A Hurried (and belated) Update

Hey Everyone!

Thank you so much for your patience with me over the past few weeks.  I haven't been posting because I've been super busy with my internship, but that's definitely a good thing!  I really love the organization I'm with as well as the work I'm doing.  :)

For those of you who don't know... I'm working with a consulting firm that specializes in leadership development.  Basically, they get called into a various companies when a leader is having a difficult time connecting with his/her subordinates and efficiency and moral is suffering.  The consultants will then facilitate training workshops, team building exercises, and coaching sessions, and provide feedback to managers and employees.  They customize a sustainable solution that will allow everything to run optimally.  It's pretty cool, and the best part is that they let me be a part of everything they do!

Whether it's sitting in on meetings and interviews, researching new leadership approaches, editing proposals, finding and "mastering" new programs, or running (very basic) statistical analyses, they invite me to be a part of everything.  I love that!  Also, whenever I ask if I can be in on something, I'm always surprised by how open they are.  As long as it's appropriate and the clients agree—I'm in!  I'm already learning a lot, and I know there's so much more for me to figure out :D

In addition to my internship, other things in Philly are also going well.  I've been trying to take advantage of living here by experiencing as many different things as possible.   I've gotten to go to a lot of places including the zoo, the orchestra, the Liberty Bell, and the art museum. I've also gotten to try THE MOST amazing food!  I love that every time I walk to work, I pass half a dozen coffee shops, seven different ethnic restaurants, four chains, at least ten dessert shops and convenience stores, and so many nail salons and boutiques.  I really love the diversity and convenience of living in a city!

My goal for the next good-weather weekend we have is to spend an entire day in Chinatown.  I want to buy random food, shop at the underground market, go into little shops, and (maybe) even revive my broken Chinese :D  It will be awesome and I can't wait!

I can't believe I've already been in Philly for six weeks... time really does fly!  Only eight weeks left...yikes! This is crazy!  I want to stay in Philly forever :)

Rebekah

Coffee Shops and Thoughts on Submission

May I just start this post by stating once again how much I love Philly???  Haha it’s amazing.  I woke up at 5 this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I got up, went to the gym, came home and showered/changed, and now I’m sitting in this fantastic little coffee shop that’s like half a block from my apartment.  It’s called Cake and the Beanstalk, and it’s literally the cutest café around!  They have this little sunroom that is filled with several mismatched tables and chairs that are all painted in different ways… one chair has a scene from Charlottes’ Web on it.  Others have Where the Wild Things Are, Goodnight Moon, and other really cute scenes or sayings.  The atmosphere here is so fun and relaxing!  Also, there’s a table with a bucket of legos.  Yeah, I KNOW! Haha I have definitely spent my fair share of time playing with those…. #noguilt:)

Another great thing about Philly is that it is now the city in which I am employed!  (Technically speaking anyway… I’m an unpaid intern, but that’s ok!  Let me rephrase that: I’M AN UNPAID INTERN!!! Haha I’m super pumped.)  I’ll be working in a consulting firm that specializes in effective leadership training and research.  I don’t know all that I’ll have the opportunity to do, but I’ll be sure to post updates as I know more. I start on Monday :D

Speaking of starting new things.  It’s time for me to start the next Spiritual discipline in my Big Challenge.  Before I tell you what I will be focusing on though, here’s how submission went in January:

January was very eye opening for me.  Not particularly in a good way, but it revealed a myth that I had been feeding to myself, which is really good to know.  I had always thought that the reason I got behind in/stopped doing Bible study was because I was so busy that I literally didn't have time for it.  However, after being home on Christmas break and then in Philly where (while I was busy with house hunting and interviews) I had a pretty substantial amount of free time, I noticed that I was committing roughly the same amount of time to Bible study that I was when I was at school and hardly had time to breathe.  That was definitely sobering to realize that it wasn't necessarily business but actually laziness/lack of initiative that kept me from developing my relationship with God.

