I Graduated College!

This post has been a long time coming. About a month ago I graduated with my bachelors degree in Professional Media from the University of Central Oklahoma. For those of you who don't know, a class I took during my time here was the birthplace of this blog.

I know I looked bad. I was moving out of my dorm that day as well as graduating. on the bright side my brother and sister look fly AF.

During my four years of college I joined nine student organizations, held seven different jobs, took over 124 hours of course credit, learned to kayak, and met some of the most amazing people I've ever known. Sounds like an adventure to me.

Obviously, this post would be entirely too long if I mapped out every little thing I did in my time at school. Honestly it would probably be too long even if I broke it up into four parts (one for each year). So unfortunately we will just settle for a few of the highlights. These are the things college taught me.

1.) High School is not the best years of your life.
And THANK GOD for that. Who wants to live in a world where everyone peaks before their 20th birthday. Like, what am I supposed to do with the remaining 80 years of my life? That being said, I'm not sure college is the best years either. Don't get me wrong, they are AMAZING years. Even now I find myself wishing I could take a few classes, immerse myself in coursework, and spend my evenings longboarding around campus or talking to friends until the sun came up. That being said, there is so much more AFTER college to look forward to. We are each given the continuous opportunity to learn and grow. As long as we remember that and keep striving to achieve the lives we all want, then we can take solace in the thought that the best years of our lives are still yet to come.

2.)College is NOT easy.
I will admit that I called it easy a few times in my four years. To be fair, I'm a natural student and it seemed to come fairly easy to me. However, in my last semester I realized just how detrimental distractions can be to a college student. Thousands of students drop out every year because they feel they have let things slip too far. I almost lost my footing in my last remaining months because I was focus on my family rather than my schoolwork. Luckily for me, I had done enough earlier in the year that I was able to graduate with one A, one B, one C, and two Ds.
I know a lot of times life gets in the way, but my advice is try and stay focused. Your GPA will thank you.

3.)Get INVOLVED!
I can't stress this enough. Whether it's Greek life, Housing, a multicultural organization, or your schools resident nerd organization (UCO had a few of those), Organizations are where you will meet life long friends. Those people will make the whole experience worth it. I know there are a million statistics about how students who get involved are less likely to drop out, but just to hammer in the point I have anecdotal evidence. (YAY, story time!)
I knew someone who started their freshman year at a different school than me. He knew a few people there from high school so he didn't feel the need to get to know anyone else. Of course at this point his high school friends had already built their college lives and made friends and they didn't want to spend all of their time with him. He basically sabotaged himself by limiting his options so much., and sure enough he became isolated, suicidal, and dropped out before the end of his first year.
Like it or not people make college amazing, not classes. Whether it's a professor, a classmate, or a roommate, it always feels better to have someone on your side when navigating the harsh waters of higher education.

4.)Live on Campus
I may be biased here because I lived on campus for all four years of college, but I can honestly say it was well worth it for me. I met some of my best friends, learned what kind of people I can't live with, learned how to balance hard work and a social life, and I had an amazing time. I can't count how many times my friends and I wandered the campus at night or took naps in each other's rooms between classes. I know living on campus for the entirety of college isn't realistic for most people, but I have to recommend doing it at least once. It can be a little cramped, but where else can you roll out of bed five minutes before class and still be on time? I rest my case.

I still need to add my photo and my real tassel to the frame, but that is my actual diploma!

5.)Finish Strong
I know I make this all sound amazing, but I'll be the first to admit that some days you can't be bothered to go to class, and others you wonder if you should drop out. DON'T! If my student loans are any indicator, college is too expensive and way to helpful to give up. Besides, there is nothing like opening that envelop and seeing your degree for the first time.

In the end your college experience is whatever you want it to be. Take advantage of the time you have and the opportunities that it can give you. They may not be the best years of your life, but they can still be amazing years in your life.

Good Luck
-A

Adulting.... Or Something

There is no way to put all that has happened in the last few months into one post. Perhaps that is why I've been absent lately. I will say that it has been an exhilarating, but also exhausting few months. A short list of recent happenings include

• Almost failing college in my last semester
• Graduating college
• Moving into my first apartment
• Paying bills
• Getting a full time job
• Playing Pokemon Go
• Falling in love
• Smoking
• And navigating the world of medical insurance

I wish I could say that has been everything, but to be perfectly honest I'll be keeping a few stories to myself. Making the transition from a broke college student to and even broker college graduate has been a complete whirlwind. I could never give it a proper explanation, but I will do my best.
So here's to a new chapter and a new opportunity to give this blog and it's followers the attention they deserve.
Stay tuned.
-A

The Alpha Romao

So a few weeks ago a friend of mine mentioned that some old man let him drive a super expensive car. We were all pretty shocked because that isn't something that happens everyday. Well so I thought.

Today my friend Greg and I went to Ihop after a pretty excruciating gym night. It was pretty uneventful; bad service, good hash browns. As we were leaving an old man stopped us because i wasn't wearing a coat (it was 65 degrees) and Greg saw a gorgeous Alpha Romao sitting in the park in lot and said "That is a beautiful car." The owner (the old man who thought I should have had a coat) was sitting a few feet away and he began enthusiastically talking about it before asking him if he wanted to take it for a spin.

I was confused, Greg was flabbergasted, but he accepted. The man then began to clean food wrappers, a paint bucket, and other assorted junk out of the car before mentioning for us to sit inside.

