I'm alive!

For the three people that read this blog, you may have been wondering where I've been the last two years.  Good news.  I'm alive!

So what in the world have I been up to?

Last we talked, I had just begun graduate school.  More good news...

I GRADUATED!  

Feel free to refer to me as "Master Megan."  No seriously.  ;)

Now on to more excited and important stuff!  Dun dun duuuuuuh!  

In March I was asked to lead the marketing and public relations for something called Hope Run Kenosha- A 5k run/2 mile walk to bring awareness to my community about human trafficking... a topic that I'm extremely passionate about.  The raise was held on June 6th along the lakefront.

Here in the U.S. there's an idea that human trafficking only takes place in other countries, when in all reality, there have been reported cases in EVERY state in the U.S. Living in Wisconsin, I was shocked when I found out that in the last two years, there have been over 77 cases of sex trafficking reported in Milwaukee alone!!  

Here are some more stats:

· Over 200 victims of trafficking have been identified in Wisconsin

· The average age of a girl who enters into sex trafficking is 14 years old

· Every 10 minutes a woman or child is trafficked in the U.S.

· 14,500-17,500 victims (child and adult) are trafficked into the U.S. every year

· Over 300,000 U.S. children are at risk of commercial sexual exploitation

· 27 million people are enslaved around the world today

A21 is one of the many organizations Hope Run Kenosha is coming alongside of to bring awareness about this horrific issue in America and around the world if you'd like more information.

Ok back to the race...

Our original goal for this first year of the race was 300. You can imagine my disbelief when we ended up with 1001 people that registered!!!

I had the privilege of emceeing the event. We had over 50 sponsors that partnered with us and got coverage from the local news outlets and even television crews from Milwaukee showed up the day of the event. We even had a billboard!

After the race there was a human trafficking program that brought in speakers from Exploit No More & P.R.O.M.I.SE along with representatives from the City of Kenosha and the Kenosha Police Department who are actively working against this cause.

At the very end, we held a moment of a silence for the victims and each participant was given a glowing balloon as a symbol of the freedom we hope to bring these girls and boys. As a song by Naomi Marie was played, the balloons were released into the sky. It was beautiful.

This event left me wanting to do so much more. I don't know what that is going to look like in the future but I do know that knowledge truly is power, and now that I know this is real and happening at this very moment, I can't sit back and do nothing.

If you'd like more information about Hope Run Kenosha or how you can get involved, please email me.

Raise + Connect + Restore

Happy Opening Day!

Oh snap!

Guess who got a 98% on her first grad school paper?  And guess who got a 100% on her second grad school paper?!  Holler back higher education!

Sorry that I suck at blogging lately.  Here's a few of my latest favorite things...

1.  Music by Sam & Ruby
2.  Pepsi Next (only 100 calories!)
3.  The Hunger Games (I actually read the book!)
4.  Cover FX powder foundation 
5.  Baylor women's basketball
6.  Cute boys name Scott

Be fabulous. 

My Life in Someecards

How To Be A Hipster

Ok, so the other night I was out with this (super cute) boy in Milwaukee.  As we were parking, he informed me that this part of town was where all the "hipsters" hang out.  I immediately chuckled to myself as I remembered an episode of the show "Happy Endings" where they went over the rules of being a hipster.  Seriously, this stuff is funny.  And even funnier, these people exist in real life.  Believe me.  I lived it.

For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, here are the hipster rules. Be sure to watch the clip below.  It's hysterical!  Wait. Hipster talk- It's whatev. I'm over it.

HOW TO BE A HIPSTER:

1.  Never try.  Never put effort into anything

2.  Only like things that are ironic (i.e. books, movies, tv shows, the environment.

3.  Never show too much enthusiasm.

4.  Everything is dumb.