We'll Get There: Izzy DRAFT

The podcast episode features a discussion between William and Izzy about being a strong and independent woman. Izzy shares her experience of being muscular and how she deals with societal expectations. She emphasizes that she goes to the gym for her own enjoyment and not to please others. Being physically strong has positively impacted her daily life, giving her more energy and making everyday tasks easier. Izzy believes that discipline is more important than motivation when it comes to going to the gym regularly. She advises finding exercises that are enjoyable and making it a habit. The conversation also touches on the importance of starting the day with something challenging to set the tone for the rest of the day. Welcome to the We'll Get There podcast. I'm William Gregg, a sophomore currently studying at Florida State University. Today I have the pleasure of welcoming on Izzy Romano. This podcast is intended to be a discussion of ideas, theories, and concepts relevant in the 21st century. Welcome, Izzy. Thanks for having me, Will. Of course. So, ever since we met, I noticed that you were, you know, larger in terms of muscle mass to other girls. Yeah. And I immediately was like, this is a badass woman. She knows her shit. Thank you. She's got it going on. And I've always kind of looked at, like my, I have an older sister and I've always kind of looked at her in a similar sense. It's just like strong women and like someone who like is very motivated. And so I find the friends that I have that are girls to be like kind of like sister figures in my life. And I feel like I've kind of found that with you, just being like a strong and independent, motivated woman. Thank you. So like how, but like how, it's not like very traditional, like obviously, you know, looking at it from like, you know, more of a going back in time, like guys would look at girls and like they wanted them to be like slender petite, like that. How have you kind of dealt with like not being like what like would be the ideal form of like a woman to like most guys? Obviously that is the wrong image or the wrong viewpoint. But like how have you dealt with that like from a day to day? So for me, I truly just enjoy getting physical exercise, being in the gym. Lifting is something that I've been lifting in the gym for about four years. So I was a sophomore in high school when I started lifting first. And when you're in the gym, it's kind of like the people that are there are interested in people that are also have the same goals and things like that. So it wasn't really an issue for me. And then also on the other hand, I wasn't going to look a certain way for other people. And I think a lot of people think that girls go to the gym to like look better for guys, which to your point doesn't make any sense because that's not what guys historically are interested in. And of course, that's not speaking for everybody. But for me, again, it wasn't really a way to try and look good for a certain person. It really was just something that I enjoyed doing initially. And I mean, it still is that way to this day. So I guess that answers your question. Yeah, it does. I love your line about just you kind of don't you don't care what other people think. That is such a, you know, other people view that as a cliche statement. But it is so important because a lot of the times we forget that we do things for ourselves. Right. And we don't need to do things for other people or we don't need to do things to promote a certain image that people are going for. And I think that's a really important takeaway. I think a lot of people need to continuously hear that. I need to continuously hear that myself. I think for me also there were there was a certain point where I did care what people think and I would tell myself, oh, I don't care what people think. I'm just going to go and do blah, blah, blah. I don't really care. But I've really gotten to a point now where I genuinely don't care. And it's not in a way where it's like, oh, I don't care about other people. It's just their opinion to me matters less than what my ultimate goal is, which is like my relationship with Jesus, honestly. I love it. I love it. So how has your strength influenced other areas of your life? Meaning how do you feel on a day to day basis knowing that you are stronger than most or not necessarily like comparatively, but that you just are a strong individual? How has that affected other areas of your life? Do you mean physically or kind of just like the routine of being a gym, a gym goer, a regular gym goer? I would say both. I would say stronger physically. How does that influence your day to day? Like sometimes I think, you know, since I train legs, I can run faster upstairs. That's a simplified version, but it makes me feel good that I can propel myself upstairs and have this energy to me that allows me to, you know, have a step to my walk. And then also how has it affected your mental health and your motivation? Okay. So for the physical aspect of it, it really impacts every single day because when we were abroad, for example, I wasn't in the gym consistently or as consistently as I would be. We were eating good. It was delicious food. I don't regret any bit of it, but I did feel like I didn't have energy. I didn't feel good in my body, which was not as much like body image wise, just literally the physical aspect of it. Like walking down the street or walking upstairs more specifically, it's just harder when you have like a larger body that's not as athletic to do everyday things. So now that like I've been back in the gym now, just every part of my day is easier. I feel better. I feel energized. I feel happier. It's just, it really is something that if you're taking care of your body physically, every aspect of your life is going to improve. School, like dedication, discipline, just everything. Actually, I've completely found that to be true. I love it. So is it not as much or is it not a motivational thing for you? You think it's a habit? Like some people have to find the motivation to go to the gym, but you like doing it. How would you or what advice would you give to somebody who still needs to be motivated to go to the gym? Would you tell them, you know, make it a habit or what would you say to them? So I would say that it's less about