Appreciation

I have been so busy this last week and I'm only getting busier until the end of March.  Last week was a great week.  Full of activities, reaching goals, getting exciting news and getting to go home and see my family.  One thing that kept reoccurring in my head was the word appreciation.

I feel I am always thankful for the things I have in my life but I don't really take the time to appreciate everything.  I know you are probably thinking that being thankful and being appreciative are the same things.  Well, in a sense they are but to me they mean something a little different.  Being thankful is so easy to do.  People get in a routine of always saying thank you for things that happen or come there way.  But being appreciative is actually thinking about what you are saying thank you for.

Last week, I had the opportunity to interview to become a College of Human Science Ambassador and I got the position! :) I was so excited because it is something I'm so passionate about.  I get to tell other students how great and awesome my college is and how no other college on campus can surpass mine because it is so amazing.  Also last week, I found out I have the opportunity to apply for the California Study Tour.  The name alone sounds fun, right?  Well let me tell you a little more.  The California Study Tour is a "class" in my major that allows 15 students to travel to Napa Valley, CA with the head of our department, general manager at the hotel I work at and meet wine makers, famous chefs, visit vineyards, and learn more and more about food and beverage in the most exquisite places in the United States!  It is normally only open to seniors but they didn't have enough interview so they proceeded to open it up to juniors and I was so excited to apply.  The reason I was so excited because I won't have another opportunity because I'm hoping by May next year I will have a job lined up for after graduation.  This trip takes place in May right after final exams so it counts as a summer credit hour.  Anyways,  I don't know when I'll hear back from them but I'm hoping soon.

This weekend, I was able to finally go home and see my parents/family.  I've been so busy with school and work on the weekends I haven't had time to escape and just enough the company of family.  I take my parents for granted.  They are way too great to me and give me everything I could ever hope and dream for.  Being home made me appreciate everything my parents have given me in life.  Without them I wouldn't be living this amazing life I have right now.  Without them I could never have put myself out there enough to try out for things, train for a half-marathon, and be the person I am today.  They have been such a great example for me growing up and even more so today.  As a high schooler, I never would have said these words, I was out to prove my parents wrong.  And like my Papa always said "One day you'll realize how smart your parents really are."  The older I get the more I realize how smart, driven, amazing, and special they are to me.  I hope I can make them proud by being half the parents they are to my siblings and me.

In conclusion,  I became so appreciative of all the opportunities I have in my life that I don't want to waste a single second of my life being mad at someone who means something to me, not taking full advantage of every opportunity open to me, and not being completely myself.  I always strive for the best in myself but I am just living life to the fullest right now and not taking anything for granted.

Stay appreciative,

Kayla