HEY FRIENDS!

Okay, here's the deal.

So you know that really short, last minute post from below that I was suppose to do for class?

Welllll, it was kind of the wrong assignment. Haha. STRUGGS.

It's okay though, because now I'm going to blog for reals about the real assignment topic, and *ideally* receive full credit because Sarah Rainey is a kind, understanding TA. (See what I did there, Sarah? Ok cool. Just checking-)

Alright, down. to. businessssssssss.

The REAL assignment for this week.

I'm going to inform you on-

What has influenced me.
Who has influenced me.
How my spheres of influence have fluctuated since I graduated from high school a short nine months ago.

Get ready for your mind to be blown.

Pre-college, big big big biiiig influence was the guys I grew up with in my church. Paul Nicholson, Eric Collingsworth, Zach Lawbaugh, Tyler Young, Matt Marshall, Matt Hunter, Ryan McAdams, to name the guys from my grade alone. These guys were the main group in my life for most of high school and we were very close as a group, therefore alot of our habits and mannerisms rubbed off on one another. So in short, my immediate circle of friends influenced me. Secondly, my directors throughout the years of theater, specifically Julie Tattershawl, Frank Gallagher, Christina Jenkins, and Troy Powell, four individuals that poured into me extensively in my time spent with them and, in different ways, left their mark on me and affected my growth as a person.

So there you have the Who's. Now that What's.

....Okay I'm blanking on my What's. BUT! There's reason for that. While there are (probably) "What" influences in my life, the predominant ones are always going to be the "Who" influences, simply because I'm a people oriented person. I mean, the UZoo test classified me as a Porpoise, 36/40. So, that should say it all right there. If you don't know what UZoo is bloggers, don't feel to down. You're just missing out on the coolest personality test OU offers evaaaaa'.

Alright, so the post-high school. Influences changed ALOT.

Well, scratch that, I changed ALOT haha. For the better, though! I've been very blessed to have grown and been given the opportunities I have had come to me over the past nine months, and the big influences are, once again, the WHOS- My big, Ryan Goodwin, and everyone else at the Wilson House, Lincoln Ferguson, Matt Curry, and JD Thomas (shout out to Connor Cox and Landon and Layne Ferguson who are there just as often as I am), my close friends from my pledge class, my sister Jessie Robertson who is a junior here at University of Oklahoma (and she bakes like a boss), along with Jessie's friends that I practically grew up with (AKA, The Sisterhood), Ranya Forgotson, the head of SFC and a woman who downright exudes energy in a way (and an AMOUNT) that's borderline inspirational, the house boys of Alpha Phi, the head pastor at Antioch (Who I've only heard like three times so far, buuuuut I kind of want him as a mentor now haha), and the list really, truly, does go ON AND ON.

Bottom line is this--- ALOT of people are pouring into me, and I've organized my life in such a way that the people I *know* are a positive, wholesome, and constructive influence on me are the people who get the most of my time.

And it's great. And I'm growing. Aaaaaaaand I love life.


Alright blogging community, I've got another paper to write, then it's work, Scandals, cell group, and bed by 12:30! (Wednesdays are my busiest day- therefore, Wednesdays are my favorite days) peace out blog kids!

-Nathan