I'm still confused and a bit cautious but I reluctantly get in. The seats were so low to the ground it almost felt like I was touching the concrete, however I was immediately taken back by how gorgeous the red leather interior was despite the fact that he said he had spilled paint and soda and whatnot inside. Detailing can be amazing. After a quick lesson on how it ran he stepped away and we took off around the Ihop and Target parking lots. Let me tell you, this car had some get-up-and-go!

When our short ride came to an end I was mildly worried I'd have to force Greg from the car. He talked to the man a bit longer before we left. I guess this goes to show that even when you least expect it, at midnight in an Ihop parking lot, an adventure can surprise you!
Keep looking for yours,
Allie

Weigh-in Wednesday (or Friday. ..)

So I originally planned in posting this Wednesday, but that didn't work out. I could have waited until next Wednesday to share, but I've been too excited! I'm back in full swing of my getting-in-shape-adventure!

You may be asking why now? Well I recently did another pageant (more details to come) and it helped me realize how far off the track I've come. Last year I could run a straight mile and feel fine. Now im lucky if I can get the motivation to walk to the library. They spoke about how the former "Miss" titleholders worked so hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle and it dawned on me that I will never be one of them if I dont start taking care of my body again.

So here we are now. At the pageant I weighed about 186-187 lbs. I weighed in Wednesday at 182.4 lbs. Now that seems really fast, but the accumulation of salty foods and not staying hydrated made me put on a lot of water weight. As of now I'm going go the gym daily, eating healthy, and I've been maintaining a healthy steady  weight loss.

Wish me luck!
Allie

#TBTAdventure: NSLC in D.C. part 2

Yep. It's finally here.

When we last left off I was eating pizza alone in my room because I showed up late to the conference and missed all the fun of the boat ride down the river. When I finally had everything set up I went ahead and showered. By then it was about 10 PM and I figured I'd sleep before the excitement of the next day decided to rear its head. Of course, as soon as I laid down my roommates walked through the door; A New Yorker by the name of Stevie and another girl whose name and home-state escapes me (we didn't talk much). We exchanges short pleasantries and turned in for the night

We called ourselves Dumbledore's Army

The next day we got right to work meeting our Team Advisers (basically camp counselors) and doing a few introductory activities. The real work began later in the weeks, where we would attend classes and learn college-level media skills.

I was in the Journalistic Writing class taught by a former writer for USA Today. It was brilliant really. For the first time I had someone teaching me the art of saying something concisely rather than B.S.ing my way through it until I hit 15 pages.

I learned a lot during those two weeks, but I also had a lot of fun! One of the places we went was Old Town Alexandria (I had to get a shirt because it said my name on it). Here I tried Japanese soda for the first time and saw my first street band.

It was funny because every time I saw something new I would get excited. It became common for my peers to roll their eyes and say "Oklahoma!" before we all broke into laughter.

One of my favorite places we went was the Newseum. If you've never been, go. It has pieces of history from some of the most historic moments covered in the news. They have prices of the world trade center and Berlin wall as well as photos of former presidents canine friends.

By the end of the two weeks I felt so inspired by the people I was with and the things I had learned and experience. It was truly amazing and probably one of the most valuable things I was able to do in high school.

*Stay tuned! I know this seems like the end, but there is a PART 3 to this story!
Keep on Adventuring,

Weigh-in-Wednesday 1/20/16

Finally a PROPER on of these. Unfortunately I've made no progress. In fact, I've gained weight.

Yeah....

I'm at 185 again. This is due to a lot of reasons. First, my grandmother died and that left me not really focused on my diet and exercise. Then immediately after that I started RA training for the last time without much time to get myself back on the wagon. THEN classes started. I'm hoping that things will start cooling down and I can get the motivation to trek across the far parking lots to get to the wellness and get back to eating well.

Motivation is appreciated!

A Reluctant Farewell

The holidays are generally a stressful time for everyone, but this year tacked on an unwelcome surprise for my family. I've been reluctant to post this because posting it makes it feel more real. My grandmother died. I know this happens to most people at some point in their lives. People die. It happens. But this is the first time someone I cared about closely died and I've been old enough for it to effect me so deeply.

                                 

My grandmother was a wonderful lady. She was a little crazy at times because she was heavily medicated and pretty conservative, but I have so many fond memories with her. I remember cooking biscuits and gravy from scratch, swimming in her pool, and riding around on a big wheel in her back yard.

She always used to tell stories about how us kids would act silly and play at her house. As we got older we didn't see her quite so much, because we were all busy with our own adult lives. She had health issues and a bit of a shopping addiction (the television was not always her friend).

The strangest part of her passing was that I had just seen her a few days before. We had Christmas at her house, and she was running around the kitchen cooking everything in the world. So Christmas night I wasn't expecting to get a call saying she was in the hospital.

She had pneumonia a few weeks before, and we thought she was getting better. She was on medicine and was feeling better. Unfortunately she got an infection in her lungs. It had gotten so bad the doctors decided to put her under and on a ventilator so her body could focus solely on fighting the infection.

I stayed at the hospital for 5 hours. I only went home to sleep when I felt confident that she would be OK until I came back in the morning. Unfortunately, I was wrong. She died a few hours later. I wish there was something that could have been done. I wish she was still around to see where my life would take me. I wish the world still had such an amazing lady around. One thing so sure is she had a lot of adventures in her life. She saw so many places and had so many experiences. I hope my life turns out amazing like hers was.