Life Lessons I Have Learned From Being An Adult (For Two Weeks)

As some of you may know, I just recently became a "legal" adult in the United States. There are many things I have learned in my short time of adulthood.

1) You will get hurt....a lot.
        I mean, obviously. You get hurt a lot as a child/adolescent/teenager. However, on my birthday, I managed to stub my toe, get a paper cut, and scrape my ankle on concrete (Yes, this is a sad attempt at being funny. Pity laugh if you have to for my sake).

2) Sometimes you will hurt other people.
        Again, on my birthday, I accidentally ruined the end of How I Met Your Mother to a friend who is still only on season five. Am I a life ruiner? According to him for the rest of the day, I was. I just accepted the fact that in adulthood, you're going to ruin many people's lives, if only for a few hours. (Another sad attempt at being funny. I'm so sorry).

3) There is a reason people become addicted to the lottery.
        I waited a good week and a half before I bought my first lottery ticket. Mainly because I was waiting for my actual drivers license to come in the mail so I wouldn't have to use a piece of paper, but also because I didn't want to suddenly become addicted to gambling (don't judge me, I am a naive adult). I finally went to the gas station and bought a lottery ticket...and another...and another...and another. In the end, I won $10, and only spent about $5 (because I had gotten some of my tickets "free" with my previous winnings). I instantly understood why people become so addicted to the lottery because there's that wonderful "What if...?" feeling. I thought to myself more than once "What if I win the jackpot?" Will I buy more lottery tickets? Probably. Will I make sure it doesn't become a habit? Most definitely.

4) Really though, it's not as great as it's cracked up to be.
        Yay I get to vote and have a drivers license without a curfew on it and buy lottery tickets and cigarettes (I will never smoke anyway so the last one doesn't really apply, but you get the point)! Woo! But honestly, I don't feel any different except for the fact that if I wanted to buy a dog from Petland, I totally could. It's just really anti-climatic in all honesty.

Look at this cutie though. Who wouldn't want that fur baby?

5) Sometimes good things come along in the blink of an eye...and leave just as fast.
        The same day I started my senior year of high school, I started my first job ever. I was so excited because I was finally going to have a sense of independence. However as the weeks went on, I found myself becoming moody, stressed, and not motivated or driven to do anything involving school (which if you know me, is nothing like how I normally am). This amazingly wonderful blessing quickly turned into a burden. It was so hard for me to get out of bed in the mornings for school because I knew that after school, I would have to go to work. I honestly think it just wasn't the right environment for me. And so, with that, my job ended just as fast as it had began. In a way, I was sad to see this milestone go, but it was such a weight lifted off of my shoulders that I knew it was supposed to be this way.

Yes, most of this post was meant to be comedic, but I was serious on a few aspects. Do I know everything about life now that I am an "adult"? Definitely not. Will I ever? It's doubtful. In my short eighteen years of life, however, I have learned that the most important thing to me in my life is happiness. That is my goal for the rest of my life. No matter what I do, I want to be happy. 

Hanging Out in The Big Easy

Hello out there! I arrived in New Orleans Saturday night around 8:30, and I didn't do much yesterday, so today was the first time I went out with my camera. I got some really cool shots today. New Orleans is so beautiful!

I'm also adding a few bad iPhone photos into this mix from my first two days here (and yes, I did dye my hair auburn).

Fried alligator...it was surprisingly good!

I bought a cool mask.

Snapchat photo because I'm classy.

My first po-boy! It was wonderful.

So anyway, that's it from me today. I'll be posting more on my Flickr (although I don't know when..the internet is pretty slow in my hotel) so go check it out if you wish!

Looking Back on WJMC 2014

Since it has been about a year since WJMC (in one day) I suppose now is the time I reflect back on my time at George Mason. A lot has changed since I got back from WJMC.

1. I'm so much more social than I have ever been in my entire life. It doesn't scare me to go up to someone and strike up a conversation. As I mentioned in a post from way back in the beginning of 2014 and this blog, I have struggled with social anxiety for the majority of my life. So to be able to go up to people and just talk to them is still so weird for me.

