"Think out your plan like a woman of action. Then act out your plan like a woman of thought."

Hello, and welcome to what is likely to become a voyage of the mind-- I hope you enjoy your stay.

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I find that many times, whether in a small group that is forced to get to know one another or talking to your great aunt twice removed at a holiday party, you undoubtedly will be asked what it is that you study. They will then proceed to ask my personal favorite, “Oh, (emphasis on the “Oh”) and what are you going to do with that?” For which, I constructed a rather fool proof way to kill this conversation almost immediately: Whatever I want! I can do anything! (With limitations, of course- I obviously won’t be applying to be a rocket engineer for NASA: that ship has sailed.) But let’s be real. It catches them off guard and they leave. It’s the same age-old question: What do you want to be when you grow up?

My answer: A secret agent.

Alfred Pennyworth: Will you be wanting the Batpod, sir?

Bruce Wayne: In the middle of the day, Alfred? Not very subtle.
Alfred Pennyworth: The Lamborghini, then...Much more subtle.

My family and I recently vacationed at a lake up north where we rented a jet ski. A jet ski, fun fact about me, is one thing in the world that allows me to feel like I can do anything, be anyone. All the thoughts in my head get left back at the dock, because not even they can follow me at the speed I’m going. I have a need, a need for speed and adventure. And by adventure, I mean being distinctly airborne. In that moment I become James Bond and I am pursuing enemy boats… hold on-- let me grab my gun.

Although, who I truly want to be is not James Bond, but a culmination of a ninja, Carmen SanDiego and Sydney Bristow, with the intellect of Sherlock Holmes. Because that’d be just badass. And as it so happens, a friend of mine, while bored in class late one night, fashioned an appropriate name for said alter ego… Belle Knightley. So yes, I will respond to that name as well. Try it sometime.

I also like to think that when you are a secret agent, nicknames are something that just come with the territory. So naturally, I like to give them out like candy. My two best friends are referred to as Number One and Number Two. Some of my extended family members are part of a league, the League of Extraordinary Vegetables: Carrots, Falfs, Peapod, and the Murderous Rutabaga. Totally natural. Sometimes people may inform me of their own self-appointed nickname, like my friend the Iron Chancellor. However, more often than not, there will be something about you that separates you from the rest... and that’s where the fun begins.