Don't Give Up, Don't Ever Give Up

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

“You are in the Army. You’re in my Army. Every day between 3-5.” – Coach Norman Dale, “Hoosiers”
As you can tell from this blog, I’m a huge fan of quotes. Song lyrics, movie quotes, sports quotes, life quotes…whatever, I love them all. I’ve also touched on my strong belief that so much about life can be learned through sports. So to have a basketball coach give so much insight about life and achieving your dreams…I love it.

Growing up in a basketball household (my dad being a Hall of Fame basketball coach and my brother being a current basketball coach), I learned very quickly the respect that coaches deserve. When the coach talks, you listen. You don’t talk back and you do what the coach says without question, whether you agree or not. And I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I felt like I was in the Army every day during practices from 3-5 or whenever practice was that day. But just like in the Army, you understand the respect that your leaders deserve. I just love that quote…mostly because it’s from one of my favorite movies. Because of that strong respect I have for coaches, Jimmy V’s inspiring story is one I have to share.

For those who don’t know, Jim “Jimmy V” Valvano was the basketball coach at North Carolina State who was battling cancer. It was almost 20 years ago that he gave one of the greatest speeches at the ESPY Awards in 1993. At this time, he partnered with ESPN to start the V Foundation, which funds cancer research – thus, this week is known as “Jimmy V Week.” The tagline for the V Foundation is, “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” Less than two months after the speech, he lost his battle with cancer.

It’s only fitting that I write about this because from this speech comes one of my all-time favorite quotes – and the quote that I used to start this blog back in July:

“How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. You have to be willing to work for it.”

And I’ll end with this one, which is how he ended the speech…pretty self-explanatory:

“I just got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get your emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, ‘Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm.’ To keep your dreams alive in spite of problems whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to become a reality.”

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Thanksgiving Break

Monday, November 28, 2011
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” – Psalm 118

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Where do I even begin?! What a perfect and relaxing week it’s been at home – so much to be thankful for. I’ll keep it short and sweet: I’m most thankful for my family, my friends, a job, safety as I travel, and my health.

Here’s a quick recap of my week at home…but let me first say that I love being home. J

My first night at home I slept for 15 hours...clearly those last 3 weeks did me in! I went to both the boys’ and girls’ high school basketball games in the Mill – so many memories in that gym. I spent Thanksgiving at my mom’s cousin’s house with 50+ of my crazy family members and have never laughed so hard or ate so much good food in my life. I went Black Friday shopping from midnight-7:30am and my sleep schedule has been off ever since. I got to see my brother back in coaching action and spent more time with my grandparents. And in the morning I head back to New Orleans for my last 2 weeks on the job for the semester. Wait, what?! That’s pretty hard to believe.

But the best part? We can now listen to Christmas music!
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Beignets and Travel Days

Wednesday, November 23, 2011
“I don’t know no town like the old town. Even when the miles are many, I feel like I’m still around. Deep inside me like rings through an oak tree, yeah, there’s something about a Sunday when I’m gone…that keeps me turning home.” – David Nail

I’m home! Even though it’s 40 degrees and rainy (a far cry from 80 degrees and muggy in New Orleans on Monday!), I’m still convinced that there is no better place to be than the Midwest in the fall. There is so much to be thankful for this holiday season, and right now I’m most thankful for the week I get to spend at home with my family.

It’s always frustrating that I can never get a direct flight from New Orleans to Indianapolis, but my layover in Atlanta turned out to be a good one! Once we landed I saw that I had a missed call from phimucc Julie, so I called her immediately while I was still on the plane. I was expecting “Hello?” or “Hey Megan” but instead I got “OMG PLEASE TELL ME YOU’RE IN ATLANTA RIGHT NOW?!” Good thing I was in row 12 because I ran off that plane and continued to run to gate D22 to be reunited with my sister friend! We only got to catch up for about 20 minutes before she had to board her flight home, but it’s always great seeing a familiar face out on the road!

Once I landed in Indianapolis, my mom picked me up and I headed straight to dinner with my mom, aunt, and cousins at my favorite restaurant. The 5 of us always have so much fun together and that dinner was full of good food, good laughs, and good company. I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome home.

