Hello bloggers! Guess what?
Within 48 hours, I will be shopping, carefree, at the Oklahoma City Outlet malls. I won't be wondering about whether I'll make it back in time for my next meeting, or if Professor Chavez will be doing a pop quiz tomorrow. Within 48 hours, I will be in Summer Season, 2012.
However, that doesn't mean I turn into a Jason Mraz look alike and lazily strum the ukelele all day long- though I have been dying to pick it back up.
This Summer will be arguably busier than this semester.
As I've been writing this blog, and really, since I began the Spring semester of my freshman year, there has been an incredibly powerful drive that has God has put in my life. I've become ambitious. I mean, to an extent, I've always had that character trait, but this semester I've become really, REALLY ambitious. This is where my "plan for the future" (combination of futuristic thinking and strategic planning as noted in earlier blogs!) mindset has come into play. I've essentially booked my summer so that I will be constantly earning, constantly learning, constantly going, never slowing.
NOW, before you call me a BUZZ-KILL-
I'm still planning on swimming, tanning, going to the movie theaters for no reason, hanging out with friends so we can do silly things, and pleeeeeenty of other exciting things. I may be ambitious, but I'm young. So I'm going to live that up. YOU SHOULD TOO.
However, there is a clock ticking.
Four years. As college undergraduates, we have four (okay, some of us FIVE) years to accrue the personal development, professional development, internships, network, skills, confidence, passion, direction, and life experiences we need to successfully launch ourselves into a world where millions of people in our graduating class alone nationwide will be entering the job market.
It's a fight.
Say what you will about the economy, it's the fact that more and more undergraduates are becoming better and better at being professionally minded. They're getting the competitive GPA. They're become the President's of their student organizations. They're hunting down internships with ABC, NBC, Facebook, all of your major players. Graduating with honors. Community service on the side. As upcoming young adults, more and more students are understanding that they have to FIGHT to get the dream job, or even the entry level job, because they are not only competing with other college graduates, but with fully grown adults who have ten, fifteen years of professional experience on their resume.
So, what's a happy go lucky undergraduate to do?
MAKE USE OF YOUR BREAKS. (Emphasis noted?)
It starts with the passion, the call on your life, and that is something that is between you and God and is CRUCIAL to discern before you make any decisions. But once you know what God has called you to do, God has given pretty clear instructions-
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." - 1 Corinthians 9:24 (Note: This verse is only really applicable in this context if the plan you are running to fulfill is a God ordained one.)
I'm giving up my "do nothing and relax" time this summer to stay active in my pursuit of excellence. I'm studying for my classes in the fall. I'm working three jobs, two of which are internships. I'm going to maintain volunteer relations with United Way hopefully, because those kids are just so adorable (shout out to my main man Sydney!) I also might be leading a very simplified bible study for first and second graders, which is VERY exciting and SLIGHTLY terrifying haha. I'm going to maintain an active search for opportunities to be a brand ambassador, and I'm going to be spending the rest of my time working on Rush for my fraternity.
And yeah, at the end of the day, I'm going to be EXHAUSTED. But I firmly believe what I am doing is playing into to an eternal plan God has already laid out.
After all, he called me to OU with reason.
This Summer Season, I plan to stay active in the further pursuit of personal and professional development for the glorification of the Lord and his plans- Jeremiah 29:11.
Stay active, Sooners. Regardless of your beliefs, you only have four years.
#makethemostofit #CarpeDiem
#liveintentionally #loveeachmoment
