Holly's Lifestyle 101

When comparing beach volleyball to playing indoors, Kerri Walsh, Olympic volleyball champion, states, “You touch every other ball and, if you screw up, you only have one more person to back you up. You can’t go hide in the corner.” 

I first started playing volleyball in fourth grade at a Catholic Elementary School. My love for volleyball began when I first started playing and going to the University of Dayton (UD) Volleyball games with my mom. I loved the energy of the student cheering section and watching the girls play. It helped me learn the basics of volleyball not only from playing but by watching the girls compete.

When I first started playing volleyball, I struggled a lot not only because I had just started playing, but also because I was extremely short for someone wanting to play volleyball and I had a hard time serving because of how small I was. I was so embarrassed of not being able to get my underhand and overhand serves over the net, so I just wanted to go hide in the corner and pretend everything was okay. I knew I couldn’t hide in the corner because it wouldn’t have fixed any of my problems I was facing, so I just had to try even harder.

I never played front row in front of the net because I was short so my coach decided to have me play back row only. My position was called a libero or DS (Defensive Specialist). I did not play in front of the net because again I was too short to even jump and get my hands over the net. Maybe if I had a step stool or even if I could fly, then I could play in the front row.

I started playing competitive club volleyball after having to go through the tryout process that would last for several days and was a very tiring and intense process. Over the course of two years, I went through the tryout process for many different volleyball clubs. I ended up playing for a volleyball club called Dayton Juniors for two years, each year being on a different team. What I loved about playing club volleyball was all the bonding experiences we got to do such as going to practices together, team outings like going out to dinner, going to tournaments for a weekend, and even traveling to tournaments together sometimes. As I started to play volleyball, I realized there were no corners to hide in. I had to work really hard over the summer to practice my serving and I was able to master my underhand and overhand serve.

Now, I am sure most of you are curious about what it’s like to play back row or defense in volleyball. I will tell you the best part of playing defense is that you are usually the first one to touch (or bump) the ball to the setter. My favorite part when playing volleyball is to be able to dive on the floor. I also have the advantage to see from the back of what is happening on the other side of the net. Finally, when my teammates are playing offense, I can see how I need to assist my teammates if needed. 

During college here at MSJ, I have played Intramural Volleyball. I played both beach and indoor volleyball. Although I am a very competitive person when it comes to playing volleyball, the environment of playing intramural was much more relaxed. There are many positives to playing intramural volleyball. One positive of playing intramural was that we played at night, so I was able to have fun at night while dealing with classes and tutoring during the day. It was also an amazing experience to be able to create our own teams and play with close friends who may have had some experience with playing volleyball. Although I got to play volleyball with close friends, I am still very competitive and I have many memories of playing against other competitive teams.

My future goal is that someday I hope to not only play volleyball with a group of other adult women, but also I would love to coach volleyball to elementary and high school students. I would like to coach elementary students because at that age, those students are just learning the basics and I love working with that age group. I would love to coach high school volleyball because of how intense it is and because high schoolers are working on specific skills and improving them when playing volleyball. It would also be fun to not only work with high school volleyball players but also, as their coach, to be able to play with them as well.

Now if you are looking for me, you’ll see me diving on the floor saving some volleyballs. See ya in the gym!

On June 11, 2002 my life-long obsession began. I started watching someone very special to me on the show “American Idol”. I remember watching Kelly Clarkson do her first audition to see if she would get into Hollywood, and after her audition all three judges said YES! Her next step was going to Hollywood and to be on “American Idol”. The judges were Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell. Every Monday of every week, my mom, my brother and I, at 8 o’ clock sharp, would always  sit on the couch, get comfy and watch “American Idol”. We would do this to not only just watch the competition but also to watch Kelly Clarkson. I don’t really remember watching every performance of Kelly due to the fact that I was only seven years old.

After about 3 months, on September 4th, 2002, my life changed for the better. Ryan Seacrest, the host of “American Idol”, was about to announce the winner of “American Idol” between the top two candidates who were of course Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini. As Ryan was about to announce the winner, he left a long pause and said, “The Winner of ‘American Idol’ for Season 1 is….. KELLY CLARKSON!!!!”