motivation and more about discipline. Of course, like I do really enjoy it. So it makes it easier to get out of bed and go to the gym every day. But there are days where I'm like, I just want to lay in bed. I just want to eat chips and cookies and like be lazy. But that's when it really makes, when you're choosing between laying in bed and doing nothing and getting up and going to the gym when you don't want to, that's what's pushing you ahead of the other people that are going to choose the decision to stay at home and do nothing. When you're first getting into the gym though, it can be a little different because you want to get to that point where you're making it a habit every single day. So my advice personally would just be to find what you like. Find what you can consistently do. You don't have to go jump, like jump into everything and just go super hard your first day. You want to ease into it. You want to find the exercise that you enjoy because it's not the same for everybody. So if you want to work out with a friend, if you want to try new exercises like we did today, then I would completely recommend that. Find something you enjoy. Find something you can do like for the long run. Yeah, that would be my advice for the new gym goer. I love it. So I have a constant kind of like reminder of like or I come across the subject of should I work out first thing in the morning or should I wait until the afternoon? Should I regulate when I work out and optimize when I work out, meaning go the same time every single day, get it out of the way, and do it that way? Like a procedural workout? Right. Or just do it spontaneously when I feel like it? What would you recommend and what would you say the main difference is between those two? So if you're going in with the approach of I'm going to work out when I feel like it, then it really runs the risk of you not having that consistency that's needed to actually see progress. So for me, I'm a morning gym goer. I just like it. It makes my day better. It makes me feel better throughout the day. Not everyone's like that. People like to push it off towards the end of the day because it's their favorite part of the day, and they want to save that, I guess you could say. It really comes back to the discipline thing where if you want, like when you're starting to get into the gym, you want to find that thing that you like to do, and then you want to make it a habit. So it helps a lot of people to set a specific time, especially with our busy schedules. We're college kids. We have classes, homework. We have a lot of things going on. So, like, create your schedule. Look at a time you can fit in to get exercise. It doesn't have to be two hours. It could be 45 minutes. It could be 30 minutes. It could be 15 minutes. Like, whatever you can fit in, just do it, and I promise you, you are going to feel so much better. You're going to see the results if you stay consistent, and, I mean, you'll just feel better. You really will. Once you, even if you go into that workout not wanting to do it, you'll come out on the other side feeling strong, feeling good, feeling happy, and it's just going to be good for you. I love it. I love it. I think for a lot of people it's getting the ball rolling. Yeah. A lot of times you're playing with... For sure, and sticking with it, I would say. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. People find it hard to find the motivation to do anything, not just go to the gym, but to get up and do their homework. But there is something to be said about just doing it. Yeah. And that, like, obviously the Nike pose. Nike had it right. Yeah, and everyone kind of steers away from that, but it's so true. Just, you know, if something is spontaneous, it will happen. That's just a fundamental concept in life, and so you just need to make things happen. And I always think, like, I heard something the other day from a podcast that basically said, you know, if you start the day by doing something, like, no matter what it is, if it's hard, then your entire day is going to follow suit. Yeah. Meaning it's a domino effect. You're going to do something hard, you're going to do another thing that's hard, and so on and so forth. Yeah. And that doesn't necessarily mean you need to get up and do something really hard every single day in order to do hard things, but it really does help. Getting that initial jolt of energy, getting that motivation to continue through your day, I've really seen a lot of people in the past. Yeah, no, I completely agree. Another question I have for you is, you know, which specific aspects of your life does strength influence the most? So, in your life, you know, like, how have you, it's kind of, I already kind of asked this, but, like, how have you seen, like, school improve because of, like, strength training? Like, do you feel like you learn things the similar way you learn things in school, like, through strength training? Like, you'll go to the gym and you'll learn a new, like, what works better? Or do you think you just go to the gym to go to the gym? Are you asking, like, do I apply what I learn in school to the gym or more so how the gym affects my study habits and things like that? I would say, so, the question I'm asking is, like, you find the best way to study. Do you do that in the gym? Like, are you always learning, like, what is the best way to, like, you know, improve this muscle group or, like, get volume? Yeah. Do you do that similarly? Or do you just follow a routine? I would say that when I was first getting into the gym and learning really everything about lifting and stuff like that, of course I didn't know everything. But when I was really learning, like, the basics of it, it was for sure that way. I would always be on, like, YouTube, just the internet in general, learning from more advanced lifters what's the most optimal, what's, like, the best way to maximize progress and the time that I'm really putting into the gym. And I think more recently it's been more just about enjoying being there, I think. It's more about just getting my body moving and really just having a good time, like, playing my music and just really enjoying it. It's less about what is the most optimal exercise to grow the most muscle or to get the strongest. It's just, like, oh, what do I enjoy doing? Oh, I really like