Fearless Phenoms

by Nicole

I am fortunate enough to have an internship with perks. I have never had to fetch coffee, my thoughts and ideas are actually heard and considered, I get to use a freakin' sweet Macintosh computer every day, and to top it all off, I get my pick of free magazines every month. One of the most highly coveted publications up for grabs at work is Cosmopolitan. Call me weird or a feminist (which I don't think that I am), but for whatever reason I don't really like this magazine. It always seems to center around one subject and reminds me more of a magazine that Freud might have had in his office waiting room than what I prefer to read in my spare time. Anyway, despite all my whining about how I'm not a Cosmo girl, I do sometimes find myself leafing through the magazine's pages if I'm sitting around and it happens to be sitting around within arm's reach. One such occasion was today. This past Thursday the receptionist at my internship asked me to "babysit" a few of the magazines that she had on her desk while she was away on vacation in order to prevent any unpredicted tempt borrowing. She gave me a few magazines, of which was Cosmopolitan.

During lunch I happened to be at my desk and Cosmo caught my eye (you should have seen the shade of pink used on the cover... something right off a flamingo!) I picked it up and began to shuffle through it's pages, passing over pouty-lipped perfume advertisements and "What your guy really thinks" articles until my eyes rested on a picture of Tyra Banks. Yes, I am a blossoming America's Next Top Model Fan, but more than that, I wanted to stop to see what Cosmo had to say about her because I am going to a taping of her show this week with Sarah! I figured that I should read up on her before seeing her in person, so I opened that magazine and started to scan the article. "Fun Fearless Phenoms 2008", read the article's title in that unforgettable flamingo pink. As I read on, I couldn't help but be intrigued. The article was all about women who have achieved their dreams! Here's what the article description said:

When you're stressing about how to pull off your big dreams, it helps to seek out chicks who've found fame and success. Well, look no further. The eight winners of our second-annual awards pack impressive talent and ingenuity.

Eight stories all about women who have chased after their dreams, succeeded, and are now willing to share the secrets to how they got to where they are! Phenomenal! No wonder they are called "Fun Fearless Phenoms"! Here's who was on the list:

1.) Tyra Banks, 34
You know about her...

2.) Rita Hazan, 34
Hair stylist for the stars

3.) Katie Lee Joel, 27
Cook book author

4.) Kelli O'Hara, 32
Broadway star

5.) Laura Dave 31
Non-fiction author

6.) Eugenia Kim, 34
Hat designer

7.) Liz Flahive, 29
Playwright

8.) Alexandra Cousteau, 32
Environmental activist

Here's link to the site where you can check photos from their event: Check it out!

Get Back Honky Cat!

by Nicole

"But how can you stay when your heart says no?
How can you stop when your feet say go"
-Sir Elton John Honky Cat

While driving home from work today, I scanned the radio for the perfect "work is over" song. I was pleased to come across that perfect song just as I got off of the exit for my house. It was Elton John's "Honky Cat". I have enjoyed the song for quite some time now, but never really took the time to look past it's catchy beat and Elton's impressive piano skills. After listening to the lyrics more closely, I really still have no idea what the song is about. A sassy cat? A redneck leaving his way of life? I'm not sure. The meaning of the song may not have stuck out in my mind, but one thing that did stick out was one of the final verses of the song (as quoted above). I found myself nodding in agreement to what Elton was so melodiously saying. "But how can you stay when your heart says no? How can you stop when your feet say go".  My goodness, Elton has put into words the exact frustrations that I have felt since leaving school! This is my biggest fear - that I will end up doing something that my heart says "no" to and that I will decide to stay when my feet say "go"!

I seriously have to wonder how many people are living lives that their hearts refuse to or staying one place when they would rather run in the opposite direction. As a new member of the "real world", I feel like observing and taking notes of the things that I don't want to do are just as important as taking note of the things that I do! Lauren spoke about choices and the vast opportunities we have in front of us. I believe that this trip will be eye opening in this way. By meeting people in different professions with different stories, I know that we will each pick up little pieces of our own personal puzzles.

Just this trip alone is an example, to me, of heeding to Elton's inquiry and saying "yes" to the desires of my heart. Right now there are so many things that I want to do, one of the strongest being to explore and learn. This trip is the PERFECT way to do just that. I am so excited for every part of this experience - from the initial idea to the moment that we return home with this experience in our back pockets, ready to be pulled out whenever we need to think back on, bask in, or refer to it. Look out world, we're saying "yes" to our hearts and letting our feet take us wherever they please.