2. I met the most wonderful people while I was there and I still talk to them a year later. Even though I never see them, it's still really fun to have friends from all over the country.

3. I'm more mature, I think. I actually pay attention to the news and *gasp* politics. Crazy, right? Now I'm not saying that keeping up with current events and who is running for president makes you mature. I know plenty of people who do just that who are the farthest from mature you can possibly be. But I'm saying that's one thing I never really bothered to do because "it didn't apply to me." Newsflash past me, it does. It very much does.

4. DEADLINES ARE A BIG DEAL. That was the one thing I tried to enforce all year as editor in newspaper. Now did anyone listen? No. But I tried, because I understand that the news doesn't wait.

6. I'm not afraid to take a leadership position. I was/am editor of the school paper. Two years ago, I probably would have crawled into a whole and refused to take charge. Being in a leadership position terrified me two years ago. I also ran for NHS president and GOT IT, something I NEVER would have considered doing.

7. I have more self confidence. I'm not afraid to dress the way I want or do my hair/makeup the way I want. I wear whatever I feel like even though I'm not a size two and clothes don't fit me the way they fit the models (something that I was really self conscious about my first two years of high school).

Return of the bad iPhone photo to show off my freshly chopped hair and cool new glasses - a couple things that I have wanted to do for about a year!

I only have one regret: that I didn't talk to as many people as I possibly could and that I didn't make more friends than I did because I was too shy.

WJMC wasn't just a journalism learning experience. Sure, I learned a lot from my advisor and the various journalist speakers. But it helped me open up and not be afraid anymore. I can talk to people now, actually talk, without being afraid I'm going to embarrass myself (I still embarrass myself but that's a whole different story. I can laugh it off now at least!). I will be forever thankful to WJMC for getting me pumped about my future journalism career and for helping me gain important social skills that I had struggled with before.

Bonjour! Checking in.

Hello, hello, hello! It's been awhile. Firstly, I would like to announce that I successfully finished my junior year (and yes, there were plenty of stress tears) and I am now relaxing until I start my senior year next month. Time flies.

I haven't done much in the past three and a half months. I took the ACT again (because all juniors had to) and I studied furiously for my finals. I had a week off from school before I started school again, this time with a dual credit psychology class. I know, I know, "Alissa why on earth would you take a class during SUMMER??" Well my friends, simply because I want to get as many general education college credits out of the way so I can spend more time working on my degrees when I get to college.

Speaking of college, I have decided that not only am I going to major in journalism, but I'm also going to major in French. I know, I know, "Alissa, TWO majors? What are you thinking??" Well friends, I can earn a second arts and sciences degree at Mizzou in just nine to fifteen extra credits. And to that I say, why not? Why minor in French when in so few extra credits, I can major in it. Also, two degrees looks wonderful on a résumé.

Anyway, I leave for New Orleans in two weeks so I will be checking back in much sooner than I have been recently. Hooray! I absolutely can't wait to go. So many people have told me how fun it is! It's so colorful and so full of energy, so I'm predicting some really fun pictures to come.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. Check back soon for New Orleans photos. À plus tard!

Annnnnnnnnd Six Months Later.....

Well it's been six months....but I'm alive and well. Just very busy with school and such. There's two months until I'm a SENIOR, which is utterly terrifying. College, scholarships, and the like.

Anyway I will give you all a quick summary of the past six months:

I started school in August and I believe my last post was written on my second day of school (wow, it's been a while..). Anyway, my journalism teacher gave me the position of editor for our newspaper, I covered the entire football season for a local newspaper that was lacking a photographer, a new editor was hired for said newspaper, I got to know her and I now may be very close to obtaining to a freelance position. I joined NHS and I took the ACT in December and my score was only two points away from my goal score (yay). I covered the majority of the basketball season that just ended two days ago. I joined speech & debate, and I managed to get fourth place at my very first tournament.

I also managed to get on the 2015 WJMC Youth Advisory Board so I guess you could say I kind of help plan the conference (maybe?). And to top it all off, I started teaching myself français.

Well I think that's about it. The past six months have gone by so fast.