After realizing this, I spent a few days sulking and just basically throwing my hands in the air and proclaiming that I didn't care.  Shortly after that however, I saw how stupid I was being.  I knew that I was certainly not ok with putting my relationship with God on the back burner.  I had never actually stopped doing my Bible study or prayer time (except for those few days), but my heart hadn't been in it.  

I started praying earnestly again and really focusing in on what I was reading for the day.  I want to start being more intentional in my study/prayer time... maybe read my way through a devotional or something.  So while I was supposed to be practicing submission, I don't know if I actually did or not.  God didn't let me down though.  If all I learned was that I can't blame my schedule for my lack of time spent with God and that I need to fight to make it a part of my day whether I'm busy or not, than I'm really glad to have learned that.  I need to keep my focus on God though and maybe have a much more tangible thing to guide my time with Him, especially now that I'm trying to really and honestly get into the swing of things.  

I think I will focus on the discipline of study this month (and maybe next month if need be).  I want to read my way through a devotional so that I can have a physical goal to meet every day.  I think that would be helpful.  I also want to deepen my understanding of God's love, commands, and promises because I feel like I disregard them far too easily sometimes.  I want them to become so precious to me that I can't bear to not spend time soaking them in every day.  I don't know if that is possible, but I like to think that it is.  

I would very much appreciate your prayers and encouragement as I focus on the discipline of study.  Even though I no longer believe that the sole cause of my slacking was due to business, I know that that does play a part in it.  As I noted at the beginning of this post, I’m starting my internship on Monday.  I’m really excited about that, but I know that it will be way too easy to slip back into my old habits.  I don’t want that to happen, so I am asking/giving you all permission to check up on me if you would like :) I would really appreciate it, and trust me, I won’t take it as nagging.

Also, if anyone knows a really good Beth Moore study, I would love to start one soon.  I’ve never done a Beth Moore study, but I was at a conference where she spoke last year, and I think I would learn a lot from her perspective!   

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support.  Hopefully I will have some awesome things to share next month! 

Rebekah

            

Something New...TPC!

It’s been an exciting month since I last posted! 

Because I’m spending this semester studying off-campus in Philadelphia, I got an extra week at home (which was fantastic!), and then I got to start on my latest adventure.  You know… life itself really is an adventure!  You just have to be willing to step outside of your comfort zone and really live, taking advantage of each new opportunity as it becomes available.  It’s awesome. 

Ok, I’m going to make a conscious effort to step away from my soapbox before I jump up there and make this post a very long rabbit trail about “life’s great adventure” or whatever.  Haha you’re welcome by the way ;)

So, for anybody who doesn’t know, I’m studying at The Philadelphia Center (TPC) this semester.  This program is absolutely FANTASTIC in that it focuses almost exclusively on experiential learning.  (Anyone who knows me knows that I love nothing more than experiencing new and exciting aspects of life—hence the soapbox a few paragraphs ago.)

I arrived at TPC on Saturday January 11 and had one “leisure” week in a hotel in Center City (downtown Philly).  In this week the other students and I literally got a crash course in how to establish yourself in a new city.  In that first week, we had a brief (and very experiential) orientation to the program.  This orientation consisted of walking around the city, learning the basics of navigating SEPTA (the public transportation system), and house hunting. 

Yes…you definitely read that correctly!  On our second day in the city, the fabulous faculty and staff at the Center gave us each a sheet of paper listing the houses and apartments that students had rented in the past, and other listings that were willing to do short term leases.  Obviously it’s easy to see why TPC has been described as real life with a safety net!  With this trusty list in hand, I and the other TPC students set out to tour this new city and find the place that we would call home for the next fifteen weeks.  In addition to finding a place to live, we also had to find roommates.  Luckily, I was blessed with two fantastic roommates whom I have very much enjoyed living with and getting to know! 

