A Deeper Meaning.

You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you. What a moving quote to think about during the Holiday season. The season of giving. 

Whether it may be having someone dig out your car for you after the massive snow storm, receiving a card in the mail from a distant friend, or just giving someone a call to wish them happy holidays; there's always chances to help someone. 

Every time the Christmas season comes around, there's always one story that comes to mind. Growing up, I fell in love with the holiday season..all of it! The hustling around, the bonding time with my family, over eating, Christmas movies, and let's be honest, the pretty awesome gifts from my parents. But as a 3rd grader, I was introduced to what the real meaning of the Holiday season was. 

Growing up with my mom as an Agriculture Education teacher, my family and I tend to get pretty close to her students that spend countless hours in her classroom. Quite honestly, some pretty crazy, funny, and very deep conversations have taken place in that classroom. Giving my mom a pretty good grasp on what peoples family backgrounds are like and where they come from. There was one student who stuck out to my mom. 

I remember my Mom coming home from school telling my Dad at the supper table that a student of her's had told her that he wasn't getting any present's for Christmas and all he asked for was a meal that didn't come from a school cafeteria. I chimed in with, "no presents? How could you get no presents on Christmas?!". My Dad looked at me and said, "not everyone is as fortunate as you are, Sarah. Sometimes people can't afford to buy presents for their kids, or sometimes their Mommy or Daddy's aren't there on Christmas". The thought of no presents under a Christmas tree was just as surprising to me as it was knowing there wasn't a real Santa Clause. 

Fast forward to Christmas Eve. As we were packing the car full of the freshly wrapped presents getting ready to go to my Grandmas for Christmas, I found my Mom wrapping one last present. A portable CD player equipped with a new CD, and headphones. We pulled into the local grocery store parking lot and my Mom, Dad, 2 brothers, and myself all got out of the car and wished the employees a Merry Christmas. As we saw this particular student towards the back of the store my parents headed towards him, and my brothers and I followed, carrying the neatly wrapped present. As my mom said, "okay kids, show him what we brought" an instant smile appeared. As he took the present and held it as if it was gold, he neatly unwrapped it..corner by corner. After the present was completely unwrapped, a tear fell from his face and he wrapped one arm around my Mom and one arm around my Dad and he said, "Thank you". As they pulled away I saw the wet cheeks of my Mom and Dad as they said, "we wanted you to unwrap a present this year, Merry Christmas". 

The hustling around, tons of Christmas cookies, bonding with my family, endless amounts of hot chocolate, and piles of Christmas presents under a tree are what I remember about the Holidays. But what this student remembers is a home cooked meal from his employer, and a portable CD player. Take time to spread the love this holiday season, you will never understand the power a small act will have on others. You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you..I'm so blessed to say my family has. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Make a difference.

-Sar. 

Real.

Time is flying, literally! The last time I posted something, it was during one of the hottest summers on record and now there's snow falling from the sky! My family is talking about Thanksgiving plans, and Christmas commercials are consuming the television. Crazy to think that there is only 20-ish days until the end of first semester!

Throughout my life I am blessed to say that I have some of the most amazing people in my life. One of them being an awesome friend: Mitchell Borkowski.
Ever since we were Freshmen ushering at the state fair, Mitchell has been someone I consider a close friend. With him being in Iowa City and me being in Ames he always makes it a point to stay in touch, with around 3 phone calls a week (at least). Our talks range anywhere from the stupid thing we just did, to advice, or the most amazing thing that just happened. His random phone calls through out the week are always a highlight to any day, and always tend to come at the perfect times. I'm not sure how, but Mitchell has the amazing ability to find out when I'm having the worst part of my day and turn it around in an instant.

In one of the most recent talks I had with Mitchell, I was sharing a story about work at the Ames Fareway the night before. Being one of the newest people that work at that store, I wanted to make a good impression meaning, 'calm, cool, and collected' 100% of the time. Making it so that I wasn't my typical goofy self. I shared with Mitchell that, on this particular night, I was somewhere along the lines of "...antsy, and I just didn't know what to do with myself! I was like running everywhere, and people were saying that I was funny!" Now, if you know anything about me, you know that I remember and take to heart the most random parts of conversations. But, I will never forget what Mitchell responded with. He said "Well I'm glad to hear that you were the real Sarah, and they loved it." 

Why do we often find ourselves hiding who we really are in a group of people, just so we can "make a good impression"? Just like me at Fareway, we wear different masks defining who we are based on the people we are with. When we are with our families and close friends we are one person, and when we are at class or at work we are another.

Confession time: I am a goof. Yep, I said it. I find the most ridiculous things hilarious, I snort when I laugh, I LOVE to dance, and me trying to be witty is a joke in itself. Ask my state FFA officer team from last year, if you turned on Sexy and I Know it by LMFAO you should be prepared to see a very unproductive Sarah for the next 3 minutes and 19 seconds. Forcing everyone to take a much needed dance break from the stress of our everyday lives.
I can promise you, that unless you have known me for quite sometime (or seen me on a lack of sleep), you would not know all of the things I just listed. Why?! Because I was too busy trying to make a good impression.