Kelly Clarkson was crying and was so in shock. She then sang the winning song “A Moment Like This.”

After winning “American Idol” in 2002, as her albums and new songs were released, I started to listen to her songs more and more and became obsessed with her personality and her music. Some of my favorite songs of hers are: “Thankful”, “Breakaway”, “My December”, “All I Ever Wanted”, “Stronger”, “Wrapped in Red”, “Piece by Piece”, and “Meaning of Life”. 

I have all of her albums except for “My December”, “Stronger”, “Wrapped in Red”, and “Piece by Piece”. Another one of my favorite songs is “Miss Independent” from the album “Thankful”. From the album “Breakaway”, my favorite songs are “Behind these Hazel Eyes” and “Because of You”. More songs I love that are on the album “All I Ever Wanted” are “Already Gone”, “Cry”, and “My Life Would Suck Without You”. I love all of these songs not only because I love Kelly Clarkson’s voice, but because of the meaning behind the lyrics of each of her songs. 

Stay tuned for more about what other obsessions I have about Kelly Clarkson and why I love certain songs she has on some of my favorite albums she wrote.

Well first, I will let you know that I am a twin. I have a twin brother named Brad and we are fraternal twins. What does it mean to be a twin? Well to be a twin is where two separate eggs are created in the mother to make two babies at the same time. These babies can be identical, which means they look the same and are the same gender. Whereas, fraternal twins can be the same or different genders but both identical and fraternal twins are born on the same day.

I am one minute older than my twin brother Brad. You’re probably thinking how could that be possible? Well, my mother had a C-section due to her past history with pregnancies. My brother Brad and I were born as preternal twins which means we were born before the expected due date. It turns out that not only did my mom have a pregnancy as a still birth with fraternal twins but she also had my brother and I. The crazy thing is that twins run in my family. Not only is there Brad and I but we also have cousins on my biological dad’s side of the family and their names are Kelsie and Michael who are fraternal twins. Growing up, it was pretty awesome to have twin cousins to play with that are a few years older than you.

My twin brother Brad and I have always grown up very close from when we were babies all the way up to today. We will always have each other’s backs. We are extremely close friends and close siblings. We love to have our bonding moments. I love that connection we experience where we can literally joke around or be serious and tell each other anything. The “myth” of twin language I believe is true. When my brother and I were infants, we used to babble all the time to each other. It was like we were having a secret conversation that no one else could understand except for my brother and I. Also growing up, we had it where there would be rare occasions where we could finish each other’s sentences without one of us saying it out loud.
To this day, people still talk about and ask if we look alike when I mention I have a twin brother. That is up to you! Do you think we look alike? Maybe there is a difference between when we were younger and today. Now can you spot the difference?

My favorite memory of Brad and I was when we were younger. For example, we drove my mom crazy when we were younger by throwing any toys we could find and throwing them down the laundry chute. We would also use the laundry chute to yell at each other to communicate what we were going to throw down the laundry chute. I remember throwing anything I could hold in my hand and throwing it down the chute including my poor Barbie dolls. My brother and I always thought it was hilarious to throw stuff down the laundry chute. Then the funny part would be watching my mom find our toys when trying to do laundry.

Of course, my brother and I do not get along all the time. We do mainly but we have of course had times where we would get in the smallest fights. It usually got resolved and figured out in the end. Being a twin is one of the most special and rewarding things to me in my lifetime that I will always get to experience and love.

Sometimes it’s hard to do things when you feel broken inside. Broken is an important word to me because it means that someone you once loved and cared about has fractured or damaged your heart and you are no longer in one piece or that you have given up all hope. This is a true story but the names have been changed to protect the identity of the people in this story.

I met Jake my freshman year of college. We had been hanging out as friends for a few months. For example, we would hang outside of classes, go to the library, hang out in the lounge in the dorm rooms, and do homework together. One day I was hanging out with Jake in his dorm room and he asked me out. So, of course I said yes. 

