I'm so glad we had this time together...

So, I lied.  That last blog was not in fact the last blog.  This is.

Ladies and gents it is now time for my "Greatest Hits," meaning I will now go through my previous blog posts, pick out what I find most insightful, and talk about a little bit.

PLOT TWIST!!!  Instead of just being bland and going week by week, we're getting crazy and doing a countdown.  Say what?!

Number 13:

 "Libbey Jordan works in tourism, therefore she knows advertising.  Her driving point throughout her lecture was to avoid false advertising at all costs.  While Abbie and I were hard at work on this masterpiece, I kept thinking how completely perfect this window painting describes HSO.  It's spirited, just as most of the members are.  It's creative, as all of the members are.  It's clever, as all members hope to be.  It is a perfect representation of Honors Student Organization."

This wins number 13 because it's stupid.  Like, really?  This is me filling space.  Kbye.

Number 12:

"What I really love about [my French class] is that I get an hour of credit for doing a language lab.  This entails me going to the Foreign Languages Computer Lab, signing in, picking out a French movie if I don't have any homework, and sitting and watching said French movie.  And let me tell you, the French know cinema."

This entire post was me being off topic because I had nothing to say about the speaker.  Honestly.  But yeah, I love French.  And movies.  So there ya go.

Number 11:

"The entire time we were [at the Memphis Zoo] I turned into an eight year old.  Everything is interesting and marvelous to me.  I love animals.  I mean, some of my favorite movies are Flipper and Alaska, you know those 90s movies about children saving these endangered animals from poachers and the like.  I especially love polar bears.  And I got to see polar bears, so I can honestly die happy."

I loved the Memphis trip and obviously the polar bears, but nothing insightful was said.  So yeah.  But here's a picture of me loving polar bears like I do.

Number 10:

"The song this guy chose to share with us, "You May Be Right," didn't really relate to his message which was to work to get along with everyone, especially those in charge, whether they are polite or rude, right or wrong.  This song is mainly about, let's be honest here, sex.  A dangerous guy is trying to seduce a cautious girl.  End of story."

I just like this because it shows how blunt I am.

Number 9:

"I know that sounds extreme and nearly impossible, changing the world.  I mean, the world is a really big place with billions of people and creatures and problems, and the thought of changing it is to large to grasp.  But you can.  Look at Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Helen Keller, Rosa Parks.  All of these people changed the world.  All Rosa Parks did was keep her seat on a bus, but that one action set an entire tsunami of change in motion. "

Sometimes, I can be really idealistic.  This was one of those times.  I mean, I definitely think that everyone can and should do their part to make the world a better place; I've always thought that.  But sometimes I get carried away.

Number 8:

"People really should do their best every day to treat others with respect and kindness, and they should seriously think through the consequences of their actions and then take responsibility for them, and most of all, they should have opinions and thoughts and beliefs, even if those beliefs are entirely different from everyone around them.  Stick to your guns.  Put on a happy face.  Respect everyone.  Be prepared to fail, and all those other wise cliches." 

This was probably my most pessimistic post, and this conclusion here was the saving grace of it.  But I'm truly grateful for this downtrodden post because it really made grasp how undervalued cliches are and how much we should daily strive to keep them in mind.

Number 7:

"That's what I truly love the most about the holiday season.  Belief.  The Christmas season gives me more hope in humanity.  I believe that there are good people out there more around the holidays because you see more of them.  Belief is everything.  And Christmas just reiterates that for me."

Another rambling blog that has nothing at all to do with forum.  Oh well.  Sorry not sorry.  I love Christmas.  And believing in Santa and fairies and people and love and joy and hope and all things happy.  Except maybe unicorns.  Because they kinda freak me out.

Number 6:

"At this point, the passion at the forefront of my mind is adventure.   I want to go everywhere, see every monument, do every crazy once-in-a-lifetime thing. "

This leads me to something I'm starting to get excited about.  I'm going to Vegas for a little over a week at Christmas.  I love flying.  I love traveling.  Both of these are little adventures for me.  Yay for a mini-adventure!

Number 5:

"I hope to encourage, inspire, support, listen, and love someone so that they know that they can do whatever it is they set out to do because that's what these women have done for me.  They have instilled in me a confidence of heart and mind that I would otherwise be without." 

Mentorship has always been important to me, and this week really made me think about it more.  I love having someone that I can look up to, and I know that I have been that person for others in the past.  In realizing that, I've started to strive to be a better me so that I can be a better role model.