This past weekend was a busy one! One of the chapter members, Emily, and I headed into the French Quarter on Saturday afternoon to hang out and get away from campus for a little bit. I had been a few times before but always forgot my camera…typical. This time, I was the ultimate tourist, so a big thank you goes out to Emily for putting up with me!

The French Quarter essentials: Café Du Monde complete with beignets and café au lait, Jackson Square, the St. Louis Cathedral, shopping, muffulettas, the French Market, and much more!

drove right by the Superdome on our way! don't worry, I'm still a Colts fan.

I'll be attempting to make beignets for my family this holiday season so they can understand just how great they are!

Jackson Square and the beautiful streets of Nola!

the St. Louis Cathedral is gorgeous! we even saw a bride a groom getting married there! 

"Touchdown Jesus" and the back of the Cathedral - the story goes that as Hurricane Katrina was headed straight towards the French Quarter, Touchdown Jesus redirected Katrina toward Mississippi and in the process he lost one of the fingers on his left hand.

"this muffuletta is bigger than my head!" - Emily

Sunday night the chapter held elections, and I’m very excited for the new Executive Committee! I have to give a huge shout out to the current Executive Committee. It’s been great getting to work with you all this semester and I'm proud of all that you’ve accomplished. I’ll miss our weekly meetings, airports rides, and all of the laughs. Thanks for a great semester!

super sorority squat: Melanie (Chapter Adviser)
front row: Lindsey, Mary, Bri, Alex, Amy
back row: Emily, Caroline, Michelle, Tori, Lauren, Chelsea

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!
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Stop and Smell the... Coffee?

Sunday, November 20, 2011
“Stressed out, running late, racing down the interstate, spilled hot coffee down the front of my jeans. It’s work, work, pay the rent, money and my time’s spent, not a minute left for me to be me. Been going like nothing can wait, I gotta get my priorities straight…” – Kenny Chesney

First off, did you hear the news that Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw will be touring together this summer?! Sad news: they won't be playing in my hometown as part of the Country MegaTicket. Good news: they'll be playing in Indianapolis!

Secondly, two blog posts in two days?! This has to be a record.

After a few weeks of what felt like nonstop work, I headed over to Starbucks for a little getaway this morning. I got to call some of my friends and caught up with all of my family. As I was sitting there enjoying my grande skinny vanilla latte, I started people watching. Side note: people watching is my favorite thing to do at concerts and airports. Creeper? Maybe. Anyways, as people kept trickling in, there was one constant.

Every. Single. Person. Was glued to their phone. No conversation between anyone.

Now remember. You’re talking to a girl who facilitates conversation workshops as part of her job; a girl who has been trained to hold a 20 minute conversation with a complete stranger; a girl who has to make friends with collegians within 5 minutes of them picking me up at the airport for it to be a successful visit. And, don’t get me wrong, I love my iPhone. I probably wouldn’t survive without it. But seriously, people. This is just crazy to me. You really can't just stand in line without being glued to your phone?! Two people even ran into each other because they were so focused on their phones. Really?! Stop and smell the roses! Get those priorities straightened out and enjoy this life that we are so lucky to have. I really don’t know how some people survived before we had everything at our fingertips!

Maybe it’s because I hopped on the technology train much later than everyone else since I didn’t have a phone with a media plan until 2 days before I left for this job. Maybe it’s because I live out of 2 suitcases and literally travel with only the essentials. Maybe it’s because one of the life lessons I’ve learned so far with this job is that less really is more. Maybe it’s because I’ve learned to appreciate things that a lot of people take for granted because I don’t have those luxuries out on the road.

So, put that phone down and take a minute to enjoy the little things in life. Remember what it was like a few short years ago when you actually had to TALK to someone to communicate with them! And while you’re at it, talk to a stranger while waiting in line at Starbucks!

“You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.” – Walter Hagen
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A Little Bit of Everything

Saturday, November 19, 2011
“Little miss do your best, little miss never rest, little miss be my guest I’ll make more anytime it runs out. Little miss you’ll go far, little miss hide your scars, little miss who you are is so much more than you like to talk about.” - Sugarland

I heard “Little Miss” today while I was running and I just love that song because 1) I love Sugarland and 2) it reminds me of my phimuccs. Miss them all so much. And speaking of, happy Installation Day to our newest chapter, Rho Iota, at the University of Kentucky tomorrow! Congrats Lauren and Jillian and everyone else who will be attending! J

And, to everyone who has been bugging me to update my blog, I’m sorry! I told you it would be the busiest 2 weeks of my consultant life!

