Photos from Speech #2

I look at this and think, "What
gorgeous shoes!" ;-)

Ah, Saturday. I am happy to say that Aaron and I have been thoroughly enjoying our time together with no school and no homework filled weekends! It's such a precious time for us, where we can relax and simply live life without the pressure and demands on our time from academia. And it's also short-lived. Last summer, Aaron was away for 10 weeks for an internship, and will be doing the same again this summer, with the same company. This obviously limits out time together, which makes us doubly anxious to be done with school and have this be our new norm.

In other news, this week, Kid's Harbor shared photos on their Facebook page from the Crime Victim's Breakfast in Osage Beach, which was the second one I spoke at. It's so exciting to see the photos of myself in this new capacity, and even better to relive the memories (even though it was only a few weeks ago!)

Anyway, you can click here to view the album!

Thanks!

Rachel

The Speech

Alright folks. I've decided to go ahead and share my speech on here. There were two breakfasts, but I used the same speech at both. Because it's so long, I didn't want to put the whole thing in one blog post, so instead I'm sharing it through Google Documents.

So, without further ado, click here to read!

-Rachel

Blogging From the Sky!

Yes, I am putting up ANOTHER new post. But apparently my flight out of St. Louis has Wi-Fi, and I couldn't resist the opportunity to blog from the sky! 

This morning was the second of the Crime Victim's Breakfasts, this time in Osage Beach, Missouri. This crowd was larger than the first one, and the fact that we were in a larger, more open room really emphasized this. But everyone was so kind and supportive, that they weren't too intimidating. 

I want to share with everyone who couldn't be there how it all went, but it would be strange to just tell you all the compliments I received. I can tell you that I was very happy with how it went, and proud of this new achievement. I've also had several people that were in attendance share their stories with me, either as survivors themselves, or they have loved ones that are survivors of child sexual abuse. Several others shared with me that my words had an effect on them and would change how they interact with the victims they come in contact with.

And that's what it's all about. It was great to have my ego stoked and to get my 15 minutes of fame, but if it didn't mean anything to anybody, what would be the point? Instead, I feel like I genuinely did some good these past two days. And I take a lot of pride in that. 

I also want to give a shout-out to Kid's Harbor, the child advocacy center that planned the breakfasts. Every single person I came in contact with from the organization was so kind and helpful. They made me feel right at home and at ease. So much so, that I would love to pursue more public speaking. It's an incredible experience, and it far surpassed my expectations.

Here's a few pictures I took:

There are more on the Kid's Harbor Facebook Page, although I'll warn you now, I'm very facially expressive when I talk, so most of the snapshots of me make me cringe! 

Thanks for all your support!!

-Rachel

Photo

Here's a quick photo I just got from this morning! That's me at the podium! From the looks on their faces, I think this is from the opening when I told them that I needed to picture them all in their underwear, which made me feel more comfortable, but probably not them. ;-)

Virtual Postcard

Greetings from the beautiful Inn at Grand Glaize in Osage Beach, Missouri! (Can't you just see that on a postcard?!)

I am sitting here on this big ol' king-size bed (all to myself!) reflecting on the day so far. This morning, as you know, was my very first speaking engagement at a Crime Victim's Breakfast in St. Robert/Fort Leonard, MO, sponsored by the Pulaski County Prosecutor's office and Kid's Harbor. As I sat at my table chatting with two wonderful nurses, my legs and hands started to shake as I awaited my time to speak. When it finally came, my mouth felt incredibly dry, even though I had been drinking water the whole time. As much as I tried to slow down, I knew I was talking too fast. And I hate to admit this, but I was reading my speech out loud for the first time. I hate reading my own work! So, as I was going through in a room full of amazing, kind-hearted people, I was suddenly seeing all of it's flaws. I did my best to try to really emphasize what I felt where the most important points, and hoped for the best.

In the end, I got absolutely wonderful feedback. I was fighting back tears at the overwhelming response. The people I met were incredibly welcoming and generous, and I can't thank them enough.

This is me right after my speech - Can you tell I'm excited?!:

And this is the gorgeous view I have from the balcony off my hotel room in Osage Beach:

-Rachel

A New Adventure

Well, I am on my way to Missouri to give my speech (x2) for a Crime Victim's Breakfast. I had the option of flying or driving, so I chose to fly, but it's a weird route. I left Indy this morning and now I'm sitting in the Atlanta airport where I'll fly to St. Louis then drive 2ish hours to where the breakfast will be. After that, I'll drive another 2ish hours to the second breakfast, and from there driver BACK to St. Louis, fly to Detroit, then finally back to Indy for an hourish drive back home. Strange, right?

Anyway, I've been more nervous about the travel than the actual speech. That is, until I got on the plane. Then I remember that I have plenty of time between flights and I'll be fine. I started going over the speech in my mind, particularly the parts that I'm not too happy with. But honestly, you can make edits forever, so once I deemed it done, it was done.

I guess I don't have much of a point to this post. I just wanted to share a little of this new adventure with you all. Without my readers to support me in the past 2 years, I never would have gotten this far! So thank you for that.

Now I'm going to log off and find something to eat. There are too many appealing options here!!

-Rachel