Happy Four Years!

Four years ago, I started this blog to just give me an independent outlet to write whatever came to my mind. I laugh at how I thought I would write something each week. I still laugh at that to this day.

When I first started writing, I really didn't know what I wanted this to become. At first, I was writing about viral things as a way to get clicks. My mind was focused on getting clicks and getting views. I considered starting a podcast to go along with this as well as a YouTube channel as a way to just go "viral." I had no real idea of what this blog would be.

Once I decided to make it a monthly blog, it gave me time to evaluate what Karli With A K would be. I kept looking at this as a way to become "famous" on the internet. Don't ask why I had that mindset. I'm really embarrassed I used to think like that.

Now, I've turned this blog into a way to shed light on issues that I care about or to show how stupid people can be (the latter is my favorite). People have always referred to me as a female Stephen A. Smith. That's right Dani Dean; I will never forget that on-air reference during Hardwood Heroes. You want to know what's great? I revel in that.

I'm here to 1) vent about random ish that happens in my life, (2) talk about controversial subjects to get you, the reader, talking, and (3) just be me. Who does that the best? Stephen A.

I kept trying to make this blog into something that would go viral instead of making it represent the writer. I'm a loud, outgoing, sports-loving Chicagoan who's a feminist. That's what this blog has become and I love it.

So thank you for wanting to read my rants and opinions each and every month for the past four years. I plan to keep this going as I continue my profession. I plan on keeping my Bears podcast, Under The Helmet, going as long as I can. I plan to keep on writing my book (that's right people. Been keeping that one from you for a while). I plan to keep growing in my profession and want to keep you informed on my journey.

Happy four years!

20 Lessons I've Learned After College

It's been a full year since I left the paradise of Athens, Ohio as a college student. During my almost full year as a semi-functioning adult, I've learned some great lessons that I feel I should pass on to you readers. Enjoy.

1. Student loans are awful...like really awful.

2. Don't stress about not having a job when you walk across the stage. It'll come your way.

3. Nothing will ever be cheaper than college bar drinks. NOTHING.


4. Free food still exists in the real world. Thank God.

5. Friendships will fade but family will always be there with full support, even if they think you're doing something stupid.

6. Take risks. If that means moving to a place you never expected (aka my life), it will be worth it in the long run.

7. Don't stop networking. Keep it going in the real world. You never know what opportunities will come your way.

8. I'm almost 23 and I still have to call my mom to deal with adult problems, which is totally normal. Moms are superheroes. Mama Bell is a blessing.

9. Coffee and melatonin are still necessities in the real world and not just for finals week.

10. Don't just lose contact with friends, because you don't see them every day on campus. Keep in touch with them. Those conversations over FaceTime or through Snapchat are sometimes needed on a Wednesday at 1 a.m. when you're bugging out.

11. SAVE. MONEY. Seriously, learn to budget.

12. Accept other people and other cultures, even if you disagree. Differences in cultures, races, genders, sexualities and ethnicities is what makes the world so phenomenal.

13. I still haven't used the Pythagorean Theorem since algebra my freshman year of high school.

14. Try your best to learn about taxes, 401ks, retirement and benefits before you enter the real world and have to call your dad to explain it to you when you get a random piece of mail that makes no sense to you. Love you Dad.

15. Spend 30 minutes a day off your phone and just relax, whether that be a good breakfast, a nice cup of coffee or watching Seinfeld before going to work.

16. Treat people with basic human respect. You may not like the person, but they're still a human. Treat them as such.

17. Work does not equal a best friend club, BUT if you didn't know that before entering the working world, then you're already way behind.

18. Learn the basics of car repair, i.e. knowing how to change a flat tire.

19. Patience is everything. Yelling at a computer for freezing on you five minutes before deadline will not make the computer fix itself faster. Believe me, I've tried.

20. Love your job and love what you do. If you don't enjoy the job you wake up for every day, then why enter the working world? Get something that makes you excited to get up at any time of day and take on the world. Do I enjoy getting up at 6 a.m. on random days throughout the week? No, but the reason I get up, which is my fantastic job, is what makes it all worth it.