this exercise. Okay, I'll add that into my routine. And the same thing with, like, switching it up. Like, if you're, like, doing the same routine for a really long time, it is smart to do the same thing for a certain amount of time because you don't want to just continuously be switching everything up. You want consistency. But, I mean, I get bored of it. So, like, I'll switch it up every once in a while, add some things in that might not be the best exercise for hypertrophy or strength or anything like that. But it's just fun. I just like to do it. So I think I've definitely gotten more into the habit of adding things in that I enjoy opposed to just for one, like, tunnel-eyed vision goal, if you know what I mean. Yeah. I think that it's a really important idea, and we kind of already touched upon it, but doing things that are different and diversifying your exercise. A lot of people don't. A lot of people do the same things over and over. And there are, like, scientific backings in, like, in neuroscience and biology that say that when you do an exercise over and over, you're actually creating less hypertrophy and you're not going to increase the muscle mass. It's, like, it's this thing that, like, if we diversify many aspects of our life, you know, we continue to live. Like, you're not going to continue to live if you do the same things over and over. You become more of kind of like a robot. Like a robot, yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, I love it. So I want to transition to the next subject, which is faith. And we've talked a lot about it recently. Yeah. Just talking about life and talking about, you know, I'm at a major point in my life right now making a decision to do something else or to go into a different major. And so how has faith, you know, guided you in your life? And, like, how has it led you to where you are today? So faith, I think everybody has faith in something. I think that faith in the one God is the best faith to have because he is all-knowing, he is all-powerful, and he is all good. So he loves you so much and he wants to get to know you so much, each and every one of us. So to have faith in a personal being that wants the absolute best for you and has a plan for you and is the most powerful being seems like the best option. And I just, it's just, like, so important. My faith is just something that's so important to me. And the more I learn about Christianity and the life of Jesus and the more I read the Bible, the more I really dive into this, the more I realize how present our God is every single day. Which is so beautiful because he is just in everything. Everything that I see, everything that I feel, everything that I touch is him. And he is all good. He has a plan for my life. And there's comfort in knowing that it's not all on me. It's not all on my shoulders. I'm in the hands and my life is in the hands of a 100% loving God. And at first, a thought like that can feel like, oh my gosh, I'm not in control. This is terrifying. But then when you realize that we as humans are sinful beings, we make mistakes. Everyone has heard the saying, like, it's okay, like, humans make mistakes. You're only human because it's true. We do. We're sinful. We make mistakes. But he doesn't. He is perfect, loving, holy. So, for my life to be in his hands is way more comforting than it is to be in my hands. Because I do make mistakes, but he doesn't. Kind of a long answer. Basically, to sum it up, like, in my life, he is everything. Because without him, I am nothing. And I just, I want him to be just constantly on my mind. I want to be consumed with his love. And I just want to see him in everything that I do. And, you know, continue to follow his path and his will. And, yeah. It sounds to me like there's immense amount of comfort in a guiding hand. Absolutely. Knowing that something is leading you to greatness and success or just to happiness, whatever that is for whoever it is. Absolutely. It is. It's very comforting. I love it. I would like to ask you, like, how did you find your specific path in your faith? Like, at what point did you realize, do you think that it's always been this way? Since, you know, your family always kind of preached faith in this particular manner at you. And you accepted it and you made it your life. Or do you think you kind of, like, naturally found it? I guess just how did you come about your faith? That's a very good question. So I was raised Catholic. But it wasn't serious. We rarely went to church. Only on holidays, really. So I wouldn't say that I, I definitely didn't know Jesus. I didn't have a good relationship with God. It really wasn't until coming to Tallahassee that I really, really, like, encountered the living God and really met Jesus. And it was, I went to a church service with one of my friends, Sophia. Shout out, Sophia. She invited me one Sunday. And I was like, yeah, yeah, I'd love to go. Just kind of being open-minded. I really loved it. I mean, the message that he was preaching was great. It resonated with me. And I started to just, like, take it into my own hands, if that makes sense. Just, like, truly reading the word and getting into the word myself and kind of figuring out what I believe, what is the truth. And God truly did open my eyes. And he revealed to me, like, this is the way. Jesus is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. And just feeling the love through the Holy Spirit of our living God is just, like, something that I can't even describe. Like, I really just can't. And it's just amazing. Like, it really is. I don't feel like the same person that I was even in the summer. And it's all due to the loving nature of our God. And the more that I learn about Scripture, the more that I learn about just the entire concept of our God, I guess you could say, the more I just fully just want to surrender my life for him. Because he came down. Jesus lived on this earth. He died for our sins. He rose three days later. This is true. And I, like, I think everybody needs to know that because how great of news is that, truly? We are lost without him. And we were lost before he came. We're still lost. But when we meet him and when we give our life back to him is when we truly find the joys of this life. And it's just such good news. It's like we are dead to ourselves, to our flesh. And through