Truman Prep | Weekend Before the Interview

I realized that I really have no pictures of myself simply smiling on my blog.  This picture came out nice, but  I usually dislike photos of me smiling with my teeth.   In an effort to confront what I view as my flaws and to make this more of the fashion lifestyle blog I see Beyoutiful Hope morphing into, I am going to post more photos of myself actually smiling. 

What do you not like about yourself? 

Challenge yourself to love it. :)

 Dress | c/o DresseStylist

Let me add on to the times I have done a photo shoot in the frigid weather for the sake of an environment fit for a fashion post.  This would make time two.  Intelligent? No. Worth It? As long as I don't get sick, definitely!  As stated in this post's title, it is the weekend before my Truman Interview.  Over the past 7 months I have been working on this 14 part application.  These past few months were intense, from competing withing my university to competing nationally, it has been a whirl wind.  I have the honor to be one of the select 200 national finalists to be considered for the scholarship, which is awarded to around 50 scholars.  This past month I have been preparing for the finalist interview which is going to be this Wednesday in NYC! 

The month of preparation for this interview not only forced me to learning about who I am, what I believe, and why I believe in what I believe in, but taught me to appreciate the person I am and see value in the things I do.  It is mind-blowing how much I grew this past month.  I learned much more about myself than I could imagine to be possible in one month.

"The biggest challenge of this process 

was not the dozens of tiring hours 

spent per week, but the appreciation 

for myself that I had to developed."

I see myself as an intermediator ...what I do needs to be done... I am someone who does the Lord's work in joy and love... but I have never really taken the time to fully appreciate myself.  My adviser kept reminding me, "You Are Worthy." Even though I always tell people  to appreciate and love themselves, so many times I focus so much on them that I forget to appreciate myself.  So lovely, lovely ladies and gents if I want you to take away  one thing from this post today it is to take a week to be selfish and think about who you are, what you believe and why you believe it.  I hope you can see that you are a child of the Lord and that you have value.  I also hope that you can realize that even if you have flaws and things that make you a human being, you are more that flaws... never forget that your value is in the life, love, and qualities you may or may not know about yourself which were given to you by God.  Don't compare your personal self to others.  You can't be them unless you somehow find a way to become them...which you can't. 

Discover what makes you wonderful!

Pertaining to my upcoming interview, please keep me in your prayers!  I have worked so many hours, more than you would think realistic, learning about the ins and outs of my application.  This scholarship will open doors for me to make a bigger, faster difference to help bring an end to human trafficking!  We need this to reach people in high places and gain support.  Tangential thought: I can't even believe I am practically an adult.  Time flies. I am old.  I feel so young, but looking down at the short, tiny, never-ending energy of my 9 year old cousin and am reminded that I am old.  Thus is life.  I am so glad to be blessed with a family, and education, and most importantly, God who pushes me to do His work and who opens doors for me so that I can further his kingdom...to the best of my ability.

Excited and joyfully ready for my Truman interview.

Christine