International Women's Day!

Today is International Women's Day! This day was started in 1911 to celebrate the achievements of women throughout the world and to encourage further activism and equality. I don't have much time to write a whole post, but I just wanted to mark this day on my blog!

Get out there and celebrate the awesome women in your life! :)

P.S. Here is a cool link to the UN Women page for International Women's Day!
http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/international-womens-day

College & Other Things

Well, I haven't been on here in quite a while! Since the last time I posted, I've been in my second semester of college for about six weeks! It's going pretty well so far. My classes are really interesting and although I have a TON of reading to do, I enjoy it.
I'd have to say that my favorite class is Women's Studies. I'm considering minoring in Women's Studies, and my intro class has been really eye opening. I had already begun to think about the issues we're discussing, but it's interesting to see different people's perspectives and to learn about the history of women's rights. The rest of this semester, we'll be working on a Community Action Project to address a feminist issue at UNT, and I'm SUPA excited. :) I haven't decided what exactly I'm going to do yet, but I have a few ideas. One is to address the use of sexist, homophobic, and racist language in conversation and to educate people about how some words might be offensive or rude. Another idea I have is to educate people about rape culture and what does and doesn't constitute consent. This is an especially dicey issue on college campuses, so I think it would really interesting to see people's opinions and make people more aware of issues surrounding rape and safety on college campuses. I have so many other ideas and I wish I could accomplish all of them, but I have to pick one soon!
I also have my first story for my media writing class due in two days! I'm a little nervous about it because I still need to conduct a couple interviews and get some show-stopping quotes, but I'm also EXCITED! Today in media writing, we got our first glimpse into what it't actually like to interview people. Our professor sent us out into the university to interview random people on their opinions about the proposed legislation in Texas to allow open carry on campuses for people who have a license. We then had to post a picture of each person we interviewed and a quote under the hashtag #Untopencarry on Twitter. Now I DO have a twitter, but before today, I hadn't tweeted anything in almost two years. I'm not really big on twitter, but I guess I'll have to start using it more since I'm now part of the journalism world!!

Well that's pretty much it for now! I plan on updating this blog more often, I just got really busy. I also plan on writing some opinion pieces about issues that are important to me, so stay posted!