him, we can be alive. And how amazing is that? Who doesn't want that? I love it. I would like to talk about there's usually at the topic of conversation to describe faith in terms of religion and in terms of, you know, without religion, like non-affiliated faith or non-religious affiliated faith. Right. So would you say that there's a difference at all? Would you say that you can see faith in, you know, two different perspectives? Or would you just say that there's only faith in God? Or do you think that there's multiple definitions to faith? Like, how do you perceive it? I believe that everyone has faith in something. Everyone worships something. I worship this holy, perfect, amazing God. Some people worship money. Some people worship themselves. Some people worship another person. And in each of those scenarios, they don't know joy. They don't know happiness. They don't know how good they can really feel or how good their life is supposed to go. Because when we create a relationship with our Lord, with our God, He guides us and He, like, will get you through the toughest times. And I don't know how to describe it. It's just such an amazing feeling. And He will bring you out of... He doesn't promise that you won't go through trials. You won't go through tribulations. But He does promise that He will be there for you through all of that. And He will make you and give you strength through it. So, I believe that people can have faith in something that is not religious-based or religion-based. But it's never going to give them what they're looking for from it, I guess. If that makes any sense. If it's a faith in something that isn't necessarily attached to a tangible item or even a human being. If it's faith, per se, that things will work out. Like, that's kind of what I'm aiming for here. Someone who may be atheist or agnostic or whatever their affiliation or however they describe themselves. If they were to say, I have faith that I will continue to live and be fine in this world. How would you say that that differs from your faith? Obviously, you've kind of already touched upon how you've described your faith in a very detailed sense. And it's very clear. But how would you say that one person is different from another in terms of what I just described? That's a good question. I think having faith that things will work out is easily broken down in the sense that there's nothing to really back that. Like, you can say you have faith that it'll work out, but there's nothing that you can lean on when you might be questioning that. Because when you're going through something that's hard, it's hard to tell yourself, I have faith it's going to work out, I have faith it's going to work out, when everything seems to be crumbling under you. With God, he gives you the promise that through what may feel like everything crumbling under you, he is there. And knowing that he is good and he is loving, he's not going to do anything that, or give you anything that he won't back you up on. If that makes any sense. Does that make sense? Having faith in the God will let you lean on him and get through your toughest times and it'll help you to praise him in your greatest times and lean on him in your toughest times. So I think that having faith that things will work out is just, like, you can let go of that really easily. And it's hard to have strong faith in that because there's nothing that's going to be there for you, truly, in the harder times. I agree. I agree. Yeah. Another question I have is, how has prayer affected your life? Like, for example, a lot of people reflect by writing things down or a lot of people set goals. And to me, prayer is like that. I guess, in a sense, I'm trying to, for someone who isn't necessarily religious affiliated or isn't a Christian or whatever their affiliation, I'm trying to help them, if they didn't want to become a Christian, understand how to excel in life or how to take these conclusions and put them into their life, apply them to their life. And for that, how has prayer helped you and how do you think it could help other people in a broad sense? Like, how do you think writing things down or, you know, setting goals in your mind will help you in the future and will help other people in the future? Okay. So, prayer is very important. Prayer is when you connect with our Creator. And I was at a conference, not this past weekend, but maybe two weekends ago, and I was in kind of like a breakout session about prayer. And it was very enlightening, super, like, important. And he said something that really, like, dwelled on my heart. He said that God limits his power by waiting for our prayers. So, not to say that God needs us to pray. God doesn't need us for anything. We need him. But he chooses to limit his power to hear our prayers. So, when you're praying to your God, you should pray desperately and for everything, but physically. And then you will truly see him work in your life because he will work in your life regardless. You can't do anything to stop the will of God. But he does limit his power to our prayers because he wants a relationship with us. He wants us to learn about him and to know about him because he loves us. He also decided to limit his power by giving us free will. He's not forcing us to love him because he doesn't want robots. He doesn't want just robot humans walking around that are forced to love him. So, he chose to limit his power and to give us free will. And with that, he still wants us to love him, he's just not going to force it on us. So, prayer is a way that we really get to know him and talk to him and recognize his voice. Recognize and discern his voice when he puts thoughts in our minds. Different from our own voice and different from the voice of the enemy. I love it. Yeah. So, I'll transition over to the next subject. Okay, sure. Which is travel. My favorite. It's a regular topic. Oh, yeah. People get their podcasts. I can't steer away from it. We couldn't leave it out. Yeah, I can't steer away from it. So, I think to kind of have a piggyback off of the last subject that we talked about, you were saying that you didn't find your faith until you got to Tallahassee. Yeah, I would say that too. And so, what did travel look like before this very stabilized routine life here in the United States? How did travel look, like reflecting back on