I used to want to be...

...a city bus driver. Laugh, if you must, but it's the truth. I think it was inspired by the "Wheels on the Bus" song. I mean, come on. Who wouldn't want to make the doors go open and shut, open and shut, open and shut? Especially when the wipers go swish, swish, swish, and the money on the bus goes clink, clink, clink? However, upon realizing that I may eventually get tired of the babies going, "Wah, wah, wah" and the mommies saying, "Shush, shush, shush" all through the town, I changed career paths. 

Next, it was on to paleontology. That's right. I was, and still am, a dino-lover. At the ripe age of five, I knew pretty much everything there was to know about the Mesozoic era and the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods within it. I knew about Apatosaurus (also known as Brontosaurus) and Brachiosaurus, which are both sauropods. That's a fancy way of saying they all have long necks and are REALLY big. As some of my dearest friends know, I am still a fanatic. (By the way, my sincere apologies go out to them for being around me and having to listen to me when I have recently watched a Discovery Channel special on any new findings related to the Dinos.) Yet, my career choice was not to be digging in the dirt, but under the sea.

Yes, I had decided to become a marine biologist. In the sixth grade, I even made my own business card in a technology class. It was blue, had a porpoise graphic, and said "Dr. Allyson Felt, Marine Biologist" in wavy font. I'm pretty sure my dad still has one hanging from his fridge. Embarrassing. Yet, I set my mind to my chosen career and began working at the Henry Doorly Zoo...in the gift shop. Not exactly diving with the sharks, but I just KNEW that somehow, my time there would be useful in my life quest to work with marine mammals. I plastered dolphins and whales onto everything I owned, watched Animal Planet obsessively whenever I could, and did almost every school science paper on something related to the anatomy of coral reefs, or the differences between a sea lion and a seal. Let me tell you... Elephant seals are some crazy creatures.

With as much time and effort as I put into that career choice (including putting some hours in at various science camps) in the middle of high school, I had a change of heart. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I loved acting. I participated in several community-theater group plays, with leading roles. Albeit, these roles were not exactly Broadway level performances, but they got me some great practice. And I had always loved acting. I'd done school plays, and even did work on a children's show as an extra once. That being said, the show never finished production, but I also chalked that up to good practice. Then my junior year of high school, I attended a women's convention and one of the speakers was a reporter/anchor for an Omaha news station. Then I knew. I wanted to be a reporter. Look out, Diane Sawyer, here I come.

Conveniently, I attended a Red Letter day at UNL (which means a day for you to go visit the university, look around, and see some of the colleges). I looked at Criminal Justice (mostly because of the show CSI, no joke) and Journalism. I fell in love with the J-School, as they so affectionately called it, and resigned myself to becoming a world correspondent for Dateline. I wanted to travel the world, reporting news from the far reaches of the globe. I wanted to be independent, never settle down, and essentially roam the planet in search of the next story.

And three and a half years later, here I sit, recently graduated, recently engaged, recently accepted to... law school?  And though law school is a far cry from city bus driver, I can't imagine my life going any other direction right now. Isn't it weird how that happens? I bet if everyone took a second to look back at their life, they are definitely not on the same path they set out on five, ten, or fifteen years ago.Which leads me to my next question... what could possibly happen in the next five, ten, or fifteen years that I am not expecting?

It's kind of exciting when you stop and think about it.

I guess this post kind of goes along with the last one. In order to look ahead, you have to look back and see how you have ended up at this point in life. Where has life taken you? Where will it lead you next?

I have just one thing to say to those questions:

Come on, life. Show me what you've got.


Allyson

A new start...

Hello, everyone!

This blog will be my lame attempt at one of many New Year's resolutions. I will attempt to post as much as possible, but let's face it, life can get in the way sometimes, so my goal is once a week. So to start things off right, taking a look at the future usually involves a stereotypical glance at the past. Here's mine...


The year 2010 brought me more things than I can possibly remember. It seems like just yesterday, Mike and I were ringing in the new year with our (very) recently married friends, Evan and Lindsey. Yet, here we sit, a year older and (sort of) wiser. Little did I know as we sat drinking leftover champagne, eating crackers with cheese while watching the South Park marathon, and watching Ryan Seacrest attempt to do Dick Clark justice that 2010 would hold so many more changes that I ever imagined possible. Even as I sit here and think back for a few moments, it's hard to remember everything that has happened.


I guess I'll start with school. In 2010, I took a total of 36 hours, including 6 this summer. One was Star City News, which was my debut into television. During the five week session,  I was the first ever female sports reporter, along with reporting the weather and news, anchoring, and producing. It was an amazing experience.

First time doing weather.

With two of the other students after going live for weather.

Another major thing was that I finished up my term on the College of Journalism Student Advisory Board as treasurer.  We had our first ever "First Fridays" event at the Apothecary, where we showcased student work for the public. It was a pretty good turn-out, and we made a lot of cookies. :)

Silly photo for the SAB door.

Final meeting of 2009-2010 SAB.

Another big thing when it came to school was my final two semesters as an active member of Alpha Xi Delta. Those girls have made a bigger impact on my life than I could have dreamed when I joined over 3 years ago. I finished up my time there as Chapter Life Vice President. We had a really strong recruitment and I'm excited to see where the house is going next year.

The 2010 Executive Board

The Seniors

Outside of school, I held three amazing jobs. One was for the College of Journalism as a production manager. The next was with Li-Cor Biosciences doing marketing research and creating promotional materials. One of my projects was to assist in creating a promotional video to be played at conventions around the world. It's a little cheesy, but it was super fun to work on. After Li-Cor, I began working as a runner for a law firm in Lincoln. I am still there and am very excited about it.

Many of the biggest changes of 2010 happened all within the last few months. I took my LSAT in the summer and decided to apply to various law schools around the country. I had been waiting to hear back from my schools, until finally, during finals week, I received a call from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law. I had been accepted! Two days later, I walked across the stage at the Bob Devaney Sports Center to receive my diploma.

With the diploma... It's official!

But the biggest and most life-changing event of all happened on October 2, 2010, at approximately 2:00 p.m. mountain time. My boyfriend Mike and I were visiting Denver to celebrate our two-year anniversary and to visit a few law schools. We took a few hours of relaxation by driving up Mount Evans. We ended up at a beautiful place called Summit Lake.

We walked over to a rock to be away from people for a little bit. Mike began to tell me how he'd been thinking about our relationship and how much I meant to him. He pulled a small, brown box out of his pocket, knelt down, and asked me to marry him. It was the most perfect proposal I could have hoped for. I, of course, said yes.

First picture as an engaged couple

My gorgeous ring

When I stop and think about it, 2010 will be pretty hard to beat. I was blessed with so many happy times with my family and friends. I am so grateful for everyone that I have in my life and I know that with them in my life, 2011 will be just as good or better.

So, here's to you, 2010. You will never be forgotten.



Allyson