A good reminder...

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

What do you want to be when you grow up?

This question haunts me. 

It’s really cute when a 4 year-old isn’t so sure and gives you that deer-in-the-headlights-look and then responds with something like ‘a doctor who flies planes ... and Superman’. 

This really has nothing to do with this post, but i just love this picture so much that I had to share! 

 It’s less cute when a 24 year-old with a bachelors degree and 3/4 a masters degree gives you that blank stare followed by a few statements about what they thought they wanted to do but now they’re not so sure and wow, how is it possibly time to be making these life shaping career decisions, and how does anyone really know what they want to do with the rest of their life when there are still so many unanswered questions? When you’re in Kindergarten you think you’ll be in school forever and that if you don’t have life figured out by the time you’re as big as your mom, then you must be a crazy person.  Really, how hard is it to just pick the thing you love most and do it for the rest of your life?!?!

Well, here I am a all grown up and I don’t know what’s going on.  These are big decisions people, decisions I never really assumed I’d be making in quite this way or this soon or something.  Do I start interviewing for these companies back in New York or maybe I should apply for the auditing job in San Francisco, or there is always Milwaukee.  Yes – I have to imagine my life in places I couldn’t even find on a map.  Milwaukee, really? 

Do I really want to work for HP or General Mills?  Private Sector?  Public Sector?  How do I feel about some small government organization, or what about working for the Church, or there is always consulting, oh gosh now we’re back to jobs in New York…

Maybe I’m really not ready for a big-girl job and need to do another internship. Maybe I shouldn’t really give up on my original passion and I should follow my love to London and work in a museum for a year.

  Maybe I would hate it – then what? 
Maybe I would love it – then what? 

Maybe I’ll get my doctorate… no, look at me – I’m blogging to put off my homework as it is. I don’t think I want to start picking options that require more homework. But on the other hand, I LOVE school. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t have done it for 18 years.  

Oh my, what’s a girl to do? I’m literally loosing sleep over it… Ok, not just this, the piles of homework don’t help, but all in all I’m starting to get really nervous about what I will be doing this time next year.  

Don’t you hate it when you can’t tell the future? 

Could someone please just tell me what the right thing to do is? 

the logic model....

Today in my program evaluation class we did a logic model of the Law of Consecration.  Pretty much one of the coolest learning experiences you can only get at BYU!

Yes we took pictures of the whiteboard.  #1 because we had a hard time drawing that model on our computers fast enough and #2 because it was just that cool.

Shoe break

I am in the middle of studying, writing ethics papers, researching nonprofits in Mexico, preparing law exams on affirmative action, job searching, evaluating reading programs for the United Way...and just before my brain explodes, i'm all of a sudden looking at shoes.

  Beautiful boots, preppy pumps, flirty flats.  And the world is good again.  

It's like I subconsciously knew that if I didn't take a break, I would turn into a homework zombie. No worries though - the imagined smell of leather cured my stress headache, and now i'm ready to go back to the real world. 

With vissions of Madden girl preppie boots in mind, I can once again handle my homework. 

Thank you DSW for the much needed homework break...

Public Service Announcement

These are now available in a grocery store near you. 

Buy them. Eat them. Be HaPpY!

Just checking in

to say that life is great!

Living with my brother has to be one of the biggest blessings in my life right now.  Second would be how much I am LOVING school and I guess third would be that crazy football game last weekend. Lets just say that life is going my way and I'm quite enjoying it. Bring on the late nights and early mornings and fun times in between.

Here's to the 18th grade! Better make the most of it! 

The MPA program

One year ago, this was me: 

I was nervous, a little overwhelmed and had no idea what was ahead of me. I didn't know these gentlemen sitting around me, but it turns out they came to be my Provo family!

Look at these people - I had no idea who they were and I was forced to play all sorts of strange games with them.   What an amazing bonding experience for my team.  I went to the ropes course last week with all the cute new first years and they felt so uncomfortable, but by the end they were having so much fun. May I just say that my program is the coolest ever - what other masters program takes their students to a ropes course for bonding? 

I LOVE my program!