alumni relations department of BYU Magazine, and am ecstatic to see my first story in print by the time the next quarterly magazine is released. But the time has come to take these skills I have learned and build off of them in order to expand my talents. This summer I will be picking up and moving my life. Again. This time, to Kentucky. I will be a social media marketing intern through Bloc Marketing.

At this point, moving another 1,500 miles away doesn’t seem that bad after my recent moves from Washington to Utah and Florida. I am taking claim of an opportunity that I chased down, and will use these newfound talents to further my career in the field of communications. In this internship, I will learn to communicate with audiences more effectively and efficiently. It will definitely be a change from writing for a magazine, where which it is very passive and there is not a whole lot of interaction between me and the reader. Contrarily, this internship will successfully challenge me as I actively interact with audiences in real time.

So my message to you: Chase down those opportunities and take them! Do not worry about what others will think, the inconvenience it may cause, or the hard work it will require. If it brings you one step closer to achieving your dream, do it!

#16 - Taste Of Edmonds

Last Friday, my friend Dezi and I went to the Taste of Edmonds. Ever since 1983, the city of Edmonds has been hosting this popular festival. There are tons of food booths, live music, activities, and vendors. I can remember going to this festival as a kid, so there were many deja vu moments. I indulged in a snow cone and a chocolate-sprinkle coated ice cream bar. Mmmm! We also hit up the Washington Lottery booth to try our luck on a few scratch tickets. There were no winners, but that's gambling for ya! Although Dez seemed to enjoy scratching the ticket until there was nothing left to scratch, so she was content! Because I'm going to be out of state for the next few years, I may not be able to go to the Taste of Edmonds anytime soon, so I'm glad I was able to make the most of this day!

By the way, I am officially living in Orlando, Florida as of this morning! If you'd like to read more about this, visit my Disney College Program blog HERE!

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#12 - Get My License

I don't know how it works where you come from, but where I'm from, everyone takes drivers ed, gets their license at 16, and is driving themselves to school by their sophomore or junior year of high school. So it's pretty pathetic that I'm getting my license at 19, but that's how it works in my family. We don't have the money to put everyone through drivers ed, so you have to wait until you're at least 18 to get your license. And since I wouldn't have a car in college, I just didn't bother getting it last summer. But I was tired of asking people for rides, and being known as that one friend without her license, so I wanted to get it before I left for Florida.

I had my permit for four years before getting my license, so the driving test was not too difficult for me. Not to mention the fact that I totally aced parallel parking, and in a car that I had only driven twice before! But it is so handy to be able to drive myself places, as I have a lot to get done before I leave next week. Jeez, I can't believe it's August already. And to think, in a mere ten days, I'll be in Orlando getting ready to check into my hotel for the night. Wow!

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A World of Possibility

Well, we've hit the halfway point for July. This summer seems to be going by so quickly! It's crazy to think that in just four weeks, I'll be all moved into my new apartment in Orlando, training as an employee at Walt Disney World. Honestly, it doesn't feel real - any minute now, I'll wake up and start packing to go back to school next month. But it's not a dream, it's just something I've never experienced before.

Despite the fact that I have moved very frequently, I had grown up in the same general area all my life. I had the same group of friends for six years, the same teachers, the same coaches. In fact, the only places I had even vacationed at outside of Washington were Oregon, Montana, and North
Dakota (exciting, I know). So it's safe to say that I was in my own little bubble, deprived of all the inter-state and international travels that many of my friends had experienced at some time or another. Places like Hawaii, New York City, the Eiffel Tower, Australia, or even Disneyland - they could all be in another dimension as far as I knew. My family never really had the money to travel, so I accepted at an early age that I would be in Seattle for the rest of my life.

But all of a sudden, it was time for college. Hold on a second, I thought to myself, you mean I can go to school anywhere? Well, not anywhere, but somewhere outside of Seattle, and I was thrilled! Despite my scholarships, I still had to keep money in mind, so places like NYU or USC that were over $30k a year were definitely out of the question. I had to figure out my college criteria in order to pick the right place for me:

• Four-year university
• Out-of state
• Under $20k a year
• Rigorous academics
• Relatively low acceptance rate

And in the Fall of 2012, I found myself at Brigham Young University. Before my arrival, it all seemed like a dream, and I would wake up and find myself slumping through another year of high school. After a few pinches and a pile of exams, I knew this was the real deal. That's how I feel about Orlando. I've never experienced anything like it, but once I pinch myself and work my first 10-hour shift, I'm sure reality will set in.

This realization that I can have a life outside of Seattle has opened up a world of possibilities. I even hear a study abroad in Romania calling my name! So stop dreaming about your adventure, and get out there and make it happen! As Lemony Snicket put it, "If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives."

If you are interested in following my journey through the Disney College Program in Orlando, visit my secondary blog, All Roads Lead To Disney!

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Lake 22

If you ever find yourself in the Pacific Northwest, be sure to take advantage of the numberless hikes in the area. I can't believe that I've lived here for ninteen years and can probably count on both of my hands the number of hikes I've been on. There are hundreds of hikes in Washington and Oregon, and I was able to go on one of them yesterday!

I met up with my best friend, who recently got home from Oregon State University, and her younger sister, and headed off to Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade mountains. Lake 22, according to the Washington Trails Association, is 5.4 miles roundtrip and has a 1350 ft elevation gain. It was the perfect difficulty for not being in the best shape physically. Once we got to the lake, we hiked around it, which added another mile onto the trip. We also hiked up one of the rocky slopes to get a better view of the lake. Although this was not the smartest or safest idea, it was definitely challenging, and the view was worth it!

As soon as I got home, I began looking up other hikes in the Cascades that are slighly more difficult than Lake 22. It's all about challenging yourself! Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to scale Mount Raineer - all 14,409 feet of it! But I'll have to work up to that seeing as I am still sore from the 5.4 mile trek to Lake 22... And for your viewing pleasure, here are a few more shots from the hike!

 

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Beach Bum

I felt as if I hadn't posted in a few days, so I figured I'd give you all an update on my life. Then I realized I posted yesterday. My sense of time is complete crap.



Edmonds, Washington

So I had a nice orthodontist appointment today, and I decided I was going to stop being patient and actually ask them when they plan on taking this contraption out of my mouth. I mean, it's been nearly two years already and yeah, moving off to college set me back a bit, but I am seriously tired of being that-nineteen-year-old-with-braces. The final verdict is February, but seeing as I'm going straight back to school after Florida, it's more like next April. *insert swear words here*

On a brighter note, I went beach hopping tonight with a good friend and enjoyed the beautiful sunset. That's one of the things that I love about living near water - a coastline will definitely be a prerequisite for my future residence.

I also found out yesterday that I received a very generous scholarship from my university! However, I am alotted half of the total award during both fall and winter semesters. Since I won't be at school for fall semester, and I sure don't want to waste that money, I am officially going to be attending school for spring and summer terms next year in order to still get the other half of the scholarship. Holy crap, and I just realized that this will mean that I will be away from home for exactly a year. That is definitely a downside. But in the long run, it will be totally worth it!

And be sure to check out some great videos from a few of my favorite YouTubers:
JacksGap featuring FunForLouis: The Bedroom Ball Pit
PointlessBlog featuring ThatcherJoe: The Tin Can Challenge
MarcusButlerTV featuring dicasp: Two Boys With Helium