In Need of Hobbies

The other day my roommate said to me, “you need to find a hobby.”

I sat there on my bed shocked when I couldn’t rattle off a list of hobbies. In fact, I was unable to say a single one. We discussed for a few moments about growing up, I guess that’s what I’m doing. I’m growing up and it’s weird. They don’t really teach you in school how to adapt to being out of school. It’s almost like I need a “Success After College” course in addition to the intro version.

I’ve been involved in my community at least since I was 10, I thought. But after much self-realization I’ve found that I was not very involved in my community as a whole but my school community. Now that I’m no longer in school, I’m lost. I don’t mind being lost and I’m taking it as an adventure, but it’s confusing and at times difficult. I’m used to practicing how to say no in front of my friends because we all knew I would say yes to too many people. I don’t remember a single week going by without seeing some flyer about an event, club or trip that sounded interesting. Heck, I used to think it fun to count how many times I made the yearbook not because I was popular but because I was involved in so many clubs, teams and activities.

As I think about it, most of my time at school was from extra activities rather than traditional education. I was THAT kid, the one who was at school before most teachers and left long after the janitors finished cleaning. This was my life from elementary school through college graduation. I’ve been thinking of going back to school but I wonder now if it’s because I want more education or if really I just want to feel a part of that community once more.

No matter if I choose to go back, travel more or just stay in Michigan, one thing is for sure, I need to figure out my hobbies. I need to understand what it is I want to do in this thing called spare time.

I am ‘Fill in the Blank.’

I can go anywhere. It’s a very freeing thought. I’m in Michigan and I can go home, to another state or possibly another country if I want to. The camp industry is amazing. I can bounce across from one camp to another across the country, and I think that is what I’ll do. I’m thinking I’ll work at home in the summers or during the off-season between Thanksgiving and middle of February.

Wouldn’t that be the coolest thing ever? Okay, well maybe not for you. Maybe this isn’t something that interests you but for me, for me this is an opportunity I feel very lucky to partake in and I hope that whoever you are, you find what you’re passionate about and pursue it. There will always be obstacles so you might as well climb over them for whatever makes you happy. You might as well make the trek worth it. You deserve to be happy.

The future is in my hands (and yours is in your hands) and I love it. I get to say “I am” rather than “I’m going to.”

I am traveling.
I am being active.
I am teaching.
I am leading.
I am serving.
I am learning.
I am combining everything I enjoy and letting my passions lead my direction.


So what are you doing and what are you going to do? Is it everything you ever wanted? Take time to fill in your blank, "I am..."

I'm selfish and that's okay.

Lately I'm making choices of where to go, what to see and how much I'm willing to spend. I'm planning when I'll visit home, what jobs to turn down and even if I'm staying here through summer. During this time I've picked running, something I used to hate, back up. Earlier this week I ran my fastest mile.

Sure, I could choose to come back to Oklahoma and stay there. I know my friends and family would be thrilled, but I'm going to be selfish and I'm going to care about myself over others and not move back home. I'm exactly where I need to be. I'm at the intersection of Finding Myself and Finding My Way, which at this point, happens to be located in Michigan.

I am not a book critic.

I am not a book critic nor do I consider myself an avid reader, but I finished reading the most incredible book and I can't contain my opinion.

'Delivering Happiness' by Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos.com, Inc.) is part autobiography, self-help, Zappos history and relationship genre all combined in a humorous, informative and helpful manner.

I knew this book was for me when I read, "I wanted my writing to reflect how I would normally talk, and partly to annoy all my high school English teachers (who I appreciate dearly)."
It was then that I realized this book would be real, and boy was that the case.

Hsieh writes about figuring out your core values and making sure these values are ones you live by, not just something hanging above a door. He goes on to say the people, businesses, shareholders, etc we surround ourselves with should have a similar set of core values. Think about your closest friends, family, supervisors. mentors or teachers. Why are you close with them? What do you think are their core values they live by?

Every line of text is open, honest and passionate. Although it is an easy read, it took me a while to finish because I was constantly reflecting on what I just read and more specifically, three things:
1. How I could have handled certain situations, personal and professional.
2. How I can use what I've read in the future, personally and professionally.
3. I need to read more. (Luckily Hsieh included a book list.)

'Delivering Happiness' doesn't need people to read reviews of this book, it just needs people to read the book. So, stop reading this and go to your local library and check it out or visit Amazon.com and purchase it.

The day I turned my dream job down.

In the past few months I've been gambling. In fact it has turned into quite an obsession. I've taken risks that I was sure people would call me crazy, and maybe some did. But what I didn't realize is that so many people would believe in me....even when I turned down a $5,500 educational award, traveling, a supervisory role and free health insurance, at one time.
Two months ago I told my friends and family that I turned down a semester-long internship at the Colorado Olympic Training Center and instead accepted a three month camp position in the middle of no where Michigan. Some people were surprised but no one told me I made the wrong choice.
So I packed up my things, said my goodbyes and drove by myself to where I am now, Camp Eberhart. I've absolutely loved it here! The pay is again less than spectacular, the food is on repeat and my apartment was infested with a super hive. Knowing these stories, people are texting, messaging and posting comments of how awesome what I do is and where I work. They tell me their proud of me and can tell I'm really happy here. If I didn't have that encouragement I don't think I could have done what I did yesterday.
If you know me then you probably know I waited over a year before I could apply for the AmeriCorps NCCC program and you would also know that since then I applied at least three times over the course of a year and a half. A month and a half ago I had a phone interview with them and Monday morning I received a call, I was offered the Team Leader position for their newest program, FEMA Corps, at the California campus. They would pay for my transportation, food and housing. In addition they would provide me with all my equipment, a living stipend, health insurance and at the end of my service, an education award just over five grand. It would be ten months guaranteed and I would be in charge of 10-15 young adults. I worked so hard to get this position and now that I was offered it, I was unsure of what to do. So I did the logical thing, I called and texted people. My parents were on Tango (like Skype) for two hours with me, my advisor in college was instant messaging me on Facebook and I was texting my first summer camp cadet for advice. They all made great sounding boards but even after hiking in the woods and talking to people, at the end of the night I was still so confused. I was in a quandary and my poor roommate had to deal with me randomly staring off into space thinking during the middle of conventions.
After a night of sleep I felt much better about the situation. I talked with my current boss and decided to sleep on it one more night. So yestday I did what I never thought I would do. I declined the AmeriCorps position along with all its' benefits. If you told me a month and a half ago that I would turn it down, I would have laughed at you.
Now I know that was quite the story but I want the world to know that it's amazing how far you can go when someone (or lots of someones) believes in you. I'm not sure I could have traveled across the country on short notice leaving my friends and family in a different timezone nor turn down a job with benefits if I hadn't had so much support.
So to each of you, thank you.