Wednesday, July 28, 2010

SanFran Experience

My trip to San Francisco was AMAZING! What a refreshing experience to have! I arrived on Friday, July 16th and realized that this was the 1st time I was traveling all on my own to a place where I new absolutely no one. I was a bit anxious when I first realized this, but I reminded myself of how great an opportunity I had awaiting me.

From my first interaction with my fellow teammates, I knew that I was in for a week with supportive people. During the weekend, I ended up having a lot more free time than I had anticipated. I was able to travel around San Francisco and see many things (Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz from afar, AT&T park, downtown Palo Alto, and Stanford's beautiful campus). I stayed in Roble Hall, where LeadAmerica housed two conferences (Engineering and Leadership University). Throughout the week I was the leader for 15 high school students; an experience that I had never had before. I quickly realized that despite all of the experience I had at JMU, working with a different age group was a whole new playing field. I learned that every experience is a new one and you always have to expect the unexpected.

I had a great time with my students during the week, and learned a lot from them as well as the other leaders, my teammates. My favorite term that we taught was "Unconditional Support." It is pretty self-explanatory but a nice way to remind people to show respect towards others.

Monday, July 5, 2010

3 month recap!

I have not written on here in over 3 months... oops!

Here's what's been going on:

Got accepted into Radford, UGA and the Peace Corps.
Decided to go to Radford and pursue a degree in Counselor Education.
Found my future roomie in one of my classes at JMU... it was destiny :)
Signed a lease to live in Copper Beech in Radford.
Dislocated my knee the week before finals... that was a pain to deal with.
The week right before finals was the most stressful week of my entire undergrad years.
Fortunately, I survived.
Graduated May 8th from JMU :)
Traveled to the OBX for a week with JMU friends and lived the life.
Watched the sun rise on the beach from my bed.
Layed out on the beach.
Read some books by the pool.
Bought JMU football tickets [against VT and homecoming!]
Went to Delaware to Elyse's beach house.
Explored Bethany Beach and Ocean City on one cold summer day.
Visited my Grammie and family in Lavale, Maryland.
Drove to Connecticut with Alaina, Kelly, and Kat.
Saw Dave Matthews Band in concert.
Drove to Long Island, New York for Jenn's graduation party.
Spent some time in Harrisonburg here and there.
Volunteered a couple days with JMU Orientation.
Celebrated one of my best friends' 40th birthday at Guadalajara's in VB.
Went to Maryland to visit Nicole with Alaina.
Saw PHISH in concert.
Lived the life of a tourist for three days in Virginia Beach with Alaina and her family.
Layed out by the pool and soaked in the sun.

Future events:

Enjoying home for a few more days.
OBX with Grammie.
July 16th-24th I am flying out to San Francisco! A few days ago I was offered a position with LeadAmerica to lead students through a leadership conference at Stanford University! I am VERY excited about this opportunity. My summer feels like it will finally have a purpose and a reason to be productive. From what I have heard so far, everything I will be doing with the students I have experienced before at JMU, and it is what I want to do in the future with my career as a school counselor.

After that I will return home for a few days... then head to Harrisonburg to pack up my townhome and move to Radford on August 6th! Only 31 more days to go! I am really looking forward to this new change in my life and to meet new people :)