The SOAR! Scholarship

The SOAR! Scholarship is awarded to three women that are each aspiring to start up their own photography business.  The recipients receive tons of prizes including: a new DSLR camera, lenses, instructional DVDs, business coaching, Confidence workshop attendance, website and logo design, and MORE!  The recipients also BLOG once a week to journal about the assignments they are given and the progress they have made.  I applied last year and got turned down, so I applied for the SOAR! Scholarship again this year.  I spent a long time coming up with what to say in my video portion of the application.  I wrote down ideas and ran them by Sam and my little sister, Laura.  Laura helped me to come up with what details I should include in the video:

Click here to see my SOAR! Scholarship application video.

In addition to the video, I also had to fill out an online application.  I was proud of myself once I submitted my application and for recording my video all by myself too.  I applied the week before Christmas and have had a heck of a time waiting to see who the three lucky ladies were going to be.  I had my fingers and toes crossed that I'd be one of the lucky ones.  So yeah, last Friday, I found out that I did NOT win the scholarship.  Was I disappointed?  For sure.  Did I cry?  Just for a couple minutes.  What did I do to help myself get over it?  I dubbed that day "Pajama Day" and allowed myself to relax.  I worked on some crafts, played with my kids, oh and went out (in my jammies, boots, and baseball cap) to rent the movie, "Despicable Me."  We had leftovers for dinner and I vegged on my couch.  I even made a few new friends on Facebook from the Soar Sisters page.  So, I gave myself that day to sulk and feel sorry for myself.  Now, I'm over it.

I've decided that even though I didn't win the SOAR! Scholarship, I'm not going to let it bring me down.  I am still going to get the most out of the resources that I already have.  I plan on following the SOAR! Blog.  I will  challenge myself by doing the same assignments the recipients receive.  I will blog my results on my photography blog.  I will ask questions.  I will learn to be more confident in myself, my camera skills, and my ability to start up my own photography business.  

I want to grow as much as possible this year.  Now I'm not talkin' about me growing up (a.k.a. getting taller) because we all know that ain't happenin'.  I'm talking about growing into a better person.  A more healthy and happy person.  A person who has tested her limits and is able to get out of her comfort zone.  A person who is curious and will not let criticism from others bring her down.  A person who sets goals and reaches them.  A person who loves her husband, family, and friends, a most importantly, loves herself.

I keep getting the song, "Just The Way You Are" stuck in my head.  There's a few things that I'd like to change about myself, but for the most part, I love myself just.the.way.i.am. 

A wise man once said, "BLOOM where you are planted."  That is exactly what I want to do this year: BLOOM.  I've decided that is the word I want to focus on.  I even made these crafty wooden "BLOOM blocks" with some friends last weekend.  Each set of blocks turned out differently, but they were all beautiful.  Here's how my blocks turned out.  I have them proudly displayed on the window sill above the sink in my kitchen.

Here's to the start of a year of BLOOMING and SOARING!