Decisions and the 7th Heaven Phenomenon

by Lauren

We've all been talking so much about choices and decisions lately that I think I've started to see it in everything I do. I like to call it the "7th Heaven Phenomenon." Remember that show on the WB, 7th Heaven? If you don't, where have you been this past decade?

For those of you who did watch, I'm sure you remember that every episode had a "theme" and that you could tell exactly what was going to happen to each individual character after the first five minutes. It would become immediately clear that this was going to be a "don't discriminate" episode, or a "teen pregnancy" episode, or an episode about any number of lessons to be learned.

That's how I've been feeling lately about choices and decisions. Now that I've opened up about the stresses of making decisions, I feel like I'm bombarded with them everywhere I go. It's only noon and I've already had to decide on breakfast, coffee, what to do today, what movie theater to go to tonight with my family... insanity! Sometimes I feel incapable of making even the smallest decisions and now I notice them oh so much more.

But I've found the solution.

A couple days ago, I was telling Nicole that I thought she should read a book by Paulo Coelho called The Alchemist. I recommended it to her because she was looking for a road trip book to read before our trip, and even though The Alchemist isn't exactly about a road trip, it is about traveling and a journey of discovery.

Last night, I pulled The Alchemist out of my bookcase and put it aside to lend to Nicole the next time I see her. It's definitely a "pay it forward" kind of book. Someone gives it to you, then you have to share it with someone else. Brent bought me a copy, so I'm giving it to Nicole to read next, and if she loves it the way I did, I hope she'll recommend it to someone else, and so on, and so on....

Now, here's where I think fate stepped in. I opened the book to a completely random page and read the first paragraph my eyes rested on, and here is what it said:

He still had some doubts about the decision he had made. But he was able to understand one thing: making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.

I have to say, this definitely made me relax a little about the whole decision-making process, because I can't see the future, I can't say what my choices will lead to - good or bad - so why should I be so stressed about making them?

I think one of those choices, for the three of us, was to participate in this road trip. We can map out our itinerary, schedule interviews, pick places to stop at along the way, but really - do we know where the road is going to take us? A few lines down from the paragraph I quoted above, the main character thinks:

And joining this caravan may have been my decision, but where it goes is going to be a mystery to me.

And I think that's exactly what we, too, are doing. We're joining each other in this journey with no idea where it will take us.

Career Test

by Nicole

This morning I decided to take a quick career test on Monster.com.  I have known for a while now that I have no definite plans for after our road trip comes to an end.  I am very much hoping that I have an epiphany of sorts while on the trip and that I return home knowing exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life.  Because the odds of this happening are 99.9% positive in my mind, but realistically much less, I have decided to explore my future career options through online career quizzes.  I am not going to consider the accuracy of these online, anybody-could-make-'em career tests, but instead consider the insight that they can provide.  I am thinking that if I take enough of them, eventually I can come to some median answers about what my future career aspirations should be.  Here are my results from the Monster.com quiz I took:

Life as an ENFP

(Extravert, Intuitive, Feeler, Perceiver)

People of this type tend to be enthusiastic, talkative and outgoing; clever, curious and playful; deeply caring, sensitive and gentle; highly innovative, creative, optimistic and unique; adaptable and resourceful but sometimes disorganized.

The most important thing to ENFPs is the freedom to see possibilities, make connections and be with a variety of people.

Great careers for ENFPs

Here are just a few popular and often satisfying careers for people whose Personality Type is ENFP:

Advertising account executive
Career / outplacement counselor
Management consultant
Developer of educational software
Journalist / magazine reporter
Graphic designer
Art director
Copywriter
Corporate team trainer
Psychologist
Inventor
Human resources professional

Take your own career test and let us know what your results are!  

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

by Lauren

Now that we're well into September and the first day of fall is rapidly approaching (in a matter of minutes, actually) it's becoming more and more obvious to me that I am not in college anymore. I knew I graduated, I have a diploma and the 3,000 family photos to prove it, but it definitely took a while for it to really sink in that I'm not going back to school this fall.

I find myself still categorizing time in terms of "semesters" and the "school year" even though both those things are completely irrelevant to me now. I think lots of people underestimate the enormity of the change from college to post-college life. In fact, it's not really even a matter of being in college or not, it's all school. I've been in school since I was three years old which means I haven't missed a "first day" in September in nineteen years! I don't remember a whole lot from before I was three, so I can honestly say that I know nothing of a life that doesn't revolve around school.