Number 4:

"Looking back on that year of dance-spite, I think that maybe my problem was that I honestly didn't know why I danced.  But now I know.  I dance because it's the closest to magic I've ever gotten.  The sounds of taps striking the floor, the cutesy sass of musical theatre, the indescribable elegance of a jete en pointe, the attitude of hip hop, all of it, every minute aspect is magic to me.  The ability to relay an entire story with nothing more than movement to express emotions that words and voices can't seem to support is pure magic - straight fairy dust.

It never ceases to amaze me how intense and powerful it can be.  Even without music, the choreography would still be there, creating and flowing and living for a few fleeting moments.  And honestly, that's the most important reason of all.  In the end, I dance to create, to share magic, to love, to breathe, to believe.  I dance to live."

I am a seriously longwinded person.  Like, I think I may rival Hawthorne in my wordiness.  This actually did kind of pertain to the speaker that week, since he spoke of passion.  The quote kind of speaks for itself.  But I must add, after months of not dancing, it dawned on me that there is a yoga studio that rarely gets used that I can dance in.  Life has gotten a lot better.

Number 3:

"Honestly, it's only fitting that I share my name with one of my favorite movie characters, Kathleen Kelly from You've Got Mail, who states, "When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your life does."

I fully believe this.  As a child, I read such books as Nancy Drew, Betsy-Tacy, The Witch Family, and the Little House series.  Those are just a few of my favorites, but they have shaped the person I've become.  From Nancy Drew, I gained curiosity and an urge to help others.  From Betsy-Tacy, I learned the need for friendship how imperative it is to nurture those friendships.  The Witch Familytaught me to have an imagination and be the best me I can be.  The Little House books taught me the importance of family."   

When I think about how much I love children's literature, I seriously consider being a children's librarian.  Kathleen Kelly hits the nail on the head with that quote.  That is one thing that's gone through my head repeatedly this semester whenever I start to worry about what I want to do with my life.  There honestly is nothing like the shining in a child's eye when he/she starts to read and use his/her imagination.

Number 2 (almost there!):

"You can meticulously and obsessively plan out any scenario, but things will almost always go differently than you expected because that's just life.  It happens, and it's fleeting.  When your plans change, the best thing you can do is just go with it and handle it the best way you know how.  Sometimes it's hard.  Sometimes it's easy.  Sometimes it's absolutely insane.  No matter what adjective matches with the situation at hand, you have to do the best with what you've been dealt and keep moving forward.  I think that Walt Disney said it best, 'Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long.  We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things, because we're curious... And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.'"

There are so many reasons I like this quote.  Mainly because I got to use my all time favorite Disney quote.  But also because this is something that I remind myself everyday.  No matter what I plan, things will almost always turn out differently.  So don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things.

Number 1:
So this is really a tie between like three things I said in one post, so it counts, okay?

"Our values are the foundation of our very beliefs.  Without them, we have nothing because we have no basis for an opinion. "

This is so true.  Like, really.  Values shape our entire existences.  So choose them wisely.  And make sure they're values that you actually believe in, not just regurgitated ones that some "cool" person used.

"My grandfather drove me around in my middle school days when I was not capable of doing so.  He had lost his wife several years earlier, and he loved her with all his heart.  In a conversation he had with my dad once he stated that my brother and I were his reason for getting up every morning.  Driving us around meant the world to that man.  He'd lost the love of life, but the love of his grandchildren kept him going." 

This one just touched me because I really miss my grandfather.  My dad didn't tell me about his until about a week before I moved here.  Realizing how much I meant to that wonderful man really makes me rethink what it means to love.

"Through finding yourself, taking risks, loving others, striving to know more, creating through passion, and dedicating yourself to your cause you grow as a person.  And honestly that's when you know you've achieved your goals.  When you've grown enough to see that everything you've ever done has happened for a reason.  When you can look back on your life with no regrets, that's when you've grown to your potential." 

I feel like this is really what college is all about.  I know that all of these are goals I hope to achieve here.  And I know that I'm on my way to doing that.  I'm growing.  And it is such a magnificent thing.  I am such a different person now than who I was a year ago, even six months ago.  Every day has the ability to change my life, make me grow in ways I never thought plausible.  The key is to go out, seize the opportunities, and embrace life, warts and all.  (If you caught my obscure The Princess and the Frog reference there, we should be best friends.)

I will now bid you, my darling followers, adieu with an original Katie-ism that I hope you will all take to heart.