Since last time…

The chapter had Semi-Formal at a really cool venue called the Eiffel Society. Part of the structure of the building is from the actual Eiffel Tower in Paris! When they were rebuilding the actual Eiffel Tower, they shipped part of it to New Orleans and now it’s part of this venue!

Kendra, the Colony Membership Coordinator, and Christa, the Colony Coordinator, visited the chapter to facilitate recruitment workshops this past week. The chapter responded well and we got so much accomplished. It was a busy week, but it was so productive and we had just a little bit of fun, too J

I got my schedule for next semester! Well, kind of. I’ll be a full-time traveler with frequent stops at Western Carolina and Elmhurst. I’ll still be in New Orleans through most of January to help with recruitment, but after that I’ll be back to living out of my suitcases and I couldn’t be more excited! But, I’m sure there will still be tears when I leave this chapter, since I’m the most emotional person in the world.

My family finalized our plans for going to Florida while I’m home for Christmas Break! As Kenny Chesney says, “All I want for Christmas is a real good tan.”

I’m preparing for 2 firsts in my life, thanks to phimucc Hanna. 1) Black Friday shopping. Turns out there’s an outlet mall about halfway between where Hanna and I live, so at 11pm on Thanksgiving night, I’ll be reunited with one of my consultant friends. Cannot wait! 2) Nashville! Dave Barnes is doing a Christmas show in Nashville in December and I’ll be joining Hanna and her friends for this show. Don’t worry, I didn’t invite myself J Really excited for this little road trip.

Tomorrow a few chapter members and I are taking the day to hang out in the French Quarter! Sunday night we have Elections, and Monday I go HOOOOOOOOME! Very thankful for family, friends, my own bed, home cooked meals, shopping, phimuccs, and a short break before finishing my travels for the semester!

SERIOUSLY, where has the time gone?!
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This is Why I Love This Job

Tuesday, November 8, 2011
“You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job…and not be paid for it.” – Oprah

I got a call this morning from a chapter member wanting to make some serious positive changes in her chapter and she asked for some advice and help. She saw a problem, had the courage to address the problem, talked with the appropriate people, and is now developing a solution to the problem. I can tell you right now, it won’t be a popular decision to propose these changes, but it will help the chapter so much in the long run. One year ago, she never would have done that. Leadership development, people. So proud.

This is why I love this job and want to be involved with leadership development for the rest of my life.

In other news, we are getting closer and closer to recruitment here at Tulane! We are busy with meetings and upcoming workshops to get prepared for recruitment season. January will be here before we know it…both scary and very exciting!

This past weekend the chapter did a little community service and helped with a KaBOOM playground build in New Orleans. We had so much fun. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay to see the finished product, but it was great to get out and do some good for the community and to live that first line of our Creed!

my back is still hurting from this

in front of the almost finished playground!

Andddddddd. I almost forgot. In exactly 2 weeks I'll be home for Thanksgiving Break! Until then, I've got the busiest 2 weeks of my consultant life ahead of me!
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So You Want To Be a Good Leader, Huh?

Friday, November 4, 2011
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more…you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

I was so lucky to get to go home straight from training last week. I spent 4 full days at home with nothing too exciting going on. Don’t get me wrong though, it was a perfect break and just what I needed…can’t wait to be home again in less than 3 weeks!

One of the best parts of being home was being able to go to my church! The message was great and the timing was perfect. The message started with the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Great, I thought. It’s not like I don’t get asked that on every visit and answer the same way. “Well… I’m still trying to figure that out.” But Dave wasn’t talking about specifics here – he was talking about leadership and the kind of leader that we want to be and the influence we want to have in this world. We headed right back into the book of James to look for some answers.

I won’t spoil the message but it comes down to this. Good leaders are humble, full of moral integrity, peaceable, considerate, teachable, merciful, impartial, and sincere. The foundation though, is humility.

Check out the message below if you get some free time. If you're anything like me, James 3:13-18 and 4:1-10 will be full of notes, highlights, and markings. Enjoy J

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