It is crazy going home and seeing how much everything has changed.  My baby cousin is getting so much bigger every time I see her.  I can't believe that in a few years my little baby will become a big girl and go to kindergarten.  On the flip side, my grandparents are getting a lot older and sicker.  I never realized how much they meant to me before and now I truly look forward to coming home and spending time with family.  Although I have so much that I want to accomplish in life, life would not be worth living without my family by my side.  I hope everyone has a merry Christmas and never loses sight of the fact that the biggest gift of all is each others company.

It is finals week, the time when the libraries are clogged with students, the aroma of warm coffee fills the air and the stress is so palpable that it blankets campus like a gentle mist.  While most people dread finals and the stress that comes with it they fail to see the big picture.  Finals teach people how to manage time better, which in my opinion is the most important course one can take.  Life is nothing more than a giant juggling act, balancing personal happiness, work, relationships all the while maintaining a smile on one's face.  If there were no struggle, no difficulty and no effort, then what is the point of attending college.  In addition, the major lesson is that if you commit yourself to your studies throughout the semester you do not have to stress so much during finals.  Life is one big grind and saving all the hard work towards the end will get you no where. That being said I cannot wait until finals is over in order to go home and relax with the family.  Although education is valuable, nothing is more important than family.  I would jump off the edge of the earth for them and are the main reason I push myself in school, so it is important that I never lose sight of what is important in life.  To my fellow students; push through it.  Nothing in life worth obtaining has ever been given, it is earned.  Push through the pain and you will be greatly rewarded down the road.

Just volunteered at Bulldog Pantry and it felt great knowing that my efforts will help several families be fed tomorrow.  I wish more people would focus on giving back from the community instead of only worrying about themselves.  Yes it is difficult waking up early for community service and no, you do not get any credit for it but the feeling you get is amazing.  At my internship I always hear my manager say, "take care of yourself, because no one else has your best interest all the time like you do."  This is very true and people should worry about themselves.  There is a negative when it comes to being selfish.  If everyone on this planet is selfish, then how do we grow as humans?  How does that make us different from animals.  The thing that makes humans the noblest of all species is that we are able to realize our negative traits and work to right them.  We live in a country in which there is so much opportunity and are so blessed to live in the richest nation, so there is really no excuse not to lend a helping hand.  You never know when you may be in a bad situation and will need one yourself.

Tough decisions

Today will probably be the saddest, most heartbreaking day of my life.  Today marks my last day of work for Williams Elementary after school program.  I taught 5/6th grade, along with extreme science with first grade and photography with third through sixth for enrichment.  Although the job was difficult and I am not as passionate about teaching as I am writing, I never realized how attached I grew to my kids.  I am going to miss them tremendously.  Fifth and sixth grade is an extremely difficult group of students to work with, but they are each wonderful children.   I wish I didn't have to say goodbye.
  Do to work/school conflicts, I had to leave one of my most important major classes 45 minutes early everyday to go to work, which was killing my grade in that class and frustrating my professor.  In addition, it is my goal to take a leadership position in one of my two clubs but work runs right through my meetings.  In the long run this is the correct decision.  It will allow me to pursue my career, which far outweighs this or any job.  That doesn't mean that I won't miss it though...

Knowing when enough is enough

I turned in my two weeks notice the other day, and it was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made in my life.  I work at an after school program and my work schedule and school schedule have a major conflict.  I have to leave my most important major class 40 minutes early every day in order to make it to work on time and it was starting to affect my classwork.  I had a decision to make; Do I let my schoolwork suffer because of my job or do I quit.  I chose the latter.  Education outweighs a paycheck.  Even though I will miss my class and all of the awesome students in it in the long run it is my education that will allow me to work in a job that I love and not work just because of the money.  We as a society put so much emphasis on the pursuit of wealth that we ignore the pursuit of happiness.  I was not happy with my job so why do it?  Why are these green pieces of paper so powerful?  The answer is because we allow them to be.  The only reason for money, in my mind, is to be able to provide the basics: own a home, car, pay bills, send kids to college.  That should be the extent of money's power.  Money cannot buy happiness, health or a sense of purpose.  I would rather take the hit to my paycheck and live a life worth living than slave away in a job I don't like and somehow have it justified by getting a paycheck.  Those hours spent working could have been spent learning, doing, or enjoying myself, and I can never get that time back.

PRSSA National Conference 2012 San Francisco

Greatest experience of my life [so far].   That is the only way I can describe the awesomeness, sometimes madness, of this years PRSSA National Conference in the beautiful city by the bay.  The conference got off to a rough start the first day when we lugged our bags through the city because we could not find the right hotel.  Eventually we settled in, met the rest of our chapter members, and quickly proceeded to have an unforgettable experience.  Growing up in a small, agricultural town I had no business being surrounded by such successful professionals and future professionals from prestigious schools such as USC, BYU, and Florida.  It was a strange sight when I looked in the mirror and saw myself in a suit, about to shake hands with PR legends.  These presenters did not disappoint.  The conference had a star-studded line up of presenters and speakers, including Twitter co-founder (and possible stand-up comic) Biz Stone, MSNBC's Michael Steel, and PRSSA President Gerald Corbit.  A few of the companies that showed up for the career fair included General Motors, Edelman, Fleishman-Hillard, Lewis PR, and many others.  Despite the big names, it was the eager students that made my weekend.  I met so many amazing people that were just as excited about public relations as me, from all over the country including Southern Missouri, Southern Georgia State, Sacramento State, CSU Fullerton, San Diego State, and West Virginia.  One of the greatest moments of the trip came when I had burgers with two members from the Southern Georgia State PRSSA chapter.  They were so excited to be in San Francisco, and we had a blast talking about anything and everything.  While eating our burgers, we ran into two PRSA members and shared french fries and laughter.  Another amazing moment came on the very last night of the conference.  I met two brothers from my fraternity from chapters all across the country.  We shared stories with one another and I was surprised at how much us three had in common.  Public Relations is all about networking, and the networks I established from this event and the experience itself was something that I will always look back upon with joy.  I cannot wait for the next conference in beautiful Philadelphia   Hopefully I will attend that conference as chapter president.

PRSSA National Conference

To say that I am excited for PRSSA National Conference would be an understatement.  Who wouldn't love to miss five days of school to hang out with your friends and meet PR professionals in the city by the bay?  This could potentially be the biggest event of my career.  My goal is to eventually work in San Francisco, and the biggest companies in the Bay Area will be in attendance looking for talent.  My only weakness is that I am only a junior, and they will be looking for graduating seniors.  I can still network with these people and keep them in contact so come graduation time I will have connections in place.  This event will be the culmination of all my hard work, and I'm glad to see that hard work pays off.  It is funny because two summers ago I was in a hot tomato packaging facility dreaming of shaking hands with the big names in some fancy building in San Francisco.  The only thing holding us back is ourselves, and when we believe in our own abilities then the battle is already won.