it, how do you look at it now? I have actually done a lot of reflecting on the past year, as I'm sure everybody has. It was incredible. It was incredible. I mean, it was just amazing. And I truly did enjoy it, and I truly was happy. With that being said, I do feel like since I have came to Christ, I've never been happier in my entire life. Not when I was abroad, not before that, not at any time in my life have I been this happy and joyful. And that is all because of the Lord. It's all attributed to Him, every single part of it. I did always believe in God, but I didn't know... So, I would go to, like, Mass, Catholic Mass in Europe, not every Sunday, occasionally, just because the churches there were beautiful, and I wanted to experience the Masses there. I didn't understand it. I didn't speak Spanish or Italian, so I didn't truly, really understand it. But it was still amazing to just be in the house of God, be in the church. It was just, the churches there are just indescribable, so I definitely wanted to make a point to go. But, I mean, I am so thankful. It all truly is a part of His plan. I mean, I am so thankful that I was able to have the opportunities to go abroad. All of the friends that I met are people that I'm going to know forever. The experiences, the countries I've seen, just everything. I've been so many places, and I really, I just couldn't be more grateful. Like, it's been so incredible. So, yeah. I don't know if that answers... I don't even remember the question, to be honest. No, it does. It does. Every single time that Travel comes up on the We'll Get There podcast, I always make the effort and always propose the question, What is the best story? Because everybody has a multitude of stories. We all have crazy experiences, and they all sound like... I might want to bring up the Morocco one. Do it. Okay. I might tell this wrong, but... So, William and I were there. It wasn't just us. It was a group of us, but he was there. We land in Morocco, in Marrakesh, which is the capital city, I believe. Not positive. Don't quote me on that. We land there pretty late, and we decided it wouldn't be a good idea to book a place to sleep that night. In Marrakesh. In Marrakesh, Morocco, which notoriously is not very safe for being just, like, at night. Anyway. So, we flew... Yeah, so we landed there and decided to just go into the town and just walk in the streets, just us, just alone. This man came up to us... Abdul. Yeah, Abdul was his name. And he walked his little bicycle up to us and was asking us if we had a place to stay. And we were like, no, no, like, we're actually looking for a place. So, we mistakenly started engaging in conversation with him and ended up knocking on doors at, like... He was like, no, follow me, follow me. And, long story short, we were very apprehensive to walk with this random man, as we should have been, but ultimately ended up following him around the city, knocking on doors of hotel rooms, which are not like hotel rooms in the United States. They all were full, they all... They were all complete. Complete, complete is the word that he used. Yes, they were all complete, no room. I got the feeling that these hotel owners knew this man pretty well, meaning that he did this pretty often. So, he was like, well, they're all complete, so let's just go to my house. And we were like, okay, sure, let's go to your house, Abdul. That sounds like a great idea. Which, it was probably 3 or 4 AM at this point. Not a good idea to go to this man's house, but we did it anyway. We go down these dark alleys, like really dark alleys. The lights are just getting dimmer and dimmer. And his son, I guess it was, showed up from the shadows. No teeth. He was like, follow me, follow me. We went into his house, sat on his couch. It was more like a cave than a house, I would say. His wife was, at least I think it was his wife, was very angry that we were there. So, we decided to leave, which we never should have gone there in the first place. But we decided to leave, and he followed us all the way to the main square that we started off at. He did not leave us alone. We had to try and find an Uber, which was difficult at 4 AM. Or a taxi, they don't have Uber. I'm used to saying Uber. We found taxis, luckily, and said our goodbyes to this man, and we never saw him again. Might have left some details out there, but... Yeah, we ended up getting back to the airport, where we then slept. It was freezing cold, because the windows were open, and this is the desert. So, we're all curled up on different benches in the Marrakesh airport, sleeping until the day started. Until the sun came up. Go back into the city, and continue our journey. But that was one of the best trips I've ever had. It was one of the best trips I've ever been on, definitely top three. And just a fabulous story to tell. It's crazy. I sometimes think that if I don't continue to tell these stories, I will forget them. Which is very sad. I know, it's so sad. Yeah. I just need to write them down. I know. I actually kept a journal up until, I think, right after Morocco. And I really, I should have stuck with it. It was just hard. I mean, we were just living, though. Yeah. I saw so many different videos on YouTube, and read so many different articles and blog posts that said, like, journal, don't journal, just experience. Yeah. There are so many little moments, too, that we're just like, this moment right now. Yeah. I just want to take a mental picture. Yeah, you can't capture it. And you can't, yeah. Words can't describe it, pictures can't. It's just a whole mindset thing. It is. It's very true. So, what has been the craziest travel-related story? So, like, that was pretty crazy, that we got there and then something happened. But, like, in terms of actually being in transportation, in transit, like, what is your craziest in-transit story? Like, having to catch a bus at 3 a.m. and then a flight at 7. Oh, okay. Yeah, I gotcha. Okay. It was probably on the way back to Florence from a little road trip that Avalyn and I did. We initially meant to go to Sardinia. We missed that flight, so we can include that into the story. We decided to rent a car and just drive. So, we drove, I don't even know the city names, but it was just all beautiful, all nature, very nature trips. Slept in the car. We saw Pompeii. We saw Naples. It