Hello all! Welcome to my blog! I make no promises of writing on here regularly or making it super polished - I am a busy girl and I don’t want this to feel like an assignment rather than a creative outlet. This will serve more as a public journal than anything else. I often forget how much I love to write. I think this will mainly be blog posts but maybe I’ll eventually do some creative writing on here as well. Who knows! I will always post on Instagram whenever I do write a new post! If anyone is here actually reading this… it means a lot to me. Seriously. You’re rad. Thank you.

As many who know me know… I am currently working on my Associates in Arts degree at South Florida State College which I will achieve by July this Summer. Throughout this time, I have been working at The Development Group as an Intern and trying to figure out what the heck to do with my life. I have also been applying to transfer into various colleges. I finally made the choice to transfer as Graphic Design major. If you want to know a little more about how and why I chose Graphic Design… head on over to my About Me page!

Anyways, I got accepted to a few different colleges but University of West Florida has really stuck out to me. It’s in Pensacola, which I visited a few years ago and just fell in love with the downtown scene. In my time working at The Development Group, I have led two sessions of a focus group based on a book called Building a Vibrant Community by Quint Studer - who is from Pensacola! The book is all about making your community a better place, and includes how every industry plays a part in this. It’s based off of how he was a part of revitalization in Pensacola. I also looked for their tourist/downtown company to get the full scoop on what Pensacola really has going on. After working in economic development, I’ve learned so much about Wauchula that the typical citizen might not know, which opens a curiosity towards knowing more than meets the eye for other towns. I found a website called Visit Pensacola which had all the information I was looking for and more! While perusing this website, I happened to stumble across an opening for a Marketing & Communications Internship… WHAT? That’s crazy awesome. So, I sent in my resume and had an interview on Friday, the 22nd. I’ll find out next week how it went! Pensacola is also 2 hours south from New Orleans where I spent last summer on mission, and plan to move back after I get my degree. Pensacola is also 2 hours south of Hattiesburg, MS where my cousin Sydney lives. I didn’t grow up with her, but we have reconnected over social media. It’s been so neat because we grew up in completely different places with completely different lifestyles, yet we are so similar - down to our music taste. That is a whole story for another day. Anyways, all of these things coming together felt significant to me for some reason.

From April 10-12, my dad and I made the trek up to Pensacola to visit UWF (thanks Dad). We drove to an AirBNB in Tallahassee on the 10th, and then got up early on the 11th to visit downtown Pensacola. We walked around downtown and had lunch, and it was exactly as I remembered. I felt at home in the presence of an active art scene, cute shops, and tributes to New Orleans’ Mardi Gras. We had lunch at the Wine Bar, and I got the most amazing Turkey & Brie sandwich.

We headed over to the University of West Florida to walk around campus a bit before the actual tour. When we first got there, we accidentally pulled into the wrong parking lot… which happened to be the parking lot of their Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM)! Again… WHAT?! So of course, we went in and got to talk to their director, Quinton Englebright. He was super friendly and helpful and we had a cool conversation. He actually went to the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (OMG moment because I almost transferred there) to get his Masters! I brought up the fact that I did GenSend in NOLA last summer, and he started asking me if I knew various people who do missions and church planting there, and most of the answers were yes. I was completely geeking out at this point because God is so good and his providence and timing is such a shocker each time something like this happens… even though it should never be shocking. ANYWAYs (boy do I get off track)… Quinton spoke more about how he is passionate about sending his students out to local churches. He is very mission minded and doesn’t want the BCM to be it’s own church. That really spoke to my heart as a believer who is passionate about missions and discipleship. This was such a blessing, all because we accidentally went to the wrong parking lot. God is so awesome and good!

Next, we found the correct parking lot and went to see the art building, food hall, and bookstore. The art building was… incredible. We peeked into some classrooms, many of which were studio-style. I love the art building because it combines visual arts and music. At one point during the tour, we actually got to hear the orchestra. They also have an art museum-like display hall called TAG… aka “The Art Gallery”. I love that. It was empty when we went but I of course looked online for pictures of when TAG is in use, and it’s pretty amazing. All throughout the art building are student art displays and posters for poetry reading events, musicals, mini concerts, exhibits, and more. As we were walking through the building, I had a moment of mentally realizing, Wow. I’m actually doing this. I’m going to school for art. ART! All I get to do all day is art classes! I WANT to go to school for this. I WANT to go to class and learn everything I can. I’m so passionate about this! Little Emily would be so hyped. A few years ago, I never thought I’d even make it this far in life. I voiced this to my Dad, and he was like, “Umm yeah. I could’ve predicted this when you were little. You’ve always been an artist.” He’s totally right, but I just felt so proud that I’ve made it to this point. I felt a sense of belonging and kinship among art and artists just walking through the building. I know that sounds so corny but actually no it doesn’t because it’s not corny or cringe to be passionate about something. I can’t wait for that building to be my home, and to make so many new friends!

We finally went on the campus tour, and it was just so great. The tour guides were so helpful, and campus is just beautiful! It has so many beautiful trees and flowers (my Dad pointed out the Japanese Red Maples… tree nerd). There are several hiking trails and a kayaking trail as well. Florida nature is pretty awesome. After the tour, we drove back to Tallahassee and had dinner at an Italian restaurant called Bella Bella, recommended by my amazing boss Denise Grimsley. Holy… cow. We got this appetizer called Bubble Bread and I think it might have changed my life. It was incredible. We were so tired at this point so dinner was a mix of silence and delirious laughter (mainly at my expense). It was a good time. We went back to a hotel, and drove the rest of the way back home the next morning.

That’s the story! That is it! Basically, I am super blessed and crazy excited for what’s to come. If you made it this far. Great job. I truly meant it when I said this would be like a journal. All of this is how I talk conversationally, only with edits to the grammar. Thanks for reading :)