2014 Reflections.. 2015 Resolutions!

The 31st of December is famous to countless, "New Year... New me!" posts, resolutions which sadly hardly ever last past the month of January, the easy resolutions such as "order more pizza", flipagrams and collages, and commercials advertising some killer gym membership deals. And yes, I too posted some "easy resolutions" and a photo collage. Perhaps this is not a bad thing, but a way to reflect on the memories from the past year and some goals for the new year.

Without looking at the past, it is hard to learn from the obstacles, relationships, challenges, and amazing moments which occurred. Without looking towards the future, we lose an opportunity to create goals which would better not just ourselves but those we surround ourselves with. So make the cheesy flipagrams and collages (personally I love them!), promise to order yourself more pizza deliveries (we only live once, right?), and make some resolutions (if anyone could stick to that goal, it would be you!)

For me, I love reflecting on my last semester of high school where I raised and showed my last goat as an FFA member, was crowned as Miss May Day, retired from my last FFA officer position, graduated from high school, and walked across the stage at Loftin Stadium. A whole lot of lasts happened during the first half of this year, but they are memories that will last a lifetime.

But this year was not just home to a bunch of lasts. A whole lot of firsts happened this second half of the year. From spending six weeks of my summer at Kansas State University, moving to Kansas, living on my own, meeting so many new people who have become really close friends, joining Sigma Alpha, being selected as a Student Governing Association Intern, and being slated the 2015 Ag Ed Club Public Relations Officer, there is so much to be proud of and reflect on.

It is these memories that remind us who we are, what we live for, and where we will devote our time and passions. It is also these memories which help us decide where we would like to improve within the next year. So I only find it fitting to post my top 5 resolutions for the new year as well:

1. Hear my alarm.
   1a. Wake up when the alarm goes off (my roommate will appreciate this one!)
   1b. Do not press snooze (consciously or subconsciously)
2. Continue to step out of my comfort zone, that is where the great stuff happens! (thank you to my K-State orientation leader for giving us that quote!)
3. Have coffee or hang out with someone I do not normally hang out with at least once a month... new friendships have so much to offer :)
4. Keep in touch with older friends... mail more letters, post happy birthdays, the occasional text or phone call. Old friends are important too!
5. Write 2-3 blog posts each month.

So post your resolutions and your reflections for everyone to see! Create, share, and encourage! Our resolutions do not have to turn into duds and our reflections hold some of our greatest memories.

Happy New Year!!! :)


Living a life of purple, passion, progress, and purpose,

Kaitlyn Alanis

Don't Blink...

Today I completed my very first semester at Kansas State University, and I am not quite sure how that is possible. These 15 weeks have flown by faster than what seems like just 15 days is supposed to. Although I guess I should not be too surprised, as the old saying does go something like, "Time flies when you are having fun!" I cannot remember the last time I had considered school "fun" before K-State, but I am so glad I can call it fun now!

This semester I have made the best friends I could have ever asked for, joined amazing organizations full of people with the same passions as I, lived halfway across the county experiencing a whole different way of life, took classes I am truly interested in, and was really truly happy the entire time. They say in college that you are going to meet people who walk though life the same way as you, and  I can confirm that this could not be more true. The friends I have made here are already people who you would think I have known forever, and for that I am truly blessed. We came from completely different backgrounds and states, but together we are one in the same.

Celebrated my 19th birthday with the "bestest"friends ever!

LOVE YOU ROSES!!!

My first winter in the Little Apple was not complete without carriage rides! :)

This month I was also installed as the 2015 Public Relations Coordinator for the Kansas State University Agricultural Education Club. I am so excited to be a part of this organization with a leadership role, and cannot wait to work with this team full of passionate AgEd majors!

AgEd Leadership Team 2015

And as if this month wasn't crazy enough, I also flew back home for a short 4 day trip back to Los Banos to serve as Miss May Day in our annual Christmas Parade! Serving as Miss May Day is such an honor, and I could not be more proud to participate in a parade near and dear to our communities heart. It was also so great to be reunited with family back home, and I am so excited to be able to spend a month back home now that I remember what it is like to live in complete craziness! ;)

      

 

After this crazy month, I came back to campus to finish off my finals. A couple exams, several papers, and a few projects made for a "fun" finish!


