As a gymnast, flipping through the air on a four inch beam requires the highest level of concentration and balance. I have spent over 15 years of my life practicing balance beam, and at times, I still lose my balance.

In life, just like gymnastics, balance is one of the hardest skills to achieve and also one of the most important. I believe it is a lifelong, learning process that requires self-discipline and adaptability. Achieving success as a student-athlete in the classroom and in competition is absolutely impossible without it; and I have learned this lesson the hard way.

My life as a high-school student and club gymnast consisted of two things: school and gymnastics. School was never too much of a challenge for me.

I stayed on top of my school work, managed to get A’s and B’s, and focused the majority of my time and effort on my passion…gymnastics.

My hard work in the gym paid off, and I was given the opportunity to compete at the collegiate level on full athletic scholarship. Something I will forever be grateful for.

I had two realizations after my first semester of college: school is hard; and I love being social.

However, college presented itself with a whole new set of challenges. I had two realizations after my first semester of college: school is hard; and I love being social. Because I spent the majority of my life prior to college in the gym, my social life was nonexistent, other than my teammates who were more like sisters to me; but I was completely fine with that.

My drive and determination to excel in gymnastics and compete for the best college in the country (UGA) trumped any desire to have a social life.

June, 2013, I moved into the dorms at UGA. I was suddenly surrounded by hundreds of people that shared the same love of sport that I have. We all spent our entire existence dedicated to our sport, something that few people understand.

I made so many friends freshman year. Often times, I would sacrifice studying for hanging out with friends. It wasn’t long before my GPA began to suffer. I knew I had to make a change.

Instead of limiting the amount of time I spent socializing, I began to sacrifice sleep; and believe me when I tell you, I need sleep! I quickly realized that playing egg toss in the hallways until 1 a.m. with the swimmers that lived next door, or teaching the baseball players how to do flips on the couch (luckily there were no serious injuries) was not the wisest use of my time. My lack of sleep was beginning to affect my concentration in the classroom and in the gym.

My body couldn’t keep up. I was tired, overwhelmed, and stressed. I was off balance.

Sophomore came with nagging injury, maybe resulting from a lack of focus, that added to my stress and frustration. I wanted to be healthy, I wanted to compete, I wanted to reach my full potential in the sport I love, and in the classroom. I needed BALANCE.

I knew my struggles in the gym and school were God’s way of telling me, “you have to make a change.”

I needed to prioritize.

I needed to invest my time into relationships that would last a lifetime rather than sacrificing my studies or sleep for friends that are there for me only when it’s convenient for them. I knew this transition wouldn’t happen overnight.

It was going to take me exerting self-discipline in consistently making good decisions that would put me in a position to reach my full potential in all areas of life. I knew it would be tough, but God creates His toughest soldiers through life’s hardest battles.

The end of my sophomore season as a gym dog was steadily approaching, and things were finally beginning to look up. My ankles were almost at 100% and my GPA was on the rise.

I continued to strive to make good decisions with my time. Taking on a support role for the beginning of the season was new to me, but it taught me to be encouraging, patient, and hungry for the spotlight again. I sought out every opportunity to prove myself in the gym.

I would say a prayer every time, “God, pleeeease let her call my name. I want to compete soooo bad.” But every time I heard, “…and Morgan will be the alternate.”

The last few meets of the regular season were upon us. When Coach Danna Durante began to call out the lineups for the upcoming meet, everyone was silent. I would say a prayer every time, “God, pleeeease let her call my name. I want to compete soooo bad.” But every time I heard, “…and Morgan will be the alternate.” I had to take this as a challenge. A challenge to work even harder in the gym; to continue to push my teammates and prove that I was ready to compete.

The last meet of the season was at home vs Utah. Danna called out the lineups; but this time, I was not an alternate. I was competing second on beam and first on floor! I was excited and ready.

That night, I competed with a new appreciation for the opportunity to compete as a gym dog.

I hit had a solid beam routine, followed by a memorable floor routine to tie my career high score of 9.9. I secured my spot in both lineups going into post season. My team and I went on to win Regionals, and then later placed 9th at the NCAA Championships.

Halfway through my college career, and I continue to strive for balance in all areas of my life. It is a lifelong process. With different stages in life, come different things to balance. Prioritize what’s important, rely on God to take care of things out of our control, and live a peaceful, balanced life full of happiness rather than stress and anxiety.

