My Journey of Becoming.

Dear Friends-

Welcome to my site. If you haven’t already read the bio, let me introduce myself. My name is Ally Chard; I am a 22 year old Midwestern gal half way through my senior year of college. I live in Madison, Wisconsin- the state’s capital- home to all things Badgers. In addition, cheese, beer, and absurd amounts of snow are themes commonly associated with the city.

My Story: How I got here.

I am a Human Resources and Spanish double major at the University of Wisconsin- Oshkosh. I spent the better part of my undergraduate years in the Admissions Office as a Titan Gold Corp which is fancy wording for a tour guide/social media page manager/school ambassador. I would spend large chunks of my week giving tours to groups that ranged from 2 to 25 prospective students and their families. The 90-minutes were packed with important buildings, facts and figures about the university and why I chose to call Oshkosh home (and why I think they should too). I would also like to add that I did all this while braving Wisconsin’s inhumanely cold winters; whoever decided it was okay to have class when the windchill was colder than the inside of my freezer has some serious issues. Nonetheless, I look back fondly on my undergraduate years. I gained a multitude of transferable skills as a Titan Gold Corp and strengthened my ability to public speak. I learned how to read body language and facial expressions that would often go unnoticed by others. I gained connections to professionals that would later help me land my first internship and was introduced to an amazing group of students who shared a similar drive and passion for excellence in all facets of life. My time as a Titan Gold Corp in the Admissions Office gifted me with the experiences that helped mold me into a young woman ready to pursue a life of excellence.

Fast forward a few years and you’ll find me in my senior year of undergrad. I write you from Salamanca, Spain- a city that I have called home for the past three months as I study abroad and take courses at La Universidad de Salamanca to complete my Spanish major. To say I love it here is a massive understatement. Moreover, I’m not sure if it’s Spain, Europe, or Salamanca specifically however, my spirit has never felt more full nor my heart more at peace. I have given myself permission to live fully in the season that I am in; to stop rushing from one place to the next and instead, make room for the quiet moments that I have a tendency to overlook. I have learned that busy does not equal productive and that accomplished does not mean content.

Bravery: Stepping outside of comfort.

To many people, going abroad is an opportunity to immerse oneself in the language and its culture. To those my age, going abroad offers the opportunity to relax in one’s studies, take a break from the stressors of “real life”, and frequent the city’s many discotecas. My experience abroad has been slightly different than many of my peers. Rather than spending the weekends at the club or sleeping until lunchtime, I often find myself reading in parks, listening to podcasts I would never normally have time for, and journaling. The effects of these small but frequent acts have been transformational.

Let me start by saying that the above is neither good nor bad. There is no one right way to spend your months abroad. If your vision of being abroad consists of trying every chupita at the chupitaria, then sister, get drinkin’. If you have aspirations of teaching English to young children, make a point to connect with a local elementary school to see what after school programs are in need of English speakers. If you desire to practice the language with native speakers, express your interest to the university staff and inquire about intercambios that may already exist. Realize that this experience will be exactly what you make it- nothing more nor less.

I often remind myself of a phrase I started saying my freshman year of college: “Squeeze every ounce of opportunity out of this moment”. Being uncomfortable is an excellent indicator that you are fully grasping the opportunities set before you. I distinctly remember how my stomach felt the moment I took my first step on Spanish soil. My group and I had just spend 3 hours on a bus from the Madrid airport to Salamanca after enduring a painfully long plane right from Chicago. We were now being dropped off at a bus stop where we would meet our host moms and be shown to our houses. One by one, these complete strangers arrived and took us in all different directions, ripping us from the only familiar thing remaining. In this moment, I felt TERRIFIED beyond words.

What was I supposed to do when I got there?

How do you say “bathroom” in Spanish?

Was it too late to get a refund?

Courage: Doing it afraid.

I’ve noticed that I have a tendency to put myself in similar, “terrified-beyond-words” experiences. During my first semester of freshman year, my speech class nominated me to speak at the University Speech Competition. With sufficient preparation, I had always felt comfortable speaking in front of my class but to speak in front of an entire university when I had barely enough confidence to sit in the dining hall alone? No thank you.

I’m not sure how it happened but somehow, my classmates convinced me it was a good idea. For the competition, I was able to speak on a topic of my choice so long as it created a persuasive argument. Naturally, I chose hydraulic fracking as my point of discussion. Although I won’t bore you with the in’s and out’s of fracking, I will say that after a few YouTube searches, you can watch the entire thing for yourself. This includes me fumbling to work the projector, realizing the clicker ran out of batteries, and laughing nervously at a room full of starring eyeballs. As much as I cringe reliving those eight minutes, I now see the massive benefits that later came as a result of participating. I no longer had a  fear of speaking in front of small groups because I had managed, perhaps with little grace, to speak in front of an entire room filled with my peers, professors, and university staff. In addition, I now had a stellar resume builder that would propel me to apply and later receive the position as a Titan Gold Corp.

Of course, this is all easy to see in hindsight as is with many of life’s hardships. Oftentimes, we cannot answer the “Whys” of life until long after the difficult moment or heart-breaking news has been shared. In the meantime, we find ourselves struggling to see any ray of light among the dark clouds. I remember the minutes leading up to my speech. I distinctly recall myself saying, “Why do you always have to do hard things? Why can’t you just be normal like everyone else? If you were like them, you wouldn’t be here having to talk in front of all these people. You could be in your room right now without a single worry.” I would be lying if I didn’t include that I even consoled myself by saying that it wasn’t too late to walk out because nobody knew me yet.

That right there- “Nobody knew me yet”.

It was true that my name hadn’t been called, I hadn’t been introduced, and that for the majority of the audience, my name was just that- a name. However, there was something inside me that wanted to see what I could do and how I would react under the pressure.

What I’ve learned from doing difficult things:

Although I didn’t take home first place and I spoke the entire eight minutes with sweaty palms that struggled to securely grasp the microphone, I managed to stand in front of a crowd that I deemed “scary” and speak semi-cohesively for a whole eight minutes. That was an accomplishment.

Had I decided to follow my impulse, I would still be the name that nobody knew.

These moments and the memories that they produced became archived in my brain. Whenever I am faced with anxiety or fear of the task ahead, I am reminded of these moments. Moments in which I stood on my unsteady feet and conquered that which was in front of me.

I have no doubt that you have experienced similar moments in your life. Perhaps you’ve never spoken to an entire room about the negative effects of fracking however, I’m sure you have your own version of a story that produced a similar result. You don’t need to be graceful when doing difficult things; you don’t even have to feel confident. You can do it afraid, you can do it with sweaty palms. All that matters is that you do it.

And there you have it- that’s how I got to where I am today. Truthfully, there’s so much I’ve left unsaid but the above is one piece of my puzzle to give you an idea of who I am and what I stand for.

I am on a quest to conquer life’s most daunting moments. Each time becoming less afraid. I want to live a big, bold, beautiful, adventurous life overflowing with peace, joy, contentment, and spontaneity. I want to dare others to do the same.

You are only as amazing as you let yourself be. What are you waiting for?