Tag Archives: college

Lessons in Investing from Miss Sandra

14th February 2016

During my sophomore year at UGA I mustered up the courage to step away from the University meal plan. It only lasted four days.

While I’m certain I was one of the very few on campus who took advantage of prepared dining hall meals past my twenty-first birthday, the food wasn’t the only perk. There was the omni-present offer of lunch dates, the late night cereal runs and of course, the staff.

Last month, I stumbled upon a blog post from Yik Yak with a familiar face who I hadn’t thought of in quite some time: Miss Sandra. You can read the Yak’s story for yourself, but if you aren’t familiar, Miss Sandra works the checkin counter at Snelling, UGA’s most centrally located and 24-hour dining hall.

Miss Sandra sees thousands of students every week and she’s been loving on them for years. While the hugs are fantastic, I never considered that she actually remembered each one she dole out.

Today, P and I celebrate our second married Valentine’s Day and in 2016 we’ll celebrate a decade since we started dating. After a lengthy breakup our sophomore year, Miss Sandra was the first to notice when we passed the card swipe station in Snelling together.

A different kind of smile spread across her face and her greeting was new, “oooh ya’ll are dating again aren’t you?” She didn’t just recognize us, she remembered us, together.

I’d like to think we could walk in today and she’d still remember us, though it wouldn’t matter if she didn’t. Miss Sandra hasn’t just mastered kind, she’s mastered what it means to invest in being kind. And according to Yik Yak, she’s still at Snelling, investing in each student who walks through her door in the same way, almost a decade later.

P and I shortly after our first Valentine’s Day in 2007

 

I’m Back!

19th August 2013

It’s been a busy few weeks around here. If you happened to notice, changing servers late last week meant this site was down for a few days. If you didn’t, that’s OK too, I’ll take it you were doing more fun things than hanging out here. After a few tech support phone calls, file transfers and pleas for assistance from the developers who sit beside me, and I’m back up and running. Success. I even learned a little something along the way. Score one for pretending to know anything learning quite a bit about web dev.

So, it has been a busy few weeks, and there is more to come, which means there will be plenty to post about. In the meantime, I’m just plain excited that this thing is back in cyberspace, instead of feeling like this:

I’ll leave you with a few little things to be excited about in the upcoming weeks…

1. The agency I work for was acquired (we were in the New York Times, you guys). There were cheers, congratulations and questions about whether or not the infamous company cruise would be reinstated (sadly, it is not), but best of all, it means a lot of exciting things for someone in my position.

2. I turned 25 and celebrated with plenty of wine. Who knew North Georgia was home to quite a few wineries?

3. In a little more than a week (nine days to be exact) I’ll have some extra exciting news to share that includes lots of painting and DIY projects in my future.

4. P and I are venturing to Charleston for the first time, which means I’m scheming ways to convince that kid to go on a ghost tour, naturally.

5. My baby sister goes to college. I’m not sure how that happened.

6. I’ll celebrate three years at Engauge and I’m not even remotely tired of it yet. Which is good, because in agency dog years, I figure I’ve been here around 21 years by this point.

7. College football season is a mere 12 days away and I can already hear the “Glory Glory” cheers coming from Sanford Stadium.

Stay tuned. I promise I’ll be back with more than Zoolander GIFs really soon.

Finding Home

20th March 2013

Today I had the excuse opportunity to head to Athens, GA (home of my alma mater) for the day to speak on a panel regarding using social media to get a job, which was wonderful. There are few things I love more than sharing even a fraction of the advice, guidance and hope that was shared with me during my days in college.

It’s amazing to look back and see how many things have changed – from campus (Mexicali on Lumpkin closed??), to the community (fun fact: my baby sister is closer in age to students than I am, which is just plain awkward) and to life after Athens.

There is no possible way that if current me had the ability to teleport back to junior or senior me and shared where I am today and what I have had the opportunity to see and do in just three years that I would believe a word of it. Yet, I drive down Broad Street and I’m taken right back as if a day had never gone by.

Athens was my first home. It led me to find out who I am (and that I was more than the little quiet one).   I fell in love with leaves (and a sudden hatred for that machine that vacuumed them all up from the streets), with football and with a rather adorable someone in Athens. I met some of my best friends and learned where passion and drive can take you through the story of a little boy with HIV. I discovered running. I made silly decisions that lead to fantastic stories. Four years goes by far too quickly, but the best part is certainly seeing all of the amazing that can unfold after it ends.

In sum, today I was humbled and reminded how awesome this path can really be. #awesome.

Athens