Greetings from Leon County!
Aleisha Edenfield here. I am from Jackson County. Tallahassee, however, has been my second home for most of my childhood before becoming my official home as an adult. In fact, my first and fondest memory as a child was walking into the Florida State University’s softball/soccer field complex to watch the 1999 woman’s softball team play ball. My youngest aunt was on this team. I was only 7 years old!
It was only natural to want to follow in my family’s footsteps at that point. While I did not inherit the outstanding softball skills and become a D1 athlete, I found my way back onto the Florida State campus as an undergrad student 14 years later. In 2015, I graduated with my Bachelor of Arts in Editing, Writing and Media. I left my second home not long after. I took a break from my educational path to work for the State of Florida.
Three years later, I found myself right back in Tallahassee. It relieved me to be back in the city I grew up in most of my life, greeting old friends and new as I delved more into the activities I knew and loved. I joined the Writing in Tallahassee group, who helped me rediscover my love for writing. We meet year round for many writing excursions, including but not limited to the Word of South festival held every April, the Shakespeare in the Park festival held every May, and, the most important event of them all, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a thirty-day novel writing challenge held every November. I also fell back in love with the world of Pokémon, joining fellow trainers in the Tallahassee area for many of the wonderful events, raids, and battles that Pokémon Go offers.
Along with the events and people, I have also appreciated the parks and trails that Tallahassee offers. As someone who grew up in the country, city-life is not always what it’s cracked up to be. When I need to take a break and embrace the surrounding nature, I will often tackle the trails that connect between Tom Brown Park and Lafayette Heritage Trail. Whether it be for biking, a peaceful walk, or trying to collect miles on Pokémon Go, at least once or twice a week, I could be found at one of these two parks, or even at Cascades or McCord if the mood strikes me.
But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Though the world being in medical turmoil is not something that anyone should celebrate, I have to give thanks all the same. It striking when it did allowed me to pause and reflect on my life and where I stood career-wise, and I realized I was not happy where I was at and wanted to move forward. And thus, in Fall 2020, I walked through the doors of Florida State University once more—the virtual ones, at least—and found myself in pursuit of a Master of Arts in Information. My goal? To become a youth librarian.
I hope that LIS 5313, Digital Media: Concepts and Production, will not only get me one step closer into obtaining my Masters but also provide me with the tools needed to better understand the digital media world and how I can utilize it to better suite the needs of future generations. I look forward to learning all this class offers, and meeting and learning about my classmates along the way. And maybe, with the help of this class, I might find some comfort level in learning how to create, format, and use a blog. Today’s post will be the starting point of a long and educational journey, I am sure!
In the meantime, any of my classmates and professors who are in Tallahassee can definitely keep an eye out for me. Though the pandemic is still going strong, and precautions shall be taken at all costs, it will not prevent me from stepping back onto campus and visiting JoAnne Graf Softball Field once again as I now watch my sister and the 2022 softball team work towards their goal in making it to the Women’s College World Series for the second year in a row. Go Noles!
Hi Aleisha!
I loved your story about your FSU journey! It’s so cool that you were able to come full circle and find your way back to campus multiple times, including very recently. I’ve never actually spent time on campus for long due to distance and my undergrad being in Gainesville, but it sounds like a great place to be around. As yet another Pokemon Go-er, I love to see other people get active and try to catch them all. The pandemic really put a damper on everything, but I’m glad you are still able to do things and find joy!
Hi Aleisha and nice to meet you!
That is so cool to learn all about you and your softball family. I used to live in Oklahoma City which is home to the NCAA Softball National Championships. I had the pleasure of getting to watch FSU play in 2018 and win! It was amazing getting to see fellow Noles again. I was surprised how many fans were there that travelled but also the amount of local OKC Seminoles. I may need some of your help when it comes to writing skills. What inspires you when you start writing and how do you learn to just let the words flow?
It was very nice meeting you and I look forward to reading more posts.