Hey all! Wow, I didn't realize how long it has been since I last posted! I apologize! I have been so busy getting groups organized and working on my school work. Not a day goes by when I'm not constantly texting/e-mailing/talking on my Blackberry. It's mostly been the same stuff: going to campuses, talking to students, keeping in touch with those students, etc. As the elections grew closer, it became harder and harder to get students to work with me. Anyone who was interested in getting involved was usually already super involved with the campaigns going on in their area. Now that the elections are over, I'm starting to find more students who are ready to start groups on their campus. In just a week I'll be saying good-bye to New England and this amazing journey!
But don't think that's the end......
I have been offered an internship at the Leadership Institute for the spring semester!!! Isn't that exciting? I can't believe it. I was not confident with my interview at all and was sure that I had blown my chance. However, I received a phone call yesterday and the Intern Coordinator, Emily, offered me the internship! I really can't believe it! I'm not sure what department I will be working in yet, but be sure I will let you know as soon as I find out! This is such an amazing opportunity. I will be working with some brilliant people and there are so many experiences that I will have--more than i can anticipate!! I cannot believe that my dreams are coming true. God is so good!
Once I leave New England, the craziness doesn't stop! I will be flying to Texas to hang out with some of the people that I met in Washington D.C. It is going to be a blast. It will be a sort of reunion for everyone so that we can reflect on the past few months and all of the experiences that we have had. I'm very excited, I miss all of them so much! Once I am back in Indiana, I will be preparing to go to Washington D.C. The internship starts in January, so I have a lot to do to prepare. I have to move out of my apartment in Indianapolis, store all of my things, register for online classes yet again, and pack up everything that I will need while in D.C. Whoo!
Here's a question for everyone: I am considering running for State Representative in Indiana in the 2012 elections. What do you think?
Well, that's all that I have time to write for now. I know it's just a quick update and not much, but I'm pretty sure my history professor will not be too happy if I don't get my paper turned in! :-) Thank you all so much for your prayers and support, I can't tell you how much it has helped me! Just ask my parents!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
GOP Dinner and Dinner With Students
I know it's been a while since I last blogged, but it's been busy! With elections just around the corner, I'm using every spare minute that I have campaigning for a few candidates in Maine. If I can't campaign in Indiana for my fellow conservatives, I might as well do it here! I've been lit. dropping for Paul LePage, Garrett Mason, and Dale Crafts. And talking with Scott D'Amboise about his upcoming campaign in 2012. I actually just attended a dinner with Scott the other night in Androscoggin County. That is definitely in my list of top 5 best nights since I've been out in the field. I was among 100+ conservatives who were coming together to show their support for Maine candidates such as: Paul LePage, Jason Levesque, Dean Scontras, Lois Snowe-Mello, Garrett Mason, Dale Crafts, etc. Some of the big shots who attended would be Senator Snowe, Senator Collins, Former Governor Jock McKernan, Andy Card, and Charlie Webster. I felt so privileged to be surrounded by such great people. Other than the politicians, most of the people in the room were every day people who have been putting all of their support behind getting the RIGHT majority in the state legislature!
My favorite speech of the night was, by far, Andy Card. Card is the former Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush. His speech was centered around his time in the office during the 9/11 attacks. He focused on 9/14/01--the day that President Bush called for the meeting of the War Council. He talked about how President Bush acted as a man, not just as the President, on that day. He told us a story about a woman who approached President Bush during his visit to NYC. She approached him and gave him a badge and said, "I don't care if you forget me, but please don't forget my son." Card told us that President Bush began to cry and told her, "I won't forget."
Tears were building in my eyes during his speech and my heart was racing for several minutes after he finished. Even now, writing this, my heart is pounding. I don't care what anyone says, George W. Bush is a great man--and he's still proving that to this day.
Another awesome dinner that I had was last night with some students from the University of Southern Maine. They recently formed a group called USM College Conservatives. It is a great group of students who are relentless in their support for the conservative movement. They were constantly met with resistance by the College Republicans on their campus, so they rallied together and formed their own group. They are going to be holding a Tea Party Rally on October 29th, and I have been honored to assist them with the planning process. The administration has been giving them difficulty, fellow students have been giving them difficulty, but still they push forward. I say this all the time, but it is so refreshing to see conservative students build a voice on their campus. It proves what I always tell students--one voice is all that it takes. All that it takes is that one voice to speak up and say, "I'm a conservative" and others will follow. Nothing will change on campus, nothing will change in our nation, if conservatives bow down to the liberal bias that surrounds us.
Okay...enough of my little rant. I've been busy here, but I'm still looking to the future. Planning is underway for me to move to Washington D.C. in January. I pray every day that God will lead me, and I keep getting pulled to D.C. Dad-- I know what you're thinking. "It's because that's what YOU want. But is it what GOD wants?" Well, yes, I believe it is. Everything is falling into place, everything is working out the way that it should. And I don't think that God would allow that to happen if that wasn't the path for me. Just like everything worked out for my job as a field representative, everything is working out for me to move to D.C. Well, time to rally the troops! Be looking for my next post!
My favorite speech of the night was, by far, Andy Card. Card is the former Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush. His speech was centered around his time in the office during the 9/11 attacks. He focused on 9/14/01--the day that President Bush called for the meeting of the War Council. He talked about how President Bush acted as a man, not just as the President, on that day. He told us a story about a woman who approached President Bush during his visit to NYC. She approached him and gave him a badge and said, "I don't care if you forget me, but please don't forget my son." Card told us that President Bush began to cry and told her, "I won't forget."
Tears were building in my eyes during his speech and my heart was racing for several minutes after he finished. Even now, writing this, my heart is pounding. I don't care what anyone says, George W. Bush is a great man--and he's still proving that to this day.
Another awesome dinner that I had was last night with some students from the University of Southern Maine. They recently formed a group called USM College Conservatives. It is a great group of students who are relentless in their support for the conservative movement. They were constantly met with resistance by the College Republicans on their campus, so they rallied together and formed their own group. They are going to be holding a Tea Party Rally on October 29th, and I have been honored to assist them with the planning process. The administration has been giving them difficulty, fellow students have been giving them difficulty, but still they push forward. I say this all the time, but it is so refreshing to see conservative students build a voice on their campus. It proves what I always tell students--one voice is all that it takes. All that it takes is that one voice to speak up and say, "I'm a conservative" and others will follow. Nothing will change on campus, nothing will change in our nation, if conservatives bow down to the liberal bias that surrounds us.
Okay...enough of my little rant. I've been busy here, but I'm still looking to the future. Planning is underway for me to move to Washington D.C. in January. I pray every day that God will lead me, and I keep getting pulled to D.C. Dad-- I know what you're thinking. "It's because that's what YOU want. But is it what GOD wants?" Well, yes, I believe it is. Everything is falling into place, everything is working out the way that it should. And I don't think that God would allow that to happen if that wasn't the path for me. Just like everything worked out for my job as a field representative, everything is working out for me to move to D.C. Well, time to rally the troops! Be looking for my next post!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Prayers
I want to send out a heart-felt thank you to all of you who have been praying for me! This past week has been pretty rough. I feel like not a lot has been accomplished, regardless of my efforts. I find myself trying to fix things myself rather than placing it in God's hands. I am trying to keep my focus on why I'm here, and the fact that God placed me here for a reason!
