My Final Niche

Throughout the course of this year I have been trying to figure out what I really am good at, and most importantly what I would enjoy doing. At first I thought my passion would be to pursue a communications major, then it quickly switched to journalism major. I kept switching back and forth, until suddenly it hit me. Although I really enjoy writing for things such as sports and special events, I feel like my niche is culture and event writing. Ultimately I want to major in Public Relations, but as far as writing goes I am going to pursue writing for things such as culture, features, and even events. Even though I try to write more serious things, I always end up having that magazine article writing tone. I love writing How To articles, and pretty much anything that would help someone with something. Writing for fun comes a lot more naturally to me, and isn't that how it is suppose to be? It will most likely not end up the way you want it, if you did not enjoy it. So I try to find things I enjoy doing to bring our my strengths.

My Niche

College. This is mostly used as a noun or an adjective, "i go to college", or "the college life." However you use it college is a time in your life when you will experience the funniest, saddest, happiest, and heartbreaking times in your life. People thought high school was intense, well that was just a walk in the park until you hit college. Let me explain to you the quick difference between college and high school. High school is all about making it home by curfew, but still cutting it to the closest time. We all have been there... your curfew is 1200 midnight, you barely pull into the driveway at 1159 and 30 seconds. Trying to find a way out of the house was also a big part of high school. Always trying to prove how mature and old you are is a common mistake high schoolers give off. Now college, true you have more independence and no parent time, but what most kids do not realize you have 1000000 times more responsibility. You have to start figuring out what you want to do with your life, and what it will take to get there. Cuz guess what all my fellow college kids, there is no college part to. Ya you can go on and get your masters, and doctrine, but guess what you cant go to college for the rest of your life. So now that reality has hit and you realize you have to start planning out your life, what now. Well the first step to trying to figure out what you want to do is to find you niche. Pretty much what you like to do, and could see yourself doing. Luckily I have found mine. My niche in writing is magazine writing. I really enjoy writing culture, features, and perspectives. I am taking a magazine article writing class and absolutely love it. I really hate the fact I am late to it all the time because I love it so much! Yet the end goal I would really like to do in my life is event planning. I have realized I love planning events. I can proudly say I want to be an event planner and be happy about the fact that I know what I am doing. I feel like magazine article writing and event planning go hand in hand which makes it even more exciting. I have come to this realization because I sat down and figured what my niche was. I am so excited because now instead of figuring out what i want to do, I can now figure out what I am going to do to get it.

Gods Beauty

One of the major things that has continuously been fascinating to me, is Gods creation in itself. One of the most fascinating things to me in the ocean. Not only the engulfing blueness that seems to envelope everything around it, or the way the sun hits the water which makes an appearance as if a million diamonds have been placed strategically on top are amazing, but what we as humans do not see is the most mind blowing thing ever. Thousands, millions, maybe even billions of feet beneath what the average beach walker sees in plain sight lies a world of the unknown that only God knows. Even though we try to send people and machinery down under the deep blue, we can never fully grasp what is truly down there. There have been many myths of colonies and worlds, such as Atlantis, or King Tritons kingdom, but we will never actually know who or what lives down there. Why did God leave that a mystery to us? Even the all mighty creator creates things that we will never even realize exists. Mainly the concept of the unknown fascinates me, or maybe it is the fact that we will never fully comprehend Gods beauty that he established here on earth. Either way comparing the ocean to a book seems like an easy way to explain it. You can never judge what is on the inside by just looking at the surface.

National Tournament

Courts in front of me, hundreds of girls competing for the same goal, and thousands of on lookers watching to see who will be the best in the nation. Where am I? As I write I am sitting in the Tyson Event Center in Sioux City, Iowa. Some may think that there is nothing in Sioux City, and they are right, but once a year in the beginning of December, 24 teams compete for a national title. I am apart of one of the privileged teams that get to experience Iowa during nationals. I not only get to experience, but I get to make lasting memories with my team mates and coaches. I could not ask for better friends and sister on the court. I have made some of my favorite memories at Nationals with my team mates. Starting with pranking the coaches to laughing uncontrollably at something that happened. I wish everyone could experience the fun of nationals and the love from my team mates. We left cal baptist at 4 am Saturday morning, and traveled all day. We will not get back till Sunday, but I am savoring every minute of it, because it is already Wednesday and time is flying so fast. Thankfully I am only a sophomore and I have two more years to experience NATIONALS!!