I’m laying down in bed right now. I can’t see a light besides what is being displayed on my phone screen. It’s the darkness that has steadily reaped havoc inside me the past 3-4 months. This darkness can be crippling. It’s darkness that is there until you turn the light on, but sometimes the light seems so far away. And when you do turn it on, it only stays for brief moments.

For over the past year and a half, I have pursued Wish Dish head on. Head down, foot on the gas, with small moments of pause and reset along the way. The burnouts have been bad, over-exacerbated at times. They hit you when you least expect them. Jabs, hooks, and knockout punches coming from nowhere. People who once believed in you walking away not paying attention to you anymore. People you look up to telling you the fight may be over.

You step in the ring to begin with because you have something to fight for. If you step in the ring to look tough and be cool, then it’s all for the wrong reasons. It’s not a battle worth to endure without a noble cause to follow. There’s no way I could push each day if I didn’t know Why I started.

I stepped in the ring because I had a problem.

I hit a low point, and I needed a place to share. I needed a place to connect and find a tribe of my own. My problem became a dream, not just for myself, but a dream that could help others around me.

So I created a solution (Wish Dish) that has allowed me to do just that, but I’ve also created a solution that has thrown me in the middle of sea trying to figure out the next best place to swim. Usually, there’s always that person that puts on the tubies before I “drown” and provides reassurance I’m on the right path.

But the past 3 or 4 months, the anchor has been pulling hard on the feet. There has been no reassurance. There hasn’t been that person.

When I say I’ve failed, I’ve failed a lot. When I first started, when the gas was on Full, and I was running at Ferrari speeds of excitement, I could do anything. It was all about the people we were serving. From showing up to Georgia State meeting 300 random students in 4 days, to flying to Mailbu to speak to Pepperdine students, to showing up to UCLA for a day talking to 50 strangers, to building ambassador programs at 5 different colleges in Georgia, we were doing it all.  Anything we wanted at lightning speed.

I learned early on that wasn’t the most efficient way to scale content, so I stumbled upon a woman who had this amazing idea to look at our data. From there, I saw mental health, sports, culture, and faith were our top 4 topics. From there, I developed relationships within those areas and grew our content with the help of many people fighting for the same cause. Within the span of 3 months, we launched a new site (the one we have today), published more than 175 stories, and had an event with almost 200+ people. An event where people flew in from Philadelphia, Tennessee, Virginia, and New York.

The tide was high, we were riding the wave. But all waves come to a crash and this wave seemed to take me through the undercurrent.

I just haven’t fully realized it until now.

In May, I lost an incredible team member Sam Dickinson to a full time job in Indiana. Sam was a backbone to the early foundation. He helped build our content strategy, power points, review our proposals. He was the most reliable person who understood everything we were doing.

When Sam left, I knew it was time to find a cofounder, so I heavily recruited a friend from Philadelphia who has the I can do anything attitude. I thought he’d be perfect for the team. And I still hope he can one day join. After not being able to come to terms, it was another blow to the chest. It seemed early on, anyone and everyone was helping push this vision forward. I never had rejection up to this point from someone I had worked so hard to try and recruit.

Speaking about building the team, for the last 6 months, I’ve pushed relentlessly to find a technical founder who can make product changes and improve the website. In April I had conducted 25 user interviews and learn how important it was to build a product that keeps visitors and contributors coming back to the site. So I began the search for a long-term technical solution. Being extremely short on capital and in an industry where tech developers are swept up by the tech giants of the world for $75K/year — I’ve struggled immensely to find the consistent talent I need. I’ve probably put in 100+ hours of work trying to find the right person interviewing one tech person after another and having introductions made. Heck, I even have a spreadsheet of 80 different names I’ve talked too.

Along with trying to put a team in place, we’ve been working to implement revenue models. I’ve struggled to put In monetary solutions with the rawness of the platform. How do we make money but not ruin an authentic brand. We have begun the foundation for a book called “Showing Up Naked” but that is a process in itself. Sponsors have been tough to come by and there are moments in time when the next best step forward is murky.

At 23, I’ve learned so much. I’ve given everything possible to this platform to make it succeed on extremely little capital.  The gas tank right now is near empty, and I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth a refuel. And if it is, I’m trying to figure out where the gas would be.

