Thank God for all I missed...cause it led me here to this.

I never thought I would join the blog craze. I'm just not the kind of person to sit down and spill my thoughts to those that may or may not be reading. However, given pressure from friends to chronicle my upcoming journey and the hope of reflection at the end of it all, I decided to give in. DISCLAIMER: I am not the most eloquent or poised writer in the world, so you'll have to bare with me on that. Anyway, the title for my blog is a reference to my heart...along with my feelings, thoughts and emotions that I will document here. I earned the nickname "Dixie" from some of my closest friends and sorority sisters, due to my fabulous southern accent they wish they had ;) and found it appropriate. Therefore, I also chose "Dixie" because I am your standard southern girl. You know, "I'm in the heart of Dixie, Dixie's in the heart of me." (credit to the great country band Alabama for nailing my feelings exactly) - and I am interested to see how my southern upbringing and way of life impacts my experience in the next year.

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For those of you who may be reading this and do not know me, I am from a small town in North Carolina. I won't bother saying where cause I know you won't know it. But I live about an hour away from Charlotte. I graduated in May from Auburn University...War Eagle! I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and my time at Auburn, cheesy as it sounds, was incredible. I was sad to leave but ready to move on to the next stage in my life. That next stage happens to be a year-long, once in a life time opportunity. I found out in February that I will be working for my sorority, Delta Gamma Fraternity, for a year as a Collegiate Development Consultant. I was BEYOND thrilled that I got the job and I am truly blessed to have this experience ahead of me. I served my Delta Gamma chapter, Delta Sigma, as president and realized early in my DG experience how much the organization would grow to mean to me.

Collegiate Development Consultant. What is that, you say? Delta Gamma Executive Offices hires 8-10 or so women each year, all recent college graduates, to serve the Fraternity in a unique way. This year, myself and 10 other phenomenal ladies were chosen. We will spend the year traveling to all of the collegiate chapters, advising and assisting them in all areas. We also have an exciting year ahead of us as all of us get to be an integral part to the colonization of a new chapter. Where are we headed, you ask? Ironically, the University of Alabama! The big school "just down the street." (Insert another "War Eagle" here) - all jokes aside, I am so excited to help with a colonization and even more so, one close to home!

My journey began this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio where our Executive Offices are located. All 11 consultants traveled for a weekend of training and bonding at DG's Officer Training Seminar! The weekend was wonderful and made me so very excited for what's to come. I returned home on Sunday and will be here for 3 more weeks before I leave for good. I will then go back to Columbus and live at Executive Offices with the other CDC's for 4 weeks of training before we head to Bama and then later part ways to begin our travels around the country.

I found the title of today's entry appropriate for the way I'm feeling. I never thought I would get the opportunity to be a CDC. I always connected with the CDCs that visited Auburn and dreamed of following in their footsteps one day but never thought I'd get the chance. However, I truly believe hard work, dedication and constantly dreaming and believing in yourself, pays off. I've dealt with disappointments and heartache along the way, wondering why some opportunities passed me by...but somehow, it all seems worth it now.

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