So yes, I guess you can say if I learned one thing this semester, and this month in particular, it would be to blink as little as possible... because you might just miss a life changing opportunity.


Living a life of purple, passion, progress, and purpose,

Kaitlyn Alanis 

My Great Big Purple K-State Family!

        When going through the admissions process at K-State, there were two factors that really stood out to me. The first, as I am sure you can guess, was the purple pride. From purple handwritten notes all the way to purple K-State luggage tags and postcards mailed to me, I was overwhelmed with purple (in a good way of course!). It wasn’t long before I too began to think purple, love purple, bleed purple, and look for every product possible in purple. In fact, even as I am typing this, I am using my laptop with a purple case, a purple keyboard cover, and a purple cord connecting to my phone to keep everything nice and charged. Purple has become a way of life for me, so much that anytime I post a picture related to K-State and purple I use the hashtag, “#mylifeinpurple”. So feel free to check those pictures out on Instagram, and purple can become your favorite color too! I also cannot fail to mention that I am now just about able to wash a full load of laundry with only purple clothes! And I don’t know about you, but I think that is pretty awesome if I do say so myself.

       But my decision to K-State was not just based on the color purple alone (I’m not that crazy, I promise!). One of the largest reasons I chose to make K-State my home was the K-State Family everyone talks about. And I am so happy to announce that this is just not a campaign to recruit students, but it is a real thing that I am so fortunate to be a part of. The K-State Family is truly remarkable. From the student section at sporting events, the agricultural students and faculty, the advisors, my friends, and everything else in between, I have truly felt like a member of a huuuuuge family where everyone treats each other like you are their very favorite cousin, or sister, or aunt, or really whatever member of the family you would like to be. 

        Need some help with homework? Someone is there to study with you. Can’t figure out how to work your air conditioner or heater in drastic Kansas weather? Yep, someone down the hall is more than willing to help you. Dehydrated at a football game and need water immediately or you are going to faint (yes, this happened to me.. not a fun experience by the way)? Someone is there to take you to a water fountain and make sure you are okay even though kick-off is about to start. And most recently… need a home for Thanksgiving break because you can’t fly back to California that week? Yep, you guessed it, the K-State Family and an amazing friend opened up her home and family to me! 

Lizzie (my friend and sorority sister who so generously allowed me to live with her for nine whole days in Missouri with her family), is by far a prime example of why I am so glad I made the move to K-State. Without even having to ask, she opened up her home and family to me so I would not have to stay in the dorms that week. The experience was truly one of a kind, and I am so grateful to have such an awesome friend who would allow me to spend break with her! From the road trip to and from K-State, baking cookies, two delicious Thanksgiving meals, The Grumpy Cat movie, shopping, and lots of hanging out in between, my fall break was everything I ever could have hoped for and more all thanks to an exceptional member of my great big purple K-State Family.
       K-State has been so much more than just school to me. K-State has become my other home, my second family, and my daily dose of purple! 

Cookie baking! Love homemade goods! 

Car rides 

Sigma Alpha love on Thanksgiving

Living a life of purple, passion, progress, and purpose,

Kaitlyn Alanis

The First Snowfall!

Being born and raised in California, it is a pretty rare occurrence to actually see some snow (or rain, cold weather, or winter for that matter), unless you live up north in the more mountainous areas. That being said, moving to Kansas was a pretty exciting adventure for several reasons, but I think one of my most favorite reasons was knowing I was going to be able to experience all four seasons in one year.

So far I have been able to experience a very humid summer with beautiful greenery surrounding Manhattan and the K-State campus, the leaves on our trees transition from green to the gorgeous colors of fall, and most recently and perhaps the most exciting... snow!

I have been fortunate enough to have seen snow before in California for weekend family trips up North, but I have personally never been able to see a snowfall. Anytime we took a trip to play in the snow it would all already be thick on the ground with no chance of snowfall. (Although I guess I should mention I have seen Disneyland's fake snowfall in front of the castle, and that was pretty magical too!)