In the past year we have helped so many people get jobs from their stories shared, we’ve connected people with suicide stories to one another, and we’ve built meaningful connection for so many people.

It’s been everything I could imagine and more.

As the founder behind it, it’s hard to sometimes see through the fuzziness of the clouds. Day in and day out, I question, am I on the right path? I feel trapped in the college town I went to school in, sharing a room with a friend, driving a beat up 2004 car. It all seems rough from the outside, and on the inside I’m the one who can actually feel it.

As I reflect, we still have accomplished so much. I realize we wouldn’t be here without an amazing team of advisors, group of friends who have supported, and amazing teammates along the way.

So the question is, are we going to continue?

I watched the Olympics this weekend. I saw people who had trained a lifetime of to make their dreams come true. One of the divers who fell short said, “I’ll be back in Toyko.” He didn’t have to think twice about putting in another 4 years of training. The sheer resilience, determination, and effort was inspiring to see.

I recently read a book on Phil Knight, Nike’s Founder called Shoe Dog. Nike wasn’t even called Nike until year 8 of business. There were a million and one reasons why Nike should have failed in their first 25 years of business, but they found a way through.  Nike’s brand speaks for itself, because they have a founder who embodies every characteristic of what they represent.

For us, putting in a year and a half and letting it go because everything isn’t working how I thought by this time would simply be giving up. And I’m simply not ready to let that happen. Onward we go.

Bryan Wish

As we continue to work through connecting people in meaningful ways, we have taken our first step in forming community groups.

Communities to join: Please click and ask to be added as a member. We are looking for Community Managers as well.

Sports (for current Student-Athletes & Former Student-Athletes) to connect through sharing personal stories & professional opportunities

International (to connect people across the world through the sharing of stories)

Health (to connect people dealing with mental health, cancer, and other physical, mental, emotional troubles)

A few more to come in the near future …

Sitting in the airport awaiting my 5’o’clock flight I was anxious, nervous, and totally unaware of the adventure about to take place. I arrived in Florence unsure. Unsure about what I was doing, unsure about spending 4 months in a foreign country without my closest people, unsure about my relationships and myself.  

It took me a while to realize I had this giant opportunity at my feet and it was up to me and me alone to make it either the greatest lesson of all time or a measly, elongated vacation. I chose the first.

Stumbling through cobble-stoned streets in my worn out converse under lines of laundry and open windows, I found myself.

I found a home in a dated apartment with 7 other girls all on the same journey. At nights, I planned my weekends away, filling my calendar with trips to places I had no idea would leave such an impact on me. I met the most wonderful people and experienced first-hand the most beautiful cultures. Strangers taught me more about life than my entire school curriculum ever has. (But I promise I still learned school things mom and dad.)

However, every day wasn’t picture perfect like it was portrayed via social media. I experienced some of my toughest battles while abroad, and being thousands of miles away from my support system was not ideal then. But that’s when I learned the most.

Time and conflict are not compatible. Life doesn’t throw you your toughest days when it’s convenient for you. It was then that I learned how strong I really am. I learned that I couldn’t control other people, but I could control how I let them affect me. So I refused to let the bad ones get to me, not when I was surrounded by so much beauty and opportunity.

I had the opportunity to waste my days abroad in a fumbled mess trying to put back the pieces of something so broken, but instead I chose to build something new.

I convinced myself that there was something so good to be seen in every single day, I just had to go find it. Whether it was something big like riding ATV’s along the coast of Santorini, or just eating a really awesome Panini, it was there, and it was important. My mind and my heart were stretched to new lengths. I found new wonders and treasures I will cherish forever, like my hideaway church on top of a lonely hill in Italy, or that hole in the wall restaurant where the owners know you by name.  So sitting here throwing out my worn out shoes, I’m actually proud. I’m so proud of the places they took me and the memories made in them.

It came and went faster than it should have. There were so many pictures taken and “storage too full notifications”, so many 40 euro flights I wasn’t convinced were going to ever reach the ground again, and so, so many new friends and new memories that would be showcased on social media, but would never actually reveal the true depth of the moment. Many feelings came to play throughout my months, but the one I found most consistent was gratitude. Every day, I thank my lucky stars that I had this opportunity to see the moon from a new side of the world, to fulfill a part of me that’s been missing for a while, I just had to go find it.