I'm going to New Orleans this summer so there will be new pictures to post. Until then, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Just live life I suppose.

Happy March! Salut!

School

Well the new school year has started and I am already swamped with things to do. Dual credit college algebra, chemistry, ACT prep, choir, journalism, NHS, and soon, speech & debate. And I'm trying to find a job on top of all of that. Keep in mind that today was only my second day back. I can see how my junior year is going to be.

I emailed Carol back, and I haven't gotten a response yet. She must be busy just like I am.

I'm sorry for the short posts recently, but school has taken over my life. Hopefully I can write more soon.

Cheers.

Update

Hey everyone, it's late and I'm currently in Minnesota, but I just thought I should share the big news. Carol emailed me back this afternoon! I may or may not have hyperventilated and cried in the Mall of America, but that's an entirely different story that I'm too tired to tell at the moment.

Anyway, basically she said would be happy to keep in touch and give me advice on photojournalism. I plan on emailing her back as soon as I get home Monday, as I am super busy here in Minnesota.

More updates to follow.

"Memories are mapped out by the lines we'll trace."

You're probably wondering why I'm using Bastille lyrics as my title which a very good question. A++ for being inquisitive. I was casually scrolling through Bastille's Twitter about a week ago and...

OMG WHAT??

So I quickly looked to see if there was going to be a concert in Missouri or even Kansas. The answer is no, no there isn't. BUT...

Texas. Interesting. I quickly googled how far away each city was from where I live and Grand Prairie is the closest. Eight hours. That's not bad right? I asked my dad because concerts are usually the thing we do together, and after a couple days of dropping hints, he told me he couldn't afford this one. Needless to say I cried in a movie theater (he called right before a movie, can you say bad timing?). 

Anyway so my mom felt bad and SHE IS TAKING ME TO SEE BASTILLE. I'm sorry, that just needs to be typed in all caps. It's probably a rule somewhere. As if that wasn't the best thing ever, when we were ordering tickets, we found out that we would have to either buy two or four (we were originally going to buy three). So we bought four and now my best friend is coming with us. I cannot express how excited I am to see them. November 8 cannot come soon enough.

So anyway now that I'm done talking about Bastille, on to something else. I emailed Carol Guzy today. There's no telling if/when she will reply since she's on a temporary leave from The Washington Post and I don't know how often she checks her work email.

That's all from me. Updates to come if/when Carol replies.

Blog Makeover

Guys I changed my blog so that it's more fitting to what this blog is actually about. I love Britain, but I just decided that my blog's appearance should match what I'm writing about.

The whole point of this blog was for me to document my journey leading up to and during WJMC. If you go read my very first post in January, I think that's what I said. Now that WJMC is over, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my blog just yet. I don't know if I'm just going to cease writing or if I should keep updating with my photography news. If I choose the latter, I'll probably be posting a lot less often. I really don't want to get rid of this blog, so I probably will just go with the latter option.

I added one of my favorite Carol Guzy quotes to my Ansel Adams quote. "I think, as a journalist, what I try to do is tell a story with visuals instead of words. So, I'm basically writing paragraphs that just happen to be with images." It's so beautiful and it describes what I want to do perfectly.

I can't find Carol's email anywhere, so I'm going to email my group advisor tomorrow and see if he has her card and if he could possibly send me her email. I really want to contact her and tell her how her presentation affected me.

I think that's it from me. Until next time.

"It's been said that when you take a photo, you leave a part of your soul behind." -Carol Guzy

Hey guys. It was the last day of WJMC. Today, I boarded the plane at 2:00 and left this amazing university and the new friends I've made behind. But on the bright side, I got to see my aunt and uncle. I haven't seen them in about a year.

Wednesday was by far the best day of the conference. Photojournalist Carol Guzy came to speak to us. If you haven't seen her work, I highly suggest you stop reading and go google her. You'll thank me later.

