Moving Away from Auburn to Find My “Why”
Hello all, Elizabeth here to bring you some truths today!
Obviously, I fully believe in the saying “be true to you” but how did I take this cliché saying and bring it into my everyday life? Here’s a little look into my brain and how I define being true to me!
I grew up in Auburn, Alabama, and loved every second of it. However, it really took me leaving town to pursue my undergraduate degree to really discover the importance and love of my hometown. Now you’re probably reading this and thinking “This girl is crazy how could she not love Auburn?!” and I get that, it’s a wonderful town! But, in order to really spread my wings, I needed to pursue my undergraduate degree in a different town. Moving away for four years was the best thing I ever did for myself, because it allowed me to grow within myself and spread my wings without any preconceived notions on who I was as a person. It also pushed me out of my comfort zone by surrounding me with all new people and forcing me to try new things. After graduating from Troy in 2019, I was ready to come back to Auburn to pursue my Doctor of Pharmacy with my newfound confidence in myself I developed while away. Coming back to Auburn was the second-best thing I ever did for myself and let me tell you why…
- Moving away from your hometown REALLY helps you appreciate the little things you enjoy day to day but don’t even realize.
- Moving back into your hometown helps you see things (or places) you haven’t ever seen before
Finding True40 and How it Changed My Life
My first year back in Auburn for pharmacy school was ROUGH. *Cue the typical college senior life happenings* All of my friends were getting married, moving across the country for amazing new jobs, while I was moving back to my hometown. It seemed as if everyone was moving on and I was still stuck in class studying. I had spent the past 4 years growing and learning so much, but suddenly I felt so stagnant when comparing myself to my peers. Thankfully, I was introduced to True40 second semester of my first year back.
A friend invited me to my first True40 class and I have never looked back! I will never forget my first time walking into True40 and taking a class, I loved every single second of it and I left shaking like a leaf (which only made me love it more). Instantly I was in love, canceling my other membership at a studio in town and booking with True40.
The Journey of Becoming a True40 Instructor
So how did I get to this point- from client, to instructor, to now manager? I started by doing the easiest but also the scariest thing I could do, ASK QUESTIONS. My next step was asking the manager at the time, Kristin, if she was looking for any instructors. Thankfully, a training was coming up quickly and she needed a couple of instructors and I got the interview! I spent hours preparing for my interview, memorizing and practicing a warm-up. I went so far as to gather an audience a couple of times to ensure I was the most prepared I could possibly be. Even in the interview I remember having the nervous shakes (you know the ones where you are so nervous you can’t control the shaking in your hands no matter how hard you try?). Somehow, I made it through and was offered the opportunity to go through training.
From there, my obsession and love for True40 only grew. From the moment I walked into True40, I could tell there was something different about this place. As cliché as that sounds, the second you walk into the studio, you can just feel it in the air! Some places you walk into just feel awkward and quiet and almost cold. But this place, the second I walked in, I felt the warmth radiating not only from the employees, but also from the clients which said a lot to me. When you go to a fitness studio, you expect the staff to be bubbly and happy- they’re paid to be there. But when you can feel the genuine joy from the community within True40, that’s when I knew it was something special.
How I Found My “Be True to You” through My Journey
If you’ve read this far, I’ve finally come to the part in this blog where I get to the point! In order to accurately explain what being true to me means, I had to give a little backstory on where “be true to you” originates from. The word “true” in our logo really focuses on representing your most authentic self through everything life throws at you. This really resonated to me. In today’s world it’s so hard to not constantly compare yourself to what everyone else is doing. Social media shows you everyone else’s highlight reel- and in comparison, to our day to day lives, it’s so easy to feel subpar. However, that warmth I felt at True40 is what truly empowered me to “be true to me”. To stop comparing myself to what life stages my friends were in or what social media portrayed, but instead to be myself, for we are each made differently and beautifully. I felt supported exactly where I was, while being pushed to become a better version of myself each time I came into the studio. This community loved me at lowest and has empowered me to be my best, which I think is the embodiment of “be true to you”. By being true to myself, I accepted that I am exactly where I am supposed to be, which has given me the confidence to pursue new endeavors, from trying new things in pharmacy school to becoming the manager of my favorite place!
What does “be true to you” look like to you? I encourage you to be true to yourself because you never know what new adventures that confidence will lead you to.