Striving for Thriving

Before attempting to write this blog post I spent more time than I would like to admit on google. I was scanning through pages of searches that now seem ridiculous such as:

• “cool bloggers”

• “how to sound human blogging”

• “writing stream of consciousness”

Why was starting this thing so hard? I am a human with a consciousness that is constantly streaming. This should be natural and organic, right?

Nope. Not at all.

 After 45 minutes I had not accomplished my goal of sounding cool, or having any interesting or insightful life event to write about that would express me succinctly, but I had found several new recipes and makeup tips from blogs I had stumbled across, so it wasn’t a complete loss. The only thing that feels organic right now is to embrace the struggle and hope that there are others out there who can commiserate with these feelings.

What confuses me in this struggle is that talking and communicating has always come naturally to me. Talking a lot has always come very naturally to me. Every parent teacher conference included the sentiments “She’s a wonderful student, but she just talks too much”. No amount of lecture could change my desire to socialize constantly, but it was just a force that needed to be harnessed for good instead of evil. *Insert obligatory Star Wars reference here.*

It would be this raging sociability that would come to truly define and pave the course for what I wanted to do with my life. I knew before I left high school that I wanted to go into the fields of marketing and advertising in some capacity. I dreamed of that fast paced, interactive, creative, problem solving environment where you can see hard results, and constantly face new challenges and new opportunities. I still dream of that. And my whole life has been working towards achieving that dream.

I went to the University of Maryland for my undergraduate degree in American Studies with a minor in Communication. Only because I get asked very frequently, American Studies as an interdisciplinary field explores everyday cultures, as well as cultural constructions of identity and difference through the fields of critical theory, history, and literature. My love for socialization and people led me to want to learn how to successfully communicate, and how to navigate that communication within a complex social structure.

 I knew that an American Studies degree was probably not going to land me that marketing job of my dreams on its own, so I was aware graduate school was in my future from my freshman year of college.  Fortunately enough, this gave me ample time to work and save up. I have been working as a server since I was 18 years old. I have learned more about communicating succinctly, communicating with different types of people, overcoming communication barriers, and being a professional from working in restaurants more than any "professional" job or internship I have ever had. It is like the fast paced, problem solving, interactive work environment that I dream of, except instead of handling client’s accounts, I am handling people’s burgers. Same thing, right? Sort of. While I have horror stories that would make you cringe, my time in restaurants has been an invaluable gauntlet of training for my future in a professional marketing workforce.

It is the element of competition so present in the restaurant industry that fuels me as well. I love being responsible for myself, and knowing that the amount of effort that I put into my work is directly related to the outcome. It is this same mentality and love of competition that fuels me in the workplace. And, shocker, it’s also a huge element of my favorite hobbies. I play table tennis at least once a week and I’m pretty sure it is one of my favorite things ever (alongside things such as food, beer, and baseball). I have only been playing for a year and a half but everything has fallen second place in my heart to ping pong. My roommates and I also spend quite a bit of time playing board games, Settlers of Catan in particular.

Outdoor Table in Wyman Park= Stomping Ground

I know this bio seems very goal and work oriented in terms of who I am, but my goals and work ethic wouldn't exist without the people whom I love. My Mother and Father have been the greatest and most positive influences that anyone could ever hope for. They taught me what it is to work hard, stay positive, and be a loving and compassionate human. Then there is my boyfriend of 8 years. He keeps me so grounded, and acts as my confidant and sounding board in life.

And last, but not least, there are my two cats, Box and Cali. They don't do too much, but I guess you could call them my moral support, and distraction. They might dramatically impact my productivity levels, but they also dramatically impact my happiness, so I think I'll keep em'. I hope that this has given you all pause for thought, and some paws just because they're so darn cute.

Box helping me accomplish absolutely nothing

Cali helping me accomplish absolutely nothing