After several days of trecking around Philadelphia in rain, sunshine, and bitterly cold wind, my roommates and I had signed our lease and had rolled, carried, and pushed our luggage over from the hotel.  We moved into a fantastic little two-bedroom apartment in the “gayborhood.”  We’ve got two bathrooms, a kitchen, washer/dryer, and lots and LOTS of stairs leading up to our place!  It’s a great workout if nothing else :D

(I also got to experience first hand how satisfying it is to pull a large box on a dolly behind you as you walk through the downtown area of a major city.  I got a lot of inquisitive as well as incredulous looks… and here I thought people in the city would be more used to seeing people doing strange things!  I guess even city people see something new occasionally!  I was honored to give them that experience) ;) 

This wrapped up our very first, very full week in Philly!

Next up, in week two of the program, we started classes.  I have one class on Monday nights—Abnormal Psych, and one class on Wednesday morning—Urban, Political, and Social Problems.  As with everything else at TPC, the classes are as experiential as possible.  In my Abnormal Psych class, we do a lot of role-playing in addition to the readings.  It’s definitely a lot easier to remember details about various disorders when either you or your classmates have acted it out!  Likewise, in my Urban class, we take a lot of field trips to talk to people who are in the situations that we’re reading about. I really like this because if we’re going to be discussing poverty, why not walk outside and get the perspective of someone who is experiencing homelessness, or someone who has dedicated their life to assisting those in poverty?  It’s so much more enriching than merely reading a textbook and taking notes on a lecture.

Also in week two, we began our search for internships!  (At TPC, we take two four-credit classes throughout the semester, and work a 32 hour a week internship with some organization in our field.)  The first step in the process of finding our internship was spent with several days of pouring over many of the 800+ placement files that they have in TPC.  Each file is for a different company or organization that has either had a TPC intern in the past, or has expressed interest in having one in the future.  We each came up with a list of our top six choices, which the staff at TPC then took and started working their magic on.  They emailed and called each of these supervisors on our behalf.  This is yet another aspect of the safety net that is TPC.  Even though we personally had no credibility as potential interns, we had the good name of TPC and their students that had preceded us in these organizations.  As a result, potential supervisors were generally very willing to give us interviews! 

On a side note, there’s nothing cooler than walking into the Center everyday and seeing your new friends all decked out in their most professional ensembles and seeing how nervous/excited they are to go out and meet their potential future employers.  It’s inspiring, you know?  It reminds us that we’re all in the same position, and it built a sense of community very quickly!  I’ve known these people for just a few weeks, but because of all we’ve been through, I feel very close to many of them already.  I feel like I’ve known them for years :)

Currently, I have had four interviews, and I potentially have two more at the beginning of next week. I’ve interviewed at everything from a consulting firm, to a non-profit activist group working for economic rights of the homeless population.  I’ve had the privilege of meeting some of the most inspirational and motivated people in Philadelphia.  Honestly, I think the reason I haven’t locked in on an internship yet is because I want to keep meeting people and learning about how various organizations are operated!  But don’t worry (Mom) I’m making lots of good contacts, and have at least one offer, so I will work soon!  Don’t worry… :P

That pretty much brings me up to today.  It’s Saturday again, the beginning of my fourth week in Philly, and I’m sitting in a fantastic coffee shop down the street from my apartment, sipping an almond joy latte, and typing away on my laptop.  This is a happy place.  I feel very content.  If this is the way the semester starts, I’m so excited to see how it progresses over the next 12 weeks!  I feel so fortunate to be apart of this program.  I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to go back to campus life where each day is filled with classes and each night with homework and stolen moments for froyo runs with your besties.  I much prefer my “real world with a safety net.”  I love the freedom of a city, and the responsibility that comes from being a young professional in said city.  I feel like I’m expected to carry myself in a mature way here, as opposed to people constantly thinking that I need to loosen up at school.  I almost feel more myself here, and I like that :)

I’ll close for now and post again soon about how January went with submission in the Big Challenge.  Thanks for your support, your prayers, and your letters!  I really appreciate everything, and I look forward to sharing more of my adventures with you in the near future!

Much love from Philly,

Rebekah