Anyway, rather than saying "Here look at my photos, have fun," Carol told us the stories behind the photos. It made the video that much more moving. After she finished talking, she showed us a video of her work, and by the end of it, everyone in the room was in tears. It was so beautiful. The most amazing part for me wasn't her stories or her video (though I loved them so so much), it was what happened as soon as the credits rolled. Everyone in that room stood up and gave her a standing ovation. This is the moment when I completely lost it. In my area, no one cares about photography. No one looks at a photograph and is moved by it or feels any emotion from it. Seeing every single person stand up and acknowledge that a still photograph is a powerful thing overwhelmed me with emotion and that one presentation inspired me to keep doing what I love.

Since the seventh grade I've known that I wanted to be a photojournalist. Carol Guzy's speech just locked that dream in for me. I've never been more passionate about what I love than right now. Carol inspired me. She's my role model.

I think my senior advisor is going to give me her email address so that I can contact her. I just want her to know how her presentation affected me

Because of this newfound drive to fulfill my dream, I made a Twitter for my photography. It's @AStewPhoto and if you have a Twitter, I would really love it if you followed me.

And now I will leave you with this fantastic sign off video that we watched today that made me cry. It's just a bunch of photos and videos of the conference so it may not interest you.

I'm going to go reminisce now.

Commence WJMC!

Hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't been blogging. I am SO busy.

Yesterday morning, my flight was scheduled to leave at 11 AM. I got to the gate at about 10:40. So yeah, that was pretty scary. Also, as I was hugging my dad goodbye at the airport, I think he started crying a little bit and that absolutely broke my heart. I've never flown anywhere without my dad so I was getting pretty emotional myself, but it's different when you see your dad cry.

I got to DCA thirty minutes earlier than I originally planned so that was nice. I got to George Mason around 4:00 and I really only had time to get my room key, drop my luggage off, and go check in with my group advisor before I had to go change into my professional clothing. We had an excellent welcome dinner and then we had our first speaker of the week, Peter Doocy from NBC, join us. We then finished off the night getting to know each other in our color groups.

Today we woke up bright and early (5:45 AM to be exact.) and started our day off at the Newseum in Washington D.C. The Pulitzer Prize winning photos were my favorite part of the entire museum. I so hope I can win that amazing award some day. After that, we toured some of the monuments. Except there was one problem: I FORGOT MY CAMERA. But I took some photos on my iPhone and they actually didn't turn out that bad.

Tonight we listened to Candy Crowley from CNN talk to us about balancing our careers and our lives and exactly what it takes to be a journalist in this ever changing world. It was an amazing speech and I really enjoyed it a lot. I didn't get to personally meet her, but she seemed like a really friendly person.

Tomorrow is extremely busy and it's our most important day. Hoda Kotb is coming to town! Or rather, we're coming to her.. Same thing, right?

I'm so exhausted, but I just wanted to give you guys a quick update since I was too tired to do so last night. Good night!

Yet Another Photo Contest

I discovered another photo contest and decided to enter that one too. Because why not?

So yeah, that's the one I entered and voting starts in nine days. We'll see about the outcome.

I really must go make a late night Walmart run to buy last minute stuff (and food because my house lacks food).

-There are 4 days until WJMC-

....

I just thought I would show you all the three photos I entered in a photo contest last night. I searched for HOURS for an open contest and I finally found one.

So yeah, that's all I have for you. I bought a new suitcase today that is "lightweight" to make traveling easier. And everything that could possibly go wrong this week is going wrong. The stress is hitting me hard. Until next time.

-There are 5 days until WJMC-

I Don't Even Know

If you remember waaaaaay back in March, I mentioned I have been writing a story off and on.

Well I figure since I have zero updates other than "One week left IT'S TIME TO PANIC" I'll just start writing again. I've never let anyone read anything I've written, and I never planned on it, but now all I can say is why not. The worst anyone can do is not like it, right? So I suppose I'll post the first paragraph and see how that goes. Because why not?

