Taking Chances-- Why Hawaii?

You don't know about my past, and
I don't have a future figured out.
And maybe this is going too fast.
And maybe it's not meant to last,

But what do you say to taking chances,
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there's solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say,
What do you say?

Part of the song Taking Chances. It was on Glee last season, and instantly became one of the songs I played on repeat right before I left for Hawaii. I love this song because it describes exactly what happened in my life. I boarded a plane, flew 9 1/2 hours and almost 5,000 miles to a rock in the middle of the Pacific Island. You could say I took a chance.

Since I have moved here friends back on the mainland keep asking me why I chose Hawaii over New York or Texas. My sarcastic answer was always "more consistent weather," recently though I am realizing why I chose Hawaii. I took a break from everything that connected me to the mainland until today. I'm still not reconnecting all the way. I deleted even 1,500 people from facebook! :) I need(ed) some space to get acclimated to Honolulu and it was hard being SOOOO connected to everyone back home.

Georgia represents stability in my life. I lived in two houses growing up, both within the same school district. I was lucky to establish friendship that carried on from birth (or kindergarden) to high school graduation & further. I still talk to some people I have known since BIRTH, not many people can say that. I attended the same church until I moved to Atlanta, some of my best friends I met there.

I could have stayed in Atlanta. I would have gotten into the communication program at GSU no problem, most likely gotten a killer graduate assistantship/internship & made even more rockin' connections in Atlanta that would lead straight to corporate America. Atlanta was my safe haven. I knew everyone. Literally. It became distracting to walk around campus feeling almost required to at least say hey to everyone I knew. I had a ton of friend and a few close friends. The school work would have been easy to me & I could have graduated in two years no problem. Life would have been good, but a bit boring.

The long & short of it is that Atlanta was stable, easy, more of the same, busy, and distracting. That's why I chose Hawaii.

It was time for a change. I needed to get away from everything I knew (or thought I knew) and start over. Moving to Hawaii has allowed me to see my own strength and lack thereof but showed me that I am cut out for a lot more than just Atlanta. The program here is challenging. Intellectually I have learned more this past month and a half than I did in undergrad all together. The material is dense and tough to read, therefore I just have to keep rereading it until I digest everything. I don't mind this too much because I do most of my reading under the palm trees at the beach. My thesis topic is taking shape & I am so excited about it. I get to incorporate three of my favorite things- communication, football, and intercultural relations to research for the next year and a half! I am starting to fall in love with Hawaii, not only the pretty scenery but the people, culture & experience. I honestly can say that this was the right place for me & I'm glad I listened to my heart on this one. I would have missed out of a lot that God has in store for me if I went anywhere else. The quote from "It's My Life" says it perfectly-- "I just want to live while I'm alive." That's exactly whats happening here in Hawaii for me.

In other news, I got a bike for $10 the other weekend. I may have already blogged about it, but I am still stoked about getting it! I've ridden it to class & the beach. It's a used bike but it works perfectly. Last weekend I went to the UH football game and we won. There is another game this weekend. It's technically the weekend for me now! Ha, I just realized that. I have a lot of school work to do, but besides that I am very excited for a few possibilities that may happen this weekend. It's been rainy the past two days so I hope it clears up before tomorrow morning. Me, the beach & a text book have a date tomorrow afternoon. Sunday I am joining a Bible study at the BCM. I cannot tell you how stoked I am to start it. I've been having some trouble finding a church here in Honolulu. I hope that I will meet some awesome girls that can help me.

OH! & my current hobby is learning pidgin. It's a mix of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hawaiian, English & Portuguese. It formed on plantations in Hawaii when workers didn't understand each others language. It's spoken by most of the locals here. It's funny sometime when I'm on the phone with friends back on the mainland I say something in Pidgin forgetting they don't know what it means & have to backtrack. It will be interesting to try not to speak it when I go back to the mainland.

K-den brah, I goin’ see ya latahz den. Aloha.


Ahh, Almost forgot. It's one of my closest girlfriends birthday today! Happy Deuce Deuce Joey Hilimire! I love you to pieces! Thank you for everything you've done for me for the past four years. I am so lucky to have you in my life...even though you make me cry with all of your sweet presents. You are the only one that understands my obsession with Shark Week. I can't wait to see you in December!!! Check your mailbox soon for your birthday card! :)