Thankful

As the last 20 minutes of Thanksgiving day unfold, I have had a lot of time to reflect on what I am thankful for. 

 I can't just make one blog post that covers everything I'm thankful for (that's impossible), but I will share a couple things from the past few months.

 1. Family. I am so incredibly blessed with my family for many different reasons. I have a great relationship with my parents (and brother) and wouldn't trade it for the world. Coming home from college is never an "ugh, wow my parents" but instead many happy tears and laughter. I would be no where without my family and I am forever grateful for them.
Move in day
Playing football earlier today

2. Drury. I mean I talk about Drury a lot but it is seriously the best college ever. Every day campus becomes more and more like home. I am surrounded by people who love life, love what they're studying, and love what they are doing. Drury as a university, and as a campus, will always be something I am thankful for. 
My first tour of Drury during my junior year. My mom forced me to visit because I thought I would hate it, but the minute I stepped on campus I knew it was the right place.
3. Kappa Delta. I am forever thankful for Kappa Delta. Without Kappa Delta I wouldn't have met some of the most sincere, loving, inspiring, and dedicated women. I wouldn't have met some of my closest friends: those who go get Hurts Donuts with you after chapter meeting, go to the computer lab to do homework with you, or come over to your room to just let you vent. The women of Kappa Delta have positively changed my life in so many ways. I cannot thank them enough for everything they've done in my life. I love my sorority more than words can ever begin to describe.
This is the first time I've seen this picture in a while, oh my goodness, look at us. This was when we first got our bids. 
Fam is perfect
4. Writing. A weird thing to be thankful for, considering most people think of writing papers or doing homework assignments. That's not the case with this. I am thankful for the ability to write, for an education that taught me the basic fundamentals of reading, writing, etc. 

Writing connects me to people through so many platforms. One of the biggest platforms I have is social media: this blog, Twitter, Facebook. All of those use my writing ability to share what I want to say. 

My writing also applies to my work on the newspaper, where my purpose is to inform or educate. I research a story, talk to people in the community so that they can share their thoughts/feelings/opinions, and report it.

Writing is something that is very personal to me, too. I have so many different journals that document my life. From a young age I have always kept some form of a journal to narrate how life was going, to vent, or to just be creative. Now that I'm older I have specific journals dedicated to specific things. One is just a daily life update/share what I'm thinking journal, one is more devotion focuses/Bible-reflection focused, and one is a daily Q&A journal. Writing is extremely therapeutic to me. Somedays I don't know how to physically explain to someone what I want to say, but I can write it out. Writing is something I will always be thankful for because it provides me with so much relief and it helps me accomplish so many different things.

5. Amazing People. I have some of the best friends in the world. In the past it's been really hard for me to open up to people, but since coming to college that has really changed. At first it was still a bit difficult to just go up to people and start talking, but now a lot of my closest friendships have come from doing just that. It's surreal to me because I feel like I've known these people forever when in fact it's really only been 3 weeks (for some, and others I have known since the beginning of the school year). The people I have met at Drury have really shaped my experience and I am so thankful for them. 
Me, Oliver, Brayden
Angel and I (Angel is in Kappa Delta but this is a cute picture of us and we're friends so it still fits here)
So those are just a few of the things I'm thankful for. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will try to post again soon.

Until next time,
Taylor xx
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Wow Another Election Post

It's only two days after the Presidential Election and everyone is seemingly swamped with political posts on their Facebook, Twitter, etc.

 While I could make this entire post about what I believe, I don't think that would be helpful. Social media is currently over saturated with everything political. I have read so many Facebook posts, so many Facebook comments, that have either accurately explained how I feel or are the polar opposite of what I feel. I personally don't want to post this and have a debate in the comment section (there's enough of that already), but I know that by doing so, I am opening myself up to just that.

 Today I want to talk about moving forward. There is nothing we can do to change the results of the election. I have to respect the outcome.

 One of the strongest values I hold in my life is respect. I have learned that it is much harder, almost impossible, to respect people that do not respect you back. I believe that if we as a nation can work to respect each other entirely, we can make great progress in moving forward. It should not matter where you are on the political spectrum, what your sexual orientation is, or what your religious views are, every person deserves respect. As I sit on social media and scroll through post after post of people spewing hate at each other for their beliefs (on both sides) I am saddened, we all need more love in our lives. We need the love for each other that comes from respecting our differences.

 To those of you who wanted a different outcome-- don't sit by the wayside, stay politically active, stand up for what you believe. You can make a difference. While this can be a fearful time, this is also a time of great potential and opportunity.

 My friend and sorority sister, Anissa Wiant, said it best: "What you shouldn't do is spread hatred. Be respectful of those around you and their beliefs. If you are upset about the outcome of the election, be upset about the election results until you're done. But don't say you hate the person sitting next to you because they chose to support him. That's their own decision. And if you are happy about this election, good! You are allowed to be happy, and you should be! But please don't be insensitive to the people who aren't. This is a situation that needs consideration of feelings, and it goes both ways... We are a nation that was meant to be united... We are known as a strong nation filled with people who are passionate and a nation that gets things done."

 With all of that being said, I hope everyone can take a deep breath. Recenter, refocus on today and go out and do something that makes a positive change in your community.

 Until next time,
Taylor xx

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The Mirror

I loved newspaper in high school-- a lot. If you followed my blog throughout my junior and senior years of high school you know that I talked about newspaper all of the time. I still talk about it in college because it was such a large part of my life. Any time I get a Snapchat or text from one of my newspaper friends it makes my day. I'm constantly "go-go-go", but those moments where I can stop and think back to newspaper are always much appreciated.

Going into college I didn't want to write for The Mirror (Drury's student newspaper), I didn't think I could handle it. In high school we published one newspaper a month, in college it is once a week, which made me nervous. I visited the booth at the student activities fair and thought about getting involved in the future, but not right away. 

That all changed when my big's roommate (Payton), who is a copy editor for the paper, let me know that the newspaper was hiring for a staff writer. The rest is history-- I've been on the newspaper staff since mid-September.

Bless the quote wall, the only piece of Timberland I miss. I wish I had a full photo of all of our quotes 
Joining a college level publication has been a great experience so far and will continue to provide me with great opportunities. Being a staff writer pushes me a little outside of my comfort zone. I have to go out and talk with people one-on-one. It has really helped me, though. I've talked to people I never would have had the chance to talk to without the newspaper. I also get to learn a lot about the people on Drury's campus. Finally, I get to continue with my passion of writing for a publication and grow my journalistic skills.


While nothing can replace my high school journalism experience, I am so thankful I have gotten connected to journalism on Drury's campus as well. 


To all of my high school newspaper friends, I love and miss you all dearly. I hope you're enjoying your post-high school experiences, whether it be college or work. To the Drury Mirror, thanks for taking on a freshman staff writer and believing in me. I am so thankful for this opportunity.

Until next time,
Taylor xx

PS: I know I use the same newspaper photos a lot... It's fine...
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