"Everything happens the way it should because it wouldn't happen the way shouldn't because then it wouldn't happen."

The Last Blog

It is surreal how quickly this semester passed.  I can't believe that it was actually around three months ago that I moved to this wonderful city and started a new life.  Throughout these past three months I have learned so much and made so many new friends, and though times have also been hard, I know that I am right where I belong.

Enough of the sappiness, though I will most likely bring it back at the end of this post.  What can I say?  I love being sentimental.

We had our last speaker this week, and I took more notes from this one guy than I have in any class, forum or otherwise, this entire semester.  But really.  Basically he read from a powerpoint about corporate values.  I really enjoyed his attempt to connect with us through a Billy Joel music video.

I love Billy Joel.  I grew up listening to him, and in my opinion, he's completely fabulous.  However, the song this guy chose to share with us, "You May Be Right," didn't really relate to his message which was to work to get along with everyone, especially those in charge, whether they are polite or rude, right or wrong.  This song is mainly about, let's be honest here, sex.  A dangerous guy is trying to seduce a cautious girl.  End of story.

Any way, he did have a good point.  Act with integrity, and don't worry if plans don't happen exactly the way they were intended.  Life goes on, and we all get through it the best way we know how.  After all, no one gets out alive.

Since this is the last blog for the semester, I feel I should leave you with some entertainment.  As I believe we've established, I am a dancer.  My favorite genre is tap because it doesn't require music.  And it's so difficult that most people on shows like So You Think You Can Dance don't do it.  And I'm actually pretty good at it.  So here is a really awesome tap number by the stupendous Melinda Sullivan to "Single Ladies" covered by the fabulous Sara Bareilles.

You have everything you need if you just believe!

Guys...  I have a confession to make.  I love Christmas.  I mean, it's kind of an obvious confession, but whatevs.  It's always been my favorite holiday.  Not because of the presents, although that is a very nice plus, but because of how cheerful it is.  Joy just fills the air at Christmas time.  I have warm fuzzies from Thanksgiving to New Year's because everyone's happier and nicer.  

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is Christmas music.  I start jamming out to holiday tunes about a week before Thanksgiving, and very rarely do I get tired of it.  It's the one time of year that I'm not a little odd for repeatedly listening to Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra, who are without a doubt my favorite singers of all time.  

I'm also mad about Christmas movies.  Even the absolutely horrid Hallmark, Lifetime, and ABCFamily original ones.  Because almost every Christmas movie, whether Blockbuster hit or made-for-tv, has the same message of love and cheer.  My favorite Christmas movie is Miracle on 34th Street, the one with Mara Wilson, not the old one.  Every time I watch this movie, I instantly wish that I could go back to being 5 years old when there wasn't a doubt in my mind that Santa was real.  This film makes me want to believe all over again.

And really that's what I truly love the most about the holiday season.  Belief.  The Christmas season gives me more hope in humanity.  I believe that there are good people out there more around the holidays because you see more of them.  Belief is everything.  And Christmas just reiterates that for me.

So here is a trailer that will hopefully make you believe too!

Also the part where he signs with the deaf girl is just too sweet!  Gets me every time...

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere." - Carl Sagan

Audwin Pierre McGee is probably one of the coolest guys I've ever had the pleasure of hearing speak.  This man has done so many grand things in his life from being an artist to guiding safaris.  His main point during his lecture was to look at the dreams you had as a child to figure out where you genuinely want to go in life.  One piece of advice he gave that really connected with me was to look at what books made an impression on you as a child.

Here's where I turn into a complete literary nerd.  I love books.  I've loved books since I was born.  My parents read to me all the time, and once I started reading myself, I couldn't stop.  As a child, I read so many fabulous books that I can't even remember them all.  Honestly, it's only fitting that I share my name with one of my favorite movie characters, Kathleen Kelly from You've Got Mail, who states, "When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your life does."

I fully believe this.  As a child, I read such books as Nancy Drew, Betsy-Tacy, The Witch Family, and the Little House series.  Those are just a few of my favorites, but they have shaped the person I've become.  From Nancy Drew, I gained curiosity and an urge to help others.  From Betsy-Tacy, I learned the need for friendship how imperative it is to nurture those friendships.  The Witch Family taught me to have an imagination and be the best me I can be.  The Little House books taught me the importance of family.

Even now, I'll go back and reread these books.  One of the proudest moments of my life was introducing a young girl to the world of Nancy Drew.  These books empowered me as a child.  They taught me to go after my dreams.  They made me use my imagination.  They taught me how important it is to have imagination in this world.  And truth be told, I'm tempted to be a children's librarian just so I can give children the same comfort these wonderful works of art gave me.

