“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” –Socrates

I believe that nowadays we focus so much on the past that we close of possibilities for the future. Instead of accepting that what has happened is already done and over with, our generation relies on asking questions such as “what if.” This quote is another one of my favorites because I believe that this is something people should go by to live a happy life.

Relationships are a huge example I can relate this quote to. Although two people may “break up” those break ups can last for years. Unfortunately, after spending so much of your time with someone, it is hard to completely break everything you once had with him or her off completely. However, think about how much energy you waste arguing, crying, and reminiscing about past moments you had with one another. These are all examples of energy working negatively to make you even more upset about the whole situation. Why fight about something that is already far into the past?

The word “building” in this quote is among the most powerful, in my opinion. That’s what life and change has to do with, being able to build yourself up for the next step in life. Dwelling on something that happened yesterday, that you can no longer change is only tearing down what you’re supposed to be building up. Each one of us has different ways of coping with situations; they will never all be the same. However, I think that if we all took a moment to relate this quote into our lives, we would all have a much more positive outcome.

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“The joy is in the journey.” –Unknown

This quote has a lot of meaning to me. As I mentioned in previous blogs, my family moved to Connecticut. I take this move as a journey, one that I will always remember. I also realized, just recently, that a journey could mean anything. It could mean a vacation, a move, or even a simple walk with friends. In the end, I have also learned that a journey has much more value then simply making it to the destination.

Just recently, I have had the opportunity to meet the most amazing people. Meeting these people just helped make my journey through Penn State that much better. I find that everything happens for a reason, and that I didn’t meet any of these people by accident.

When getting a job at Metro downtown, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if the girls would like me, or if I would fit in well. Turns out, the girls  I work with are always the ones I call when I need something. They are all much older than me, some have graduated and some are going through grad school right now. Because of this, they have transportation resources and advice I couldn’t give myself. I really don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have these girls by my side.

In one of my classes, I met someone on the cheerleading team. I cheered basically my whole life but stopped for an injury. Because I met this person, however, I started going to gymnastics and getting back into the swing of cheerleading. It brought so many happy memories back for me. I learned that I don’t need to be competitive in something that I love, I can simply practice and have fun with it.

I see Penn State as a journey, graduating is the destination. This quote is so short, but holds so much meaning. I can’t believe the people I’ve met here so far and the opportunities I have had. This journey is going to be one I remember and one that’ll be far more joyful then leaving.

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“A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on it’s own wings. Always believe in yourself” – Unknown

I really liked this quote for multiple reasons. First of all, I feel like it is a quote that I don’t usually use. Usually, my quotes are famous and have been heard frequently. This one in particular was one that I found my mother post on her Facebook. Since it’s her birthday today, March 27th, I thought that it would be a good idea to use a quote that she really likes.

I had to read this quote a few times to understand all of the hidden meanings behind it. The first meaning I took from it was to have trust in people. This part was displayed through the line “a bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking.” After reading more, I realized that this quote also meant that you have to not only trust others, but also trust yourself. This was displayed in the part that read, “because her trust is not on the branch but on it’s own wings.” The last part of the quote, “always believe in yourself” ties all three of these meanings together. I really liked that there was three parts to this that I noticed personally. I feel that a good quote always has more than one message, without being too length. I think that if everyone would trust others, themselves, and have faith in their own abilities then much more would be conquered to make this world a positive place.

I can easily understand why my mother posted this quote to Facebook and made it her cover photo. She always tells my little sisters and I that we should never back down, and always have trust in one another and ourselves. This is one of the many things I’ve learned from my mom, and I hold it close and remember it whenever I have any kind of doubt.

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“When you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.” –Unknown

I believe that this quote is one that everyone can easily relate to. We’ve all wanted something in our lives that we had to go above and beyond to achieve.  Sometimes, going above and beyond to achieve this means to do something we’ve never done.

Before cheerleading tryouts in my new high school in Connecticut, I remember hearing nothing but good things about the team. They were extremely talented, and had two amazing coaches. Being new to the high school, all I wanted to do was find a place where I could find a group of friends that loved what I loved doing. When I went to tryouts and saw all of the talent, I immediately felt pressure.  It weighed on my shoulders the first day, until I realized that to get the coaches attention I had to do something I had never done. Soon enough, I was doing gymnastics and passes that I have never done before. Something somewhere inside of me told me that I could do what I thought I never really could. After those few days, the coaches were more than impressed. I made the varsity team and also met my best friends.