was just, like, we saw so much in the span of, like, really, like, two days. But on the way back, it was a mission to get back. We had to drive back, which I think we were, we slept that night in the car, like, Saturday to Sunday in the car in a little town outside of Naples, I believe. So, it was about three hours from Rome Airport, I believe it was. Yeah, the Rome Airport. So, we had to drive that back after sleeping, you know, in a car, which is not comfortable. We were both tired, but still lively, I'd say. So, we drove about three hours back to the Rome Airport. From Rome, we had to, from the Rome Airport, we had to bus to the train station, which is, like, a string of buses. It's not easy. It's very difficult. Like, three buses just to get from, it's like a 20-minute drive by car, but buses, the bus routes weren't the best, I guess. So, that already is starting our travel journey. We get to the train station. Her train is, it was like 6 p.m. or something. She leaves. My train wasn't until 7 a.m. the next morning. So, I'm there all night. I'm just, I, like, set up camp in the train station. I was like, I have my pillow, I have my blanket, and I'm just going to sleep here, I guess, already having had no sleep, virtually. It's like 1 o'clock, I think, rolled around, 1 a.m., and the train station closed. So, I was like, okay, this is really, really good because I'm homeless right now. So, there was, like, a McDonald's across the street that closed at, I think, 4, sat in there until 4, and then sat outside of the train station among the actual homeless for the remainder of the time until it opened at, I think, 6. Got on the train, finally. Get back to Florence, and we all know. We all know the walk from the Florence train. No, I didn't even get to the Santa Maria Novella train station. I had to go to the other train station. So, then I had to get, like, one of the local trains to the Santa Maria Novella, or I think that's what it was called, train station, which was closer to our study center in our apartment. And then we all know the horrors of the walk from that train station back home. It never goes by fast. It always stinks. So, then I did that, and then I had class. Oh, wow. So, I didn't even get to sleep. I had to go to class, and then I got to sleep, and it was good. That's one of the many stories. There have been many, but that is one that comes to mind that was not pleasant. It's so humbling. Yeah. Just, like, mentioning sitting outside amongst the actual homeless and just, like, I don't even know how to begin. There were many times. Rats are scurrying by me. Like, genuinely, there was a rat that ran by me. Yeah, it's just head in hand. It's like, wow, yeah. You're just like, wow, this is happening to me, and I just, yeah. Wouldn't give up for the world, though. No. Happy with every experience that I had. I honestly found myself laughing in some of those experiences. Yeah, 100%, which is the beauty of it. It really is. Just, like, navigating Europe with your phone, hoping it doesn't die. Yeah, phone was dead, also. Yeah. Like, probably, before I even got kicked out of the train station. Yeah. But, it's great. Like, you meet people, you talk to people, you learn other people's stories, and it's just, I really, I wouldn't trade it for the world. And then you find so much comfort when you get into a place that's secure. Yeah. And, like, cozy. Yeah. You're just like, wow, I'm so grateful. Even going back to our apartments in Florence. Yeah. And they weren't the best. No. But, the bed just seemed like it was the best bed ever. Yeah, I always slept in those beds. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. It was great. It was so cold, and I don't even know. Not at first. Yeah, not at first. At the beginning of December. Not at first, though. But, yeah, I mean, I think that that was one of the biggest takeaways from abroad is just, there's so much, you can go through so much discomfort. And, obviously, we don't know. I mean, we were abroad. Yeah. Exactly. We weren't having the time of our life. We don't know what actual discomfort feels like. Yeah. But, we did experience a certain level of discomfort that was really eye-opening, and it really just changed the course of my life. Especially in Morocco, or, for example, in Morocco, seeing how fortunate we truly are. And, I am saying that I found it to be really hard not having a home for one night. But, there are people that don't have one at all. Yeah. And, that is something that, like, we know. Like, we know that there are homeless people, but we don't, like, we just shy away from it and, like, turn a blind eye to it, which we can't do. Right. Like, so, seeing that and seeing how fortunate we truly are just puts everything in perspective. And, yeah, that's just definitely one of the many, many, many lessons that I learned when we were abroad. Okay. For sure? Yeah. What was another lesson that you learned from being abroad? What was another big takeaway? Hmm. There are so many, but I don't know. There's, okay. Um, I think that I gained a lot of, like, personal skills. Like, meeting new people, I would, like, always think that there was this, like, awkwardness. But, now, I feel like I can talk to anyone. I feel like I have things to talk about. And, I feel like, like, there's that awkwardness just isn't there. And, it probably was never there, but I felt it for whatever reason. But, I think meeting people from a bunch of different countries, meeting people from all over our country, from all different backgrounds, just gives me, like, a broader worldview, I guess you could say. I don't know how exactly to describe it, but I just think it's easier to connect with people no matter what their background is. No matter what my background is compared to theirs. I feel like we can find something in common, or we can find something to talk about, which I've never felt before. Which, I think that's such a valuable tool, just in life in general. Yeah. So. How would you, what would you recommend to do, other than going abroad, to find that, to find that characteristic? Just get out there. Like, you can find it in your city. Talk to people that you wouldn't normally talk to. You can do it even in your classroom. Like, sit with someone you've never sat with. Introduce yourself to someone you've never spoken to. Even if you're just, like, putting yourself out there, yeah, it can be scary, but just say, like, Hey, like, my name is blah blah blah, what's your name? Like, anything, literally. And you will meet some of the most amazing people that you wouldn't have otherwise just because you were either too afraid to say something to them, or because you judged them based on what they looked like, or anything like that. Just really just put yourself out there. And, I mean, it's something I struggle with. It's something I have to do better at as well. But I think that would be something that would definitely help. