India

Today, I'm off to India for my Operation Smile Mission!

I still honestly can't believe that it's finally here.

If you've been with me since the beginning, you know this has been the end goal for me since eighth grade. From Colorado, to getting rejected not once, but twice, to China, to finally getting in, to Mission Training, to Mission Assignments to today, it's not been an easy or short road.

I'm so so so thankful to my parents, who have poked and prodded me, even when I didn't want to be, along this path and who saw the end result, and I couldn't have made it through this past weekend without them.

I have some guest posters while I'm gone, and until then, have a fabulous two weeks!

xoxo,

Royar
{The Young Southern Prep}

INDIA

Just a little update on my trip to India in a few weeks!

I got my first information packet about a week ago and my travel dates have been confirmed! I will actually be gone for two weeks, which is very exciting!

The state to which we are going, Orissa, is very beautiful from what I've heard. Many temples, waterfalls and plenty of wildlife! Plus, the cow is sacred in India so I wonder how many cows I will get to meet!

I've been busy collecting toothbrushes, hitting up the $1 bins at Target, and planning out my presentations!

Sometimes I still can't believe that I'm actually going to India. It seems like such a faraway and exotic place, and a culture so different from our own! 

Happy Tuesday!

xoxo,

Royar
{The Young Southern Prep}

Mission Destination!

So as y'all know, I attended the Winter Mission Training Workshop for Operation Smile this past weekend. Sunday night, we gathered for a small soiree to find out our mission dates, places, and partners!

Emily from The Wide World of E and I were trained together and we finally got our bloggers picture! Go check her out y'all - she's the sweetest thing and I love her blog!

Now for the biggest news, if you haven't seen it on Facebook or Twitter, 

In the last two weeks of April, I will be traveling to...

India!

I am still in great shock and I am thrilled that I will be traveling to such a fascinating country! I have a lot of work ahead of me, but it will all be worth it in the end!

Have a wonderful tuesday y'all!

xoxo,

Royar

{The Young Southern Prep}

PS Like the YSP on FB!

You're off to Great Places! Today is your day!

Today is a day that I have been waiting for for nearly six years. Today I begin my Mission Training Workshop {If you're new/behind, search Operation Smile on my blog, and you'll be allllll caught up}, and will know my destination for my life-changing mission before the weekend is over.

I can't believe it's here.

I've pulled myself up by my bootstraps, fought for this day over and over and over again, daydreamed about this, watched it slip just out of my grasp twice, but you know, they do say third times the charm, prayed for, hoped for, worked for every day since I realized my dream as a young eighth grader, a new member of our school club. I knew that's what I wanted to do before I was done with high school, and I was going to do whatever it took. There have been mountains, molehills, speed bumps, flat tires and every analogy you can name along the way. There were so many times I wanted to give up; let it just fly out the window, say 'oh, well, it's someone else's dream, not mine'.  Every time I wanted to give up, I suppose the Divine Order just prodded me and said one more time, you're not at the end of this road, yet. So I did. And failed a little bit more, but if you add up all the little failures, the dejection, it was just a lesson, and God saying "just not right now". This whole, confusing, complicated process has taught me so much. How to lose, how to accept losing, accepting failure, keeping the faith, trying it one more time, putting 115% effort and then some always pays off, and putting the little pieces together to make the masterpiece. 

As my dear Ronald Reagan said, “My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win.”

Today is my day, and I'm going to sit back and watch my dream unfold, all weekend long.

I'll be back on Monday!

xoxo,

Royar

{The Young Southern Prep}

What I'm Thankful For

Today, I'm thankful for all of the opportunities I have been given.

I go to one of the best secondary schools in the country,

I will travel to Paris in March for two weeks to live as Parisian,

I have climbed the Great Wall of China, 

I was chosen to be a Counselor In Training for four weeks last summer,

I've been Captain of a team,

I have traveled to China,

I have given a speech to over 300 people, and I'll get the opportunity to do it again next year,

and today, I'm very happy to announce a new opportunity I have been given.

Friday night, I received an email congratulating me on my acceptance to the Winter Mission Training Workshop for Operation Smile.

I still can't believe it, and I am thankful that my prayers have truly been answered on this one.  I have been waiting since last year when I sent in my first application.  I have been denied twice and as they say, third time's the charm. It was hard to put my faith in God and to know that I would go when the time was right, and it was hard to wait and to fail, but I am thankful for the lessons this has taught me.

I have learned a lot about failure, patience and faith in the past two years and those lessons have made me a stronger and better person, and that, I couldn't be more thankful for.

“My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win.” - Ronald Reagan


"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." - Teddy Roosevelt


Thanks Ronnie & Teddy. I agree.

xoxo,

Royar

{The Young Southern Prep}

Losing.

In the past two weeks, I have:

lost three elections (count 'em!)

gotten rejected from Mission Training - AGAIN

played 35 minutes in a total of 5 fifty-minute lacrosse games

gotten a fifty on two Chem worksheets

struggled with my daily crypto quip/crossword

Royar, 0

Life, 34354353453454354545043592093248093872648

I know life is sometimes unfair, but this is getting ridiculous.

If it wasn't Masters Week, I would be out of my mind.

xoxo,

Royar

{The Young Southern Prep}

Leaving On A Jet Plane

But don't worry, I'll be back. In a few hours, I'll be hopping on a plane and flying to Dallas!

I am so excited I can hardly contain myself.  I can't wait to see my three sweet cousins tonight!

Us at the Gaylord ICE Exhibit last year

Also, I got an email last night from Student Programs of Operation Smile and I did not get accepted into Mission Training.  I am disappointed, not in that I didn't get in, but that a girl in my grade who is not old enough to attend a mission was accepted. Yes, you read that right. I am still in a bit of shock that she was picked over my sweet friend END, who also applied and myself.  However, I am excited because my best friend HEB was accepted along with a few of my other friends from ISLC.  I look forward to applying again this summer with END. Thank y'all for your sweet comments and support over the past few months. I can't wait to apply again and go to Beijing this summer!

xoxo,

Royar

{The Young Southern Prep}