 I ended up dating Jake for almost five years. Jake and I had a great relationship until I caught him cheating on me not just once, but he had managed to cheat on me twice in our five year relationship. I caught him red-handed on his iPad, text messaging another person with inappropriate texts, pictures, and video. My heart not only felt broken, but I felt like I had just lost everything and felt empty inside. To feel better, I went on YouTube and I looked up the song “Broken and Beautiful” by Kelly Clarkson. It seemed to help me through the healing process, so I recommend you go online and check it out. 

Although I was broken on the inside, I knew on the outside I was still beautiful. After finding out that Jake cheated on me for the second time, I then confronted him. He told me that he had been lying to me for about 4 months and would have continued to lie if I had not caught him. Although I was going through the recovery stage after breaking up with Jake, I was trying to hide the pain but I knew I wanted to talk to someone, so I did. I had my support system such as my parents and my twin brother who are closest to me. I also talked to my closest friends, such as my roommate and my aunt who had been through a similar situation. Again, I wanted to be strong and talk to my therapist Jacob, who I had talked to previously before this situation occurred. 

My support system helped me realize that being cheated on and lied to were ways I didn’t deserve to be treated. They reminded me that I needed to be selfish and to take care of myself so I could be happy. Another future problem that Jake and I knew about was that we grew up as having two different religions on both sides of our families. Jake was Jewish and I grew up Catholic. I had been practicing the Jewish faith while we were dating so part of the healing process for me was finding my Catholic faith again.

During the healing process and still feeling broken, I decided to continue to talk to my support group. When the pain came emotionally, I felt shattered and isolated, and I would try to protect myself not just from Jake but from all men. I learned moving forward that this is why it is so important to have a support system or group of people you can talk to. These people are there to help you deal with the pain and just focus on healing. 

The healing process helped me learn several important things. One of them was that to be strong, even after feeling torn and broken, you need to be The Beacon of Hope. Another lesson I learned is that there are plenty of people out there who will lie and cheat to the ones they love (such as Jake) so it is important to stay cautious and be careful. Lastly, I learned it is important to have hope. I need to continue to find out what I want in life and figure out what will make me happy and also who will make me happy.

Twitter: Just because you are feeling broken doesn’t mean you should lose hope and there are always people there to have as a support group. #Broken #BeaconofHope #Beautiful

Key words: Broken, Hope, Support, Healing, Beautiful, Shattered, Faith

That we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope . . . the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. — Romans 15:4, 13

Are you a Beacon of Hope? What does being a Beacon of Hope mean? How can it resemble your own life? These questions are all things that are important to reflect on and learn more in your own life when talking about the Beacon of Hope.

Being a Beacon of Hope to me means that it is a way of looking forward to the future in the external world. You may also think of it as wishful thinking. It does not mean that we are “damaged goods”. It is a way of saying that to be a Beacon of Hope you have to inspire others to do the right thing in the world when it comes to being who you are and the decisions that you make.

In the DC show “Supergirl”, the character Supergirl or known as Kara Danvers, tells another alien who has super powers known as Dreamer, that in order to fight back they needed to inspire hope or be the Beacon of Hope. Kara ends up doing an exclusive interview across all electronic devices by interviewing Dreamer. Dreamer states in the interview that,”to be the Beacon of Hope we must fight fear and to emphasize our authentic selves and be proud for who we are regardless of what other people think.” By doing the exclusive interview over all media, it helps people realize that they don’t need to be scared or feel defenseless. It makes them realize that people need to decide and stand up for what is right for them and learn to fight back.

People can show many ways by being the Beacon of Hope not just for themselves but to show others as well of what it looks like. Hope is a powerful word. It is a way to show that no matter how hard life gets, we should never stop fighting or give into temptation or evil. We can always inspire on how to show that our fight or story is never over. By inspiring hope to others it creates us to be that Beacon of Hope that everyone looks for at some point in our lives. We can be the Beacon of Hope just like the characters in the show “Supergirl”.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.