Adventure is out there!

If you know me at all, you know that I love anything dealing with Disney.  Except maybe Star Wars.  But that's a different story.  I love Disney movies.  I love Walt Disney World.  I love the princesses.  I love the original characters.  I love what Disney Channel used to be.  And I especially love Pixar.

One of my favorite Disney-Pixar films is UP.  I love everything about it.  I love that they were able to have me in tears within the first ten minutes of the movie.  I love the humor.  I love the sentimentality of it.  But most of all, I love it's premise:  Adventure is out there!

When I was younger, my passion was being on a stage.  I thought that this would last for the rest of my life, and it still might, but it's not my biggest passion anymore.  At this point, the passion at the forefront of my mind is adventure.   I want to go everywhere, see every monument, do every crazy once-in-a-lifetime thing.

And this is why this week's lecture really hit home.  Study Abroad is something that I've been wanting to do since I was in middle school.  My entire life, all I've ever really wanted to do is travel, travel, travel, and studying abroad is a chance to do just that.  There isn't a doubt in my mind that at some point within the next four years I'll be on a plane to Europe, exploding with excitement.

  

Window Creations

I spent a few hours of my day on Tuesday painting HSO's preview day window.  Though it was bitingly cold outside, I had a blast.  I hadn't done something through a creative outlet such as that in several months, and it felt so good to focus on colors and lines and shapes for awhile rather than letters and writing.

"Bellow vociferously Panthera leo" is basically the nerdy way of saying "Roar lions!"  While I was painting this, I couldn't help but think about our speaker from last week.  Libbey Jordan works in tourism, therefore she knows advertising.  Her driving point throughout her lecture was to avoid false advertising at all costs.  While Abbie and I were hard at work on this masterpiece, I kept thinking how completely perfect this window painting describes HSO.  It's spirited, just as most of the members are.  It's creative, as all of the members are.  It's clever, as all members hope to be.  It is a perfect representation of Honors Student Organization.  I couldn't be happier with it.

The Importance of Being Encouraging

Mentorship.  It's something we all need, yet we rarely acknowledge that need.  This is a topic that Dr. Wesley Desselle emphasized at our forum last week.  His passion for mentorship got me to thinking about the mentors I've had throughout my life so far, and to be completely truthful, I'd be nowhere without them.

Let me start off with my dance teacher, Melissa.  She has been a role model for me for about ten years, and she inspires me to be a better dancer and a better person.  Melissa always handles herself in a polite and diplomatic way, and even when she is scolding her children or a student or confronting someone she never loses her cool.  She's always been there to help me through whatever problem I've had, and she was always patient with me when I had difficulty with certain steps.  Melissa is a humble teacher and fabulous person.  Even though we've had our ups and downs, she still cares about me and encourages me to do what is right for myself and for those around me.

During my junior year of high school, I had one of the best English teachers.  She is actually one of the big reasons I'm considering teaching English.  Mrs. McCoy is just a fun person.  She's really chill and laid back, and she has a real passion for teaching and sharing her love of literature.  She always encouraged me to think outside the box and push the limits with my writing.  My senior year I was her aide, and that gave me a look into being an English teacher.  She makes it fun; it is plain to see that she enjoys her job, and it's her joy that inspired me to go into that same field.  Mrs. McCoy takes a real interest in her students, and she is always there for anyone who needs a shoulder to cry on.

Seriously, my closest mentor would have to be my mom.  She's really my best friend.  I literally don't know where I'd be without her, and I don't misuse literally.  She has put up with so much drama from me, and yet, to this day, she is nothing but supportive of me.  From gymnastics to dance to theatre to cheering, she has always found a way for me to do whatever it is that I set my mind to do.  She has always encouraged me to be the best and most independent me that I can be.  She listens to all of my problems without complaint and always helps me figure out the most practical solution.  She gave me the best childhood I could ask for.  She gave me a love of reading.  She gave me imagination.  And to top it off, she gave me love.  That's the most precious thing I could ask for.

I hope that I can one day do all of these things for someone else.  I hope to encourage, inspire, support, listen, and love someone so that they know that they can do whatever it is they set out to do because that's what these women have done for me.  They have instilled in me a confidence of heart and mind that I would otherwise be without.  I am eternally grateful to these women, and I hope that by paying it forward down the line that they will somehow be repaid.