Becoming a Big

Hello dear readers! About two months ago, I had come to the decision I wanted to become a Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters. I had never really considered the idea until my cousin mentioned how much her friend loved being a Big. Why this had never occurred to me, I don't know. But it was almost like a light switch had gone off. If I was a cartoon character, a nifty little light bulb would have appeared over my head. I just felt it in my gut that this was what I needed to do. The number one thing on my bucket list has been to make a difference in someone's life, particularly a young girl. Working with adolescent or pre-adolescent girls is what I've wanted to do with my Women's Studies minor. This could be it; this could be my calling.

As many of you know, I've done quite a bit of volunteering for the Y in the last two years. I love it fundraising for the Strong Kids Campaign, and GNO has made a tremendous impact in my life. As much as I love working with the GNO girls, though, I was starting to feel like I wanted something more. I wanted to have a more one-on-one experience, or be able to directly impact someone's life. I decided that this could potentially be the perfect opportunity for me.

At the beginning of the year, I made a vow that this year I was going to stop "talking about it" and start "being about it." Becoming a Big was my first stop in the Be About It journey. I knew that if I didn't jump on this desire right away, I would put it on the back burner, never do anything about it, and feel lousy. I looked up BBBS online, gave it less than a week's thought, and called the Green Bay office. I went in for an orientation meeting, and two weeks later, I had an interview set up.

I knew the interview would be pretty intense since it was for the responsibility of taking care of a child, but holy shit. It. Was. Insane. I think it's fair to say it was the most intense interview I've ever had, far more so than any job interview I've been on. It was super intimidating, and by the end, my nerves were shot. The questions were far more difficult than I ever could have anticipated, and were pretty loaded.

After three agonizing weeks, I got a call that not only was I accepted, but they had found me a Little right away! The enrollment specialist at BBBS told me a little about her, and I couldn't have been more excited to me her. She's an only child who is adopted and has been struggling emotionally, particularly with being adopted. I personally don't have any experience with adoptions, but my parents divorced when I was in middle school. I struggled with it a lot and eventually went to counseling. I hoped with my past of questioning parents and my position in the family that I might be a good resource for her or might be at least a little relatable. I accepted the position and antsily waited another week or so to meet her.

Last week we were officially matched. The "match" is mostly paperwork. A lot of paperwork. It was actually kind of dull, but absolutely necessary. The enrollment specialist went over the organization's rules, guidelines and policies and Little, her parents and I signed a rain forest worth of documents. After we had signed our names so many times I was fairly certain I had just signed my life away, Little and I got to hang out for the first time. I took her to experience Smart Cow yogurt bar for the first time and she loved it. Naturally, as any other nine year old would, she dumped in so many sugar-coated toppings that she couldn't come close to finishing her portion.

Before meeting her, I was told my Little was a little on the shy and quiet side. I was fully prepared for her to not talk to me at all, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much she engaged in conversation. She answered all of my questions and even initiated a few of her own. I had quickly started to learn about her and she is pretty damn awesome from what I can tell so far. She doesn't like Bieber, but does love P!nk (one of my all-time favorites), hates swimming (samesies) and likes Monsters, Inc and Despicable Me. She's self-proclaimed obsessed with horses, loves bike riding and Social Studies and hates Math. I know next to nothing about horses, but I'm excited that it will give her something to teach me. All in all, we're pretty much a match made in Big Sister heaven.

Oh, The Places You'll Go

I have a pretty extensive bucket list; there's a lot of things I want to do with my life. There are so many things I want to accomplish, things I want to eat and so many places I want to visit. Since so many of my life plans revolve around travel, I figured I'd make a list of all the places I want to visit.

In no particular order:

• Hawaii (again)
• Mexico
• New York City (again)
• Seneca Falls, New York
• Vegas
• Austin, Texas (because I would love to visit Texas, and my roomie will likely be moving there)
• San Francisco
• Florida, possibly
• anywhere in the South that will help me complete my second Civil Rights Pilgrimage
• Seattle
• Ireland (because Man Friend wants to go after tracing his lineage and I would love to be a part of his discoveries)
• Much more of Europe: France, Italy, Spain, England, Mediterranean Islands
• Boston
• Maine (specifically during Lobster season/festivals)
• Memphis (again, and during the spring or summer this time)
• Sparta, Tennessee (to visit my mom)

Hmm, looks like I better start saving now.

My Before 30 Bucket List

Lately, I've been struggling a lot with the idea of what it means to be successful. Mainly because I don't feel remotely successful at all. I always thought that after graduation, two years to be exact, I'd be so much farther along in life than I am. Still being in a dead-end temp job with no leads in the job search, I feel like I have so much catching up to do, even though I'm not quite 24.

My roommate and I have this discussion a lot, mostly because we're both in the same boat. Neither one of us are where we want to be/where we thought we'd be at this point in our lives. These pity parties for two then develop into the "I'm scared to turn 25 and/or 30" conversation. I've come to the conclusion that the people who have the issue with hitting those dreaded numbers are always the people like us, worried about where their life is headed and why it's not headed there fast enough.

So I've come up with a Bucket List for myself of things I want to accomplish by the time I'm 30. Something to hold myself accountable for not falling into any more of a slump. In no particular order:

• Have at least 1, preferably 2, fiction pieces published
• Work for a non-profit
• Visit my mom in TN as much as possible
• Take at least one big vacation
• Visit at least 6 restaurants in my Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives book (one a year)
• Visit my family out on the East Coast
• Have at least 1,000 views on each blog, or whatever blog I'm working on
• Get married
• Put a significant dent in my student loans