My first semester at USC

As many of you know, I just completed my first semester at the University of South Carolina. Never in a million years did I believe that I would leave my beloved Anderson and return home to attend the flagship university of South Carolina.

Anderson University has always been a huge part of my life and coincidentally 5 years ago today I was accepted into my dream school. Though I graduated from Anderson University in May, my plan never was to move back home. In fact, I had been accepted to Liberty University's online program for a MAT in Special Ed. After much deliberation and snide remarks from my father, I began my 25 page application to the University of South Carolina.

A week after I had applied I was contacted for an interview with the Special Ed department in regards to my application and [hopefully] future acceptance into their masters program. Though I was excited to take the next step I was still very unsure about attending USC. In this light, USC was never an option for me. I did not want to attend a big school for my undergraduate years, USC was WAY too close to home and Anderson was my only concern, even though I applied to twelve schools and got accepted to each one. A week after my interview I checked my email and had gotten my acceptance into USC, their masters program and a job offer from the CarolinaLIFE program.

Now fast forward to August 10th, 2016. I had just finished my fourth summer at Camp Burnt Gin and had my wisdom teeth removed two days prior. I head to the university to begin my training for CarolinaLIFE. A week and a day later, my classes began and I found myself increasingly upset and unhappy.

As the semester progressed I began to find my place on campus. I had the privilege of working with some amazing students and peers as well as some amazing mentors on campus. I was able to work with two intro to the university classes and was able to learn about the university with two separate groups of freshmen, even though I had grown up 20 minutes away.

Never did I think I would be a student at the University of South Carolina but I am thankful.

I am thankful for the new opportunities.

I am thankful for the new friendships.

I am thankful for the chance to reach my goals.

I am thankful for the acceptance I have been given.

I am thankful for the laughs that have been shared.

I am thankful for the football games, the tailgates and the blisters on my feet.

I am thankful for the chance to live at home again no matter how frustrating it can be sometimes.

I am thankful to be near family again.

I am thankful for the experiences at AU that led me to USC. 

I am thankful for bosses who care about my life as well as what I am doing in students' lives. 

I am thankful for coworkers who I can share stories with about students and the funny happenings.

I am thankful for the lunch dates with students where we can just hang out.

I am thankful for the early mornings in Thomas Cooper where students are way too awake.

I am thankful for the freezing cold classrooms and the SC heat in August.

I am thankful for the cheapest parking passes and no parking.

I am thankful for the two parking tickets I received.

I am thankful for the rekindling of friendships.

I am thankful for the University of South Carolina.

If I have learned anything this semester, it is that change is inevitable. Though I spent the first month of school upset and angry that I had to leave a place that I had called home, I am accepting of the future that I now possess. 

Though this semester was not ideally what I wanted, nor what I had expected I am blessed to have come this far not only personally but academically as well. 

I ended up with 2 A's and 1 B this semester and a 3.667 GPA. Something I never would have dreamed of as a first semester graduate student who had her whole world flipped upside down.

Though USC was never in my plan, I'm thankful it was in Gods plan.

Forever to thee.

Why I believe in Nikki Haley and the state of South Carolina

As a 22 year old graduate student I increasingly become more aware with the political atmosphere every day. Though I have always been interested in politics and the functions of government, local or national, moving back home to Columbia has truly opened my eyes to the great leadership we have in this state.

So in case you haven't noticed, the past few years for South Carolina have been a total hot mess. A lot of these events that happened truly brought our state together in the times where we needed support the most. I honestly believe that we would have been a different state after all of these events if it weren't for our governor Nikki Haley.

From the shooting at Mother Emanuel church in Charleston, the 1,000 year flood last fall, Hurricane Matthew and the Townville shooting all showed us how we as a state can always excel in the face of danger.

Though these four events are just the main ones that hit news headlines, Nikki Haley has continued to represent our state with grace and poise, something many people--especially politicians-- can't say or do.