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. I mean, it's such a different take to be able to, or I wouldn't say it's a different take. I would say it's very eye-opening to talk to people that you wouldn't normally talk to. Yeah, 100%. And you find that, you know, just because, like, they're not, like, they don't look the same as you, or they don't act the same as you, you share so much in common with every single person on this earth. And that concept of Sonder, I don't know if you've ever heard this before, but Sonder is basically the idea that every single person is living a life as complex as yours. You go through life thinking, there are so many moving parts to my life, and I think about so many things minute to minute, but every single person on this planet is having a life that in their, at least how they perceive it, is as complex as your own. Yeah. And it's very hard to understand that, but I feel like once you do understand that, like you said, you can talk to almost anyone. Yeah. Just because you know that we are human, and that is the defining characteristic that allows us to conversate with one another. Yeah, absolutely. I love it. So how would you say that, you know, coming back, how would you say that, what was the main way that you adjusted to coming back to the United States? Because for a lot of the FYAs, first year abroad that is, going abroad for that long and then coming back here and having to readjust to what America is like again, some people it was probably easy, some people missed it, some people didn't like being abroad, but some people it's been really hard, and some people haven't necessarily adjusted. How would you say that you adjusted? Or just after any experience that is that different from the norm, how would you say someone adjusts to coming back? Yeah, I think it definitely was something that I was at least nervous about, especially since I didn't go home for winter break, so I was there for 11 straight months. It definitely was something I was nervous about, but with that being said, since I was there for so long, I was ready to come home. I did miss my family, I did miss my friends. I missed just the feel, there was just like a feeling about being in your home country and being in your hometown. I missed that as well. So I think that helped me adjust in the sense that I didn't want to stay, if that makes sense. I wanted to stay on the side that I loved it there and I made amazing relationships, amazing memories, but then I also had amazing relationships and memories back home that I wanted to get back to. So that sense of it was, leaving wasn't as difficult because of that. Coming back was just super exciting, honestly, because there were so many people that I hadn't seen in almost a year. Other than literally my mom, my dad, and my brother, I hadn't seen anybody. So it was really strange, but it was super, super exciting. And I found that when I got home, it felt like I was gone for a month. Everything kind of went back to how it was. In a way, of course, obviously, a lot of time had passed, but in a weird way, it did feel like it had only been like a month. So that also made it easier for me. I personally didn't really struggle adjusting back, which I feel very blessed and grateful about, because I know some people have struggled immensely with it. But yeah, I mean, I just feel very, very lucky. And I mean, I truly did find my comfort in Jesus, which I think is the reason for it. Or for that matter, I know it's the reason. So that kind of made it just easy on me adjusting here in Tallahassee. And then adjusting in my hometown wasn't very hard just because, I mean, it was my family, my friends, and everything. I want to kind of investigate further the idea that is time dilation and how you said that it felt like a month. And for me, it was similar. It was a similar experience. I left, and it felt like I was so disconnected from my family and my friends back home. And then when I came back, it all kind of just resumed. I went back to my hometown to visit my grandma and a few other family members. And I went back to hanging out with my best friend from high school in his room that looked exactly the same, playing video games. And it resumed. And it was very strange. And I didn't know how to deal with it. I was sitting in stagnation. And I was just kind of looking at things with a very side eye. Yeah, for sure. I definitely felt that way a little bit as well. How would you investigate that further? What do you think the meaning of that is? Do you think that life kind of is always waiting for you? You just need to reenter a certain aspect of life to just have it resume? Or do you think it's not that simple? Do you think that if you leave something for a certain amount of time, obviously it won't be the same? I feel like it might have been just a theory. No idea why this is actually the case, because I did feel very similar to what you just described. I feel like our experiences were just so extraordinary and not the norm of what, say, our friends were doing. I mean, they completely just lived their own lives. I mean, it was our first year of college. They were figuring themselves out. They were doing their own thing, while I was doing also my own thing. So it's kind of like I was literally just picked up and placed somewhere else. And they were living their lives. But since we had this, like, just extraordinary year and just something so different, when I came back, not much had seemingly changed, because comparatively, the experiences of our first year versus their first year were just so different. So I feel like that might just be because there were just so many differences in how our lives were lived the past year, comparatively with, like, me versus my