Who Are You???

Alright, so it's been a while since I've blogged. I absolutely LOVE writing...but ironically am terrible at consistently blogging and/or keeping a journal. I'm hoping to get better at this and maybe someone out there in the universe will be able to relate in some way, shape, or form.

The best way that I could think of is to start one of those "blog challenges" I see floating around Pinterest all the time. So I searched for some...but in doing so, I realized why they were called challenges. Dang, people want me to get all sorts of PERSONAL on the Internet...That's kind of intimidating... I tried really hard to find one that I felt fit my mission with this, but failed. So I'm just going to consolidate a few different challenges and make my own personal challenge!

Day One: Who Are You???

 

 Hello, world. My name is Sydney. I'm Utah-born, California-raised, and living in Idaho to go to school. I attend Brigham Young University-Idaho where I just finished my sophomore year studying Early Childhood/Special Education. As of a few days ago, I have officially left my teenage years behind me and have graduated to the roaring 20's. I have two younger sisters and two dogs named Jake and Katie whom I love dearly.  I started this blog at the beginning of the year to fulfill a requirement for my online New Testament class. So yes, the first few posts will be assignments I had to post for my professor to grade. Now, however, I want to start blogging for ME. 

I am in love with all things Disney related and also quite a big Harry Potter nerd. Growing up, I wanted to be a dolphin trainer at SeaWorld and study marine biology in college. After taking one biology class in high school I quickly realized that the science field was not my cup of tea and began to rethink my life. Having grown up loving to read and write, I entered my freshman year of college as a declared English education major. I am so grateful they don't make you stick with the major you declare as a freshman because while I love English, I think taking three different classes on grammar would probably make me want to tear my hair out.

My second semester of college, I was able to find a babysitting job 2 days a week watching the two cutest kids in the entire world. Their influence, combined with the Child Development class I was taking, made me realize that I wanted to work with kids. I want to be a Mom one day. I want to have a husband and kids. The whole front porch/white picket fence dream? Yeah, I want it. My Mom was able to stay home with my sisters and I, and I want to be able to do that with my kids. So my approach to college was not "how can I have the best career?" by any means. I was (and still am) trying to figure how I can make my studies apply and be profitable in the frame of raising a family. With this perspective, I realized that the preschoolers are my people. Please don't make me go out to a party. Let me stay in and babysit a 4 year old and I'll have so much more fun. My dad frequently asks in frustration: "Are you 20 years old, or 5?" I know it drives him nuts, but I enjoy it. I don't want a cubicle and paperwork. I want to sit on the floor and color with young kids while a preschooler tells me the story of how he thought he saw a dinosaur outside his window last night. I am 20 years old--I promise--but I like preschool. So sue me!

This is all pretty basic stuff: who are you? Where are you from? What are you studying? These are the questions I answer a million and a half times during the first week of school. If you're still reading, I guess you want more than that.

As much as I've tried to steer away from the English major world, I can't seem to escape it. Maybe it's because both my grandma and my aunt are English teachers so the nerdy-ness is literally in my genes, but I love to write. Shocker: a blogger that likes writing. Ok no but seriously, I want to be a writer. As much as I've stated that I love preschool (and I totally do)...that's not all I want to accomplish in my life. I want to write a book. Specifically in the Young Adult fiction category. I don't know if I'm any good at it, but it does come semi-naturally for me. So in-between all of the other things in my life (family, church, school, work, friends, dating hahaha funny joke), I like to sit down with my dear laptop named Gertrude (name is thanks to my dear roommate Stephanie) and write. I have about a hundred pages on the current project. Will it go anywhere? I sure hope so. But only time will tell. 

Contrary to my father's belief, there's not a lot of money in the writing world. Writers are known more for being tortured and misunderstood than they are for being wealthy millionaires. Yes, JK Rowling made a killing and she is now wealthier than the Queen of England. But she's 1 out of literally hundreds of millions. I'm not banking on that kind of success by any means. 

Other things to mention: yes, I am a Mormon. No, my family are not polygamists. No, we are not Amish. I welcome any questions you have and will answer to the best of my ability, but I might point you towards Mormon.org if your question is one that I know could be better answered by someone else. OOH! This gives me more to mention!

To all of those other fellow Mormons reading this post (seriously, if you're still reading I'll be stunned): yes, I am a 20 year old female in the LDS religion. No, I am not married. Yes, I do go to 'BYU-I-Do'. Yes, I'm fully active and a regular temple attendee. But no, I am not going on a mission. These are all topics I'll cover in other posts because it's much too long to cover here. 

So why am I blogging?

Life is an adventure. And adventures are best when shared with other people. I'm so many things all at once with so many different facets and quirks and a plethora of awkward stories that I need space and room to explore and share everything I learn and experience. I'm dorky, please just accept that fact now. I definitely don't have it all figured out, but I'm trying. And I invite you to read on about my life and hopefully you'll be able to giggle along with me because sometimes life is just plain Weird. 

This is me, Internet worlds. I am Sydney and this is my life. Come along for the ride. If it turns out good, then great. And if not, then it sure as heck won't be boring! 
  
 

Being a Heroine

Ahhhhhhh free time :) There really aren't words to describe the relaxation that washes over you when you realize there's nothing you HAVE to get done. It's a darn good feeling and one that I don't get often when I'm up at school. So when I come home and am taking a break from school, it's really nice to be able to curl up with a nice book.  