The purpose of school is to prepare us for the workforce (you can argue against that, but on a basic level it's true). Are we really prepared, though?

Let's start with high school. One of the basic purposes of high school is to prepare us for college (hence the term "prep" school for many private institutions). We take classes and tests that will develop and gauge our knowledge so that we can move on to the next step.

College is the "go-between" between high school and the Real World (yes I need it to be bold and capitalized to make it look scary) and, as such, it should get us ready for the next, next step. Does it, though? For me, college was an all-inclusive resort. Yes, I had to do work and I absolutely learned a lot from the courses I took, but everything I could possibly need was provided for me right at my fingertips.

I had a room to live in and someone came by every morning to clean the bathroom in my hall and vacuum the floors. To start the day, I'd stumble out of bed to walk across the street where I could swipe a card and eat "free" breakfast that had been cooked for me. I would then make my way through the rest of the day taking advantage of all sorts of "free" stuff that was provided for me at my every turn. My school had a dining hall, two "restaurants," a movie theater, a gigantic library, a shuttle service, a general store, an enormous yard (the "quad") -- what more could I really need?

Is this really how we get prepared for the real world?

The philosopher José Ortega y Gasset once said,

He who wants to teach a truth should place us in the position to discover it ourselves.

I suppose that's how we all have to learn what life is and what it really entails, by discovering it ourselves. One question I'd like to ask people on our upcoming road trip is how they discovered their paths and made this enormous transition.

Until then, I guess I'll have to continue learning the hard way, just like everyone else.

Distracted

by Sarah
Sorry for being MIA the last week or so. There's really no excuse for not blogging during the most exciting time of my life (alright, a bit of an exaggeration...). But seriously, I am so excited for our road trip. I've got my computer all suited up for the event too- complete with a RTN bumper sticker and all. Reading Nicole & Lauren's posts are getting me psyched for the event. Maybe part of the reason I haven't been too sure of it all is because I'm still waiting to hear back from my boss as to whether I can get the time off from work or not. I know it will all work out in the end, it's just a matter of time until it all goes through. Honestly, during the past week, its just been hard for me to focus on the road trip when there is so much going on with my family, job, and friends. One of my major distractions is that my very close friend Maria is leaving for Ghana with the Peace Corps in exactly one week. Well, I guess technically she's going to Philly first, but still, I mean, Ghana's the next stop! I got to spend some quality time with her before she left. She came to my house and we went bike riding, got coffee, & went to the beach. The weather was that crisp-air fall weather that is absolutely perfect. Still, I have to get used to the fact that one of my closest friends will be leaving for two years to a far away country. Still, I do feel a sense of peace that this is so right for her- it will be an incredible experience. We're not sure what type of communication she'll have when she's there, so after she leaves, who knows the next time we'll talk. As you can probably understand, I'm a little distracted with this on my mind. Honestly, I know her going to the Peace Corps will be the "hardest job she'll ever love" as their slogan goes. I wish her the very best and cannot wait to hear all about it! So, once I'm not so distracted with life, I'll try and actually write about the road trip.

"Can we talk?!"

by Nicole

Joan Rivers in, what I picture to be, her "Can we talk?!" stance:

Our trip may still have it's fair share of kinks to be worked out, but overall things have been going incredibly smoothly as we prepare to embark come October. Our biggest and, in my opinion, most rewarding challenge thus far has been the booking of interviews. We have all been compiling mental and written lists of the people that we would like to interview and taking our mentor, Kristin's, advice about booking them to heart. So far, e-mail has been our top form of contact with these individuals with a few calls here and there.

The thing that has amazed me the most about the whole interview booking experience is how easy it can be to get in touch with people who I thought were so impossible to reach. We've been able to get in contact with some of our idols, which is exciting enough in and of itself, but even more exciting is the fact that many of them have agreed to meet with us for an interview! I believe that the entire RTN experience, from start to finish, will be filled with challenges, excitement, and a feeling of satisfaction. I am so thrilled to be a part of it.

Here's a list of our definite interviewees so far:

1.) Chris Johns
Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic Magazine

2.) Robert Ehrich
Founder of Robert's American Gourmet, the creators of Pirate's Booty (one of my favorite snacks)

3.) Brian Herzlinger
Creator of My Date With Drew, the story of an underdog who lands a date with Drew Barrymore through hard work and dedication

4.) Rhett & Link

Internet celebrities

5.) Deb Perelman
Food blogger, www.SmittenKitchen.com. Deb started her own cooking blog and made it into her career, with over 1,000,000 viewers per month

More to come!