To Give Up One Love

I wanted to share with you a hard decision that I made just yesterday.

 (I am aware that this photo looks a bit unpleasant, but I was shivering in the 30 degree weather. Excuse? Yes!)  I wanted to post this picture because I love the luxurious and ethnic look of this new headpiece!

 I am a complete fan of my new black blouse from Sugarlips.  It is my first black blouse, and so I feel like I am finally part of the unofficial black blouse club.  You know that club, where every member loves fashion and owns a black blouses?  It just seems to me like a black blouse has always been a staple item for fashion lovers.  Either way, I feel part of it.  Whether the unofficial members of this unofficial club know it exists is aside from the point, because I have deemed myself as this unofficial club's newest member!  I especially love the golden metal buttons and the lace detailing! ^_^ So cute!

 

 Great Woven Blouse | Sugarlips       Headband, Crops | Free People        Heels | Madden Girl (Marshalls)

Last Sunday I recieved the email that told me I was a Truman Finalist 2013.(See post HERE).  This was such a wonderful thing, and still is.  With this, I am now working hard to prepare for the interveiw all 200 finalists will have to go through to distinguish who the 50 winners of the Truman Scholarship will be.  

In preparation for my interview I am booked every day with readings and meetings and coaching.  Because of this I had to make the saddening decision to let go of row team(women's crew).  My tryouts for women's crew started a little over a week ago.  Waking up at 6am for practice and being exhausted because I pushed myself as hard as I could go was something that I was beginning to love.  I joined the team, well... #1 so that I could make friends.  And I was doing exactly that! So many of the girls were so nice, it was like being part of a big family where everyone had the same goal and interests.  This was the first time I was part of an athletic team... and nothing about crew was wrong.  I loved the mental and physical challenge, and the coaches are so amazing at motivating and pushing the athletes to their goals.  The only problem was that with all the things I already did, adding crew practices left me with 6 hours of sleep at night, and little energy for homework.  Adding practices for the Truman Scholar interview would have left me with 3-4 hours of sleep at night.

When I made the decision to walk away from row team, I came home and cried.  I suppose this was because I finally found something in college that I was 100% happy with every aspect of, I don't even mind the calluses now on my palms, because I loved crew.  I liked row more than swing dancing at my college, and for those of you who are consistent readers, I really enjoy swing dancing!

A secret was that I didn't think I would make it to be a Truman Finalist because the "government activities" section on my Truman application was blank.  Being that this scholarship is from the government, I assumed that meant I was out of the running.  I suppose I was wrong.  But back to my decision... because I made the decision to give up something that I loved, I made a promise to myself that I will put all of the hard work and determination that I dedicated to row practice every 6:30am- 8:30am and transfer that to my preparation for my Truman Interview.

I am still quite sad when I think that I walked away from row team, but I suppose it was the "smart" thing to do.  Being an adult sucks... I remember the times when I could fill up my activities to the brim because school work wasn't as time demanding.  But then again, without my education, none of these opportunities I'm swimming in right now would even be in my life.

... and that's a thought to ponder on.

Typing away with thoughts to ponder and papers to read,

Christine