friends. So it just seemed, when I got back, that things were kind of dull, and I had a lot to talk about. But then when I would ask them how their year was, they would just be like, yeah, it was fine. And I'm sure there were some extraordinary things that they had gone through as well, and I loved hearing about them. But I feel like they might not have seen them as extraordinary or something like that, maybe. So they kind of just were just like, you know, regular college. Might be part of it. Yeah. But I'm sure there are plenty of aspects that go into that feeling. And it being freshman year, and people kind of working things out. Yeah, exactly. Going to college. Yeah, I definitely agree. So, obviously, that kind of follows the narrative of, like, but you can, like, leave, and you're going to be fine. So I would like to just, like, input that in there, is, like, if you're thinking about going abroad, or you're thinking about doing an extraordinary experience, or just a crazy, you know, very diverse experience, I mean, go do it. Because things most likely are going to be fun. You're not going to miss out on anything. If you're looking specifically into the first year abroad program, you're not missing out on the freshman experience, I promise you. It's nothing crazy. I mean, I didn't experience it, but in a way, I feel like I did this year. And just based on the people that went back for the spring, they said it was nothing special. So don't be afraid. Go for it. Incredible. I 100% agree. I'll go to our last topic, which is education, and how education has helped us, and how we're still seeking to become educated individuals. So my first question is, how has your views on education changed in recent years? That's a very good question. I feel like throughout, you know, grade school and high school, you're kind of just going through the motions. You're like, this is just what I have to do. I'm not really choosing my classes. I'm not really interested in the things that I'm learning, for the most part. There is obviously exceptions. But then college is where it really gets different, because you don't have to be there. No one's forcing you to be there. So it really is up to you, and your learning is in your hands. Because you're given resources, and you're given things that your professors are judging you and grading you on, but whether you learn or not is up to you. And for me, my grandfather was huge on education and travel, evidently. And he truly, really, really valued education, and I find that I do as well. I think that there is power in knowledge, and that's cliche as it sounds. But there is just something about learning that I just enjoy. And I've always been more of like a math science person, heavier on the science. So more like reading literature stuff isn't more my speed. But even that, there is something about just diving into a certain topic and really knowing it. And I'm not, obviously, I haven't mastered or gotten that much experience with a certain topic, but that's why I'm here. That's why I'm taking my studies seriously and truly trying to learn, not just trying to pass. So I think having that outlook throughout my classes has been amazing. Because if you're truly trying to learn the material, and if you're interested in it, studying isn't as difficult because you're not dreading it. Finals aren't as bad because you've prepared throughout the entire year, you're not just cramming at the end. So I feel like having that look on learning is just, is really good for me, and I feel like it would be good for anyone. But then again, I don't know. What advice would you give to someone else who wants to find that motivation to love learning? I mean, I struggle with it for sure. I struggle to turn my show off and do my homework instead. I would say that you just have to try to know your strengths and know what you're interested in, I guess. And choose that as your path, I suppose. I mean, I've always been interested in the science. I'm a bio major. So I enjoy my classes. I enjoy learning about the things. I'm not kind of just sitting there twiddling my thumbs. I'm sitting there interactively learning and actively taking notes and things like that. So I think a lot of it has to do with your interests and knowing your strengths and what you're good at. And if you don't know that, then, I mean, we have so many resources on campus that help you to figure it out. If you don't know how to do it on your own, which a lot of people don't. So, I mean, I don't know the resources specifically, but I know we have a bunch of aid, I guess you could say. Like, whether it's school, just like time management, literally anything. I know we have a bunch of people that are there to help us. So that's something that I really like about FSC as well. Yes, definitely. It's a large network of connections. Yeah. You can find almost anyone to talk to about anything, which is what I love about the campus as well. I think a lot of people need to take that opportunity. And not just here, but at any school. If you're at a college or university that you feel like isn't offering the opportunities, most likely they are. But if they're not, then you can find the opportunities elsewhere. And I think that it's really important to reach out and to email people. All it takes is a short message, five minutes or less, to find someone who could maybe steer you in the right direction. Even if it's your peers, even if it's people that are still doing their undergrad, maybe a year ahead of you, maybe even not. Everyone has something that they can share, they can help you with. And just getting advice, it's just so helpful. Because we don't know how to do this. This is our first time doing this. Admit you need the help, because we all do. And you'll do much better if you have people alongside you. Anything else you want to talk about? Anything else you're dying to... I don't know. God loves you and Jesus loves you. I think we covered everything. I love it. I love it. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Of course. Thank you for having me. I've never been on a podcast. I've been a little nervous. I feel good. Just a conversation. You have a comforting presence. Thank you. You're welcome. Appreciate it. Of course. Alright, as always, I'm William Geig, and wherever we're going, we're going to get there. Thank you.