Get Uncomfortable

Being a teenager is all about getting out of your comfort zone. It's about putting yourself out there, pushing yourself further than you ever thought possible and make leaps and bounds . It's about taking initiative, and risks, and reaping the benefits. It's about combining new and old experiences, and friends. Let's get uncomfortable. *Part 1 of my NACURH 2013 recap - check out this vlog all about the conference experience!

Let's take it back to Friday, fast forward through the crazy morning of 20 minutes of sleep before departing for the airport. Flying to Detroit from Cincinnati (I'm at home for summer vacation) and from DTW to Pittsburgh, PA. Slowly the delegation from UVM (go cats go!) trickled in to the airport and we were reunited, but it wouldn't have been Vermont-style if there hadn't been a struggle and a half involved, including delays, cancellations and other aviation related shenanigans. We hopped on a plane to LAX shuttle to the University of Pittsburgh campus and got checked in before trying to navigate the city and make it to our residence hall. Our biggest obstacle ... this gigantic hill (like the Goliath of city hills) that we had to legit hike up. We hopped in the elevator (a no cheer zone aka things we don't adhere to) and all got changed into our spirit wear, complete with facepaint, bandanas and our most unique swag the Cap-Sac (fanny pack for your head). Off to dinner we went, that is our conference crew of Sam, Brendan, Taylor, Jaime, Steph, Tori, myself and our advisers for the trip, Learie and Danielle. Let's just say at conference, our reputation, and subsequent popularity precedes us. As soon as we enter the dining hall, the place explodes with heys, clothespin trading (how you make friends at conference) and hugs from every which way. We chowed down and prepared to move to our regional (NEACURH) breakout where it was a cheer off like no other and our pretty big moose family reunited. We did some business, cheered a whole lot, and then made the journey up struggle mountain to the stadium for the opening ceremony. It was truly amazing to see all the regions present and hear that wall of sound. Everyone was so different, but we were all there for the same purpose. Dance party ensued and videos played before we had guest speaker Antonio Neves talk to us about making our own luck and "getting uncomfortable." His speech was thorough and to the point, and included surrounding yourself with people who you push you forward not hold you back. From there it was on to socialize and meet up. Ice cream social (and dancing in the dark), movie night snack demolishing and be a kid night is what we hit up, along with my conference bromance, Jeff from UConn. When we were done with life we made it back to my room (a single BTW) and just laid out on everything, the ground, desks, and bed. It was a hilarious sight to see and we stayed up until just after 2 am before I showered and hit the sack at 3. Let's get uncomfortable.

Saturday had me awake at the butt crack of dawn to get dressed up and go all out in white and bright green everything. Face paint on and the group was ready to head out to breakfast. Conference is funny because even when we're tired we'll cheer, some people are just more ready to do it whenever, than others. From there we all split up (at least to my knowledge) to head to different programming sessions all over campus. Jeff and I were inseparable so we went to all of our together. The first one was about mini games but the presenters didn't show up so Dale from SUNY Cortland lead our quirky group in some hilariously fun games. I met some super cool people in that session and it was off to identities through sand where we analyzed which ones we held. Lunch time break where our delegation was geeking out and filling the area with noticeable laughter - we're all a mess is what it comes down to. Everyone was looking at us but we were too busy having too good of a time to notice - that's what conference is about. We had a little break before we went to do the philanthropy work of making coloring books for a local elementary school. Two more sessions on fingerpainting who we are and then stereotyping before dinner time and regional breakout time to learn our roll call dance. From there it was on to the roll call where all the regions did their best to stand out and show what they were made of. Highlight was the huge breakout of the Wobble - which Taylor and I ran down the bleachers to properly hit up. We even broke a Guinness world record (large synchronized robot dance) like it was NBD before more socializing. Jeff and I hit up the president's social but had to leave early to grab stuff to trade at swap shop (like a huge market to trade school swag). My school's tank tops and those cap-sacs were big ticket items that everyone wanted. Afterwards the hunt for food ensued and then it was back to our room where all of us again hit the floor anyway possible. I zonked out like nobody's business and it was another late night of silly jokes, recapping our days and preparing for the big day 3. Get uncomfortable anyway possible.

Being a teenager is all about making your way into unfamiliar territory, and uncharted waters. You have to try something, be a little different, and get out there. The world is a big and crazy place. You conquer it day by day and get through it all with the people you choose to surround yourself with. You have to trust the everything will turn out fine and muster up the courage to be bold every day. We just get uncomfortable.

*Read part 2 of my NACURH 2013 recap soon!

My blog post question for the day is ... what's your favorite part of conference? Uhm, getting to see one of my best friends, and going hard on the dance floor afterwards.