I have been constantly visiting campuses and talking with students. Unfortunately, my job relies on students responding to my e-mails/phone calls. As we all are in college or have been in college, we know that sometimes it's easier to look past an e-mail rather than respond to it. Our minds are so focused on finishing our school work and going to the next get together with our friends, that we push aside some opportunities. I keep praying that God places it on a certain student's heart to start a group. Some of the students that I come across are conservative but either won't admit it or don't want to get involved. However, sadly, most of the students that I run across have no interest in politics. Many don't recognize the names "Ron Paul", "Mitt Romney", or even "Glenn Beck" (who does not recognize that name--good or bad?). All of them recognize the name Barack Obama. All of them. Yikes!
Recently my strategy to draw students to my table has been a simple poll: "If the 2012 presidential elections were held today and your choices were between Barack Obama, Ron Paul, or Mitt Romney who would you vote for?" The most common answer, of course, is Barack Obama. The reason behind this answer, though, is scary. Probably 7 times out of 10 the reason they answer Barack Obama is because they "don't recognize the other two names." Seriously? These people are strong political leaders and you have no idea who they are? I've even had some answer, "I don't really care about government, I don't care about elections." I just want to shake these kids until some sense is knocked into them. This job is tough. And I'm starting to feel the weight of the responsibility I have up here. Please pray for me.
Well, I'm off to meet with Scott D'Amboise. He's running as a U.S. Senate candidate for Maine in the 2012 elections. I met him a a Tea Party rally a few weeks back. I'm so excited to discuss his campaign with him! Until next time!
I have been constantly visiting campuses and talking with students. Unfortunately, my job relies on students responding to my e-mails/phone calls. As we all are in college or have been in college, we know that sometimes it's easier to look past an e-mail rather than respond to it. Our minds are so focused on finishing our school work and going to the next get together with our friends, that we push aside some opportunities. I keep praying that God places it on a certain student's heart to start a group. Some of the students that I come across are conservative but either won't admit it or don't want to get involved. However, sadly, most of the students that I run across have no interest in politics. Many don't recognize the names "Ron Paul", "Mitt Romney", or even "Glenn Beck" (who does not recognize that name--good or bad?). All of them recognize the name Barack Obama. All of them. Yikes!
Recently my strategy to draw students to my table has been a simple poll: "If the 2012 presidential elections were held today and your choices were between Barack Obama, Ron Paul, or Mitt Romney who would you vote for?" The most common answer, of course, is Barack Obama. The reason behind this answer, though, is scary. Probably 7 times out of 10 the reason they answer Barack Obama is because they "don't recognize the other two names." Seriously? These people are strong political leaders and you have no idea who they are? I've even had some answer, "I don't really care about government, I don't care about elections." I just want to shake these kids until some sense is knocked into them. This job is tough. And I'm starting to feel the weight of the responsibility I have up here. Please pray for me.
Well, I'm off to meet with Scott D'Amboise. He's running as a U.S. Senate candidate for Maine in the 2012 elections. I met him a a Tea Party rally a few weeks back. I'm so excited to discuss his campaign with him! Until next time!
Monday, September 27, 2010
And the traveling continues...
Hey all! I apologize so much for not posting the past few weeks! It has been pretty chaotic and this job is definitely not easy! Between field work and trying to keep up with my online classes, I’m averaging 16-18 hour days. Basically the past few weeks have consisted of tabling and canvassing campuses during the day, and e-mailing and calling those students interested in the evenings. A typical day goes like this: table on campus between the morning and early afternoon (and try not to get kicked off campus), use the list of signatures gained throughout the day to e-mail/call students, then research the next campus on the list and e-mail potential contacts, and finally do homework and go to bed. Probably the hardest thing about everything is finding students who are motivated enough to take that first step and start a group. There are plenty of conservative students up here— the only problem is that none of them want to voice their opinions. With most college campuses already having a liberal bias, you can imagine how strong the bias is on the campuses up here (New England). Though this doesn’t apply to all of the campuses, it definitely applies to a majority.
Oh, probably the best story that I have is about the group that I started in Orono, Maine. They changed their name recently to Young Americans for Liberty, as they have decided to join teams with that organization as well as the Leadership Institute! They are an amazing and very successful group, I'm expecting good things from them! I recently received an e-mail from my boss regarding an e-mail that the president of that YAL chapter had sent to him. In the e-mail, the president of the group thanked LI for sending me out to their campus and helping them start their group. He went on to compliment me on how much I helped them, and how I was a great representative for the organization. To be honest, I'm not sure I deserved all of the praise that he gave me! However, I am very grateful! I did not realize how much of an impact I had been on them, but according to him, the group would have failed without my help. It was great to see that my work out here has already been a success. I hope that I can continue to do that throughout the next few months.
I spent the last 3 weeks in Maine and now I’m in New Hampshire. These states are beautiful, especially now that the leaves are starting to change. I’m in Manchester right now and then I’ll head a little bit further south before I head into Vermont probably in another couple of weeks. Traveling has definitely been interesting, but God has provided for me and shown his power and mercy in so many ways. I stayed with a family, the Gerry’s, the past week or so. What an amazing family! God blessed me by providing me with a good, Christian, conservative home to stay in. They gave me an entire room along with a home-cooked meal every night. They invited me to participate in family outings, and Pam (the mother) and I even attended a Tea Party rally together. Pam is running for State Rep in Maine, and is a strong conservative/libertarian. She is a very passionate and honest woman who has a lot of great ideas for the state! I pray that God allows her and her fellow conservatives to take office in the state legislature. I miss the family, I really do! They are definitely people that I will never forget.
I am now staying in a hotel in Manchester for a few nights, I have a few people working some contacts of theirs to help me find a place to stay for the next week or so. I’ve also looked at couchsurfing.com again for some people in this area. So far, no luck. But, I know that God will provide for me! We'll just have to wait and see!
Today I visited Saint Anselm College. I had a good time there! I met a lot of great students who are interested in getting more politically involved both on and off of their campus! I will be speaking at the College Republicans meeting tonight to see if they would like to work with the Leadership Institute. Pray that God gives me the right words to say! I know that He will! God put all of these students right in front of me, He led them right to me! I really am loving this job! Traveling and meeting all of these new and amazing people has been so much fun! And everyone is so willing to hear what I have to say and learn about what it is that I'm doing (for the most part, at least!).
Prayer request: Please pray that God opens the hearts and minds of the students here. They find it very difficult to stand up and speak out against the issues that truly concern them. With the exception of a few campuses, conservative students rarely speak up. I always tell students when I talk with them, "the conservative movement will never be successful as long as we sit on our rears complaining. We have to stand up and speak out and actually do something about it."
Anyway, I will try and post sooner next time. But, like I said, this job definitely keeps me busy! I love and miss you all so much!
Oh, probably the best story that I have is about the group that I started in Orono, Maine. They changed their name recently to Young Americans for Liberty, as they have decided to join teams with that organization as well as the Leadership Institute! They are an amazing and very successful group, I'm expecting good things from them! I recently received an e-mail from my boss regarding an e-mail that the president of that YAL chapter had sent to him. In the e-mail, the president of the group thanked LI for sending me out to their campus and helping them start their group. He went on to compliment me on how much I helped them, and how I was a great representative for the organization. To be honest, I'm not sure I deserved all of the praise that he gave me! However, I am very grateful! I did not realize how much of an impact I had been on them, but according to him, the group would have failed without my help. It was great to see that my work out here has already been a success. I hope that I can continue to do that throughout the next few months.
I spent the last 3 weeks in Maine and now I’m in New Hampshire. These states are beautiful, especially now that the leaves are starting to change. I’m in Manchester right now and then I’ll head a little bit further south before I head into Vermont probably in another couple of weeks. Traveling has definitely been interesting, but God has provided for me and shown his power and mercy in so many ways. I stayed with a family, the Gerry’s, the past week or so. What an amazing family! God blessed me by providing me with a good, Christian, conservative home to stay in. They gave me an entire room along with a home-cooked meal every night. They invited me to participate in family outings, and Pam (the mother) and I even attended a Tea Party rally together. Pam is running for State Rep in Maine, and is a strong conservative/libertarian. She is a very passionate and honest woman who has a lot of great ideas for the state! I pray that God allows her and her fellow conservatives to take office in the state legislature. I miss the family, I really do! They are definitely people that I will never forget.
