I love this country

Today was a great day in Virginia.  In the morning my dad and I ventured to Sweet Briar to take a look of where I will be living for awhile. The dorm is nothing special, but I will be in good company. 

After spending about four hours on campus we returned back to Lynchburg and explored what was here in the city.  The neatest thing that we discovered was actually a  furniture company. The story behind the owner, Thomas Johnson, is that he is a small craftsman originally from Ghana Africa. When he was giving us a tour of his workshop he kept on mentioning how much he loves this country. I had no idea how in-depth he was going to go into it, but for about thirty minutes he talked about all the opportunity America has and that we really have to treasure our country and the dream that the founding fathers had for all of us. 

He even went into depth about his own opinions about our current American government and all the changes that have been occurring over the past couple of months.  I don't really want to talk about politics that much, but a couple of things that he said really stood out to me.  He said that in order to keep this country great we have to remember the American dream.  We can not be so dependent on the government to provide for us, we need to provide for ourselves.  I think that a lot of his view points really have to do with him coming from Africa.  He knows where hard work and determination can get him and he does not want to be given anything... he wants to work for it! The whole time that he was talking, I was just in amazement. I know that he is in the minority, being a black man and a republican, but it just really made me think about all the opportunities that I have been given and his words of wisdom will make me work even harder in my new career!

Lots to think about, 

Kat    

Lynchburg Virginia

After a long day of driving I am in Lynchburg Virginia for the night. Lynchburg is about 10 miles from Sweet Briar where I will be for the next four to five weeks. Tomorrow my dad and I plan on venturing around the town and surrounding areas and then going to Sweet Briar.  

One of the coolest things that we discovered in Lynchburg so far is the hotel that we are staying in Lynchburg. The Craddock Terry Hotel was once one of the most successful shoe companies in the country.  The grandson of the original owner turned the old shoe factory into an historic hotel. It is listed in many different historical hotel books and has a great atmosphere. With my love of history and old building basically I am in seventh heaven. I will post some pictures tomorrow. Everyone should check out their website!!!

Til next post, 

Kat

The boat (the name of my car) is all packed up and ready to go!

I know that I said that my next post was going to be from Virginia, but I thought that I would do a quick one this morning. I finally got all my bags packed and planning on leaving in about an hour. Its about an eight hour drive to Sweet Briar. Just going to take my time and enjoy my last couple of days before starting my job Monday. 

Updates to come... possibly from the car

Kat

All my bags are packed... well not really!

So tomorrow marks the first of my two big moves.  Bright and early tomorrow morning my dad and I are leaving to travel to Virginia. As part of my new job as a tennis instructor for Van Der Meer I am heading to Sweet Briar College for four or five weeks.  There I will be able to work with a variety of different groups and ages. The funny part about going to Sweet Briar is that I am moving back into a college dorm room. Just when I thought that my college days were over I get to go back to dorm life. Fortunately, after Virginia I will be in Hilton Head were I get to live in a amazing condo, three blocks away from the beach, and free of charge. Because of that, I think that I can survive college life for just a little longer. 

Next blog will be written in Virgina!

Kat

A New Beginning

I was inspired by some of the work that I had done at Wittenberg to create a blog writing about my new adventures for my friends and family. I think that blogging is a great tool not only to keep people informed about what I'm doing, but it's also a lot of fun. 

Next week truly starts my new adventures after graduating from Wittenberg one week ago. I have been home in Indiana busy sorting and packing all of the things that I collected over the last four years. It has been a little stressful, but fun at the same time. Looking at little scraps of paper and other memories that I thought were going to be important after college have been sorted and some even thrown away. The good news is that I was able to take a lot of my old clothes and other fairly new items and donate them to this charity in my small town called Lord's Locker. It is a great charity where families can come in a shop for free! They can find a variety of items ranging from clothes, shoes, toys, just to name a few! With my goal of always trying to help others, it makes me happy to donate items that I do not need or use anymore. 

If anyone reading this blog does not know, I will be starting my new job June 1st. I was hired by the Van Der Meer Tennis Academy as a youth tennis instructor and also working in the management and communication office. It is an amazing opportunity for not only my first job, but also gives me the opportunity to grow and get promoted in the future. In about a week I will be traveling to Virginia to Sweet Briar College to start my new adventure. I will be there until around the middle of July then moving down to Hilton Head, South Carolina. There I will be able to use my passion and love for tennis and merged it with a job in communication. Even though I was a little skeptical at first, it is an amazing opportunity and I feel very blessed! How many new college graduates can say that they are moving to somewhere cool like Hilton Head!

My new adventures are only beginning and I hope that everyone finds this blog interesting and exciting. Plus I want people to know where I am and what I am doing because I want to have lots of visitors. 

Until next time,

Kat