Walking Under The Arch

Four years. Four years of school work, of late nights, of drama, of countless cups of coffee, of new friends, of philanthropy, of learning (both personal and academic), of life. All of this and so much more was running though my mind as I walked downtown after giving my final presentation of my college career this afternoon. As I approached The Arch, just like I had so many times before, part of me didn't want to walk under it. Walking through the pillars meant that college was really over... It's a little scary and daunting. It has been drilled into my mind to walk around The Arch for years, even before I began college. So, the fact that I was about to walk through it made me a little scared. Fists clenched and eyes closed, I finally walked under The Arch.

After that I was running figure eights through it! My group, whom I had just presented with in my final campaigns class, went and got a celebratory drink, but when I walked back by on the way to my car I was overcome with pride. It seems so trivial, walking under an arch, but for a UGA student and for me, it signifies so much of that dedication and determination over the four years when exhaustion never seemed to leave you. I still can't believe that I'm done, but what a ride it has been! All the work and late nights were worth it, just to walk under The Arch and graduate from The University of Georgia. I will forever bleed red & black! Go Dawgs!

Athens Bulldog Statues

As part of my UGA bucket list, I wanted to find all of the bulldog statues. All of the news articles and blogs that I have read said that there are 36 bulldogs, however I have counted/heard of 49. Below is the list of bulldogs that I know/heard of listed by location... Can you find them all?

Downtown Athens
1. BB&T (475 E. Broad St.)

2. Chastain Building (272 W. Hancock Ave.)

3. Biotest Pharmaceuticals (233 W. Hancock Ave.)

4. Thomas N. Lay Community Center & Park (297 Hoyt St.)

5. UGA Alumni Association Wray-Nicholson House (298 S. Hull St.)

6.* Classic Center (300 N. Thomas St.)
          NOTE: Normally this bulldog is inside at the top of the escalators, however they do put it in storage during large events.

7. Old Jittery Joe's Warehouse (across from 805 E. Broad St.)

Milledge Avenue Area
8. Five Points Eye Care (698 S. Milledge Ave.)

9. Silver & Archibald Milledge Offices (997 S. Milledge Ave.)

10. Georgia United Credit Union (1710 S. Lumpkin St.)

11. Jittery Joe's at Five Points (1230 S. Milledge Ave.)

12. UGA Foley Baseball Field (1 Rutherford St.)
          NOTE: Only accessible during baseball games. 

13. Memorial Park Playground (293 Glen Ellen Dr.)

14. UGA Golf Course (2600 Riverbend Rd.)
          NOTE: This dog is only brought out for special occasions. I had a friend who worked at the course.

Baxter Street
15. Baxter Street Bookstore (360 Baxter St.)

16. Bulldog Sporting Goods (1068 Baxter St.)

17. St. Mary's Hospital - just before you go into the Visitor's Parking Deck (1230 Baxter St.)

18. Athens-Clarke County Library (2025 Baxter St.)

East Side
19. Chick-fil-A (1870 Barnett Shoals Rd.)

20. Athens First Bank & Trust Co. (1855 Barnett Shoals Rd.)

21. Fire Station #7 (2390 Barnett Shoals Rd.)

Prince Avenue Area
22. Georgia Power (1001 Prince Ave.)

23. UGA Health Sciences Campus - in front of Winnie Davis Hall (HSC: 1425 Prince Ave, bulldog: intersection of Fox Rd. & Buck Rd.)

24. Power Partners, Inc. - just past Terrapin on the right (200 Newton Bridge Rd.)

25. AT&T Offices (2319 Prince Ave.)

26. Athens YMCA (915 Hawthorne Ave.)

27. Athens Family Dental (3380 Old Jefferson Rd.)

Broad St. to Atlanta Hwy
28. Steak n' Shake (2033 W. Broad St.)

          NOTE: There is a bulldog outside of I DO I DO Bridal Center (2045 W. Broad St.), however it is a wannabe bulldog statue. It's smaller and a different mold as the rest of these statues.

29. Robins Federal Credit Union (2636 Atlanta Hwy.)

30. American Pest Control, Inc. (3145 Atlanta Hwy.)

31. Dalton Carpet One Floor & Home (3690 Atlanta Hwy.)

32. Athens Church (10 Huntington Rd.)

33. Bulldog Kia (4305 Atlanta Hwy.)

34. Community & Southern Bank (3990 Atlanta Hwy, Bogart, GA 30622)

Inside UGA Buildings
35. Terrell Hall - 2nd floor, North Campus entrance (210 S. Jackson St.)