But this Disneyland fake snow had nothing over the real stuff I experienced in Kansas! I honestly could not hold in my excitement when I looked out my dorm room window last Saturday morning and saw snow covering the cars in the parking lot and snow still falling from the sky. I was so excited I practically jumped down the ladder of my bed, which is way too tall by the way, just to get a closer look! "The first fall of snow is not only an event, it's a magical event."

My first snowfall was absolutely everything I hoped it to be and more, and I had to celebrate with a super-duper awesome snowball!

To really get into the holiday spirit and to embrace everything winter is beginning to offer, I treated Lizzie to her very first Starbuck's holiday drink ever (#whitegirlprobs, Lizzie!hahaha), and we enjoyed the cool winter weather with our red cups, great friendship, and the movie Frozen!

Unfortunately the snow did not last too long, but I know I should take advantage of this somewhat warmer weather before the weather is constantly below the freezing point with a freeeeeezing windchill factor. After all, I still have a whole winter ahead of me! 

Living a live of purple, passion, progress, [the four seasons], and purpose,

Kaitlyn Alanis

Purpose, A Self Realization.

"The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose." This quote perfectly describes my attitude towards life, and being as busy as I have been lately, there is no greater feeling than realizing the life I am living has been a life of purpose. A purpose to serve, a purpose to advocate, a purpose to teach, a purpose to love, and a purpose to lead. And this purpose is fulfilled with sisterhood, friendships, and family. I have recently come to realize life becomes so much more purposeful and meaningful when you are not just worried about building a resume, but rather building to become a better person, who in turn helps build a better school, community, and life through serving what you are passionate about.

Serving as a SGA (Student Governing Association) intern has been a position filled with purpose. As an intern we have a purpose to serve on committees, write and present legislation, and speak up and debate at senate meetings to help make K-State even greater for the students and faculty. In early October, I had the opportunity to write and read my first piece of legislation to the senate. This legislation was through the College Allocations Committee, and we were proposing to allocate money to the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), which would allow them to travel to a Oil Show which helps promote learning not just inside the classroom, but outside as well. This was passed, and I was so proud to have been even just a small factor in helping these SPE students gain even more experience throughout their college career.

Reading my legislation to the senate

I am also a Housing & Leadership Scholarship Recipient (HLS), and have had opportunities to meet with my other HLS members. Together, we have a purpose of leading and influencing in a positive way on campus, while all holding at least one leadership position within our residence halls.

HLS Recipients on "Top of the World" Hill

In addition, as part of the K-State Agricultural Education Club as well as by being an AgEd major, I have a purpose of promoting agricultural literacy and supporting agricultural education organizations such as FFA, 4-H, and research & extension projects. Just this week I was able to attend two Kansas FFA Leadership Schools (which is where they host their opening/closing ceremonies or ritual contests, parliamentary procedure contests, as well as their FFA information tests), where myself and a few other AgEd majors were recruiting potential students to be "tAGgED to teach ag!" This is a very rewarding experience for me, as we are in a desperate need for more agricultural education instructors to "fill the boots", and FFA members have so much potential to do so. Educating my communities about agricultural education is a purpose I hold very near and dear to my heart.

Throughout Sigma Alpha I have been able to make so many new friends, and now sisters, who hold the same passion for agriculture such as myself. We all hold a purpose to support and promote agricultural literacy, and our national platform is Ag. in the Classroom.

      

Sigma Alpha Activation!

         "Only the best have the heart of the bull."

             

                   Sigma Alpha Sisters and my AgEd family
             at Sigma Alpha Family Day.

                             

These two lovely ladies were first my hall mates,
then my friends, and now my sisters.
Could not have been more blessed! 

College of Ag Barn Dance with my sisters! 

Big&Little love! So fortunate to have Alicia as my big,
 she was one of the first AgEd majors I met,
and a strong reason I rushed Sigma Alpha! :)

         

       Sigma Alpha sisters at the pumpkin patch!