Stop and take a second. Think about how you act when you're with your closest friends, and then how you act without them. Are you the same person? Don't hide behind a mask to try and make people like you. Because, reality check: not everyone is judging you, and people love you.

Be the real you.

-Sar.

Purpose.

Last year as a state officer, I had the pleasure of working closely with 9 individuals. We spent late nights, early mornings, stressful situations, and amazing times together all while becoming a family. Each one of these amazing people have taught me something different, things that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. There is one persons lesson that has stuck very closely to me over the past few months...

For anyone who knows my friend Michael Mardesen, you would know that Michael does an amazing job at being himself and letting everyone know he was there. This kid can be awkward, quirky, a little out there, and crazy all at the same time. I mean, this kid puts gravy on his pizza, talks to his pigs like their people, bring his "Mem" (Mom) into any conversation, and drives 2 hours back to Griswold after we all go to sleep so no one knows he forgot his official dress. In fact, before our state officer team was elected, the other 8 of us confessed we thought Michael was a little on the weird side. (You would think so too if you saw a boy sitting in the corner of the room with his headphones in talking to no one in a group of 15 while everyone else was singing Garth Brooks.) It's safe to say Michael know's what he loves in life: agriculture (specifically livestock), his Mom, junk food, and talking.

It is for these reasons that I love Michael as a good friend and brother.

Michael has the amazing ability to know what he loves, and not let anyone change that for anything. No matter who laughs at him or how much people poke fun, Michael sticks by everything he believes in. I saw this first hand last year. Michael is a pre-vet major and as a state officer you tend to miss your fair share of class making it difficult to balance a difficult major and the time commitment of serving 12,500. While most of us were stressing about classes, Michael was doing everything in his power to be the best at what he loved. And if that meant only getting 2 hours of sleep every night, then that's what he would do, and during the whole journey he never forgot to put a smile on his face..or to help put one on people around him.

As April 25 came around and I retired from state office, I was caught somewhere in the whirlwind of change desperate to find the one thing to cling to: my purpose. I was all of a sudden scrambling to find who I am, what I believed in, and what it is the good Lord put me on this Earth to do. As I took an internship at the FFA Enrichment Center I began to wonder more and more what my purpose was. One thing has stuck with me, and will always be with me.

In the midst of one of Michael's and my conversations, he told me "No matter what you're doing, don't ever forget to add in your own 
-ness" . 


Meaning, don't ever lose touch with that one thing you have that no one else has...YOU! Michael does a fantastic job at adding in his own "Michael-ness" into anything and everything he does. Don't ever be ashamed to be you and to add in your own little touch. There's a song called I Was Here by Lady Antebellum and it states:

I wanna do something that matters

Say something different

Something that sets the whole world on it's ear

I wanna do something better

With the time I've been given

And I wanna try to touch a few hearts in this life

And leave nothing less than something that says

I was here

What are you going to do that leaves your mark? How are you going to add in your -ness?

-Sar.

Change.

After wanting to start a blog for quite sometime now, I figured there's no better time than today! It's funny how once things get a bit crazy, and life seems to be never slowing down..we always seem to forget about things we've always wanted to do. Such as, start a blog. 

The word "crazy" has been the headliner of my life for the past year and 4 months. After being elected the 2011-2012 Iowa FFA Secretary, things were on a continuous cycle of constant change. A girl coming from small town Iowa, the opportunities I have had the past 16 months have been nothing less than the word, change. School activities, family, friends, and work at the local Fareway consumed my life growing up in Northeast Iowa, giving me minimal reasons (outside of summer vacations) to leave my 50 mile radius stretching from Oelwein to Waterloo. So, when I thought driving the "back roads" to get to Waterloo was a bit on the scary side, it was nothing compared to 70 mph Interstate 35. Last summer, highway 20 and interstate 35 between Fairbank and Ankeny became my best friends, having the pleasure of driving them a minimum of once every week.

As my summer past, I realized the change of my atmosphere, the way I was thinking, what was now important to me, and dreams I never thought I had. No I'm not just talking about the number of miles I racked up on my 1999 Mercury Cougar, the amount of Facebook friend I magically have added, or the hours of sleep that I was now accustomed to; but noticing the way change had effected my everyday lifestyle.

I was now only a regular shopper of a Fareway store, visits to my friends and family were very few and far between, and I was a student at a community college instead of a high school in the middle of a corn field.

I've stated the obvious changes I have had over the past year, however, there's one more piece to the cycle. The most meaningful and important piece is the people I have meet on the adventure to where I am that have changed my life. Whether it was talking to an eighth grader, listening to them telling me their life ambitions, or hearing a senior tell me she wanted to become a teacher to hopefully have an impact on someone; like her teachers have done for her. Or stopping at a gas station in small town northwest Iowa, listening to a group of elderly men tell me about their childhood, it's easy to say I was moved. The determination and motivation these 3 individuals displayed to me, showed me that in even in the confusion and frustration...change is what keeps us going.

When sometimes we get caught in the whirlwind of change, there's one thing we can always cling to...our purpose.