I’ll never truly be able to properly put into words how much this experience meant to me, but if I tried to sum it up I’d do it with my favorite over-used quote of the trip:

“This just doesn’t do it justice.”

(Written by Danielle Lewan)

I entered my internship completely oblivious.

I was clueless about how to operate a camera, use editing software, or even adjust a tripod properly. Unlike college classes, there wasn’t a syllabus outlining expectations or requirements.

My news director and other co-workers simply said the same thing: “You’ll get out of this internship what you put into it,” and that was the beginning of the most rewarding, yet challenging, summer of my life.

I am asked time and time again why I chose to complete an internship so early in my college coursework.

With an extremely plan-oriented and organized personality, I knew I had all of my eggs in one basket. I didn’t want to spend my entire college education pursuing a career that I wouldn’t enjoy.

News is a career that requires someone who loves a fast-paced environment, can handle stressful situations appropriately, and thrives in chaos. Therefore, the hands-on and real world experience of an internship was exactly what I needed to confirm that news is my passion.

My internship began by shadowing various reporters and following them out on to the field. Morning meetings were extremely beneficial and gave me a general overlay of the news throughout the city and also what my colleagues considered “news-worthy.”

While it often took a collaborative effort to make decisions, I appreciated the constructive criticism I witnessed in each meeting. Everyone genuinely cared about the other stories and how to assist one another in creating a phenomenal newscast by the end of the day. Each staff member had a different view on the topic at hand, but all had the same goal: to provide news.

To be frank, I struggled at the beginning of this internship.

I come from the small town of Madison, GA and have lived a relatively sheltered childhood. Moving to a foreign city where I didn’t know a single person was scary in and of itself, but that was nothing compared to the eye-opening stories for which I was unprepared.

Murders, crime, and drug busts were things I had only seen watching NCIS on television, so experiencing them first-hand made me realize that I was in the real world now. The most difficult part was emotionally detaching from each situation.

I attended my first funeral ever on my first day interning. I watched a distraught mother mourning her eight-year-old son at a vigil, and I saw elderly retirees displaced while watching their home burst in flames. Witnessing these horrific instances certainly gave me a new perspective on life.

However, I covered equally as many uplifting stories. I stood as families celebrated their loved ones walking across the graduation stage to receive their diplomas, I conversed with local business owners about their excitement for North Augusta’s growth, and I watched a mother rejoicing over her son eating for the first time in five years after the positive effects of using cannabis oil. Experiencing these life-changing moments through others was beyond rewarding.

One day of reporting that sticks out in my mind was a press conference about a local sex sting.

We drove to the government building, set up our cameras and equipment, and waited for the officials to begin. I sat there completely unaware of the ramifications of this bust, and needless to say I was shocked.

To hear that 22 individuals were caught for online sex-trafficking left me speechless. Some of our reporters began asking questions and a few people from the other news stations jumped in as well. It was my second week interning and I wasn’t sure what my limitations were as far as participation, but I was so excited that I couldn’t help but to chime in.

While leaving the press conference, I still hadn’t fully wrapped my head around something so unthinkable. But upon returning to the news room and hearing encouraging and proud remarks from my co-workers about my questions, I was on top of the world.

The two most valuable lessons I have taken away from this internship are perseverance and patience, but more importantly how to balance the two.

News is always occurring, but there are days that you will spend hours researching and investigating something to create a story. Finding characters to speak about your topic, especially on camera, is not always easy.

It takes keen people skills to create lasting relationships with local officials and personnel, a special knack to persuade people to share their personal life stories, and an unwavering persistence to know you will fail a million times in a day until you complete one story package for the show. However, the best part is every day is a new day, and every day you get to start from scratch.

Interning with News 12 has certainly provided me with fundamental knowledge about a career in news, and I learned more in these three short months with hands-on experience than I ever have sitting in a classroom.

This internship was so beneficial because of the exceptional staff at the station. While they pushed me to think and perform individually the majority of the time, not a single person hesitated to help me. They genuinely wanted me to succeed and get the most out of my internship, even if it meant taking time out of their hectic days.

I am looking forward to putting the fundamental skills I have acquired this summer to good use, and have already begun to do so in my journalism classes at The University of Georgia. WRDW-TV News 12 was an exceptional opportunity and I’m excited to see what’s next!

In proud partnership with The Dean’s List, a digital branding and career services company that empowers young professionals and small businesses.