I am now staying in a hotel in Manchester for a few nights, I have a few people working some contacts of theirs to help me find a place to stay for the next week or so. I’ve also looked at couchsurfing.com again for some people in this area. So far, no luck. But, I know that God will provide for me! We'll just have to wait and see!
Today I visited Saint Anselm College. I had a good time there! I met a lot of great students who are interested in getting more politically involved both on and off of their campus! I will be speaking at the College Republicans meeting tonight to see if they would like to work with the Leadership Institute. Pray that God gives me the right words to say! I know that He will! God put all of these students right in front of me, He led them right to me! I really am loving this job! Traveling and meeting all of these new and amazing people has been so much fun! And everyone is so willing to hear what I have to say and learn about what it is that I'm doing (for the most part, at least!).
Prayer request: Please pray that God opens the hearts and minds of the students here. They find it very difficult to stand up and speak out against the issues that truly concern them. With the exception of a few campuses, conservative students rarely speak up. I always tell students when I talk with them, "the conservative movement will never be successful as long as we sit on our rears complaining. We have to stand up and speak out and actually do something about it."
Anyway, I will try and post sooner next time. But, like I said, this job definitely keeps me busy! I love and miss you all so much!
Friday, September 10, 2010
My First
Hey all! Well...that big 2-1 is tomorrow. I'll be turning 21 on September 11. Someone asked me if I ever feel bad...celebrating on a day that should be set aside to remember all of the people who died on that day, and who are still putting their lives on the line because of that day. I simply tell them "no". We should be celebrating! We should be celebrating the lives that those people lived. We should be celebrating the fact that our country untied and rallied together to show that we will not tolerate such terrorism. We should celebrate the fact that people love our country so much that they are willing to put their lives on the line to protect it. We should celebrate, because no matter what happens, we are still the United States of America.....and the fact that I'm finally legal. :-)
Anyway, now that I have that tangent off my chest...what have I been up to the last few days? Well, I spent the rest of the week tabling at the University of Maine. I was pretty down on myself Wednesday. Not much happened, people were curious, asked questions, but no one was interested. And finally yesterday, just as I was about to pack up, a couple of guys came up to me and bluntly asked, "you can help us start a group?" My heart jumped inside of me. I told them all about the Leadership Institute, the things that we could provide them, and the great opportunities their group would have if they wanted to start a group today. The more I talked, the more excited they got! By the end of our conversation, we had a game plan. They had an event already planned, a mission statement in the works, and they were busy contacting their friends to join the group. I am so excited for them! They called their group "UMaine College Conservatives for Liberty". I love that name because it includes everyone on the right: anyone who believes in small government and our freedom. I can't wait to see what these guys do!
Well, that was my big moment. I have continued to stay in contact with them working out the last few details so that they can become an active group! Business aside, I have had a great time traveling with mom! We have been able to see some absolutely beautiful scenery! Yesterday we drove to Bar Harbor from Orono and we took the Coastal Route. It. Was. Gorgeous. The trees and hills were beautiful and once we got closer to Bar Harbor we were traveling along the coast. My favorite part of the drive is when we got to the top of a hill and looked back--the scene was breath-taking. Once we arrived in Bar Harbor we ate at this restaurant called "Chart Room: Fine Family Dining". I had my first taste of real, Maine mussels. Interesting. The best part of the whole dining experience was the view. The restaurant was right on the water, with a deck taking you out to the ocean and everything. After dinner we headed to our next destination.
I was told about this website called couchsurfing.com. It's a website that people can go to and either offer their couches for people to stay on, or search for a couch to sleep on. Yes, I know it sounds dangerous, but they take every precaution to do identity checks, etc. I found this very sweet lady named Robin. She lives close to Bar Harbor and is an amazing hostess! Her house is beautiful, and her dog, Delilah, is my new best friend! (Just to prove that, Delilah is curled up right next to me as I am writing all of this!) The minute we were in the house Robin was showing us to our room and making tea and putting out cookies for us to munch on. We sat and talked for about an hour, but you could tell we were all so tired. We said our goodnights and then I spent about 3 hours doing homework. Yay for online classes!
Today is going to be filled with more traveling. We are heading to Boston for my birthday and will be meeting up with my friend Alex. I met Alex at the Leadership Institute and he has graciously offered to show us around the Boston area. Since he is a native, he knows all of the great historical sites to see as well as the hot spots for celebrating. Nothing too crazy, though. I'm here on business! I'll tell you all about that in my next blog!
Anyway, now that I have that tangent off my chest...what have I been up to the last few days? Well, I spent the rest of the week tabling at the University of Maine. I was pretty down on myself Wednesday. Not much happened, people were curious, asked questions, but no one was interested. And finally yesterday, just as I was about to pack up, a couple of guys came up to me and bluntly asked, "you can help us start a group?" My heart jumped inside of me. I told them all about the Leadership Institute, the things that we could provide them, and the great opportunities their group would have if they wanted to start a group today. The more I talked, the more excited they got! By the end of our conversation, we had a game plan. They had an event already planned, a mission statement in the works, and they were busy contacting their friends to join the group. I am so excited for them! They called their group "UMaine College Conservatives for Liberty". I love that name because it includes everyone on the right: anyone who believes in small government and our freedom. I can't wait to see what these guys do!
Well, that was my big moment. I have continued to stay in contact with them working out the last few details so that they can become an active group! Business aside, I have had a great time traveling with mom! We have been able to see some absolutely beautiful scenery! Yesterday we drove to Bar Harbor from Orono and we took the Coastal Route. It. Was. Gorgeous. The trees and hills were beautiful and once we got closer to Bar Harbor we were traveling along the coast. My favorite part of the drive is when we got to the top of a hill and looked back--the scene was breath-taking. Once we arrived in Bar Harbor we ate at this restaurant called "Chart Room: Fine Family Dining". I had my first taste of real, Maine mussels. Interesting. The best part of the whole dining experience was the view. The restaurant was right on the water, with a deck taking you out to the ocean and everything. After dinner we headed to our next destination.
I was told about this website called couchsurfing.com. It's a website that people can go to and either offer their couches for people to stay on, or search for a couch to sleep on. Yes, I know it sounds dangerous, but they take every precaution to do identity checks, etc. I found this very sweet lady named Robin. She lives close to Bar Harbor and is an amazing hostess! Her house is beautiful, and her dog, Delilah, is my new best friend! (Just to prove that, Delilah is curled up right next to me as I am writing all of this!) The minute we were in the house Robin was showing us to our room and making tea and putting out cookies for us to munch on. We sat and talked for about an hour, but you could tell we were all so tired. We said our goodnights and then I spent about 3 hours doing homework. Yay for online classes!
Today is going to be filled with more traveling. We are heading to Boston for my birthday and will be meeting up with my friend Alex. I met Alex at the Leadership Institute and he has graciously offered to show us around the Boston area. Since he is a native, he knows all of the great historical sites to see as well as the hot spots for celebrating. Nothing too crazy, though. I'm here on business! I'll tell you all about that in my next blog!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Preparing for the Job
The last time I posted I was getting ready to go out to lunch at the Capitol Hill Club. It was awesome! It was intimidating, but awesome. After lunch we hailed a cab and headed to the airport. I was not ready to leave Washington D.C. and head back to Indy, and having my phone stolen while I was at the airport was icing on the cake. After an amazing 10 days, they basically had to drag me onto the airplane by my hair. It was a little bit easier leaving considering I had to get home to replace my phone and have my other one turned off. With my job, having e-mail and Facebook access is sort of a must. Yes, it's terrible, I know!
