gator game.

It's once again Fall in the Swamp here at the University of Florida.  Time for alumni to tread all over campus again, time for us to meet new people in the stadium, & time for some good ole fashion football.  It is pretty amazing the amount of people that can fit in one place & the noise that reverberates throughout the Swamp & how extensive the fan base is.  I couldn't go anywhere in North Carolina without seeing someone reppin the orange & blue.  

I am not embarrassed to admit that I still get chills when I hear the our theme song start up & see the ever present gator opening its mouth for a huge chomp right before the players run onto the field, attracting the entire cheering audience to attention.

I don't know if I truly like football, but there is something special about going to the games & the amazing Gator spirit: the chants, the colors, the tradition, the "tailGATORS," the friends, the alumni, the mascots, the everything.  It's just "great to be a Florida Gator..." ALWAYS! 

One of my favorite parts of the games is after the third quarter when we sing:  "In all kinds of weather we all stick together..."  Is that still true when it's 90+ degrees outside?  If I left at half-time because I was scared of severe sun burns & possible dehydration because I'm too cheap to buy a $4 water bottle... is that fair?  Or does that literally make me a fair weather gator?

Oh well... I am pretty sure that I have adequate Gator good spirit & I am so glad that it is Fall once again!  The only thing that scares me is that I only have one Fall left!?!  How did that happen?!  And on that same note... I am going to be a grandbig.  Time just flies when you're having the BEST TIME OF YOUR LIFE.

All I have to say is something I have been preaching since the beginning... "live in the moment," because as Ferris Bueller says... "Life moves pretty fast & if you don't stop & look around once in a while, you could miss it."  Well played Bueller, well played.

 

Ciao-Ciao

instalife.

It is kind of an interesting thing... technology.  I have this drive to want to be on it; add pictures, create a network, find followers, & document my life, but at the same time I hate it.  I hate how absorbed I get & how much time it takes away from other things...

A few days ago when I reactivated my facebook & started instagramming again, I became absorbed in everything.  The bright colors, the new updates of video captioning, adding new friends to make the relationship "real," & re-documenting my past three months with none of it.

Despite my love of adding pictures, life without facebook & instagram wasn't all that hard.  I actually rarely thought that I was missing out because I was outside, exploring the world, & interacting with so many different people.  Of course I wanted to share my thoughts & pictures... & that's where this wonderful blog came into play, but in the end... each day I spent enjoying "living in the moment" rather than what other people were doing.

I always think about that commercial... it was probably a car commercial, where this girl was at home checking her friends on facebook & laughing about the lack of friends her parents had.  While she was living the "real" life on her computer with tons of friends, her parents were active biking & climbing mountains.  Facebook & instagram create sort of an "instalife" for people... an interactive network of non-verbal & non-confrontational communication.  But is it real?

No one can rely on anything that you find merely on a computer of phone screen.  People are not themselves & information can come from anywhere with the click of a button.  "It has to be true if you read it on the internet..."  Right?  No.  That commercial pretty much said it all.  People are the same way.  No one is 100% themselves when protected by a computer screen.  That physical barrier controls important one-on-one communication.

I say all this, but we all know I will never actually remove my social media.  We all know that a relationship isn't "real" until it is "FBO" (facebook official).  And we all know that social media is just a huge component of the world these days... even tutoring programs, such as Study Edge, use facebook to connect & organizations form groups to keep everyone informed on meetings & executive information.

So much good comes from technology & social media despite the downfalls.  Communication across seas is almost impossible without it.  Facebook makes conversation abroad manageable & obviously cheaper & keeps ties with those that we may need to re-connect.  It isn't all that bad... I just wish it wasn't so absorbing.

My "instalife" rekindled a few days ago after a minor hiatus... when did yours?

Ciao-Ciao

pi chi.

Pi Chi, Pi Chi till I die!

After months of waiting and waiting and waiting, recruitment finally arrived!

Starting on April 29, I deactivated my facebook for a whirlwind adventure called being the BEST Pi Chi I can be!  Being a Pi Chi is more than just a "sorority thing," it is a counseling position that we train for months in advance with classes, tests, lectures on delicate situations, scenarios, & more.  It didn't just teach me what woman fit in Alpha Alpha Alpha, it taught me how to interact with individuals on a very personal level with a complete lack of bias.  It truly made me feel important within the Panhellenic society & the University of Florida Greek system.  "We gave up our letters so 2013 potential new members could find theirs!"  We did our jobs! 

Us Pi Chis are (for the most part) the first glimpse of sorority women here on campus.  We represent all 16 chapters in the goofiest of all ways, but in the best of lights.  We are the true face to what a "real" Greek woman is.  The facade that is recruitment, does not do the chapters justice, because it does not truly highlight how amazing & individual each member is & how one person can make a difference.  Chapter women appear to be the epitome of perfect: straightened hair, flawless makeup, erect postures, beautiful smiles, manicured nails, white smiles, & fitted dresses, but the truth is... as we all truly know (surprise!), women aren't perfect.  Pi Chis prove that sorority women really do "sweat more than sparkle," that they have their own hardships, & that we all come from different backgrounds, ethnicities, & homes.  We are real.      

