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I have been having the best summer and growing so much, the hardest part has definitely been not seeing my family. I have always been very close with my family, and am so lucky to have people who support me! I have a twin brother named Hayden, who also goes to Lincoln and is in Pike! My mom is like my twin and my best friend. She knows me better than anyone else, and we love to shop, travel, and try new restaurants together. My dad is our rock; he is the hardest-working and most loving person. He is my adventure and athletic buddy; we love to try new sports, play pickleball, and be outside together. Some of my favorite memories are vacations with my family, and the random game nights, and laughs at home. My mom, dad, and grandma got to come down in the middle of June for the weekend, see what I was doing here, and hang out with me! I got to show them the beach down here, we played pickleball, got yummy coastal food, and of course, ice cream. They also got to attend a meeting and learn more about Kaleo, Stumo, and their mission. They are on our annual family vacation to Colorado right now to see my grandparents, which makes me sad I am not there, but I cannot wait to see them in 2 weeks! I also have a dog named Murphy. He is a Morkie (Maltese and Yorkie mix), and he is the best!

Hey again! Today I thought about one of the fun socials we had last weekend. At Kaleo, there are 250 students from different campuses like KU, K-state, Georgia, Clemson, Northwest, Mizzou, Pitt State, and UNMKC. There are about 45 students from Nebraska here! On the weekends, we usually do a fun social, and last week was campus night. So all the Nebraska students and staff got together, and we did a Cornhusker Clash, which is like the Olympic Games that we compete in. We were split into 6 teams, and I was on team Red. Each team got together around 6 and went to dinner. We went to a place called "Cook Out," which is just an American fast-food place. Around 7, we went to an outdoor courts area, which has pickleball courts, sand volleyball, and a big green space. We started by playing "beta ball," which is where you play wiffle ball, but you can only use one hand, and in the other hand, you are holding an energy drink. After you bat, you have to open your energy drink and chug it and run around the bases to home plate. You have to finish the energy drink by the time you get to home plate to earn a run. We got 3rd place in this round, the next round was a bracket style sand volleyball game, we got very competitive (this was my fav game) and again got 3rd place, then finally we did a big water ballon fight, each team had 100 water balloons, and once you got hit twice you were out, and the last team standing won, so you had to be careful to stay alive and also savor your water balloons. We again got 3rd place, so overall we placed 3rd, but it was so fun and brought us closer as a campus!

Good morning, everyone! Today, I thought I would share a glimpse into a day of my job. I am a lifeguard at Tropic Falls OWA, which is ranked the #3 best indoor water park in the world! There is a little kids' section with 5 little slides, various water attractions, and a huge dump bucket: it is called Tuki after the OWA mascot, which is a Toucan. Inside, there is also a lazy river called the Creek. Lastly, inside there are 6 major waterslides, 2 of them have double tubes so you can go with someone, one of them is a 3-person lane racing slide where you use mats, and the other 3 are just body slides. One of the body slides is just a basic fast, twist and turn slide, another has a 75ft drop right into the pool, and finally, one you stand on a drop board and it counts you down like you are in a rocket and the floor falls from under you and you drop, and then it turns to a normal curvy slide. The drop one is my favorite because I love the adrenaline rush and the feeling like I am flying. I am not very scared of heights and have skydiving on my bucket list! I also love roller coasters. While the inside has a lot to do, outside we have a huge wave pool and a coastal surfing stimulator. There are also lots of places for food and drinks! We work 9-4:15ish. The first hour is my favorite part because we get to test out the slides, play hacky sack, hot seat, and just have fun with each other before the park opens at 10, then from 10-3:30ish we are at different posts watching guests, making sure the slides are being used properly, telling kids to walk, and scanning water. Some spots we sit at, some we stand in the water, and others we walk at, so it is fun to have variety and makes the day go by faster. I walk anywhere from 6 to 10 miles a day at work. The kids always leave us with lots of laughs, too. It is so fun getting to work with a ton of different people from difference campus here at Kaleo and growing in their faith, we have formed such strong friendships around the most important value in our lives!

Hi! I thought I would use this first blog to introduce myself to you all! This account will be a look into my daily life as a college student during the summer! My name is Ellie Richardson, and I am an incoming Junior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln studying Nutrition and Exercise on the pre-nursing route! I am a big extrovert and love to be around people and make them feel good, so I am so excited to go into nursing! I am a part of Alpha Phi, where I am the director of special events! I also love to plan and organize events, so I have a lot of fun executing these events, like parents' weekend, sibling weekend, and our annual tailgates! In my free time, I enjoy working out, getting coffee, shopping, playing games, being outside, and anytime with my friends and family! I am also involved in Stumo, which is our campus ministry! Which brings me to the big part of my summer, I am actually in Gulf Shores, Alabama, with Kaleo! This is a 9-week leadership training where I am working a full-time job as a lifeguard, and then have various trainings and conferences throughout the week and weekend that are growing my inward and outward faith, and developing my character. I stay very busy, usually waking up anytime from 5-6am and going to bed anywhere from 11pm-2am. It is currently 8:02 am, and I am getting ready to leave for work til 4pm! I can't wait to keep you guys updated on my summer and all the things I get to do and grow in!