I am so blessed to have so many opportunities at K-State to live a life of purpose, and cannot imagine living my life any other way. Throughout these first few months of college I have been challenged by limiting the amount of organizations I get involved with due to time constraints, but in doing so I have discovered my true passions, and how I create my life of purpose. What is your purpose?


Living a life of purple, passion, progress, and purpose,

Kaitlyn Alanis

Purple! (All thanks to national blue and corn gold)

*Note: As I am slightly over a month behind, I will be breaking up October's blog posts into different categories :)

At the end of October, I had the opportunity to attend the National FFA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky with the K-State Agricultural Education Club. As part of going with the AgEd Club, we were there to recruit and talk to students who have interest in attending Kansas State University after high school.

First day of recruiting for K-State with the AgEd Club

Talking to potential future K-State students was such an awesome experience to have, as it was not too long ago I was a potential student trying to get all the information possible from K-State. It was very rewarding to begin to witness everything turn full circle, and I once again could not have been more proud of my decision to join the KSU Family, and I loved being able to share my experience with current FFA members.

We love Willie and the K-State Family!

One of my favorite aspects of K-State when I was deciding on a college to attend was the personal, handwritten notes I had received from current students. To me, this proved that the K-State Family everyone talks about isn't just a campaign to get students here, but that everyone really does care for you. So after convention, I truly enjoyed having the opportunity to write postcards to FFA members which I had talked to throughout convention, as this allowed me to express how much I enjoyed meeting with all those students, and to realize once again how it is thanks to my FFA journey that led me to my K-State journey.

I also cannot forget to mention some of the other perks about attending National FFA Convention, such as that this convention is very similar to a family reunion for me. From catching up with Washington Leadership Conference friends and roommates from almost two years ago, to other FFA friends from back home in California, all the way to one of my old chapter advisors and members from back home in Los Banos, I could not express my excitement to see all these people who made such large impacts on my life.

                                     

                                                       

  

               








All in all, the week of National FFA Convention is always a trip of a lifetime, and I could not be more grateful to have had the opportunity to travel to convention several times throughout my FFA, and now K-State journey. The people I meet, the memories made, and the experiences had could not be traded for anything.


Living a life of purple, passion, progress, and purpose,

Kaitlyn Alanis

Passionately busy!

These last twelve days have been absolutely crazy! From being involved in seven different and very busy organizations, taking 15 credit hours, having a great amount of friends who I love to have a social life with, and all the extras that come along with college, I can definitely say I am busier than I ever would have imagined... and to think I once thought I was super busy in high school! I came across this picture on Facebook the other day, and I honestly could not agree more.

I had my first big round of tests two weeks ago, where I had three exams and a quiz scheduled in the same week. After a lot of studying and a whole lot of complaining later, I am proud to say the results turned out great and my grades are being maintained well. 

I promise there are not always birds over my head when I am studying ;)

One of the most exciting events to happen this last week was officially being sworn into the K-State Student Governing Association as a Student Intern. Out of 103 applicants, 25 of us were selected to represent the SGA as interns, and we are all so excited to see where this year can take us. Outside of all our intern and senate meetings, we also had the opportunity to attend the K-State Ropes Challenge Course, which I highly recommend! This was a great way to have some fun while bonding with our new intern family. As an intern, I also got to work at a voting booth in the student union, and it was so exciting to see people register to vote for the first time! 

Sworn in as a student intern

K-State Challenge Course with interns

We want you to register to vote!

Sigma Alpha is also going great, and I love getting to know all my new sisters! We only have three more weeks until we are officially considered active members and find out who our "Bigs" will be! I could not be more excited for that. During the last two weeks I have received surprise gifts from my mystery Big, and that has only made me even more excited to find out who she is! 

Oh, and now that it is October, I am LOVING fall in Kansas! The weather is cooling down, the humidity has dropped, and my ultimate favorite, the leaves are changing colors! Here is a picture as proof. It is so amazing to be able to watch the slow transition from summer to fall. 

And lastly, here are a few pictures of fun I have had with some friends during the last two weeks. I am so grateful for these friends and memories, as it definitely helps keep me sane during all the craziness of being super active and busy.