Mr. Knightley

Well, the holidays are over. When I started this blog twelve days ago, I had every intention of writing my second post days ago. "Once a week," I thought to myself. It's been almost two weeks since that first post, and here I am. The holidays with my family went great! I spent the night at my sister's house the night before Christmas Eve, and then all of the family came over the next day. Christmas Day was lazily spent watching movies with my family and just enjoying each other's company. New Year's wasn't very eventful. I once again went to my sister's house. When I got home, I celebrated with my animal friends and played Animal Crossing on my brother's 3DS. Pretty lame, but I still secretly love that game. Now here I sit, on Saturday, writing this post. I really have so many thoughts in my head that I don't even know where to begin. I've been reading  A LOT over this impossibly long and, frankly, boring Christmas break. Just a little while ago, I finished the book "Dear Mr. Knightley". It was good. Like, really good. Actually, good doesn't even begin to describe it. I started it yesterday and stayed up until about 3:30 am, and then finished it around 3:00 pm today. The book is about a woman who has lived in foster homes and a home for children throughout her adolescence and through college. Then one day, she is given a grant by a mysterious benefactor who goes by Mr. Knightley (from the novel Emma, by Jane Austen, whom I adore!) to study journalism at the most prestigious school for journalism in the country. His only stipulation is that the main character, Samantha (Sam) Moore write him letters detailing her progress. The novel is literally written as a series of letters dated by the month and day, and spans almost a year and a half as Sam finishes the graduate journalism program at Medill. It is a powerful read because it describes Sam's pain from being cast off by her parents and going through numerous foster homes. She feels as if she must hide behind her books and often uses quotes to deflect people from her past from classics such as Jane Austen's novels, Bronte novels, the Count of Monte Cristo, and so many others. I was first drawn to this book because of the title; myself being a lover of Jane Austen's works, I instantly recognized Mr. Knightley as the good friend, critic, and ultimate love of Emma Woodhouse in Austen's novel 'Emma.' The way Sam hides behind quotes from beloved heroines like Elizabeth Bennett and Jane Eyre was interesting to read, yet kind of sad. I went through so many emotions reading the book in a 24-hour period. Sam must open up her heart to realize that she isn't alone, that there are people who love her and if she would just open up her heart, she would feel that love. The ending is just too much for me to describe here, and yet part of me suspected all along that that was how the book would end. Yet, it made me want to read it all over again to see Sam's self discoveries and confessions in a whole new light. Anyway, needless to say, it was an incredible book. You know books are good when they make you stop and think, even reflect on your own life. I am an avid lover of Pinterest, and the other day, I pinned a quote that perfectly describes how I feel about this book: "When you read a line that is so well-written you just close the book and stare at the wall for a minute." I feel this way about the entire book. In the hour since I finished the last line, I have looked within myself and fully voiced things that I have only fleetingly thought about before now. I decided I want this blog to be a sort of diary for myself. A way to voice my thoughts and feelings, knowing that I can't get rid of the words once I publish them. That one day I may come back to this blog and see how I felt at this moment in my life and wonder at how I have changed and yet how I may still be the same. One more thought, and then I'll be done. I have begun thinking about this these past few months, but never for very long. I have realized what my greatest fear in life is. It's nothing like spiders or snakes or heights. It's something I'm sure a lot of people deal with. And yet, I have only just come to fully understand it. What I fear most in life is failure. And by failure, I mean failing at anything and everything I do. This fear is so deep that I hold myself back from things that seem difficult or scary because I am afraid I will fail, that I won't be up to the challenge. I'm so scared that I won't be good at something that I won't even allow myself to try. I don't ask for help because I am afraid I will seem weak or stupid. I hate failure so much that I hold myself back. This has allowed for insecurities and self doubt to creep into my life, so subtle at first, that I didn't even realize I carried it around for many years. I often feel as if I am not good enough. I think to myself, "Well that person is better at this then I am, so I might as well give up," or, "Well, I've never been asked out on a date, so I must not be worthy of anyone having feelings for me." Seconds later I tell myself to not be silly, to not care what other people think. Sometimes, I feel like a hypocrite. Half of me wants to live in a fantasy, the hopeless romantic side of me. I want some knight in shining armor to come and sweep me off my feet and love me for who I am. But the other half of me is a skeptic. "Guys aren't like that," I tell myself. Don't be too trusting with who you open up to. Guard yourself against getting your heart broken. Literature has kind of been for me what it was for Sam. I read so many books and escape into that world for a couple days. I get to live in the life of the main character and experience adventure and romance. Since it is only a book, I can put it down when I am finished and not worry about any repercussions or consequences that the characters actually deal with. And I get REALLY into books. I feel all the emotions the characters are feeling and sometimes get so mad when things don't turn out the way I want them to. But I've realized that failure is okay. Everyone fails sometimes. What's worse than failing is not allowing yourself to try. And this is something that I know I will struggle with, but will hopefully one day overcome. And I almost forgot! The novel "Dear Mr. Knightley" also had another angle to it. Sam had people who loved her praying for her. Encouraging her to open her heart and know that God was with her, always. So in my struggles to allow myself to be all that I can be (I know, that's a cliche line, but sometimes cliches work perfectly with what you're trying to say. Otherwise, why would they be a cliche?), I know I must always remember that I have an awesome God who loves me and who will always have my back. Anyway, to end this post, I leave you with my favorite C.S. Lewis quote:

 “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” 

Post Numba One!!

This is my first blog post. I've been sitting, trying to decide what to write about. Something interesting, something worthwhile, something exciting, something mundane. I know what I want my blog to be about, but the first post is hard to write. Is it supposed to be an introduction to what I'll be writing about every week? Or do I just dive right into my subject matter? These questions have been swirling around my brain as I've spent the last thirty minutes googling "How to write your first blog post". Well, whoever you are that is reading this post, I've decided to go with an introduction of sorts. You've probably already read my short little "About Me" paragraph on the right of the page, so let's start with that. I am currently studying Journalism, with a concentration in Public Relations. I've been doing a lot of reading lately and I've come to the conclusion that it wouldn't hurt to have my own blog. Why, you may ask? I thought that it would be a good idea to have readily available writing samples for possible future employers, and if I am to exercise my writing skills, what better way? If you would have asked me a couple years ago whether I would ever have my own blog, I would have told you "heck no!" You see, I am a decent writer, but I am afraid of what other people think of my writing. I've read PLENTY of other people's blog posts, and I always waste time reading the comments when I'm done. Some people can be pretty mean! Or they attack you for your own personal opinions and beliefs. I'm not here to say why one way of thinking is correct over any other way of thinking. I'm simply here to share my thoughts on the world and my experience as a 19 year-old college student. I understand that I do not know it all, and that people may not always agree with what I have to say. I just want to write. And if no one ever reads my blog regularly, or only five people ever read a post I write, then that's okay. I just want to share my thoughts with the world, however inconspicuous they may be.