Even though throughout the school year we represent our respective chapters, we are merely separated by a set of Greek letters that we advertise daily.  Of course, we are proud of who we are; proud to be a part of such ritual & social based organizations that date back to possibly the late 19th centuries & proud to be strong independent women with a keen ability to be involved, but that doesn't mean we are ultimately all that different from one another.  We are all involved, beautiful (duh), interesting, different, philanthropic, classy, & most of all, we are women.

Just because we are separated by our letters does not mean that we are separated.  We are one goal.  We are one UF.  We are one Panhellenic Council.             

I have never had the pleasure of spending 10+ days with such an amazing, individual, fun, & involved group of women in my life.  Thank you & a shout out to all 100ish of you who made my recruitment 2013 experience so phenomenal!
    
Despite my love of disassociation I was more than thrilled to return home to my family & friends in my respective chapter.  Nothing describes the warm homecoming I received more than the sight of my little & our perfect embrace!  It feels good to be home... I know the new members are saying the same thing.  Oh & GO GATORS!

blueberry steak.

As my going away (again) dinner, my parents wanted to give me a taste of my summer with the blueberry steak that I ate at Acqua al Due in Firenze!

Although the meal did not quite compare to that of the Florentine special, my mom as chef and me, her sous, we created a pretty delicious dinner!  The sauce was the most intensive part: filled with so many different flavors, that you seriously would not expect.  Mustard, ketchup, blueberries (obviously), thyme, molasses, & the list goes on.  It seemed like we just kept adding things.  Who thought of that... if you throw all these conflicting food items together you will create something good?

Well... I am glad they did.  Because now I can eat well! 

Anyway... tomorrow I go off to the Reitz Union for 10 days of recruitment!  Pi Chi 2013!  I will post 198558 pictures of my hat & all the Wonderful Pi Chi antics when I return!

Ciao-Ciao

iworld.

For the past month or so I have been in Hendersonville, North Carolina acting my age with young campers!  I believe camp is a critical part of a child's growth because not only does it take a child and place them in a situation where they have to make new friends face-to-face, but it creates a completely real environment with no technology to distract them.  Camp is 100% kid, which unfortunately the environment we live in now... is not.

Generations past talk about how different children are from their times.  I know my parents always talk about how much more time they spent outside with other neighborhood children; building forts, playing cops&robbers, learning how to interact with their peers with absolutely zero technology, & watching cartoons only on Saturday mornings.  Kids were described as "better seen, not heard."

My generation has the kids that grew up watching "Hey, Arnold,""Boy Meets World," and "Growing Pains."  The generation where computers were completely up and running in every house hold, video games transitioned from Nintendo64 to Game Cube to X-Box, & texting became the new fad.

However, this generation of kids was born texting & with touch screens.  They live in an "iworld."

Technology is a great thing, but is almost a contagious virus, if you will.  It has spread all across the world & is unstoppable.  There is no cure for it's aggression & people have accepted it as an integral part of their lives.  They go everywhere with their ipads, iphones, Nooks, Kindles, & more... for kids technology has replaced the "baby blanket" that trailed them everywhere.

Camp Pinnacle feeds off the idea of individuals being their "best self."  A time when no one is watching where you just are the epitome of great.  Whether it is helping others, working on something with an incredible amount of determination & endurance, or cleaning up trash that may not even be yours... being your "best self" happens so much at camp.  Kids start depending on others for entertainment rather than technology, they have hands on experience with outdoor activities rather than watching it on the big screen, & spend two whole weeks loving nature & what it has to offer.

Pure joy comes out at camp as well.  Roasting marshmallows & making s'mores by a real campfire, getting dirty but loving it, singing oldies but goodies with some of your favorite people, interacting with different age groups & even adults on a healthy level, learning to conquer some real fears in a reasonable risk kind of way, being able to get back up after you get knocked down, & just looking up at the stars at night or across the reflective lake & just love nature for the very first time brings out the best in everyone.

As an adult (sort of) observer, I can now look back on my camp experience & think how lucky I was to go to camp almost every summer from the time I was eight.  Looking back even further you realize how important the little moments were.  The singing every Sunday at the bluff, the great songs I learned, the overnights I had where we just stared at the stars, the first mountain I climbed.  Somehow, going to camp just makes you feel accomplished & fearless.

Just four weeks at camp I learned all this.  Imagine the impact on a child.

Camp can be the changing factor in a kid's life.  For me, it challenged me to work hard for a beautiful reward, meet new people, & actually love the outdoors.  Wouldn't you want that for your kid?

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