I don’t think it’s easy to tell yourself to do more, and to be brave doing something you have never done before. I didn’t even know I had it in me, until I was at that tryout and realized what truly mattered to me. Sometimes we have to step outside of our comfort zones, or we won’t be able to explore anything new. I believe that if everyone had the mindset to do what they’ve never done, they’d be able to follow their dreams that they never thought would be possible.

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“Someone else is happy with less than what you have” –Unknown

In this day in age, I feel like our society has been consumed with technology. I constantly go to dinner and see people texting, playing on iPads/iPhones. It’s a shame that this has become such a huge part of the culture we live in. The worst part about it is, we have grown up around it and therefore it doesn’t even seem like a problem to most of us this age.

I really liked this quote because I feel like people think that material things can buy them the happiness they are looking for. It also reminded me of the movie “The Pursuit of Happiness” with Will Smith. For those of you that have not seen the movie, it is based on a true story of a man named Christopher Gardner. This man invested in something called the “Bone Density Scanner” and he believes that it will sell. Unfortunately, he invests his family’s savings into this and it is unsuccessful. With his life leaving him, and his house being evicted, he finds that him and his son are at times living on the streets. All they have is one another, as this man gets a job as a stockbroker and is determined to get by through this and through his hope. I believe this movie correlates with this quote because they had nothing. All the man had been his son but soon he found something else, and that was hope. The hope that this man held onto led him to being happy, even though they really had nothing.

I appreciate this quote personally; because I don’t believe anyone should be anything short of happy. Even if they don’t have everything that they want, I believe it is important for people to see that they may have all they need. I think that if more people thought about this quote, maybe the world wouldn’t be so materialistic as it is right now.

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“One day we will dance in celebration. Until then, we dance for a cure.”

After last weeks post alluding to THON weekend, I figured that it would only be right to make this post regard how inspirational this event truly was. The theme of THON was “redefining the possibilities.” Just like the name, Penn State was able to raise $13,343,517.33 all for the kids! Hearing this number was unbelievable, especially after hearing the families speak during family hour.

The quote that I chose was my favorite one.  After standing for thirty-eight hours, I cannot begin to explain how delirious and tired I had felt. There had been times where I wanted to sit down, but I just couldn’t. Although the pain was becoming unbearable, I simply remembered why I was standing. I also had my closest friends by my side, which I literally danced the whole night of Saturday away with.

I never understood what the big deal of the “final four” hours of THON were all about. I heard that there was a fun band, and that there would be family hour. If only I knew what family hour entailed exactly, I may have been more mentally prepared. You really don’t know what you’re going to experience until you get to THON and experience it. Hearing the stories of the families who have either had to fight with their children through cancer treatments, or who had lost their children made the aching in my legs go away. For the last fours, I forgot how tired I had been. I became inspired, and at that exact moment, I found every last bit of energy I had in me to jump and dance.

THON was hands down one of the best experiences of my life. Not only did the last four hours make me stronger, but also it changed the way I perceive many things now. Next year, I am looking forward to canning twice as long and raising as much money as I possibly can. It is all for the kids, and I couldn’t be more proud to be apart of a University that does something as amazing as this.

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When you’re at THON (the hospital) all people tell you is “keep moving” (“get better soon”). The pain from your feet (from cancer) is so difficult to bare. But some things help alleviate it, like ice baths (chemo) or massages (radiation). You get tons of dancer mail(letters, balloons, flowers, and prayers) from all the people you know and love and it helps you smile again and gives you a little more energy to keep going (keep fighting the cancer). When you’re at THON they give you tons of food but I never really ate too much(chemo makes it difficult to enjoy the same food and there is are only a few things you can bare to eat). You do the line dance (get check ups and treatments) every hour to help you stay awake. -Anonymous

Although this is not the normal quote I choose to comment on every week, it is a part of a letter a girl I knew wrote about THON. As we all may now, THON is this weekend. I’ve never been to THON, but I heard that it is the most amazing experience that you can have as a Penn State student. My organization has us go very early in the morning, before THON officially starts, to ensure that we have all of the space we need to have us all together while supporting the dancers who stand for 46 hours straight.

Being a psychology major, I’ve always looked more into things. That’s why I believed that the part I’ve selected from what this girl wrote was a great way to explain what dancing for 46 hours truly represented. It never occurred to me that each little thing we do, such as raising money, being supportive, barely sleeping/eating all related to what a child/anyone has to go through when they had cancer. This truly fascinated and inspired me. I am now even more excited to stand for as long as I can for the kids this weekend.