I spent the rest of the week (Wednesday-Friday) visiting friends and unpacking and repacking to leave for my 3 month journey. I also got a nice surprise from my mom as she offered to drive with me to Maine and then fly back after my birthday. It will be nice to have my mom here to spend my 21st birthday with me! We're planning on going to Boston for my birthday(which is only about 45 minutes from Southern Maine) and visit all of the historical sites. I'm so excited!
Now...what have I been up to since I left Indiana? Well, mom and I left Saturday morning and drove 12 hours to East Syracuse, New York. We stayed overnight there and then drove another 10 hours to Orono. This place is absolutely gorgeous--and the leaves haven't quite started to change yet! There is so much scenery, and the water is beautiful! Probably my favorite part of the drive is when we first entered Erie, Pennsylvania and we could see Lake Erie right next to us. We had the lake on one side and vineyards on the other. Absolutely amazing! God's creation never ceases to amaze me! And I'm so happy that I was able to share all of this with my mom!
About 2 hours before we reached Orono we were very hungry and decided to stop in Kittery, Maine. It couldn't have been a better choice! We found this cute little (or so we thought) seafood place that was right on the water. We had the best clam chowder ever. We also had lots of fresh shrimp with what I dare say is the best cocktail sauce on this planet!! (mom doesn't like lobster so I decided to save that for another day!) The restaurant looked small from the outside, but when we got inside it was huge; it probably sat 200+ people! It was called Warren's Seafood restaurant. Check it out if you're ever in the area!
We got into Orono pretty late, so I took my Geology quiz online and then went to bed! This morning we went onto the University of Maine's campus and looked around, searching for the Student Union and any other places on the campus that had the potential to have a lot of foot traffic. We found the Student Union, or what they call Memorial Union, easily enough. I took the liberty to walk around and ask students about their political involvement and interest in starting student groups. Out of the 30 plus students that I spoke with, 3 said that they were conservative. Tomorrow is going to be fun. Tonight mom and I went into Bangor, which is about 10 minutes from Orono and visited Husson University to get the layout of that campus as well. We then went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant called Margaritas and had a nice dinner. We walked around for a little bit and I was very excited to see a house around the corner that had a "Don't Tread on Me" flag--there are other conservatives here! Yes! After dinner we came back to the hotel and worked on creating posters for tomorrow. The posters say things like "Annoy a Liberal, Start a Conservative Group Today!", "Concealed Carry is your Right!", and "Take back your Liberty!". We'll see what kind of responses those get tomorrow! That's pretty much all that I have for now, but definitely check back soon because I'm hoping to have lots of awesome stories for you!
I spent the rest of the week (Wednesday-Friday) visiting friends and unpacking and repacking to leave for my 3 month journey. I also got a nice surprise from my mom as she offered to drive with me to Maine and then fly back after my birthday. It will be nice to have my mom here to spend my 21st birthday with me! We're planning on going to Boston for my birthday(which is only about 45 minutes from Southern Maine) and visit all of the historical sites. I'm so excited!
Now...what have I been up to since I left Indiana? Well, mom and I left Saturday morning and drove 12 hours to East Syracuse, New York. We stayed overnight there and then drove another 10 hours to Orono. This place is absolutely gorgeous--and the leaves haven't quite started to change yet! There is so much scenery, and the water is beautiful! Probably my favorite part of the drive is when we first entered Erie, Pennsylvania and we could see Lake Erie right next to us. We had the lake on one side and vineyards on the other. Absolutely amazing! God's creation never ceases to amaze me! And I'm so happy that I was able to share all of this with my mom!
About 2 hours before we reached Orono we were very hungry and decided to stop in Kittery, Maine. It couldn't have been a better choice! We found this cute little (or so we thought) seafood place that was right on the water. We had the best clam chowder ever. We also had lots of fresh shrimp with what I dare say is the best cocktail sauce on this planet!! (mom doesn't like lobster so I decided to save that for another day!) The restaurant looked small from the outside, but when we got inside it was huge; it probably sat 200+ people! It was called Warren's Seafood restaurant. Check it out if you're ever in the area!
We got into Orono pretty late, so I took my Geology quiz online and then went to bed! This morning we went onto the University of Maine's campus and looked around, searching for the Student Union and any other places on the campus that had the potential to have a lot of foot traffic. We found the Student Union, or what they call Memorial Union, easily enough. I took the liberty to walk around and ask students about their political involvement and interest in starting student groups. Out of the 30 plus students that I spoke with, 3 said that they were conservative. Tomorrow is going to be fun. Tonight mom and I went into Bangor, which is about 10 minutes from Orono and visited Husson University to get the layout of that campus as well. We then went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant called Margaritas and had a nice dinner. We walked around for a little bit and I was very excited to see a house around the corner that had a "Don't Tread on Me" flag--there are other conservatives here! Yes! After dinner we came back to the hotel and worked on creating posters for tomorrow. The posters say things like "Annoy a Liberal, Start a Conservative Group Today!", "Concealed Carry is your Right!", and "Take back your Liberty!". We'll see what kind of responses those get tomorrow! That's pretty much all that I have for now, but definitely check back soon because I'm hoping to have lots of awesome stories for you!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The End of Training
Well basically the rest of the week was normal. Days 5 and 6 (Thursday and Friday) were pretty normal. Training, out to dinner with the roommates, and back to training the next morning. Day 7, Saturday, is where it was at! We went to the Glenn Beck Rally, Restoring Honor, and volunteered. We past out fliers and talked with people about what the Leadership Institute is all about. However, the rally was not without anti-protesters. We had the Al Sharpton rally, yes, but we also had a whole different other kind of group. There were people there who were "self-proclaimed communists". I quote that because that is literally word for word what they said. They were there with signs such as "end racism", "tea parties are racists", "crush capitalism", etc. They were not only against any person affiliated with the right, but also any person affiliated with the left! They were against democracy! It seriously was mind-blowing.
My friend Piyali and I were handing out fliers and the protesters decided to come stand right behind us. They were calling us racists bigots and were shouting stuff like, "Crush capitalism! We need Communism and equality!" I laughed out loud when I heard those two things in the same sentence. It's not Communism AND equality, it's Communism OR equality.
It got to the point that people were associating the two of us with all of them and so we had to move. I had one lady come up to me and shout at me. Calling me stupid and ridiculous. I was like, "I'm a conservative! I'm a conservative!" She immediately apologized and thanked me for what I was doing. Even though I wasn't happy that she was yelling rude things at me, I'm glad that she was supporting the cause. I don't believe that yelling at someone who has different beliefs than you (even though I really didn't) is the most effective way to get your point across.
I was unable to see any of the speakers at the rally, but the crowd numbers were enough for me to feel the hope and honor in the air. It was a beautiful thing to see hundreds of thousands of people swarm the Lincoln Memorial.
After the Glenn Beck rally I went home and slept for the better half of the afternoon. I was exhausted! We later went out to dinner at a place called Velocity 5 and watched a UFC fight. It was my first time sitting through one and it was interesting. I still don't understand how men can feel successful beating the crap out of people. Well, I guess that's not for me! We then went monument walking. Everyone told us that monument walking is awesome at night! We went to the Lincoln Memorial, the Einstein statue, the Vietnam Memorial, the World War II memorial, and the Washington Monument. Beautiful!
