This weekend was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. A new experience that I couldn’t have imagined to be as amazing as it was. 46 hours that left me completely in my bag (this is Downingtown “slang” for in my feels/ emotional if you haven’t heard this before)–in the best way possible.

This weekend was Penn State Club Cross Country’s Miles for Smiles. The Penn State Club XC team’s efforts in raising money for THON have reached an entirely new level with this event.

So here’s how the weekend went. We hosted a 46 hour treadmill marathon, where someone was running on a treadmill in West Commons at all times, even at the late hours of 3am! Each hour had a theme, such as “The Best of The Office” or “Karaoke” or even “Guac Power Hour” where teammates did a demonstration of preparing guacamole–and then we got to eat it!

Now this sounds like fun and all…but why exactly did we do this?

FOR THE KIDS!

If you look closely, some of us are sporting FTK face paint!

Why else?

In order to participate in Miles for Smiles (and by participate I mean run–because some teammates didn’t run but still came to cheer everyone on), you had to get three sponsors who would donate to Club XC Benefiting THON. Because after all, this was a fundraiser for THON!

As soon as the information about this event came out, I was so quick to contact family and friends and gather sponsors. I knew it was something I truly wanted to experience.

The early stages of the Mao circle.

The weekend started off with a ton of cheering, music (FToK of course!) and lots of smiles. 6pm was the kickoff, and by 11pm, many teammates started to go home. But my friends and I knew that we wanted the full experience, so we found a deck of cards and thanks to a sophomore teammate, we learned a new game called Mao. “It’s like Uno” was how the game was explained to me. But trust me, it is nothing like Uno. This game consumed the next 4 and a half hours. It was so fun to hang out with people that I wasn’t necessarily great friends with–such a bonding experience. It wasn’t until 3:30am that my friends and I decided to finally go home to get a teeny bit of sleep.

Day two. I spent 14 hours at Miles for Smiles. 14! That is more than I slept the entire weekend. The day started off with cheering runners on as usual, and continued with Mao. For probably 5 hours. Until dinner time. And then we had dinner, played Club XC trivia, and rounded out another hour with karaoke.

Karaoke was probably one of the highlights of the weekend. My closest friends and I decided to sing Mr. Brightside by The Killers, and we decided to invite the entire freshman class up to the stage to sing with us.

Two mics. At least 15 freshmen guys and girls. Screaming. Sweating. Dancing. Living in the moment.

Everyone was clapping and cheering and laughing; it really was something.

Then it was my time to run. A half an hour on the treadmill. Shins screaming with pain, feet pounding the hard surface, just a few minutes longer. 30 minutes and 3.5 miles later, I was done. And although it was wildly painful, it was so worth it. I run for the kids, so that one day they can run their own race! 

We hung out for a little longer, and then decided to go home to rest up for the big day–the day we find out how much money we raised FTK!

The last hour of Miles For Smiles consisted of nothing but standing around, singing classic songs like Don’t Stop Believing and Piano Man, while our former president and future THON dancer ran at a 4 minute mile pace.

10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…FTK!!!!!!!!

We did it! 46 hours, 76 runners, and 394.21 miles later. It was now time for the big reveal.

Everyone was on the edge of their seats, anxiously waiting. And what we saw was more amazing than anyone could have imagined.

$30,464.67 ALL FTK!

We raised nearly double what we had done at 2017’s Miles for Smiles. I have the chills as I’m sitting here writing this. The atmosphere went from energized and vivacious, to suddenly quiet, as tears of happiness hit the floor.

People embracing left and right, more tears, laughs, and smiles.

This weekend was about so many things, and to wrap it all into one, it was about being together as a family. Family isn’t blood, and home isn’t a place. I’ve never felt more at home and part of a family than I do with Penn State Club Cross Country.

What we did this weekend was absolutely incredible. Every day, I look at the photos and videos and smile, thinking about how the miles we ran this weekend will go towards kids growing up and one day experiencing the love and home that Penn State Club XC has to offer. 

This week’s “try one new thing” was something a bit more abstract. Rather than trying a new food, or a new restaurant, or reading a new book, I decided to try a “new” way to destress and relax. And by new, I mean giving an old habit a second chance…let me explain.

Here at Penn State, I work in the ceramics studio, which is located on the ground floor of the HUB. Many people don’t even know that it exists, let alone where it is. Tucked in a corner of the HUB, the ceramics studio is the absolute perfect place to take a break from studying and just let your creative side shine.