Nikki Haley has continually represented our state with the utmost dignity I have seen in a long time.

Though many times South Carolina has been in the news for things we aren't proud of, we continue to band together as a state and support each other when in need. I can't tell you how many times this past week I have seen people posting on Facebook, Craigslist or even an add in the newspaper offering shelters for animals, places to stay for friends or strangers or even prayers and well wishes to those who chose to stay on the coast.

This past week alone I experienced my own appreciation for the people of SC. From my Facebook:

"There's times like these where I'm proud to be from SC. Today I was picking up food for Mom, Christopher, his roommate and myself and had a conversation with the girl cashing me out and a patron standing next to me. I told them how I was grabbing food for us four since Toph and Dom were in from Charleston and the patron next to me gave me $10 and said, "Here, pay for part of the food with this and be careful." She didn't have to do that. She could've easily said something else but she didn't. She gave me that $10 because she is just that kind. To the random stranger that helped buy a meal for my brother and his roommate--thank you."

This random stranger did not have to give me any money for their food; she didn't have to listen to my story and she definitely didn't have to care...but she did.

To me that speaks volumes of the kind of people that South Carolina calls its citizens. We might be different races, sizes, ethnicities, have different beliefs and care more about football than anything else but we are a family. We might not know each other from anything other than "neighbor" but that's what we are. We are neighbors.

As crazy as it sounds I really believe that we as South Carolinians use "Love thy neighbor as thyself" as a real life motto.

When my dad was sick a few years back and we were rarely home, our neighbor came over and cut our grass and made sure our house looked nice on the outside so we didn't have to worry about it when we came home. He didn't have to, but he did.

The lady at Zesto's didn't have to give me that 10$ for food, but she did.

Nikki Haley didn't have to ask for prayer during one of her press conferences during Hurricane Matthew but because she cares so much about this state she did.

The state of South Carolina didn't have to support Mother Emanuel or Townville Elementary after their devastating losses, but the thing is we all felt the pain, we all lost someone and we all hurt, so we did.

The thing is, South Carolina is unlike any other place I have ever been in my entire life. The support, love and thoughtfulness that we all exhibit is something that cannot be found anywhere else.

#SCStrong is a hashtag for a reason. We are strong as individuals, and we are even stronger together.

I honestly believe if Nikki Haley was not our governor during these events, and many others, we would not have bonded together like we have. She is an amazing leader who truly cares about our state and the people in it. Her quick actions during the flooding and Hurricane Matthew saved countless lives, I'm sure of it.

Though we may be different, different hair, skin colors, beliefs, morals, and backgrounds we are a state that bands together when someone needs it. I honestly wouldn't want to live anywhere else besides SC during these trials we have faced.

Thank you Nikki Haley for being the leader we have needed in our state.
Thank you South Carolina for being a state that I am proud to come from.
Thank you citizens for showing the world what true neighbors are.

I am proud to be from South Carolina and I am proud to say that this is my home.

I really hate the word 'adulting.'

Going away from home for 4 years really gives you a sense of independence, that is until you have to move back home.

Don't get me wrong I love my parents and I'd be stupid not to live at home with all of the opportunities they have given me and especially the one to save money while moving back in. Here's the thing...my dad likes to play this "my house my rules" kinda game. (Insert new eye roll emoji here--which has subsequently become my favorite just so everyone knows).

After not living in this room but a few days here and there for the last 4+ years I'm finally getting it reorganized and I'm finding so many things I hadn't seen in years. Going through drawers that haven't been opened and finding letters and notes and clothes that I haven't seen makes me thankful that I even have a place to keep these things when I'm not here.

I'm blessed with two amazing parents who have continually supported me while I played sports year round, went to camps, various tournaments, joined different clubs, went to my dream school, worked at the best place on the face of this planet and now have welcomed me back home while I go to grad school-with very few charges I might add. As I look at my walls filled with memories from AU, CBG and other things I can't help but see how many people have impacted my life in one way or another.  Blessed is an understatement at this point.