I actually feel pretty good about it. It's the first time I've been satisfied with it (yes I'm still talking about the first paragraph..I'm a perfectionist). However, tomorrow I might look at it and find something to change. But that's just me. So here goes nothing:

"I woke to the sound of frantic pounding on the door. I was shivering, and I couldn’t feel anything in my legs except immense pain. I only vaguely remembered where I was. My head was spinning, and my vision couldn’t focus. I heard shouting, but my mind couldn’t process what was being said. Finally I understood. A deep, male voice, one I didn’t recognize, was saying, “We know someone is in there! We’re here to help!” And then, the same voice, quieter, like they were saying something to another person, “I hope to God whoever’s in there isn’t dead. Please God, don’t let them be dead.”  My mouth moved to form words, but nothing came out. I heard the door break open. That’s the last thing I remembered before everything suddenly went black."

So yeah, there's that. I'm just really bored and I have nothing to do other than read, write, and watch Doctor Who (and pack, but I might as well procrastinate a bit). If you liked it, yay, if you didn't, sorry I'll do better next time.

I'm going to go continue reading/writing/watching Doctor Who (or maybe start packing if I end up feeling productive).

-There are 6 days until WJMC-

P.S. I have a new watermark for my photos:

I quite like it. It's very modern to match my new website.

Website Update

Alright, quick update for you guys.

I've updated my website, so make sure you check it out! It's new and improved!

alissasphoto

One Week Madness!

One week until I leave for WJMC! How time flies! This week is going to consist of packing, buying last minute things I might need, hanging out with friends and family that I won't see until I get back, and reading (so I can give The Death Cure to Lakin before I leave). It's going to be a hectic week.

I hope everyone in America had a great Fourth of July. I know I did. I bought fireworks for the first time in quite a while, we made a TON of food, and we had a game night. I decided to wear my British flag shirt for laughs and a lot of people commented on it. I also got quite a few weird looks.

Selfie with my new kitten, Hazel!

Being the typical photographer I am, rather than light the fireworks, I took photos of them. I only got a few good ones though.

Well that's about it for now. I hope everyone has a great week to come!

-There are 7 days until WJMC-

Summer Blues

It is officially one month into summer. I haven't left my house or worn makeup for two days, I totally forgot to eat food all day, and I am totally, incredibly...bored. So bored, in fact, that I ask myself almost hourly why I don't get out. I mean, I have a car. I have friends that would hang out. I don't know, I just haven't felt like doing anything.

To occupy myself, I learned how to write "Geronimo!" in Gallifreyan. I also decided that if I ever get a tattoo, that is the one I'm going to get. My best friend and I might just get matching ones, only hers will say "Allons-y!" since the tenth Doctor is her favorite. And here is my terrible attempt at drawing it on my computer:

My thoughts are occupied by jobs/job applications (because I am in desperate need of work), Doctor Who, and reading my book for WJMC. I need something to do and I need it quick. I'm getting stir crazy.

However, lucky for me a new restaurant is opening up in town (which is HUGE because we only have like seven restaurants) and I've known the manager since I was little, so hopefully (HOPEFULLY) I can get a job there. Cross your fingers.

I finished an entire chapter today in my book. Two people down, four to go. And because of this achievement, I rewarded myself with a Doctor Who episode. Just one though, because the new series comes out in two months and I'm trying to savor my last few episodes with Matt.

And now that we are on the topic of Matt, I bought this gem last night.

I think it's going to get here just in time for WJMC. I can show my love for Matt on my trip. YES.

(If you're interested in the other cases she has to offer, go check out fancase on Etsy.)

There's Benedict ones, and Sherlock ones, and Hannibal ones, and GoT ones, etc. It's pretty awesome.

Well that's it for me tonight. I'm trying to go to sleep earlier than 4 AM since WJMC is right around the corner. Until next time.

-There are 13 days until WJMC-

Math, Doctor Who, and a Twitter Rant

Hello, hello! It's another day closer to WJMC!

We got sorted into color groups yesterday, and I am especially excited because my advisor is a Cubs fan. I am a Cardinals fan. Now if you're not familiar with the world of baseball, let me explain: the Cubs are in Chicago. The Cardinals are in St. Louis. So they are kind of neighbors. As most sports fans know, neighbors are the mortal enemy. Now, you may be saying "Why are you so excited if he's a fan of the 'bad guys?'" Because well....*ahem* the Cards are better. Not being bias, just pointing out the facts. So I'm pretty excited to have a discussion over baseball with this guy. (P.S. I'm sorry if you're a Cubs fan, really I am. Please don't hate me.)