Sunday we had a day off and it was probably one of my favorite days of the week. Stephanie, John, and I went down to the Court House metro station and ate at this Chinese restaurant called TNR Cafe. It was seriously the best Chinese food I've ever had. We could not stop eating it and we all felt probably 100 pounds heavier when we walked out, but it was delicious! I love the name, TNR, it stands for "Tea, Noodles, Rice". I love it! We then took the metro back to Clarendon, which is where LI is, and then went to Starbucks. We spent about 6 hours researching our regions, studying, and just having a good time. It was very relaxing and we got a lot accomplished. That night we went to a nice restaurant and about 5 other people joined us. It was a lot of fun. It was Stephanie's last night because she left Monday morning to work on a campaign in VA.
This is a shout-out for Stephanie. She has been given the best opportunity. She is going to be working for Steve Rigell, who is running against an incumbent for the House seat in Virginia. She will be working as a Youth Campaign Coordinator. She is kind of like the campaign manager for the youth. She will be responsible for coordinating the college campuses in her area to help campaign for Steve. It's a big responsibility, but she is an amazing girl and I have no doubt that she'll lead her candidate to victory! Go get 'em, Steph!
So Monday was our last day of training. We went through lectures like "a day in the life of a field rep", "organizing and creating groups", etc. We had a panel of past field reps that sat down and we all asked them questions. We then went up to the roof and took pictures of the whole group, individual photos, and photos of our region groups. My region group is Jessica (part of Massachussetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut), Alex (Massachussetts and New York), Ben (Pennsylvania), Gary (New Jersey, New York City), and myself (New Hampshire, Vermont, and Southern/Central Maine). We met with our Regional Field Coordinators (kind of like my boss) and we discussed what he is expecting of us. Kevin is the best RFC. I'm so lucky that he is going to be my boss, we are going to do work in New England!! Well, Jen and I are going to go eat at The Capitol Hill Club. I'm going to be eating among some of the greatest minds of our nation! Then I'm off to the airport. Indy for about 4 days, then drivin to the great state of Maine! I'll post again in a few days!
My friend Piyali and I were handing out fliers and the protesters decided to come stand right behind us. They were calling us racists bigots and were shouting stuff like, "Crush capitalism! We need Communism and equality!" I laughed out loud when I heard those two things in the same sentence. It's not Communism AND equality, it's Communism OR equality.
It got to the point that people were associating the two of us with all of them and so we had to move. I had one lady come up to me and shout at me. Calling me stupid and ridiculous. I was like, "I'm a conservative! I'm a conservative!" She immediately apologized and thanked me for what I was doing. Even though I wasn't happy that she was yelling rude things at me, I'm glad that she was supporting the cause. I don't believe that yelling at someone who has different beliefs than you (even though I really didn't) is the most effective way to get your point across.
I was unable to see any of the speakers at the rally, but the crowd numbers were enough for me to feel the hope and honor in the air. It was a beautiful thing to see hundreds of thousands of people swarm the Lincoln Memorial.
After the Glenn Beck rally I went home and slept for the better half of the afternoon. I was exhausted! We later went out to dinner at a place called Velocity 5 and watched a UFC fight. It was my first time sitting through one and it was interesting. I still don't understand how men can feel successful beating the crap out of people. Well, I guess that's not for me! We then went monument walking. Everyone told us that monument walking is awesome at night! We went to the Lincoln Memorial, the Einstein statue, the Vietnam Memorial, the World War II memorial, and the Washington Monument. Beautiful!
Sunday we had a day off and it was probably one of my favorite days of the week. Stephanie, John, and I went down to the Court House metro station and ate at this Chinese restaurant called TNR Cafe. It was seriously the best Chinese food I've ever had. We could not stop eating it and we all felt probably 100 pounds heavier when we walked out, but it was delicious! I love the name, TNR, it stands for "Tea, Noodles, Rice". I love it! We then took the metro back to Clarendon, which is where LI is, and then went to Starbucks. We spent about 6 hours researching our regions, studying, and just having a good time. It was very relaxing and we got a lot accomplished. That night we went to a nice restaurant and about 5 other people joined us. It was a lot of fun. It was Stephanie's last night because she left Monday morning to work on a campaign in VA.
This is a shout-out for Stephanie. She has been given the best opportunity. She is going to be working for Steve Rigell, who is running against an incumbent for the House seat in Virginia. She will be working as a Youth Campaign Coordinator. She is kind of like the campaign manager for the youth. She will be responsible for coordinating the college campuses in her area to help campaign for Steve. It's a big responsibility, but she is an amazing girl and I have no doubt that she'll lead her candidate to victory! Go get 'em, Steph!
So Monday was our last day of training. We went through lectures like "a day in the life of a field rep", "organizing and creating groups", etc. We had a panel of past field reps that sat down and we all asked them questions. We then went up to the roof and took pictures of the whole group, individual photos, and photos of our region groups. My region group is Jessica (part of Massachussetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut), Alex (Massachussetts and New York), Ben (Pennsylvania), Gary (New Jersey, New York City), and myself (New Hampshire, Vermont, and Southern/Central Maine). We met with our Regional Field Coordinators (kind of like my boss) and we discussed what he is expecting of us. Kevin is the best RFC. I'm so lucky that he is going to be my boss, we are going to do work in New England!! Well, Jen and I are going to go eat at The Capitol Hill Club. I'm going to be eating among some of the greatest minds of our nation! Then I'm off to the airport. Indy for about 4 days, then drivin to the great state of Maine! I'll post again in a few days!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Days 1-4
WARNING: This entry is extremely long.
Hey all! I can't believe that it is already going on Day 4 that I've been here!! Day one in D.C. was short and sweet. I got into town around 12:30 and spent some time getting settled in and scouting the area. It is beautiful and totally chaotic. I love it! Our building is in Arlington, right next to the Clarendon metro stop. The public transportation system here is so awesome! It is so easy to get around and I feel so safe using it. The housing they provide for us is great, although we don't spend much time in the rooms. Once I got settled Sunday night I went out to grab some dinner with one of the girls from the program. Her name is Jen and she has done several programs through LI (The Leadership Institute) in the past. It was great to eat dinner and pick her brain about the ways of D.C. and the advantages of being involved with LI (which are countless). We then took the metro into D.C. and spent the evening seeing the sites.
Day two was much different. Bright and early, 8:00am to be exact, we all met for breakfast in the LI HQ (abbreviations are apparently a huge thing here). Training started at 9am and went on until after 10pm. Throughout the day we had a few breaks and they also provided us with lunch and dinner. A few of the topics we discussed were "Preparing for Leadership", "Building Your Organization", "Media and PR", and "Mock Elections". Like I said, so many advantages to being involved with this institution. They have trained many of today's leaders. LI is the #1 conservative leader training institution. I am so blessed. Actually, James O'Keefe, the guy who exposed ACORN and Planned Parenthood was a student at LI.
Day 3 we started off by going over our homework, yes homework. We had to write a news release about our "candidate's" mock election win, create flash flyers, and also balloon posters. The balloon posters were probably the hardest part for me because you actually have to have a sense of humor. After a 14 hour day the day before, I had no idea what humor was. We then dove into more lectures and note-taking. My favorite lecture was called "special projects". It was a breakdown of inexpensive, yet very effective, activism projects. They included door-hangers, post-cards, theatrical gestures (think dunk tanks), "grassroots" (think a big hill witha big display), so many cool ideas. All of the lecturers at LI are people who at one point were sitting in my seat. Hearing stories about their success is so inspirational. I constantly fidget in my seat wanting to do everything they talk about.