The first part of the letter, mentioning THON being a hospital is extremely accurate. Not only are there many people there, all alert and ready to contribute, there are people there who each have a story. Whether it’s a story about having cancer, fighting cancer, or knowing someone who is fighting cancer everyone can relate somehow. I feel like the opportunity to experience such a great 46-hour weekend cannot come around very often. It is amazing to know that being a Penn State student we first handedly get to experience such a phenomenal thing. I hope that each and everyone of you have the time to come by and experience this!

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“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” –Unknown

This quote is one of my favorite quotes, ever. I believe that each point in this quote, that contributes to a “beautiful person” are each valuable in shaping that particular person. Beautiful people don’t just happen. You can’t simply wake up one morning and be a beautiful person.

Defeat presents itself to me, as learning that there are some things you can’t control. Sometimes you aren’t going to get that job, or have a good day. Defeat teaches us all that there is some things you simply can’t control, but that is what life is about. Learning about these uncontrollable situations and how to grow from them. We all have to suffer. Without suffering, we wouldn’t know what it was like to thrive. Struggling is part of everyone’s life at times. Whether you struggle to receive a good grade, or struggle to go to the gym everyday. There are both simple and complicated struggles, but either one counts. Each one of us has lost something/someone. Whether it is someone close to your heart, a pet, or even an object that meant a lot to you. Losing something is not controllable at times, and sometimes we learn that the hard way. As long as we learn it, however, I believe that it is valuable.

Through experiencing these types of depths, we have all presented ourselves with the opportunity to become a beautiful person. Each of these experiences teaches us a lesson. Sometimes the lesson doesn’t present itself as clearly as we would want it to. But in the end, it doesn’t matter how it presents itself. I believe that each of us have a chance to become a beautiful person, each and every one of us. Whether we are rich, poor, or middle class. This quote made me realize that we all hit bumps in the road, but these bumps make us the beautiful people we all aspire to be.

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“If you put everything you have into something that isn’t really there, you close yourself off to future possibilities.” –Unknown

This quote is extremely relevant to my life right now. Sometimes, you put so much effort into something until you finally realize that this isn’t there. Whether it is a person or a new sport, this quote can relate to many situations.

First semester, I felt myself putting a lot of time and effort into something that wasn’t there. I learned that I wasn’t happy anymore. I felt that my friends were experiencing things that I never got the chance to, all because I thought that all of this time and effort I was giving would have a positive outcome. We are all hopeful that after a while, something that you put so much time into will turn out to be completely worth it. I mean, what else would you expect? You spend hours that turn into days that eventually turn into months and you think all of this time you have spent will be worth it. However, things aren’t always what they seem to be.

My aunt introduced this quote to me in the beginning of this new semester. I immediately started living by it, and kept repeating it to myself every time I considered spending more time on something that wasn’t there. Although it has only been a few weeks, I feel that the experiences I have made with the amazing people I have been surrounding myself with have made me a happier and overall better person. It was hard, however, letting go of something I’ve spent so long trying to hold onto.

As the hours and days pass here, I have opened myself up to future possibilities. I have not let a single day go by that I haven’t stepped outside of my comfort zone and met others doing the same. Although it may be a while, until I find something/someone I can put my all into again, I will continue to let endless future possibilities sink in.

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“The scariest thing about distance, is that you don’t know whether they’ll miss you or forget you” -Unknown

This quote is relevant to how I currently feel. I’m from Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. It is extremely hard for me to be three hours away from my family. They are my rock, the only people that keep me calm during times that I just feel like I need to break down. Not only are my mother and father a huge support system for me, but I have four little sisters at home who give me the courage a lot of the time to stay strong even at my weakest points.

I know, however, that I’m not afraid that they will forget about me with distance. The bond we hold as a family is too strong for any amount of mileage to break. What scares me, is knowing that I graduated in a class of over 300 people and that there could be a chance that all of those friendships are left out to be forgotten. It is scary to think that being in the same homeroom, school district and classes as people in my district for twelve years can simply change when it is time to graduate. If you think about it, it’s strange that the person that was always in the same class as you but you never really talked to outside of class, will never be there for you to talk to again. It is also strange to think that the people you see in the hallways and pass all the time, you will never really pass again.

I was so ready to leave high school. So ready to begin my journey away from these people I’ve been with for so many years. Never did I think, sitting in class one day, I would realize that the person I barely talked to outside of class wasn’t sitting across from me. The hallways here are too cluttered to even recognize the same person on the same day. I guess I just believed that distance would be a good thing. I wanted to forget about my hometown, high school and other memories. However, walking through this big campus really made me think, nothing will ever be the same again.

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