So that required book I wrote about a couple posts ago..? I've barely read any of it. I wanted to see how far I was so I did some math. There are 217 pages total in the book. I'm on page 38. So I took 38/217...

And I learned that I am only 17.5% finished with my book...yay? This is going to be a while...

Then I figured how many pages I'll have to read each day leading up until the conference (16 days)...

Eleven pages a day? Eleven? Uggggghhhhhhhhh.... (Or 11.2 if you want to be a little more exact, but how in the world would you read '.2' pages?)

There you go, now you don't have to go to math lesson today, because you just got one! You're welcome.

If you've read the majority of my blog, you know that I love Doctor Who (and Sherlock but Hot Topic has very little Sherlock merchandise). And I thought I would show you the great stuff I bought yesterday.

They're perfect! I am so excited. I bought the lanyard so I can wear my press pass in style at WJMC. I bought the phone case because....why not, it's the TARDIS!

I got on Twitter on my computer for the first time in forever today and this is what I saw:

Twitter what are you doing? Why do you look like Facebook? I don't like Facebook. This isn't cool. You cut Matt's face off. Not cool either. You shouldn't do that to someone as beautiful as him. It's not fair. Why, Twitter, why?

This whole post is me talking/ranting about random stuff. Sorry (but I'm really not..).

Okay, I'm going to end this here because this is getting really long. I hope you enjoyed your math lesson, looking at my Doctor Who stuff, and reading my rant about Twitter's apparent new layout. Have a great day (or not the choice is yours..honestly you'll only get that joke if you went to my middle school).

I'm going to go read my eleven pages now..

-There are 16 days until WJMC-

Late Night (Early Morning?) Update

It's five. Freaking. In. The. Morning. So why not write this lovely little post! I have yet to go to sleep and my mind is running, so I guess I should write some stuff.

Honestly, my one and only reason for this post is so I can show off the book my dad got me.

Keep in mind it's five in the morning so clearly I do not look my best. Seriously though, the inside is a beautiful treasure chest of helpful tips (I don't even know where 'treasure chest' came from. I'm tired, okay?)

It's amaaaaaaaazing.

I also bought this little guy (aka Raj, after Jasmine's tiger from Aladdin) to help save the tigers. It was only ten dollars, but every little bit helps!

Alrightly then, I suppose I should go get some shut eye because I have to wake up at ten and at this rate, I'm only going to get five hours of sleep.

Adjö (Swedish goodbye in honor of PewDiePie, my current YouTuber obsession) everyone!

-There are 18 days until WJMC-

Updates & Whatnot

Well WJMC is in less than a month. Where has the time gone?

I finally finally found the reading list and I just bought one of the two non-political (because I dislike politics) books yesterday.

I'm only on page eighteen and it's pretty meh but at least it's not terrible (I really don't like non-fiction books..). My dad made me a deal that as soon as I finish this book, he'll buy me The Game of Thrones so I have a goal to aim for.

In other news, my dad's fiancé is getting me a kitten and we decided to name her Hazel. Which means I'll probably be calling her Hazel Grace a lot because TFIOS is my favorite.

Speaking of TFIOS, that movie was perfection. And you're thinking about going to see the movie, but you haven't read the book yet, READ THE BOOK FIRST OR WE CANNOT BE FRIENDS. That is all.

I took a picture of the Gateway Arch Monday.

That's the only photo I took because I started feeling really sick and I had to go back to the hotel to rest before the STL Cardinals game that night. Which, I might add, THEY WON. Because St. Louis is the best.

Also, I'm currently watching a lot of That 70's Show because it's really the only American show I actually enjoy.

So yeah, my life is currently not that interesting, but I'm going on "vacation" to Branson next week for the 16th year in a row (P.S. That's my age. My mom's side of the family doesn't travel too far). And I'm trying to get a job because I would like money of my own so I can stop asking my parents.

Until next time, people of the internet.

-There are 25 days until WJMC-