I spent a good majority of my high school career in the ceramics studio, countless hours passed as I kept working on piece after piece. It was always the best part of my day when I could spend time in the studio working on something that I truly loved so much. When I found out that Penn State had a “leisurely” art department and a ceramics studio, I knew that I wanted to be a part of it.

Ever since I can remember, I have always had passion for creative activities. When I was little, I loved making jewelry–something that I actually have the opportunity to teach others to do here at Penn State. This semester, I will be teaching a jewelry class to Penn State students and faculty. I’m really excited about this for a couple reasons. One being that I just love art and I love being able to share it with others. Two being that as I am considering pursuing a career in teaching, this is going to be a great way to get a taste of what it’s like to teach a class full of people something that I consider myself an expert on.

Here they are–two lil’ pots that I plan on turning into planters!

Anyways, this week, I headed to the ceramics studio where I found the pieces of pottery that I threw at the start of last semester. When classes started to overwhelm me and my workload got to be too much, I had to put creative outlets on the back burner. Rather than destressing by channeling my creative side, I would destress by watching a show on Netflix. What a bummer. So while I was watching episodes of Jim and Dwight shenanigans, these pieces sat on a shelf in the studio, collecting dust.

This week however, I decided to take a break from everything and rekindle my creative passion! I sat diligently glazing these already bisque fired pieces and I started to think about the end result–two beautifully glazed pots that soon will be ready for use! The ceramics studio has a very great selection of glazes that are very earthy and give off just the vibe that I was looking for!

Here are the tiles of glazes!

When I created these pots in the fall, I had every intention of turning them into planters for cacti. And now I’m so excited that I gave my creative passion a second chance so I can see this become a reality.

Here are the pots, glazed and ready to be fired!

So although this week’s episode of trying something new is actually something old, I think that giving it a second chance counts as it being new. Giving things a second chance allows you to see a new perspective–and it reminds you just how much you love what you do. With college being as crazy and busy as it is, it is really really easy to lose sight of things that you’re passionate about and things that make you happy. You start to just focus on the things that are required of you, rather than doing things for yourself.

All I have to say is this–if we all could give something we were once passionate about a second chance, chances are that passion would instantly resurface, making you wonder why you ever stopped doing what you love in the first place.

Alright, welcome back fellas! In last week’s blog, I told you that I was going to try one new thing every week. That being said, last week’s new thing was a skiing trip for the weekend, so after a long waited week, you have a lot to catch up on! I’m just going to give a play by play from the weekend because let me tell you, it was really something else.

So it’s Friday, the highly anticipated day of the week! Classes are over, and all I had left to do was pack my bags. However, a weather update started to take over and attempt to destroy weekend plans. The alert flashed, “Extremely dangerous driving conditions…” Lovely. What a promising start to the weekend.

I get a call from my friend Aidan who is doing all the driving for the weekend, and he seems to be fazed by the weather. For a brief moment, I thought that our plans were going to be called off. After much contemplating, it was decided that this was a “Full Send” type of moment, meaning that we were still going!

So we pile in to “the man van,” as we called Aidan’s minivan for the weekend, and the weather was absolutely terrifying. Fog covered the entire sky, almost like an omen that our weekend was not going to fare well. However, with a classic collection of jams, the ride flew by and before we knew it, we were at Washington, PA–the our destination!

Spa night

We were greeted by Stephen and his dog, while it started to snow. Things were looking good! We all piled into the house and set up our things, followed by a dinner full of laughs. It was Spa Night–we all (even the three boys) did facemasks–and let me tell you, what an experience. I’ve never heard three boys complain about their face hurting so much before.

Morning comes and we are heading into Pittsburgh, which is a bit of a convoluted process. We drive 20 minutes to a T station, and then hop on the T and wait for the stop at Station Square, where we rode the Monongahela Incline. It was very interesting because it almost felt like a trolley that we were riding, but it basically was a train–which, why don’t people from Pittsburgh just call it the train? Philly people are rather curious!!

View from the Incline

Another new experience for the day (aside from the T), was riding in an Uber for the first time. We had some bad luck with our first Uber that we called–as in he didn’t show up. But we got another one which took us to the Oakland side of Pittsburgh, where we took a stroll through Schenley Park, admired the beauty of Saint Paul Cathedral, and ended our time in Oakland visiting the iconic Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus.