K-State UPC brought Laser tag to the student union! Totally worth the 90 minute wait :)

How cool is this man made out of Starbucks gift cards?! 

5 mile hike at the beautiful Konza Prairie! :)

Partial piece of the old Konza Prairie Homestead

All in all, I am loving everything and anything about my time at K-State! The opportunities are endless, the people are family, and the purple is contagious. I could not ask for much more than that. 

Living a life of purple, passion, progress, and purpose,

Kaitlyn Alanis

Progress... The 38 Day Catch-Up!

Making progress is not an easy task when you are 38 days behind. So lesson learned, and I will try to make this blog a weekly update. But if I am late or skip a week, just remember the 5th "P" I mentioned earlier. ;)

To start this catch-up off, I'd like to share a couple memories from the dreaded dorm room move in day. A day where we imagine to have hundreds of people trying to move into one place with limited time, space, and energy. However, this thankfully failed to be true! A lot of my dorm didn't move in the same day as me, so I had a great advantage there(no fighting for luggage carts, we had a close parking spot, and ample amounts of time!) *thank you Karma!* This made the move-in process really easy, and to make it even better, I live on the second floor, so there were no long flights of stairs to climb... just an added bonus! :)  So needless to say, I have some very fond memories of move in day, and I did not at all expect that to happen. This made for a happy Kaitlyn. 

And to think... there was still more stuff in the car!

Just a glimpse of my new room!

Then came Sorority Recruitment Week(which is the reason I moved to campus one week early). Sorority Recruitment Week is something I will never forgot. The days were long, hot, and humid! Something I was definitely not used too. And I could not quite find a sorority which I felt would be best for me. There were some great girls I met, with lots of great qualities, but I wasn't really finding the fit for me. I went through with the process, but I actually found out greek Panhellenic sororities were not for me, so I did not join a sorority after all. At first I felt like I wasted a week of my summer by moving in early to end up not even joining a sorority, but now I wouldn't change that week for anything! If I did not attend rush week, I'd still be living in wonder if I should have gave it a shot. I'd also never have met some of the great people who I met during that week, and I think I learned a lot more about myself during that one week than I had in a long time. A lot of Progress and self-Purpose realizations came through that week, and it led me to focus more on the Passions which led me to this life of Purple. 

MAPS Reunion at Sorority Recruitment Week

And that is what led me to consider Sigma Alpha, which is a professional agricultural society. Sigma Alpha is not a Panhellenic sorority, so they do not go through the formal fall recruitment week. Instead, they held their recruitment slightly later in the semester. I realized I came to K-State because of my Passion for agriculture, so I felt like Sigma Alpha might be the right fit. I had also met with some really great Sigma Alpha girls who I was truly able to relate and connect with. This led me to go through recruitment week and interviews, and I am so proud to say I am now a Sigma Alpha(sister in agriculture)! Although this is only my second week with Sigma Alpha, I am so glad I am going to be able to share this Passion for agriculture with my new sisters here in Purple. 

My Sigma Alpha bid! :)

Our 1st Sigma Alpha Ceremony 

The football games have definitely made K-State super exciting! Our first home game was against SFA, and we won 55-16! For our second home game, we got to rival Auburn, which let me tell you, was probably one of the most exciting events I have ever been to! Although we lost, the stadium was so alive and electric! There truly is nothing like it, and it was at this game where I really felt apart of the K-State Family. 

I have truly been enjoying my academics at K-State as well. This semester I am taking Intro to AgEd, Intro to Human Development, Cultural Anthropology, Intro to Leadership Concepts, Expository Writing, and Principles of Animal Science. My schedule has a great mix of general ed, agriculture, and teaching classes, so I find it very enjoyable! And the professors here truly care about the success of their students, and I really love that. 

I think this picture accurately describes my excitement for my classes ;)

To sum up this post, all of these college experiences wouldn't be worthwhile if I did not have a great group of friends here by my side. I am fortunate to have met some really great people in such a short amount of time in Kansas, and they have made my life in Purple 100x better! :)

Until next time!

Living a life of purple, passion, progress, and purpose,

Kaitlyn Alanis