Introduction

I'm not really sure how you start a first post. Do I tell funny stories? Do I talk about things I really enjoy? Or is this an outlet for things too long for Twitter and too real for Facebook? Whatever it is, it's an outlet of some sort to write about my life and things I'll be doing this summer and in the near future.

For starters, my name is Will. I'm from a small town in middle Tennessee named McMinnville, where the top employer is Wal-Mart, the most important time of the week is Sunday morning, and sweet tea isn't a drink, it's a way of life. However (perhaps unfortunately, for some reading), I grew up on none of that. A Michigan father and a mother who worked in Detroit during my second and third grade years brought a Midwestern flair to a historically Southern family, and I've never been the same since.

I did grow up on Wal-Mart, but every other store knocks it out of the park, unless you're going for people watching - a real sport in Middle Tennessee. I didn't start attending church with regularity of any kind until middle school, so until then, Sunday was just another day to me. And I'm sorry, but sweet tea kinda sucks, although Dr. Pepper can't be beat. For the longest time I felt more than a little out of place in a town of 12,000 in the middle of nowhere (AKA, what I always understood to be the Bermuda Triangle of interstates). Until I realized the ways that I could be used by the Lord in Knoxville and even my hometown, I struggled with the idea of spending much more time in Tennessee.

There's no real easy way to segue into this, but this next bit is essential to really be able to understand where I'm coming from and why I do what I do. I'm a Christian. I didn't grow up one, although the efforts of my grandmother early in my life and from middle school on can't be ignored. The church I went to from the time I was born to around junior year of high school had a weekly congregation of about 40 people, of whom I was the youngest. While I can support any church's efforts as long as they're doing what they do for the Lord and not for self-benefit, tiny Southern churches simply aren't very conducive to a younger person's spiritual growth, especially when you're literally the only attendee under 50. During that point in time, I didn't really get church and I hated going most Sundays, unless it was the rare Sunday of the season where they had free lunches.

I spoke a little earlier on my grandmother, who I want to relate to a little more in this. During my junior year we decided to try a different, larger church, with an actual youth group. She was hesitant at first but was willing to support me in whatever I did, and I'm incredibly thankful for that. She's the only person outside of college I've ever regularly attended church with, and I love her. Once we made this switch, I began to feel an actual growth in wanting to worship and serve more than I had ever experienced at any point previously. This progressed throughout the end of high school and the summer after. Two days before I left to start a new part of my life at the University of Tennessee, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. It was the best ending to the best summer of my life and I've been growing in faith ever since.

With all of that said, I still struggle with old habits often. I battled mild depression during high school from time to time and it's still an occasional issue. I continue to struggle to this day with social anxiety. I place my confidence somewhere other than Jesus way more than I would like to admit. I swear. (It comes with the Midwestern flair part.) I get frustrated and discouraged easily. I'm a bit self-conscious, although I'm glad that Fat Will is a thing of the past (that's an entire other post). However, even with all of this, I have something to be confident in through the darkness and through the battles: my faith in a Lord greater than myself and greater than anything this world can offer.  

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:8-10

I've typed too much already. I tend to do that often. It's not that I like overstating things, but I have an inability to efficiently express my feelings in a short summary. It is what it is. Because of this I'm forcing myself to go PowerPoint style and use bullet points to get out some other things that don't really belong in a larger paragraph. Here's a list of facts/explanations/other things that can help one understand me, at least a little bit:

• Unfortunately, I've never gone by Will (or William) the First. In high school I joked around with one of my closest friends about how ridiculous the idea of going by (insert name) the Third or Fourth or what-have-you was. So we came up with the idea of going by (insert name) the First. It didn't stick, but I still enjoy its usage.
• Despite the fact that I go to the University of Tennessee, have wanted to go there since I was young, and grew up a Vols fan, the influence of my father has caused me with the irreversible decision to be a Michigan Wolverines supporter. I support Tennessee in everything, but I do the same for Michigan, since 2002. It's just what I do.
• The title of this blog comes from the best description of my adopted state I've ever seen, in an essay by musician Sufjan Stevens (who is phenomenal, by the way). My selected quote is in the fifth paragraph. http://churchofsufjan.org/wiki/Michigan_Essay
• I like food a lot. That's why I was fat once. There will be lots of posts about food on this blog if I can help myself.
• I am, admittedly, a different person. I do some really strange things and write some really strange things. I don't feel the need to apologize for this.
• In high school I was a bit obsessed with sports. I still enjoy them a lot but they aren't life-important anymore. However, if you need to know, I do support a few non-collegiate teams: the Nashville Predators, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Detroit Tigers, and the Detroit Lions.
• This summer, I will be living in Knoxville, eating lots of food and working at a Catholic school summer camp. There will be lots of adventures about that on here, with any luck.
• Lastly, I am an English major and a Secondary Education minor at UT. I'm hoping to be a middle or high school English teacher after graduation. I have no idea what I'm doing either. It's okay.

I'll try and keep this updated with some form of regularity. I hope it doesn't suck.

All heart, grit, grind,

Will