Cathedral outlook at the 35th floor

We rounded out the day with ice skating at PPG Place, which was really beautiful. Penn’s Landing surely has some competition. We hopped on the T and went home, preparing ourselves for the next day–the day I finally attempt to ski.

I literally could not have been more unprepared or unaware of what was to come at Seven Springs. An hour and a half long car ride kept me on the edge of my seat, and as soon as we got there, the process ensued. Rentals took forever, Hannah couldn’t figure out how to get ski boots on, snow pants didn’t fit–these are just a few struggles we encountered along the way.

Hannah and I once we started to get the hang of things!

Once that horrible process of suiting up was done, we were ready to hit the slopes. All eight of us trek out to the snow and clip in to our skis and I’m just thinking, “What on Earth did I get myself into?” I attempt to walk but it doesn’t work. I just slide in the snow, and wipeout. Things are already off to a fabulous start.

All but two of us knew how to ski, so Hannah and I felt bad that we were holding everyone back, but everyone was so willing to help us learn, it was really awesome. Patience was unreal, as we spent a good amount of time learning how to do simple actions on the bunny hill. But once Hannah and I got the hang of things, we decided to move up and take on a Green hill.

We all boarded the ski lift and I was pretty nervous, but once I got off the ski lift and attempted this hill, I started to realize how fun skiing was. Even when I wiped out over and over again. There’s something satisfying about persevering and then finally succeeding, even if it takes you seven hours to accomplish going down a Green hill and not falling.

So this weekend was surely full of many firsts. Which I think is awesome, to think that I have a group of friends that want to do spontaneous things together and are willing to try new things together. It’s really great, and I feel beyond lucky, and I’m sure if you watch this video I made you’ll know exactly why I feel the way I do.

Definitely time well spent with my family!

What a nice break we had, spending time with our families,celebrating holidays, and ringing in the New Year! Ah, January 1. You know what that means. It’s New Year’s resolution time. A tradition that has roots dating back to the Babylonian era. I’m talking about the classic resolutions–hit the gym, study more, cut down on carbs, eat healthier, hydrate more, and the list goes on. Although all of those resolutions are surely ways to make my life better, I really wanted to figure out a resolution that would push me to go outside my comfort zone and do something different every once in a while, or more so, every week!

I was racking my brain trying to think of something I am truly passionate about that I could use as a jumping off point for my blog this semester. Everything that I consider myself to be passionate about was expressed in my last blog. But then I thought to myself, rather than focusing on one of my concrete passions, I thought about taking a more intangible route.

And then it hit me. New Year’s Resolution: to try one new thing every week, whether that be a new food, or a new coffeeshop downtown, or reading a new book, or picking up a new skill or hobby.

I drew inspiration for this idea after reading, hearing, and seeing a plethora of New Year’s resolutions posted everywhere. Most of them were aimed at becoming a better person, which I’m all for, however, I wanted to do something a bit more adventurous. Rather than creating a blog highlighting each and every one of my resolutions, I wanted to pick a single resolution that would encompass many aspects of my life, allowing me to grow as a person!

Sounds cliche, trust me I know. But, I really think that establishing such a broad resolution really allows you to adventure in all aspects of your life! Not only does it allow you to have crazy cool adventures that bring about the most amazing stories, but trying new things helps you to overcome fears and figure out who you really are as a person. Those are just a few of the benefits that trying new things brings into a person’s life.

And with trying new things, you can find out what you’re truly interested in. It allows you to have an open mind and you are more prone to stepping outside your comfort zone, which is definitely what I’m trying to do.

Fun, but would not recommend to a friend!

So here I am, week one of the semester, and the only new thing I have tried is the most disgusting jelly beans known to mankind (if you’ve played Beanboozled you know exactly what I’m talking about). Let me tell you, would not recommend to a friend. But that’s just fine, the year is very young and I already have plans to do something new this weekend that mostly scares me to death.

This weekend I am taking a skiing trip to Pittsburgh with my closest friends from Penn State. I have never skied in my life. I can barely ice skate, so I think this is shaping up to be quite the weekend. I’m definitely scared, but my resolution is keeping me in check. Beyond that, I’m excited for the experience, because I know that it’s going to make for so many stories, both good and bad. And I think that that’s what resolutions are really good for–creating stories that you otherwise may have not had, had you not put yourself out there in the first place.

That being said, I’m really excited for this year and this resolution to take shape! 2018 I’m coming for ya!

Make sure to check back next week for an update on my skiing adventures coming up this weekend!