Later during one of our breaks I talked with the director of my training program about his position. After our discussion I realized that his story centered around grabbing every opportunity the he possibly could. I think that was God's way of telling me that I'm on the right track. After training we went to the DC Young Republicans dinner and I met some awesome people that I will definitely have to stay in contact with! I lobbyed a lot and grabbed tons of business cards. Even had my picture taken a few times!
Today we started to discuss our actual job requirements and what that will involve. It was awesome because we got to meet all of the Regional Field Coordinators. The RFC's (I told you, abbreviations!) will be the people that we actually report to while we're in the field. We also got to look at all of the regions. Unfortunately, Indiana is not a region this year. They said that their presence in IN is strong right now, so there is no need for field reps. That's okay, though. I've been lobbying with the RFCs in the regions that I'm interested in, so that hopefully I will get placed there! We had a lot of them give presentations today about their experiences and they gave us ideas that will be very beneficial while on the job. It was basically a typical training day. Lots of sitting and taking notes, breaks, lunch, dinner, etc. And tonight we are going to go out to a Young Americans for Freedom dinner. More lobbying! Gosh, I love D.C.!!! Well...that's pretty much it for now!
Hey all! I can't believe that it is already going on Day 4 that I've been here!! Day one in D.C. was short and sweet. I got into town around 12:30 and spent some time getting settled in and scouting the area. It is beautiful and totally chaotic. I love it! Our building is in Arlington, right next to the Clarendon metro stop. The public transportation system here is so awesome! It is so easy to get around and I feel so safe using it. The housing they provide for us is great, although we don't spend much time in the rooms. Once I got settled Sunday night I went out to grab some dinner with one of the girls from the program. Her name is Jen and she has done several programs through LI (The Leadership Institute) in the past. It was great to eat dinner and pick her brain about the ways of D.C. and the advantages of being involved with LI (which are countless). We then took the metro into D.C. and spent the evening seeing the sites.
Day two was much different. Bright and early, 8:00am to be exact, we all met for breakfast in the LI HQ (abbreviations are apparently a huge thing here). Training started at 9am and went on until after 10pm. Throughout the day we had a few breaks and they also provided us with lunch and dinner. A few of the topics we discussed were "Preparing for Leadership", "Building Your Organization", "Media and PR", and "Mock Elections". Like I said, so many advantages to being involved with this institution. They have trained many of today's leaders. LI is the #1 conservative leader training institution. I am so blessed. Actually, James O'Keefe, the guy who exposed ACORN and Planned Parenthood was a student at LI.
Day 3 we started off by going over our homework, yes homework. We had to write a news release about our "candidate's" mock election win, create flash flyers, and also balloon posters. The balloon posters were probably the hardest part for me because you actually have to have a sense of humor. After a 14 hour day the day before, I had no idea what humor was. We then dove into more lectures and note-taking. My favorite lecture was called "special projects". It was a breakdown of inexpensive, yet very effective, activism projects. They included door-hangers, post-cards, theatrical gestures (think dunk tanks), "grassroots" (think a big hill witha big display), so many cool ideas. All of the lecturers at LI are people who at one point were sitting in my seat. Hearing stories about their success is so inspirational. I constantly fidget in my seat wanting to do everything they talk about.
Later during one of our breaks I talked with the director of my training program about his position. After our discussion I realized that his story centered around grabbing every opportunity the he possibly could. I think that was God's way of telling me that I'm on the right track. After training we went to the DC Young Republicans dinner and I met some awesome people that I will definitely have to stay in contact with! I lobbyed a lot and grabbed tons of business cards. Even had my picture taken a few times!
Today we started to discuss our actual job requirements and what that will involve. It was awesome because we got to meet all of the Regional Field Coordinators. The RFC's (I told you, abbreviations!) will be the people that we actually report to while we're in the field. We also got to look at all of the regions. Unfortunately, Indiana is not a region this year. They said that their presence in IN is strong right now, so there is no need for field reps. That's okay, though. I've been lobbying with the RFCs in the regions that I'm interested in, so that hopefully I will get placed there! We had a lot of them give presentations today about their experiences and they gave us ideas that will be very beneficial while on the job. It was basically a typical training day. Lots of sitting and taking notes, breaks, lunch, dinner, etc. And tonight we are going to go out to a Young Americans for Freedom dinner. More lobbying! Gosh, I love D.C.!!! Well...that's pretty much it for now!
Apology
Hey all. I'm so sorry that I haven't posted lately. This training is a lot more time consuming than I anticipated. But it is so amazing!! I WILL post tonight! Be looking for it!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Another Opportunity
Earlier this year I applied for an internship with the Washington Internship Institute (WII) that would have taken place this summer. Unfortunately, due to costs, I was unable to intern with them. However, that worked out for the better, just as God planned! The WII recently contacted me asking me if I was still interested in interning with them for Summer 2011. I of course replied yes, that this is a great opportunity for me!
The WII is an institution full of opportunities! Once accepted into their program, I would take classes with them while interning for an organization in Washington D.C. These organizations can be anything from the Department of Defense, an international embassy, or even for a Senator or Representative. There are a ton of different options.
Unfortunately, the costs have only increased. I don't know if I'll be able to afford it this year either. When housing and other outside costs are added into it, it gets very expensive. Please pray that if this is what God has planned for me, that I am able to see what I need to do. And if this isn't what God has planned for me, that I am able to see the bigger picture. I need to give this to God and let Him show me what to do! I have until March to decide, but prayers are always welcome now!
The WII is an institution full of opportunities! Once accepted into their program, I would take classes with them while interning for an organization in Washington D.C. These organizations can be anything from the Department of Defense, an international embassy, or even for a Senator or Representative. There are a ton of different options.
Unfortunately, the costs have only increased. I don't know if I'll be able to afford it this year either. When housing and other outside costs are added into it, it gets very expensive. Please pray that if this is what God has planned for me, that I am able to see what I need to do. And if this isn't what God has planned for me, that I am able to see the bigger picture. I need to give this to God and let Him show me what to do! I have until March to decide, but prayers are always welcome now!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Some Shout-Outs
Hello there! I just wanted to make some shout-outs to all of my friends and family who have been so supportive of me! Without you guys I would not be where I am today, and probably wouldn't have the opportunities that I have now and the opportunities that are yet to come! So...here are some shout-outs. Let me know if I missed you (I apologize in advance if I do)!
Mom- Thank you so much for being the strong woman that you are. God has thrown so much at you, but never more than you can handle, and you've taken it and dealt with it with so much strength and determination. I don't think that I could have handled it the way that you have. I love you so much, and without you I would not be the woman that I am today. You have always been there for me and I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough for that. Over Christmas break was probably one of the hardest times of my life and you were there for me every step of the way. God could not have given a girl a better mother, I know that for a fact. I love you and will miss you so much while I'm gone.
Dad- Where to start? You gave me my dream. I'll never forget sitting in the living room watching Law and Order re-runs with you. I told you over and over again that I would be a D.A. one day. Now my dream is a little different, but nonetheless you are the one who planted that passion for law and politics into my heart. You have shown me over these past few years the meaning of perseverance. You have shown me the drive and self-motivation that people need to succeed in this world. And most of all, you have shown me that we can't go it alone, God is the only one who can truly allow us to succeed--that relying on Him is the only way. Without you and mom, I would have never made it this far.
Christina- First of all, I miss you like crazy! I know that God is doing amazing things through you, I see it everyday on your blog and Facebook, but I also see it through the people who love you so much and are so grateful to have you in their country. I don't know if you realize just how much of an inspiration you are to me. You have given up everything to help others, to do God's will. What a role model you are! I thank God for giving me the best big sister to look up to! I hope that I can make you proud while I'm in D.C. And I promise to update my blog as often as possible and call you whenever I can to tell you everything that is happening! I wish that you were here to share this experience with me, but I know that the people of Kapsowar need you so much more than I do right now. They are so lucky to have you!
