Pilot

So basically I didn’t know what else to title my first blog entry. I thought of on Netflix how every first episode of a series is called “pilot” and that’s the episode that introduces you to the characters and gives you an idea to what the show is going to be about. That’s pretty much how my first blog post is going to go.

Tiny Bit About Me (Me on paper)

Some background on me: my name is Allyson Baetke. I am a soon-to-be senior at Iowa State University, studying Elementary Education. I have one semester of classes left before student teaching. I have two cats (Koda & Paisley). My cat Koda totally loves every human but my Paisley only likes me and that couldn’t delight me more to be honest. I have one younger brother, Conner, (at the end of his 7th grade year) who I love to see grow and learn to be his own person. My whole family dynamic is constantly changing right now and is sometimes hard, but I’ve had a lot of opportunities to consider things from new perspectives which I think has ultimately helped me grow.

Me Behind the Scenes

I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression a lot since probably my sophomore year of high school. I had a lot change that year, and I feel like that year I went from a girl with a happy life, perfect family, perfect boyfriend, perfect friends, etc. to discovering that things don’t always work out the way I want them to and sometimes need to find a new way and make my own happy. I go back and forth being good at that and not and have my ups and downs, but that year in particular changed my life for good (little did I know) and I’m still learning every day.

What I Do

I started at ISU in the School of Design. My goal there was to go into Landscape Architecture where my overall goal was to design golf courses or parks. Within a month of being there, I knew that wasn’t for me, I wasn’t passionate about it and generally didn’t fit in with other students in my class. I wanted to do something where I would feel like I was making a real impact on the lives of people. I ended up switching into Elementary Education which was what I always wanted to do all through high school.

Taking a Leap

Why am I blogging? I have been thinking about writing a blog literally for years. I think I never do it because I don’t think anyone will find me interesting enough to read about and sharing personal thoughts/stories is hard for me, I’m a very private person and keep a lot of baggage underneath the surface. However, I just thought whether people read or not isn’t completely the propose of this blog. I’m a person where my mind is typically somewhere else and I’m always thinking of what I have to say and forming elaborate thoughts but I’ve never been a huge talker and prefer to share my thoughts in writing, somewhere where I have the time to form the right words. So I bring to you, my blog, my baggage, my story.

Simplicity & Serendipity

A little bit about my philosophy on life is that I try never to take myself too seriously. I’m a simple person, I like simply being with my family, finding the little joys in life, being happy with what I have and grateful for what this life has given me. This is where the simplicity in my blog title comes from. Years ago (seems like forever) I heard the word serendipity for the first time and haven’t gotten over the idea of it yet. It pretty much means stumbling along something wonderful by total chance. Kind of like fate, but so much sweeter and fun. I love how serendipitous life can be and how your whole life can change in a blink of an eye just by stumbling along something totally random and wonderful.