ABOUT THE BLOGGER
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My name is Sam and I am a New Englander who has traded in her bean boots and pine trees for flip flops and palm trees. This is probably the biggest change I have ever experienced...honestly did not know I could do this, but here we are! A little bit about me...I have never lived outside of New England and the job I left was at a university I had been at for close to 12 years. So let's paint this 12-year picture.
I went to the University of Maine, Orono where I played DI basketball and earned my degree in psychology. I was a fourth-generation to play a sport at UMaine so I was practically brain-washed to go to UMaine but it ended up working out great. Also, nbd, the Wheeler family did receive the Legacy award, again no big deal. During my time in undergrad, I thought I knew what I was doing but by the end of my sophomore year into my junior year, the universe was like NOPE! I realized that my original major of exercise science was not for me and had to figure out how to complete a psychology degree in two years (spoiler alert: I totally did with the exception of an extra semester) and the lord had a plan for me apparently and was like BOOM you are going to get two big 'ole concussions that are going to end your basketball career. Cool cool cool.
Now it's time to figure out this new identity of being a NARP (non-athletic real person) and figuring out what I am going to do after graduation. The opportunity of working as the Director of Basketball Operations presented itself for the team and I jumped on that sooo fast, probably too fast, cause I needed a job and loved being involved in athletics. Well, let's just say this job was not for me. Cue all the anxiety/stress. Side note, a positive during this time, I did happen to meet my now long-time boyfriend, so there's that. Thankfully, it was easily recognized that after a year and a half of doing this, it was suggested that I do something else and maybe get a master's degree. Since I had no idea what else I was going to do, I enrolled in the Student Development in Higher Education master's program at UMaine and was blessed with getting a full-time job in the equipment room in the athletic department. I was learning more about what I love (working with students in college) and making that money.
Moving forward to 2016, I completed my master's, and my two-year commitment in the equipment room was also up (it was only a two-year position) and was back to the whole, oh crap now what do I do. Again, needed that money so worked at Aerie as I applied to jobs in higher ed. I would much rather work in retail than the restaurant industry, but woof.
The stars did end up aligning and I accepted a job in the Career Center as a Career Counselor (which, full disclosure, did not know what that was or even know that we had a career center on campus and yes I was on campus for about 8 years at this point). This ended up being the best discovery as I finally found a job that I got to work with students in a way I never knew existed and FELL IN LOVE.
After close to 5 years working in this role, I knew I wanted to try something new but still do the same type of work. Little did I know that would take me to freaking Florida and little did I know how difficult of a transition this would be. Once the homesickness, loneliness, and stress of figuring this all out, I randomly decided to write this blog to share with you all how I am making this whole thing work.
Therefore, this blog is going to be a Chex mix bag of randomness and reflection as I learn what it means to live in Florida and how different it is from Maine.
I hope you enjoy browsing my site and all of the unique content I have to offer. Take a look around; perhaps you’ll discover what fuels you as well. Read on and enjoy!
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