April- I love you so so so much. I can't even begin to tell you how much I wish I was back in Evansville with you, to help you through everything. But I hope that you know that you are an inspiration to me as well. You have been through a lot, and I know that you are trying your very hardest to work everything out. Relying on God is the only way, and you know that! I don't know if I could have held my head as high as you did during this past year. Sometimes I see strength in you that I know I could never find within myself. And I love you for that! You are a strong girl! Sometimes too strong for your own good! I hope that you call me and update me on the events in Evansville, just as I will call you and update you on the events in D.C. I love you little sister, you mean the world to me!
ACD & OSE friends & staff- Although we've only been with each other for a short while, you've become like family to me! You've shown me that there is more to a job than just surviving from the beginning of the shift to the end! You've shown me that professionalism and having fun can go together, and not be mutually exclusive. I am going to miss all of you so much. The skills that I have gained from working with all of you will definitely be put to use while I'm gone. Hold down the office for me, fellow PA's! I'll be back!
IMA friends & staff- All of you have been so welcoming! Even though I've only worked with you for a few weeks, you have become one of my biggest support systems! It amazes me how close I've gotten to some of you in such a short time! I did want to make a couple of specific shout-outs, though! Jackie & Joyce- Hello, Mothers! I'm expecting a delicious feast when I get back!:-) I'll miss you ladies! Jennifer & Cliff- you guys keep pushing this program! It is a great opportunity for students. I will be praying everyday that God allows this program to grow and continue to be successful. It is amazing what you both have done with this program. I can't wait to get back and rejoin all of you! Fellow VA's--don't leave your posts!!!
Shannon Kelley- My gosh. What to say. THANK YOU! I can not imagine my college career without you, honestly. You have been so much more than an advisor to me. Not only have you helped me with my classes, but you have been there for me whenever I just needed to vent. That means so much to me. Thank you for the amazing recommendation letters that you have written for me over these past 2 years. Without those, I wouldn't be leaving for D.C. in a week! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your continued support!
Lauren Chism- First off, congratulations again on the engagement!! He's a lucky fella! So, when I walked into Bridge on that first day and saw you and Shannon there, my nerves died down a little bit. You were so relaxed yet totally excited about what the next two weeks and following semester would bring! And after the first day, my excitement was going full blast, too! Without you, I don't know if I would have gotten involved as much as I have. You, along with Shannon and Jeff, made me interested in getting involved. Just like I told your bridge students yesterday, college life is so much better when you have friends to share it with. And the only way to make all of those friends is to get involved! I also want to thank you for all of the amazing recommendation letters as well! You have certainly been a huge part of my success!
Kaylee and Natasha- Girls...without you...I would have gone insane by now! You have been there for me to make me laugh, you have been there to watch me cry, and you have been there to just relax and have a good time! To sum it up...thank you for being there! I'm going to miss you girls so much, you are definitely my long lost sisters! I love you girls so much!
Gabby and Sarah- Needless to say, you're the best neighbors ever! I'm so glad that you transferred to IUPUI. It has been great having my friends so close! Thank you for being there for me whether it was to borrow sugar or to listen to me scream and yell about the horrible day I had! I'm going to miss you girls, please keep in touch while I'm gone!
Carlie- Roomie!!!!!! I've told you this before, but I'm so glad to finally have a roommate that feels like a roommate! I'm sad that our time living together is going to be cut short, but I know that we are going to have a blast this next year! We have already had so much fun and it's only been a week since you moved in! Keep Sam-Sam in check while I'm gone, okay? Whip out the spray bottle (which we still need to get) if necessary! Thank you so much for being supportive and understanding with my trip. It's great to know that I have a great friend back home supporting me. Good luck this semester with all of your classes! OH. We should really call the office about those plug-ins in the dining room!
All of my IUPUI buddies- I'm going to miss you guys!!! It's so great to have so many friends to hang out with! You all know who you are!
Mom- Thank you so much for being the strong woman that you are. God has thrown so much at you, but never more than you can handle, and you've taken it and dealt with it with so much strength and determination. I don't think that I could have handled it the way that you have. I love you so much, and without you I would not be the woman that I am today. You have always been there for me and I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough for that. Over Christmas break was probably one of the hardest times of my life and you were there for me every step of the way. God could not have given a girl a better mother, I know that for a fact. I love you and will miss you so much while I'm gone.
Dad- Where to start? You gave me my dream. I'll never forget sitting in the living room watching Law and Order re-runs with you. I told you over and over again that I would be a D.A. one day. Now my dream is a little different, but nonetheless you are the one who planted that passion for law and politics into my heart. You have shown me over these past few years the meaning of perseverance. You have shown me the drive and self-motivation that people need to succeed in this world. And most of all, you have shown me that we can't go it alone, God is the only one who can truly allow us to succeed--that relying on Him is the only way. Without you and mom, I would have never made it this far.
Christina- First of all, I miss you like crazy! I know that God is doing amazing things through you, I see it everyday on your blog and Facebook, but I also see it through the people who love you so much and are so grateful to have you in their country. I don't know if you realize just how much of an inspiration you are to me. You have given up everything to help others, to do God's will. What a role model you are! I thank God for giving me the best big sister to look up to! I hope that I can make you proud while I'm in D.C. And I promise to update my blog as often as possible and call you whenever I can to tell you everything that is happening! I wish that you were here to share this experience with me, but I know that the people of Kapsowar need you so much more than I do right now. They are so lucky to have you!
April- I love you so so so much. I can't even begin to tell you how much I wish I was back in Evansville with you, to help you through everything. But I hope that you know that you are an inspiration to me as well. You have been through a lot, and I know that you are trying your very hardest to work everything out. Relying on God is the only way, and you know that! I don't know if I could have held my head as high as you did during this past year. Sometimes I see strength in you that I know I could never find within myself. And I love you for that! You are a strong girl! Sometimes too strong for your own good! I hope that you call me and update me on the events in Evansville, just as I will call you and update you on the events in D.C. I love you little sister, you mean the world to me!
ACD & OSE friends & staff- Although we've only been with each other for a short while, you've become like family to me! You've shown me that there is more to a job than just surviving from the beginning of the shift to the end! You've shown me that professionalism and having fun can go together, and not be mutually exclusive. I am going to miss all of you so much. The skills that I have gained from working with all of you will definitely be put to use while I'm gone. Hold down the office for me, fellow PA's! I'll be back!
IMA friends & staff- All of you have been so welcoming! Even though I've only worked with you for a few weeks, you have become one of my biggest support systems! It amazes me how close I've gotten to some of you in such a short time! I did want to make a couple of specific shout-outs, though! Jackie & Joyce- Hello, Mothers! I'm expecting a delicious feast when I get back!:-) I'll miss you ladies! Jennifer & Cliff- you guys keep pushing this program! It is a great opportunity for students. I will be praying everyday that God allows this program to grow and continue to be successful. It is amazing what you both have done with this program. I can't wait to get back and rejoin all of you! Fellow VA's--don't leave your posts!!!
Shannon Kelley- My gosh. What to say. THANK YOU! I can not imagine my college career without you, honestly. You have been so much more than an advisor to me. Not only have you helped me with my classes, but you have been there for me whenever I just needed to vent. That means so much to me. Thank you for the amazing recommendation letters that you have written for me over these past 2 years. Without those, I wouldn't be leaving for D.C. in a week! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your continued support!