I used to think that I'd out-grown my inner nerd. I've gotten rid of the braces, the glasses, and the constant Disney movie references (well...sort of, on that last one). I'm finally "cool". Ha ha ha. Who are we kidding? I'm definitely just as nerdy as I've always been, I've just finally grasped those all too important social skills that have allowed me to publicly downplay the nerdy instincts. But behind closed doors--and to those friends who know the REAL me--I'm just as geeky as I ever was. I didn't read Harry Potter as a kid; Harry Potter WAS my childhood. I think I was genetically doomed to be a geek. I didn't have a remote chance to turn out cool. I got my first pair of glasses when I was in second grade and we have a picture of me curled up in my dad's burgundy recliner reading "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" with no glasses on. I wasn't even 8 years old and I was already reading a book with 636 pg book!!! I never had a shot at the cool kids' table.

So I guess it really isn't surprising that even now as I approach my 20th birthday that I still am a huge book-lover at heart. But as I've grown older, my amount of free time has drastically diminished (a fact that I'm sure isn't helped by my intense procrastination and lack of good time management skills) and therefore I haven't read nearly as much as I've liked. But as I've made it a conscious effort to become more well-read, I've realized something that's kinda bothered me:

Where are all of the heroines???

"Umm duh! They're right where they've always been, you're just stupid. You're a huge Harry Potter fan and Hermione is one of the best literary heroines ever!"

Fair point. Don't get me started on how much I love Hermione (and Ginny and Luna and Molly and Tonks---heck, even Umbridge is a pretty well-written character!). But, my friends, the series is not called "Hermione Granger and the Dolt with the Emotional Range of Teaspoon". Harry is the title character and while dear Miss Granger is definitely one of the main characters, her primary role in the story is to support Harry.

Katniss Everdeen has her very own series but...she just gets a little too dramatic and whiny in the third book for me. I give Suzanne Collins her credit--it's a great series and Katniss' reactions are probably very realistic for a warfare situation. There's something to be said for making the end grim, harsh, and taking out all the Disney magical 'happy ending' fluff. Kudos to you. I can acknowledge that. Doesn't mean I have to like how Katniss turns out though.

I've started "Pride and Prejudice" dozens of times--both novel and several different film versions--and I haven't ever been able to get through it. I know, I know. I feel like I won't win many friends for ever admitting this but I'm sorry Jane Austen REALLY doesn't do it for me... I don't see the appeal to Darcy. Sue me, but I don't get it!

It seems to me that heroines tend to fall in 1 of 2 categories: a very tough, tomboy-ish woman with an "I don't need no man" attitude who stubbornly refuses male assistance OR a scantily clad seductress who kicks butt and takes name while appealing in a very sexual way to the male audience.

Is there no happy medium?? There is so much MORE to being a woman than showing lots of cleavage or leaving all the men in the dust while you prove yourself. There's so much more than getting the guy or even playing second fiddle to the guy saving the day. I know I can't be the only girl in the world frustrated with this! I'm sure there are hundreds of dialogues all over the web on this topic and I don't claim to be unique or original with this complaint. But it hurts my heart a little bit.

If I may add a disclaimer, I don't claim to have read every novel ever produced. I tend to stay pretty exclusively within the Young Adult fiction genre and even within that genre I am sure there are dozens of heroines that fall outside of my broad generalization. I stereotyped, and I freely acknowledge that. But seriously: come on ladies! Is it too much to ask for a well-rounded literary heroine who is both feminine AND tough??

I freely admit that I spend (aka waste) WAYYY too much time on Pinterest but I've recently come across a beautiful quote by Zooey Deschanel. I'm sorry, but I really love her. She is goofy, dorky, and yet still classy.

There's something to be said for having some tenderness left in this world. Life is HARD. I feel like women are constantly being told to: "Suck it up! Be a man! Rub some dirt in
it!" (If you didn't read that last quote in an Amanda Bynes' man voice then please visit this link here and educate yourselves on one of my favorite movies EVERRR: 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLSwpjpVmRU).

I think the quota has been filled on women who have 'rubbed some dirt in it'. There's a time and a place for that. But there's a big need for tenderness in this world. Times are hard and a little tenderness would go a long way.

As women, one of our greatest assets is that we are very multifaceted. We're all a little tender, a little sassy, a little quiet, a little scared, a little defensive, a little self-conscious, a little caring, a little funny, a little quirky, a little brave, a little loud, and a whole lot of fun. I don't pretend to understand the many differences between men and women, but I eavesdrop a lot when other wiser people talk about it :) Men compartmentalize much more than women do. We're constantly feeling 85 different emotions at once and jumping from topic to topic to topic. We are COMPLICATED. So I guess it should come as no surprise that, in literature especially, it's hard to capture all of the great strengths of being a lady and put it all out on the page for an audience. To simplify us is to really do us all a great disservice. It can't be easy to write complicated characters--hence why there are so many simplified caricatures and cliches. There are thousands of different voices yelling about how women should behave. I guess I'll just add my own voice to the fray.

No more seductresses. No more tomboys with an axe to grind and an agenda to prove. Just a good ol' fashioned heroine who can get stuff done, while keeping her tenderness, charm, and some witty banter with her male friends. A hero and a lady.


I'd read that book :)