I'm An Old Soul

So on Friday while everyone was sleeping in and enjoying the federal holiday, I was off to Downtown at 7:30am to catch one of the development sessions for my internship program. You can hear about the details at my intern blog.

The topic was presentation skills. And how to improve them. To keep things short, they ended up taping us and critiquing how we speak and what to improve on. We also talked about what made us effective speakers. One of my fellow interns said I was "calming," and the facilitator went on to say I was very grounded, and that I demonstrate "a wealth of maturity beyond my years." Really though, I think I'm an old soul trapped in a young person's body, which explains my more than frequent homebody-ness sometimes. (I'm working on it!) It was good to receive some positive affirmation after the whole "this is what you need to work on" shpeal (sp?).

The comments reminded me of something I have posted on my wall at home. It's my senior gift from varsity volleyball, a picture of each player on the team and the coach, and a special message from each of them. From my coach... "Leslie was not the tallest player or the hardest hitter, but she brought stability. Never too emotional, she serves as the "rock" that the team leans on. Her presence on th court settles down the other players." From another player, "Leslie, you were the person who kep the team together." And another, "You were the rock and glue that kept me sane and level headed."

To be honest, I never really understood how they would ever conjure up those things about me. After all, I was the emotional wreck that cried myself through the growing pains of being a teenager, while juggling the load of being a daughter, friend, student, athlete, leader, and the list goes on. It reminds me of how far I've come as a person, and how much I've come to appreciate myself as who I am, and not who I want others to perceive me to be.

Which reminds me. In the past year or so I've been so concentrated on what I should do with myself, what career path lies ahead of me, and how I will go about securing all my wants and needs of the future, that I've neglected the strength that reverberates within me the most. The ability to be that calm in the storm. The ability to be the rock that people lean on. The ability to bring and be stability.

The internship program has really been an invaluable experience in terms of being able to help me reflect upon myself, something I rarely find time to do during the hectic life of a college student. It's refreshing. And it's giving me a better picture of what I want to do my life: something that is stable and brings balance.

That's all I can ever ask for.