Lauren Chism- First off, congratulations again on the engagement!! He's a lucky fella! So, when I walked into Bridge on that first day and saw you and Shannon there, my nerves died down a little bit. You were so relaxed yet totally excited about what the next two weeks and following semester would bring! And after the first day, my excitement was going full blast, too! Without you, I don't know if I would have gotten involved as much as I have. You, along with Shannon and Jeff, made me interested in getting involved. Just like I told your bridge students yesterday, college life is so much better when you have friends to share it with. And the only way to make all of those friends is to get involved! I also want to thank you for all of the amazing recommendation letters as well! You have certainly been a huge part of my success!
Kaylee and Natasha- Girls...without you...I would have gone insane by now! You have been there for me to make me laugh, you have been there to watch me cry, and you have been there to just relax and have a good time! To sum it up...thank you for being there! I'm going to miss you girls so much, you are definitely my long lost sisters! I love you girls so much!
Gabby and Sarah- Needless to say, you're the best neighbors ever! I'm so glad that you transferred to IUPUI. It has been great having my friends so close! Thank you for being there for me whether it was to borrow sugar or to listen to me scream and yell about the horrible day I had! I'm going to miss you girls, please keep in touch while I'm gone!
Carlie- Roomie!!!!!! I've told you this before, but I'm so glad to finally have a roommate that feels like a roommate! I'm sad that our time living together is going to be cut short, but I know that we are going to have a blast this next year! We have already had so much fun and it's only been a week since you moved in! Keep Sam-Sam in check while I'm gone, okay? Whip out the spray bottle (which we still need to get) if necessary! Thank you so much for being supportive and understanding with my trip. It's great to know that I have a great friend back home supporting me. Good luck this semester with all of your classes! OH. We should really call the office about those plug-ins in the dining room!
All of my IUPUI buddies- I'm going to miss you guys!!! It's so great to have so many friends to hang out with! You all know who you are!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Life Before Washington
You know, I’ve come to realize that there is no point in questioning God, questioning why He does things the way He does. For example, this past year or so my life has been a huge roller coaster ride, as many of you know. With the medical issues followed by the surgery, difficulties with my living situation, and difficulties with my job, my faith has been tested time and time again. However, these last few weeks have been amazing. God has shown his power in ways I never thought would happen. I actually quit my job at Buca before I had one to fall back on, but I didn’t know what else to do. I wasn’t happy, I was tired all of the time, and my school work was suffering because I never had time to study. But, God provided for me. I put my faith in Him and asked Him to lead me down the right path, and He did. I now have two great jobs. I work at the Indianapolis Museum of Art as a Visitor Assistant (I basically interact with the guests and discuss the art work and the various galleries we have at the museum) and I have two of the greatest supervisors out there: Jennifer and Cliff. They both are so supportive and such great leaders. They built the program I am involved with from the ground up, with criticism waiting to be thrown out there, and are doing an amazing job! I also work at the Academic and Career Development Center in University College on IUPUI’s campus. I am a Peer Assistant and I basically assist the advisors and staff with whatever needs to be done. Everyone in the office is so sweet and are all very willing to lend a hand. It’s a laid back environment, but also maintains a very professional feel as well.
Now, how does this all relate to me going to D.C.? Well, if you had asked me a month ago if I wanted to escape Indianapolis and never come back, I would have said yes. Don’t get me wrong, I still do, but it’s so much more difficult for me to leave now. I have an awesome roommate (finally!!) and I was really looking forward to spending the year with her. Now Dad, before you say, “well you’ll get to spend next semester with her,” I know that. It’s just more difficult for me to leave when my life in Indianapolis is finally starting to make sense. My jobs are great, my roommate is great, my school is great, everything is FINALLY great! And now I have this amazing opportunity in Washington D.C. that I can’t pass up! Lord, you really do have a sense of humor!! I think that He is telling me that life is great when I put my faith in Him. When I stray away is when everything gets difficult and the obstacles feel more and more impossible to overcome. It's always harder when I don’t have His strength empowering me. And now that all of my faith rests in Him, I am happy and ready to take on Washington D.C.!! Now…what to pack. Eek!
Now, how does this all relate to me going to D.C.? Well, if you had asked me a month ago if I wanted to escape Indianapolis and never come back, I would have said yes. Don’t get me wrong, I still do, but it’s so much more difficult for me to leave now. I have an awesome roommate (finally!!) and I was really looking forward to spending the year with her. Now Dad, before you say, “well you’ll get to spend next semester with her,” I know that. It’s just more difficult for me to leave when my life in Indianapolis is finally starting to make sense. My jobs are great, my roommate is great, my school is great, everything is FINALLY great! And now I have this amazing opportunity in Washington D.C. that I can’t pass up! Lord, you really do have a sense of humor!! I think that He is telling me that life is great when I put my faith in Him. When I stray away is when everything gets difficult and the obstacles feel more and more impossible to overcome. It's always harder when I don’t have His strength empowering me. And now that all of my faith rests in Him, I am happy and ready to take on Washington D.C.!! Now…what to pack. Eek!
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Beginning
Hey All! I have no idea how many people will read this, but I wanted to create this to cut down the number of phone calls I'll have to make every time I have an adventure in D.C. (which I'm sure there will be many!) I leave on August 22nd to work for an organization called The Leadership Institute. The goal of this organization is to educate and train conservative leaders. Their headquarters are located in Arlington, VA and they have a lot of connections in Washington D.C. I will be working for them for 3 months, traveling to various college campuses around the country. Once at the college campuses I will help them set up campaigning/conservative groups on site. It is going to be an amazing learning experience and an excellent way to network!
For those of you who don't know my career goals, they definitely all point to Washington D.C. I plan on attending law school after I graduate from IUPUI and I would love to attend George Washington University or the University of Virginia. New York University is an option as well. I plan on getting my J.D. and possibly my Masters-- GWU has a joint Masters-J.D. program that I would love to get into. My dream job would be as a Corporate Attorney for an international corporation. I am fairly fluent in Spanish and plan on studying Arabic before I graduate. Being tri-lingual will make me more marketable and plus it's a great learning experience!
I have all of these ideas swarming in my head about where I'd like to be in 5, 10, 15 years, but ultimately it's up to God. I know that He has big plans for me, otherwise I would not have the drive and motivation to work hard every day and tackle the obstacles He throws at me. I have great people to look up to for inspiration: my sister, my mom, and my dad. They are all amazing and do amazing things every day. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy my blog and I hope to update it frequently while I'm gone. I will be taking online classes as well, so I can't promise daily postings!
Also, check out my sister's blog to find out all of the things God is doing through her in Kenya: drchristina.blogspot.com.
For those of you who don't know my career goals, they definitely all point to Washington D.C. I plan on attending law school after I graduate from IUPUI and I would love to attend George Washington University or the University of Virginia. New York University is an option as well. I plan on getting my J.D. and possibly my Masters-- GWU has a joint Masters-J.D. program that I would love to get into. My dream job would be as a Corporate Attorney for an international corporation. I am fairly fluent in Spanish and plan on studying Arabic before I graduate. Being tri-lingual will make me more marketable and plus it's a great learning experience!
I have all of these ideas swarming in my head about where I'd like to be in 5, 10, 15 years, but ultimately it's up to God. I know that He has big plans for me, otherwise I would not have the drive and motivation to work hard every day and tackle the obstacles He throws at me. I have great people to look up to for inspiration: my sister, my mom, and my dad. They are all amazing and do amazing things every day. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy my blog and I hope to update it frequently while I'm gone. I will be taking online classes as well, so I can't promise daily postings!
Also, check out my sister's blog to find out all of the things God is doing through her in Kenya: drchristina.blogspot.com.
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