Changes

Well the past week I have spent 2 days on the campus of my alma mater. It is funny to go back to places that meant so much to you in life. I obviously go home to North Carolina here and there and it is a change. It was where I grew up, where I learned above love, sports, passion, and motivation. It has set me in the direction that I am as a human being. But then there is this place, college, that is the "best years of your life" where you "truly find yourself". I always heard these things when I was growing up but never really understood how spot on they really were.

I loved my time at UConn. Spending years among the cows at Horsebarn hill, waking up at the crack of down to get to Coventry Lake, or spending countless nights in the Recreation office or fields hanging with some of my best friends were each things that helped me figure out who Kelly was. But did those events really make me different then the person I was when I entered UConn in 2004? I am not always sure, but it might have made me realize things that I enjoy about my life. I left the state of NC where my family and friends were and became part of a bigger family and made new friends too. I kept my love for sports, I kept my love for hanging with friends, and did not change who I was for others because that was what defined me for a long time!

Yes I learned new things about myself, I learned to open up more, I learned I could cook, and more importantly I learned how to live on my own. But this gets back to it, did I change? I am not sure. I feel like you get to try different avenues in college, experiment, explore, and find new passions but you are still who you were when you went to college, no matter where you go! I think the experiences you have in college let things you knew all along about yourself become more apparent. So this leads me back to my latest visit...

As I was walking around campus this week, each time I said "Man I feel old". And yes I am not in my younger 20's anymore and yes I don't walk around to and from class to class all day, but does that mean I don't fit into this society anymore? I think so! As sad as it is and as much as I love UConn, I have done my time, I learned the tricks of the trade, I have grown out of the college life style. I love having my throw back nights but it isn't the same. As much as people like to live in the past, it just isn't possible. People move on, your move locations, jobs come and go, and relationships change... but you can all remember what used to be. I am not saying that the past is the past forget it, I love memories from the past. I have plenty! I am not saying that you might not change as a person but people's lives change that make it impossible to sometimes have what you used to have.

Speaking of the past, it is great to run into people from the past. I love having a conversation or hang out with someone I haven't seen in awhile. It only takes one person to try to get back in touch with someone. So I challenge my followers, or anyone who reads it this week, yes times have changed but what makes it impossible to catch up? NOTHING! Go out this week, seek out someone who was important in your life and you have lost touch with and try to catch up. You will be surprised at how much it means to you and makes your day better..

Rewards from Risks

So this weekend I got to combine 4 of my favorite things in the world: friends, sports, food, and musicals! I got to add another Playbill to my collection after seeing the awesome musical "Memphis". Not only does it have great songs that I still find myself humming to but gives a good story of always following your heart even when others do not always approve or see the same way. This is a very common story that I hear all too often and have been apart of myself.

When I decided to go back to school I was doing it for myself. I wanted to be in a career that I enjoyed each and every day. I wanted to be involved in something that each day I felt I was pushing myself and making a difference with my interaction with students. But going back to school wasn't something everyone thought was smart. Leave in a recession, lose insurance, have no income for over a year.. all things I heard and were told. Yes it was a risk, but how do you go through life without risk? Everything in life is a risk. I mean even choosing a major is a risk. Who now a days knows what they want to do for 40-50 years of their life at age 18 or 19? I don't think many people do anymore. But even more then that, there is the risk of love, which everyone goes for at different points in their life.

This weekend I remembered what has grounded me in my life: friends, competitive sports, music/musicals, and tasty food. Those things can always lead you back to basics even in risky situations. As today is my hopefully last first day of a semester, as a student, I think back to all the risks that have gotten me to this new stage in my life. Who would have ever thought a little southern gal who went off to school in CT would still be here 8 years later? Who would have thought I would have joined a Varsity sport in college that would lead to amazing friends that I still have? Each time I got worried, I knew that being confident in the things that make me happy and feel good about myself will always lead me to some sort of reward. You just never know how good the reward will be.

Hopefully in these last 4 months of graduate school I really will be rewarded for the work I have put it. Balancing school and work, balancing family and friends, balancing health and exercise.. it has all been a struggle. I think though the reward of an amazing group of friends who I have shared stories of success and failure is a good reward of this risk so far. New adventures I would have never been a part of is more rewards. The biggest reward I hope to have is lining up a great job so soon enough I can be starting this new career in my life :)

-McG

The Beginning Again..

So it is a new year and I have decided to start my year by logging more then just memories, but putting them in writing. I have had such an amazing transformation of things in my life that I want to be able to share with those who I do not always see or keep in touch with as much.
Yes, this  might be something some people who see me often or family know but it is a way to reconnect to maybe some who are not so close. I want to use my love for life and the things I am involved in to maybe help out others and be a guide to them in new obstacles they want to tackle.
As most of you know, I recently went back to school to change careers and become a Secondary Science Teacher. Yes, I know... you all know you want to refer to me as Ms. McG! :) It seems not long ago I was in a steady job that I got paid well and enjoyed my co-workers. But sometimes life tells you that it is not what you are meant to do. I want to be out there helping others and leading them to find their true happiness in life. Yes, I know teachers don't always do that... but you all know of a teacher who did that to you at some point in your life. Teachers Inspire without even trying to!

As I have finished my student teaching and am one semester away from graduation, I wonder what else I am meant to do with my life. I am currently reading an amazing book called "Run Like a Girl: How Strong Women Make Happy Lives" by Mina Samuels. This book is really showing me how ordinary people who have a love for sports can really help out more people then just themselves by their love for a sport. I want to be able to do something like that as well. I want to be able to have a group of young girls or women train and inspire each other to pursue things, like 5K's, Half MArathons, or Marathons, that they maybe never thought they could do. Not only to become fit, or healthier, but to feel happier and proud of themselves. I am not sure how to try to get something like this started but it has started a flame in me that I will surely look into. 

As I sit here on this rainy day in January, I realize that sometimes you can look into the future all you want but you never really know what is going to happen day in and day out. It just takes one day for everything to change and everything to have a different meaning and perspective. I hope you enjoy reading my posts as I write them. Feel free to leave me messages and comments about anything you think!

-McG