36. Terrell Hall - 1st floor,S. Jackson St. entrance (210 S. Jackson St.)

37. Aderhold Hall - Carlton St. entrance, bottom floor (110 Carlton St.)

38. Coliseum Training Facility - Carlton St. entrance, upstairs by a window (100 Smith St.)

39. College of Veterinary Medicine (1070 D. W. Brooks Dr.)

40. College of Pharmacy - inside the secretary's office (250 W. Green St.)

41. Graduate School Office (279 Williams St.)

42. UGA Visitor's Center (405 College Station Rd.)


Outside of Athens
43. Watkinsville Storage (67 Greensboro Hwy, Watkinsville, GA 30677)

44. Athens-Ben Epps Airport (1010 Ben Epps Dr.)

45. Southeast Clarke Park (535 Whit Davis Rd.)

46. Georgia Welcome Center (938 County Road 84, Lavonia, GA 30553)

47. Gnat's Landing (310 Redfern Village, St. Simons Island, GA 31522)

48. Blackwater Grill Parking Lot (260 Redfern Village, St. Simons Island, GA 31522)

49 Humane Society Penny Dawg (1619 Frederica Rd., St. Simons Island, GA 31522)


*Not sure if there is still a bulldog at this location

I got 22 blessings & you're probably one

It might be a week after my 22nd birthday, but this blog has been on my mind for awhile now. Have you ever noticed how every year around your birthday you start to reflect on your life? Have you accomplished any goals in the past year? How has life changed? Are you happy with the person you are? Do you have relationships that you'd fight for, that are meaningful? For some reason, birthdays seem to draw all of these life questions to the surface. Perhaps it's the connotation that that we're one year less young. Not one year older, but we are less young. Our soul is growing. We are learning. We are building relationships and lives. We are less young.

I felt at ease moving from 21 to 22. I joked with my friends that I was officially "old" and that I was 21 going on 45--I do watch World News every night. Yet, there was less pressure with this birthday. Having not drank before I turned 21--shocking, I know--I felt a certain obligation to "go crazy" on my 21st, which I didn't and still never have. It isn't me. The social stigma is that 21 year olds are just crazy college kids with no ambitions or determination. So, in a way, I was more excited then ever to turn the big 2-2 and break free of that stereotype that I never fit with my life and values.

I celebrated my birthday on Saturday (my birthday was on Monday) with a dinner with my parents and a party at my apartment with my friends. It was relaxed and fun. There was no stress and no fuss over me. It was just a gathering of friends celebrating how life has brought us all together. It was what I would call a perfect birthday... except for the fact that it wasn't actually my birthday. No, that was Monday. The day where I ran out of ink in the middle of printing a homework assignment; the day where I had back-to-back meetings; the day where I studied all night for an exam on Tuesday. In the words of my mother, "Welcome to adulthood." It didn't feel like my birthday. As a person who LOVES birthdays (others, more than my own), it was a bit of a disappointment. Shouldn't the day feel different? More special?

I was getting notifications of people writing on my Facebook wall all day on Monday, but it wasn't until I read through the posts on Tuesday that I realized how special I should have felt on my birthday. Friends from high school, old teammates, sorority sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts and even a high school teacher wished me happy birthday. The messages came in so many forms, from my Facebook, texts, phone calls and cards in the mail. I was quite honestly astounded at the love pouring in from so many different areas of my life. As I let the messages sink in, I couldn't help but feel this overwhelming sense of joy. I am so blessed. I am blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. I am blessed by the sun upon my face. I am blessed to have amazing opportunities. I am blessed by my faith. I am blessed. With another year under my belt, I am less young. However, I have better awareness of and gratitude for the things that matter most in life and, for that, I am extremely grateful.

Take me back

Today was filled with AJGA memories. My summer internship, now six months ago, taught me so much. The experience opened my eyes to different ways of life, accepting others for who they are and constantly striving to better myself and my work. I guess you could call those some of life's biggest lessons. It still amazes me that I was afforded such an amazing experience. I worked the longest, hottest, and most challenging days of my life, but each day with my team at the golf course was a blessing.

It's funny looking back. The laughs and radio babble are so fresh in my mind. I can still ride through each course we visited in my head. Everything, everyone is so close, yet when I open my eyes to reality life has gone on. Each member of my team has gone back to their respective states and picked their individual life up again. I like to believe that they they have been effected as much as I have from the experience. I've spoken to some of my teammates about it, and they feel the same way I do: the summer with AJGA was one of the best experiences we have had thus far in our lives. Who would have thought to throw eight people from all different backgrounds, various states and wide-ranging personalities together for two and a half months? 

The AJGA impressed me during my interview process with their deduction to their employees and constant stress on professionalism, leadership and character. I received a hand written letter from a full time staff member just the other day thanking me again for my dedication to the internship. In the envelope was a picture of my team from training before we left for the summer. It was a simple gesture, but it displayed the AJGA's class and rich culture that I am still so enthralled with.

I am typing out this blog on my phone just like I had to do so many times this summer due to my host family's lack of wireless internet. Even this simple thing takes me back to the hot Texas sun and wonderful Louisiana hospitality. No one but my teammates can truly grasp the bond that I feel with them. We somehow all fit together perfectly: one persons strengths picked up where another's weaknesses began to show. I think about and pray for them constantly. They are a part of my life; They are my family no matter how much time passes.