Throwback Thursday

Today's post is dedicated to Tropical Storm Andrea, who has decided to make landfall here in Florida today. Hello summer. Fun fact about me: I secretly love hurricane season. Yeah, I know that sounds really bad. I obviously don't love the destruction and devastation that hurricanes can cause, but I just find hurricanes really fascinating. This all started back in high school when I volunteered for the American Red Cross. Through my volunteer service, I learned all there is to know about hurricanes, emergency management and how the American Red Cross operates during a disaster. I absolutely loved working with the Red Cross. It was definitely a life changing experience that I will never forget.

During my senior year of high school, my town was directly hit by a number of major hurricanes. I lived and worked at the local Red Cross chapter for weeks. Our town, and our Red Cross chapter, became quite a focus for the media during these major storms. This experience not only gave me the opportunity to make a huge difference in my community, but also to meet President George W. Bush and be interviewed for a feature article in Teen People Magazine. It was an extraordinary experience for me. Ever since then, I was hooked on hurricanes.

So today's Throwback Thursday is dedicated to my experiences with the American Red Cross during hurricane season...

Throwback Thursday: Hurricane Season

 Hurricane Frances 2004

Have you ever been outside during a Category 4 hurricane? It's pretty freakin' cool, but I still don't recommend it. It's rather unsafe. Here I am dancing in the middle of the highway in front of the Red Cross building because the town was on lock down and no cars were allowed on the road. Rebel.  

Workin' hard. Actually not, this photo was staged for my Teen People Magazine photo shoot. However, this is something that I did actually do on a regular basis during a hurricane :)

With my homeboy, George W. I'm actually bending my knees in this photo because I was taller than him and the Secret Service told me that I was not allowed to appear taller than the President in the photo. 

Alright, here it is y'all. My claim to fame. On page 129 of the December 2004 issue of Teen People. 

Stay safe this hurricane season!