Hebrews 11:1

My favorite Bible verse is Hebrew 11:1, which says, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." This verse was my senior verse in high school. I look at this verse a lot if I am feeling down or lost. It talks about faith and what it is. As Christians we believe in God even though we have not seen Him, but our faith in Him is so great we believe without having to have proof with our eyes. I chose this verse because it helped me in high school and continues to help me. This Bible verse can help everyone anywhere with or without a problem because it reminds us about our continuous faith. I first came across this Bible verse my junior year in high school. I really do not remember exactly how I found it, but when I did I highlighted it and almost went over it everyday. After I memorized the verse it has stayed on my heart ever since. This verse has impacted my life so much ever since my senior year in high school. Last year I did a devotion for my volleyball team before a game, and I used Hebrews 11:1. We all need something to believe in, and the Bible is the one thing that will never let us down in our lives. As we live our years here on earth we should remember what we are here for so we live our purpose. The Bible is our manual and when we rely and have faith in God we cannot go wrong.

Reality Check

For some reason I have been geared into watching reality shows. I do not watch that much television to begin with, but when I do, I dive head first into my reality shows. My shows can range from The Real World to The Hills or America's Next Top Model to The Bachelor. These are only a few of my favorite's that I enjoy watching when I can. I usually get made fun of for my enjoyment of reality shows, many call them "scripted reality" and a waist of time. "Scripted Reality" seems like an ironic statement, but in actuality some of the show is scripted, but what do you expect, its television. One of my all time favorite reality shows was Newlyweds with Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey. I have all four seasons on DVD, it makes me think they are still together when I watch them. Sometimes I do have my doubts wether or not it truly is reality or just entertainment, but in the end reality shows are always so much more exciting and drama filled. I always thought it would be so much fun to be apart of a reality show. I think my life would be very entertaining to watch on television. Another plus of reality television, is there are so many a viewer can choose from. There are game shows, finding love shows, a mixture of love and competition, following rich people around and documenting their lives, documentaries, or putting completely random people in a house together and seeing what kind of drama it can make. All these topics and more are on television now. I bet almost everyone has watched a certain type of reality show in their day and has liked it. So if you want to be entertained and enjoy a good gasp or chuckle, you should definitely look into setting aside your evening to watch someone else's life. It is actually more fun than it sounds!

A Life Changing Summer

August 6th 2009 was the turning point of my summer which impacted my life both physically and spiritually. It was the first time I ever went on a missions trip, and I was blessed to share that experience with my volleyball team. On August 6th at 3:30 in the morning, I departed California Baptist University with the rest of the team, our destination: Belize

After we arrived at LAX and checked our bags we waited at the terminal for our connecting flight to Houston, Texas. All I could think about was arriving in Belize, what kind of people we would meet and how the experience would affect me. After tedious lines and irritable security guards checking our multitude of bags, we finally saw the “Welcome to Belize” sign. Exhaustion caught up to us quickly on the ride to Machaca, temporary home during out stay in Belize.

We arrived at the Machaca outreach camp at midnight California time. We were greeted by smiling faces and a warm meal. The Machaca people changed all of our outlooks on life in a positive way. There one true love was Jesus, and they showed it every day. We stayed in cabins sharing sleeping spaces with scorpions, mosquitoes, and many other bugs I never saw before in my life. I am definitely not an out doors type of girl, but when I saw the people of Machaca be content with their living spaces and thankful to have the love of Christ in their life, the bugs did not seem so bad anymore. The great thing about this mission’s trip was the fact that we were able to spread the word of God, but also play and teach the Machacans the sport we love.

The weather, nature, people, and environment was something I never experienced before in my life, but every person and thing affected my life and walk with God in a life changing way. On August 9^th 2009 five girls from my team and I were baptized in the Blue River in Belize. Words cannot describe how that trip affected my life. Not only did we teach the people of Machaca many things, but also they taught and showed us how to be better servants to the Lord and to be thankful for everything God has blessed us with. I thank God every day for blessing me with that amazing opportunity that changed my life forever.