These "Poster Christians" Need To Stop

For my father's sake, I will say that I am a religious person, but I consider myself to be more spiritual. I do not like organized religion, because I believe it does more harm than good. Mind you, this is coming from a woman who was raised in a converted Catholic family and was in Catholic school from first grade all the way through high school. 

My family is very religious. We attend Mass every week and every Holy Day of Obligation. We learned new things about the faith through school and my father's vastly expanse knowledge on Catholicism and religion as a whole. However, the one thing that my dad taught me and something I still abide by to this day is that the best way to show your faith and honor God is through actions and acting like a good person.

Yes, that is extremely hard, but it is something that I try to abide by as much as I can. HOWEVER, ever since I moved from Chicago to Kentucky, the amount of what I like to call "poster Christians" is far too high and need to stop. What is a "poster Christian?" I will tell you my interpretation of this phrase that I decided to coin to label these people. A "poster Christian" is the Christian that will shove God and religion down your throat, either verbally or through their RIDICULOUS amount of social media posts, about how God is the only way to be happy. However, these same people that throw this at you constantly will then do the exact opposite of what they're preaching about and be a straight hypocrite.

Ever since I moved into the Bible Belt (although I do not consider Kentucky to be the Bible Belt), these types of people are EVERYWHERE. Yes, I do not personally attend Mass every week because of my own reasons. However, when I get asked, "What religion are you?" and I say that I find myself to be a more spiritual person, these same people come at me and throw their Protestant faith down my throat and say that I'm not a good person, because I don't go to Mass every week. Also, why do you need to know how I identify religiously? That's already an odd question to ask when you initially meet someone.

Excuse me, I did not ask to get a Bible lesson from you, sir or ma'am. Also, doesn't God teach in your oh so revered book that you must treat everyone with kindness and forgiveness? So, by you criticizing my difference in religion and for not being a part of the cookie cutter religions, you, therefore, are doing the opposite of what you are taught in your church or faith.

That's only one example. Then there are the people who find a way to take a damn ThoughtCatalog listicle or an Odyssey article and spin it around to say that only God is the way you'll find a husband. WHAT? Are you kidding me? It's a ThoughtCatalog article people, not a religious article off a spiritual website. Calm down. You are the people that irritate me the most.

If I wanted to get a Bible lecture every day, I can call my father, a priest, a deacon, a monk or a nun and ask them questions. I did not log on to Facebook to see your manipulative changing of words so you can shove God down my throat about how the only way I will find a husband is through God. Pretty sure God wasn't at a bar, a concert, a frat party, etc. when two people met and fell in love.

It's you, these "poster Christians," that are creating more division and creating more hypocrisy than ever. Your social media posts may say that you're devout, kind, caring and accepting of all people, but your day-to-day action show the complete opposite. Pretty positive that God isn't going to check how many Bible quotes you've tweeted or posted as Facebook statuses to see whether or not you'll cross the Holy Gates. 

If you identify as a Christian, then the purpose of being Christian is to love, be kind and accept all people from all backgrounds. You must treat all people the way you would want to be treated. So, if you wanted to be treated like a hypocrite, then keep doing what you're doing. However, if you want to be treated the way that your social media posts proclaim, then stop posting about it online and just pass along love and positivity to one another. Stop being a poster child and feel the need to try and convert people through manipulative re-wording of an article written by a college student as a venting mechanism.

Let's Make Social Media Positive Again

So Facebook, back when I was in high school, was a place for us to post terribly editied pictures, study guides for classes, PHENOMENAL memes and links to YouTube videos. That platform, obviously, has changed a lot since 2008, both positively and negatively.

I still get my daily dose of adorable animals and memes, but I also get a daily dose of constant bickering back and forth about the most miniscule things. Politics seem to be the go-to subject for so many people, because political opinions as your Facebook status will obviously fix the issues.