I think daily what life will be like once I lose my grandparents, after all they're all I have left. I regret the time I chose to avoid spending with them when I was younger. I appreciate the time I have with them now and I try and go over there every chance I get. My grandpa will be 91 in a few weeks, my grandma not too far behind him. But what I do know is that my grandparents are the reason that I am here today. If it weren't for the endless amounts of peanut butter sandwiches, the "grandaddy loves you"s, the "spending of my inheritance" as I like to joke about and all of the lessons and prayers I have received from them over the years I don't know where I would be.

So here's a funny story, I come home from work on Thursday, around 3:45, to find my dad already here. This is alarming to me because he normally works until 5 and isn't home until 5:30. So me being the nosey person I am, shoutout to you Grandma, I go digging. My form of digging always ends up like an interrogation...I learned from the best. "Why are you here so early?" "What are you doing home?" "You need to be working!" "Are you sick again?" Of course the answer I get from my father is, "Because I wanted to." (Can I insert that eye roll emoji again here? Cause I am.) If you know my dad this is is a normal response so I just move on to my next question which just happens to be, "Did I get any mail today?" His smart response is, "Yeah a bill for a thousand dollars payable directly to me." The laugh I let out probably would've scared anyone else around because it was that horrendous. I told him that even if I did have that amount of money he wasn't getting it from me. My dad has jokes y'all.

Don't get me wrong, (I apparently like this phrase way too much), I love living at home...most of the time. I enjoy being able to spend some time with my parents that I missed out on when I was younger because of how much I travelled, whether it was with them or not. It's kinda nice being the only child for once...sorry Toph. I enjoy the laughs with my mom when we are in the car and the constant harassment from my dad when we're just talking in my parents' room. Its things like that that you don't get at college. Granted some of my friends and residents definitely got both of those from me...sorry guys. I like being able to drive to my grandparents house whenever I want to, just because. I like sitting between my parents and grandparents at my church. Honestly, being home is great and I really appreciate it but home will never be Anderson University to me and vise-versa.

Honestly, this whole "adulting" thing really isn't that bad...for me at least. Yeah USC is definitely no AU but I have been so blessed already and I'm barely 3 weeks into my first semester as a grad student. In case you're reading this and don't know...I applied for grad school at Liberty and was set on going there online so I could stay in Anderson. My dad reminded me that I mentioned if he paid for grad school I'd go to Carolina so someone in the family could have a Carolina degree since he was never able to finish.

After regretfully applying just to appease my parents I finished with a 30-something page application for grad school. It took days to finish and perfect but a week later I had an email asking to set up an interview time with the head of my department and the head of my concentration. After being on duty that weekend I headed down Sunday afternoon to prepare for my Monday afternoon interview. I thought the interview went great as it was very informal and I felt very welcomed and comforted throughout the whole process. I left with an opportunity to look into grad assistantships with CarolinaLIFE, the chance to take an extra class and become a certified ABA therapist and a "possibility" of being accepted...which at this point I knew was a definite by the way Dr. Cristle said, "so when you get your acceptance email..."

A week later I was into grad school before I had even graduated undergrad...and all of this happened within a two week timespan. THE LORD IS GOOD! Not long after I received an email asking to meet with the assistant for CarolinaLIFE and a request for my resumé. I was immediately offered a job and was given dates to attend for orientation for this job as soon as camp ended.

Now here I am almost a month into my job and two and a half weeks into grad school and I'm loving it. I never expected that I would end up at USC...I had it made at AU. It was a small campus, I knew everyone, I was comfortable there, I had a good job outside of school, I was set.

Though it is taking me time to get used to USC and the literal whole city that it encompasses, I am finally getting settled. It took me two weeks to figure out the shuttle but I'm making it. I have some awesome camp friends nearby that always keep me smiling. I have some amazing coworkers who believe that no question is a stupid question. I work for some amazing people and with some amazing students and teachers. I have a bangin' paycheck. I am just overly blessed. More than I could ever ask for.

