Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Personal Goals of a Personal Trainer...

     So I made the decision last summer to go to Liberty, but still had no idea what I wanted to major in. I have always had a passion for sports and knew that I couldn't do something behind a desk, but I wasn't sure where that left me.
     As of late, however, I have developed a real passion for fitness. I am paranoid about keeping up with exercise and am very fascinated by the biology of it all. I looked into several different careers involving such things in order to try and find a goal before I started down a path. Physical Therapy and Athletic training were always options, but tended to be more of the rehabilitation aspect of physical wellness. Personal Training, however, interested me much more. I get to spend time doing and learning about what I love, but also have a rewarding career helping others achieve their personal goals. It is a career that utilizes a lot of my skills as a person, and is something that I believe I was made to do.
     As many of you know, I have decided to enter into Liberty's "Exercise Science" program to earn my Bachelor's.
     Howwwwwever. Many of you might not know that I recently started towards my ISSA (International Sports Science Association) personal trainer certification. What this means is that once I finish my program and get my certification, I will be qualified to work at almost any gym, country club, spa, etc. As a personal trainer.
     I believe this will provide me with several very important things. Connections in the industry, a good part-time job to help keep me afloat through college, and valuable work experience in the field that I hope to eventually end up in.
     So, if all goes as planned, in four years I will have my bachelor's degree in exercise science, i'll be graduating with several years of work experience, and hopefully will be on my way towards opening up my own gym someday. I really appreciate all of the support that I receive on a consistent basis from all of you guys and really couldn't imagine taking this journey without you. Thanks so much!
Godbless

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Olan Rogers Trip.

     So, the choice for what to write about first was not a hard one. About 2 years ago, my good friend Luke showed me this guy on youtube who he thought was quite funny. His name is Olan Rogers. Olan made video blogs sharing stories about his life and also some pretty funny shorts for youtube. So I subscribed to him and have been a huge fan ever since. One of Olan's biggest fears is being on stage and performing in front of people. This would clearly limit his career in the future and he wanted to do something about it.
   
Olan's Youtube Channel
 
  About a month ago he posted a video updating us on his life. (He just moved away from home and has a lot of stuff going on) And at the end of the video he mentioned that he was going on tour. He was really nervous about it, but wanted to meet all of his fans and finally get over his stage fright. Naturally, I looked at the tour locations to see if he was coming to a virginia venue. He was not, BUT, his first show was in Charlotte which is only 6 hours away. I called Luke and we decided to make it happen.
     After a tiny bit of yard work to raise some gas money ;) we were off. We left home home at 11 am and the show started at 7. This was the longest drive I had ever taken but I was excited to have a friend come along with me. We were having a good time. The music was pumpin, we were jammin, and the memories were flowin. After a couple hours of "singing" we began to settle down. As I previously stated, it was nice to have someone else in the car. I had someone to talk to and laugh with. I was in the middle of telling Luke about my favorite childhood memory when I looked over at him and saw this....



     ...okay, so maybe I wasn't in the middle of a story, regardless, the next 2 hours were filled with silence as we kept on truckin through the POURING RAIN!
     When Luke woke up, we were only about 30 min. out. We hadn't eaten yet and decided to get some Chick-fil-a. So I used our GPS "Kurt" to find the nearest one. It took us a while to find it because Kurt got really confused and had no idea where we were. We finally got our food and headed towards the Fillmore. Once again, Kurt got lost and ended up bringing us to a set of abandoned railroad tracks. We had no idea what to do so we asked a woman standing outside of the nearest building where the Fillmore was. She said she gets that question all the time and all GPS's lead people to this spot.
     So finally we arrived. Almost 2 hour early, but we were there.
     The show was great, Olan was very funny and the rest of the acts were pretty good too. Though they didn't really matter to us as much. After the show, the time had come to MEET Olan Rogers. We weren't sure exactly what to say or how to act. We just asked him a few questions and got the latest information on the videos he is working on. He then signed our shirts and took a picture with us.
     ...But we didn't stop there. We decided to ask Olan to do "Danger Legs"with us (<---Link explaining what danger legs is exactly)  Danger legs is his signature dance. He agreed, and we became the first people *on record* to publicly "Danger leg" with Olan Rogers. The following is a link to said event.  Our danger legs
     But Olan was not the only youtube celebrity on the tour. We also got pictures with Mitchell Davis from LiveLavaLive and Nanalew/Meekakitty.


...So yeah, the trip was awesome and TOTALLY WORTH IT. The drive back started at about 9:30 pm and we arrived home around 3:15am. It was filled with HOURS of freestyle rapping, Kurt taking us through random ghost towns that were pretty creepy, scary stories that are only scary at 1 am, and of course...taco bell.
     It was basically the most fun I think i've ever had and was the first time I have ever lost my voice from laughing so much. I did not know that was possible.
    Sorry this post was so long, I just wanted to make sure I included everything and gave you guys the whole story so that I don't have to tell it OVER AND OVER in person. Hope you enjoyed.
Godbless.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Introduction.

     I totally forgot about this blog and had abandoned it for so long that I didn't even remember the password. So, I have decided to kind of start off with a new series. It will be tracking my college life. This will include all kinds of things. You will read about my personal stories, thoughts, realizations, decisions, milestones, aspirations, and developments. I thought this might be better than random posts on Facebook and would be more documented and organized. 
    Before I start posting these life tales, I should probably give some of you a little background...
     I am currently a Freshman in college. My plan through high school was always to go to James Madison University with my sisters. I wasn't sure why that was my plan, I only knew that everyone seemed to like it there and that I probably would too. 
     Several times in my high school career I felt like maybe I should attend a christian college. More specifically, Liberty University (most likely because of my circle of influence). But I would always push these ideas away because I didn't want to spend my college years following a bunch of rules and sitting through countless sermons. College is the time in your life where you figure out who you want to be as a person and finally get the freedom to make your own choices and why would anyone was to limit that freedom by attending a University that put restrictions on those opportunities?
     As I began the application process, I decided that I was going to show God that I knew what was best and only apply to JMU, GMU, and ODU. Thankfully, God closed the JMU door through my own lack of effort in school. I was not accepted into JMU and didn't really want to go anywhere else. 
     Towards the end of last summer, I finally gave into what I thought God's plan for me. To go to Liberty. I realized that what I wanted to DO with my life was serve the LORD. The only rules that Liberty has are rules that would help me develop a better relationship with him. However, it was too late to apply for the fall semester so I enrolled in TCC. Little did I know, In making me wait an extra year, God was protecting me from myself and setting me up for success instead of failure. I have had to use this year to learn how to study, how to take initiative, and how to handle college life in general. I believe if I would have gone to any 4 year university right off the bat, I probably would have either failed, or been very close to it. 
     So here I am, in my second semester at TCC. I have already been accepted into Liberty for transfer next fall. I plan to enter into their Exercise Science program and become some sort of Personal Trainer.


     I can't wait for what the future holds, and am excited to share it with you all. 


Godbless.    (^^^PHOTOSHOP^^^) haha