It's also a place of pure negativity, insults and straight awful-ness (yes, I just made up a word. Deal with it). You can post something as simple as a kid busting moves to a bomb beat. You get mostly love from people UNTIL that one person just has to say something negative about the kid. They comment on their clothes, hair, appearance and even race. The amount of just blatantly prejudiced and racist comments that I see now is absurd.

For example, I shared a video of James Corden talking to Andy Samberg and Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about the Tooth Fairy. I swear to God; the Tooth Fairy. It was a comical anecdote about how kids will use rational logic to figure out whether or not the Tooth Fairy is real. Tyson spoke about his own kid, and he made a joke saying, "This is how adults should behave." I laughed my butt off when I heard it. So I shared it to spread positivity and comedy on a platform that has now become the center of political opinions and straight negativity.

The comment string then led into an argument about how parents shouldn't tell their kids about the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, Santa, etc. You catch my drift. What started off as a simple joke then turned into people twisting it into a way to push across their political agenda or their moral/ethical code. WHY.

The point of social media is to connect to people across the world and share moments of your life with them. It's a way to share information. It's a way to see more cute puppy videos (I swear I follow more dog accounts than I do people). It's a way to spread positivity, not your uninvited political spout about the Tooth Fairy.

I've noticed this ACROSS THE BOARD of all social platforms. Twitter is where most people have "keyboard courage." These people can make fake accounts where their name is not attached to it and just start straight bashing of other people for the most ridiculous things. Look at what Beyonce fans do. You tweet one negative thing about Beyonce, and her fan base will come after you with everything they have. WHY. It's an artist. People can have a difference of opinion.

Instagram is just as bad. A celeb can post a picture of just them sitting with their family. Then that one person just has to comment something like "Wow. You're really ugly in this picture. You should delete." SON....SHUT UP. No one asked for your negativity to enter their life. Get it out of here.

The worst types of people are YouTube commenters. The people that actually take the time to write out hateful comments on a sketch video really need to find a better use of their time. These people can turn a video about a Chicago accent into a platform for their own religious beliefs. NO ONE ASKED YOU FOR IT. Just keep it to yourself. Scream it into a pillow if need be. Vent to one of your friends about it. Go on SnapChat rants, which is my personal favorite outlet when I come across stupidity.

I don't remember social media being this negative until these past three to four years. It was never this bad back when I first joined social media. Everyone just loved you for doing what interests you and wanting to share it with others. If people wanted to hear people yell about their political views, they can watch people like Tomi Lahren or Bill Maher. Get both ends of the spectrum at least.

Can we all try to make social media positive again? Instead of seeing political whinings or boastings about what your political party did or did not do, can we just spread love to people? Share a puppy video. Share a video of little kids getting into the arts. Share sports moments with each other. Share memes about the Dallas Cowboys. Let's get rid of this keyboard courage. If you're not strong enough to put your face and name to a comment that you want to make online, should you really be making that comment?

6 Months Away From Home

For those who don't know, I moved from Chicago to a tiny, little town in the middle of Eastern Kentucky for a job. I have yet to go back to Chicago since I moved here about six to seven months ago. HOWEVER, I never expected to enjoy a small town as much as I have.

I moved from the metropolis of over nine million people to a town of just about 6,000. Talk about a culture shock. When I first moved here, I was just stuck in a hole. I kept going up to Athens to see my old friends, I rarely left my apartment on my days off, and I just felt really out of place. I was a 6' tall Chicagoan who moved to the South, so I felt SUPER out of place.

I would go out on stories and cover high school and college athletes. I would make on average an hour drive to get these interviews and get to know these kids. The one thing that just kept showing itself over and over again is the amount of poverty in this part of the state. I would see delapidated houses, lawns that are unkept, hundreds of torn up mobile homes and just poverty stricken homes. But then, I would meet these kids, and they would blow my mind.