So after moving back home I am pretty sure my parents are having as much of a love-hate relationship with it as I am sometimes. One night after talking to two of my amazing friends Kayla and Andrew from AU, I broke down and just wanted to quit and it was only the first few days of work, not even school. I hated it here, there were too many people, I didn't know anyone. It just wasn't AU. I even looked into my options for moving back up to Anderson while doing school online and working on AU's campus just so I could be happy again.

But here I am. I'm still in Columbia. I'm still alive. I'm still doing my job and I'm still in school. Why? Because my parents supported me and told me that it would all work out. Because my friends said that they missed me and I missed them too, but that they knew I was always gonna visit. Because my church family knew that I was finally on the right track to doing what I was born to do. Because my campers believed in me enough to wish me luck in grad school and because it's always for them.

So for as long as it takes, Columbia will be home again. At least for a little while. Whether I move back to the upstate after I finish or down to the coast like I would like, I'm just sitting back and enjoying the ride.

I was always told that we have plans and God just laughs at them and says, "Not today, I have something better in mind." Now I believe it. I thought I would leave AU with a degree in SPED but I didn't. I thought I would do grad school online and be fine but I didn't. I thought I would never move back home but I did. I thought I would never graduate after that stupid 40+ page paper but I did. God made it work. He made it work together for MY good and that's all I could ever ask for.

So as I was putting my billions of t-shirts away tonight and cleaning up a little in my room I saw a gift my first CBG secret pal gave me above my bed and it has Jeremiah 29:11 on it.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

What an amazing comfort that was to me tonight, just when I needed it most. As I read that a song came to mind that truly meant a lot to me as I was in high school. "I may be weak but Your spirit's strong in me. My flesh may fail, but my God You never will." 

The Lord always has plans bigger than ours. Take me for example. I'm a perfect example of God saying, "you thought wrong." 

My life is changing, faster than I ever thought it would, but here I am. I'm alive, I'm kicking', I'm doin' my thang. But if it weren't for those friends, those campers, those parents, my family and so many others who believed in me when I didn't even believe in myself I wouldn't be the young adult I am today. 

So 'adulting' isn't a proper term to me. It's called growing up, being responsible and taking charge and if that's what being an adult is, then lets go. It's gonna be a long ride. 

Until then, stay safe fam.

Lauren.

Farewell to Summer

On Friday, August 5th I said goodbye to a place that had been my home for the past four summers.

I walked into Camp Burnt Gin as an 18 year old who had just completed her freshman year at her dream school. I thought the world owed me everything. As the summer began my eyes were opened to the beauty of life that these campers had. These kids smiled at everything because they had no reason to be unhappy. That summer changed my life.

Now here I am 4 summers later a completely changed woman. I walked out of Camp Burnt Gin with a new perspective, as I do every summer. Camp completely broke me and as I watched it change the lives of 40 peers it changed my perspective yet again.

This summer was no different. I took on a new role as Arts and Crafts director, I was held to a higher standing. This summer I entered as a college graduate. I was excited about my future but more nervous than I would admit.

2016 has been a whirlwind of emotions for me. I graduated college, I got accepted into grad school, I got a job immediately after getting accepted, I completed my last summer at Camp Burnt Gin, I was an RA, I made new friends, I saw new things.

Though I am afraid of the next steps that are headed my way I am so excited for all of the new opportunities that lay ahead.

To Camp Burnt Gin, thank you for the memories that were experienced, the love that was given and the laughs that were shared.

To Anderson University, thank you for giving me some amazing opportunities, some amazing friends and a more amazing appreciation of higher education.

This next step starts tomorrow and I don't know how this is gonna work. I am scared yet hopeful of all of the new journeys I will be able to take but I also know that I am right where I am supposed to be.

The lord is ever faithful