The all-powerful manicure

I'm incredibly blessed to have such wonderful coworkers! After an incredibly stressful week at work, I went to get mani-pedis with Lisa and Ruvi. To me, there is nothing more relaxing than a manicure. It's not the actual nail painting, but what the manicure represents.

In a world filled with adult choices, bills, and student loan payments, the salon is a place where it's ok to be whimsical. It's ok to choose a bright color or a fun design. Your nails can reflect your mood!

After you've been set up with a stylist or technician, you can have a conversation for over an hour that doesn't revolve around work! You can get your hands massaged which is great for relaxation, but the better benefit is that your mind is relaxed. For a good part of the afternoon, all your stressors can be forgotten.

A Year in Review

It's been over a year since my last blog post. I went back to read over my summer at SMU and was surprised by how much has changed. At this time last year I was looking forward to getting back to South Carolina. I couldn't wait for new roommates, new classes, new friends! Those changes absolutely met my expectations. My time in OSE taught me things about myself, as did my fabulous roommates.





Now, I've just begun another adventure. I'm living alone in New York, making more new friends and facing new challenges. This time, it's harder. There was no orientation manual emailed to me, no second-year buddy assigned to me. It's easy to become overwhelmed without guidance or the aforementioned orientation manual. With an incredibly important work challenge happening in this upcoming week, it's time for a change in mentality.

All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.
~John Kenneth Galbraith

It's been quite easy so far to be led, rather than to lead. I'm glad this role has been thrust upon me; it gives me an excuse to get over "being new." We'll see how this goes!