These kids, especially the high schoolers, are struggling through so much and have so many extra responsibilities that I didn't have growing up. I was blessed to grow in the city with so many options to help the family when I could. But these kids are just having a smile on their face, practice and play their butts off, and keep living their life to the best of their ability.

I never thought these high schoolers would be as influential on me as they have been. They have so many dreams and aspirations and they don't let their location get in the way. I had the privilege to live in such a big city and have so many opportunites at my disposal. These kids are scraping by to just be a success, and it's truly inspiring.

These parents of these kids are even more impressive. They sacrifice everything to make sure their baby can get the new gear for practice or take them all over the country so they can grow as athletes. I've interviewed so many parents and teenagers, and all of them have touched me in some way.

When I first moved here, I was a snob. I thought I was better than all these people down here, because I came from Chicago. I was stuck up. I admit that. Now that I've been here as long as I have, I realized that I'm not better than anyone else. These kids are all trying to acheive the same goals I had when I was their age. These kids have humbled me, and I never thought a small town would have that much of an impact on my life.

Oh 2016...

The end of the year is nearing which means time for a reflective piece on this past year. Just kidding. You can go and read everyone's Facebook statuses on New Year's Eve for that.

This is the time of year where you need to stop thinking about politics, crime and all the negatives that happened this past year. This is the time where you look to your siblings, parents, grandparents, friends, partners, spouses and think about the impact they made on you this past year.

Think about the great times you spent together. Think about the inside jokes that were created. Think about the time they spent with you and just listened so you could vent. Think about the time when you did the same for them. Think about the time when you celebrated that promotion, engagement, graduation or new job.

Think about the times they were there for you at your lowest point. Think about the times you were there for them. Think about all the drama that you fought through and how you came out stronger. Think about that one phone call. Think about that one text message.

Time is precious and what makes it precious is the people that surround you. Make sure you tell them you love them and that you care about them. Instead of binge-watching Netflix, call them and catch up. Instead of whining about the cold, see if they want to build a snowman. Instead of scrolling through Snapchat, Twitter or Instagram, go and take those pictures with them. Instead of thinking you're alone, know that there is at least one person who cares about you. You never realize how important they are until you don't see them everyday.

That's what this holiday season is about: love, family and friends. Spread it.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.

Journalism Matters

The first amendment of the Constitution of this great country gives five freedoms to all citizens in this nation, one of them being freedom of the press. As of late, the media industry has been hasseled due to coverage of the presidential campaigns and other top issues, saying that there is bias when it comes to controversial issues.

Journalists have been threatened, harrassed and ridiculed for telling a story. Journalists have been construed to be menaces to society and people who want to uproot the values of this great nation. They say that "old" journalism back in the 1970s and earlier were the glory days of journalism, because things were exposed for the better of this country.

However, when controversial issues come to light, journalists are then the devil. Journalists become a great evil in some people's eyes. Journalism is then crushed as a field of work that just abides by an "agenda."

Did you ever think what a world without the media would be?

People wouldn't know how bad the murder rate is. People wouldn't know about the rising heroin epidemic. People wouldn't know about the scandals in the Catholic Church. People wouldn't know about Joe Paterno. People wouldn't know about Watergate. People wouldn't know about bombings overseas in Syria. People would be so ill-informed about the world around them.

Without journalism, the truth would not be known. History would be different. The government would be different. Sports would be different. Society as a whole would be different.

But because one outlet releases a story about something that you don't agree with no matter the facts behind it, you will hate the media. You hate the media because we open your eyes. You hate the media because we tell stories you may not enjoy but need to know. You hate the media because we expose people. You hate the media because we want you to stop living in a blissful world of ignorance.

You hate the media because you want to believe what you want to believe.

So before you go and say that the media is unimportant, just think about what the world would be like if there weren't people who wanted to dedicate their lives to finding out why something is the way it is. People who want to tell the story of a boy who shows that you can do anything you dream of doing. People who want to tell the story of how this one action can save thousands of lives.

People who want to make your voice heard.

Journalism matters.

This post was inspired by Bryan Vance.