People That Inspire Me: Stephanie Bickelman
A few months back I decided to start up a little series of
posts about people that mean a lot to me and people that inspire me. I am
finally writing the next post in that series. Today I am going to write about
another friend that has been in my life for a long time and really isn’t going
anywhere. I do plan on dedicating a post or two to family members as well in
the near future, but today I wanted to follow up my last “people that inspire
me” post with another friend. This post is all about Stephanie Bickelman.
When I asked her permission to write this entry, of course
after expressing gratitude she replied “You’re not going to write anything embarrassing
are you?” Oh how I probably totally could (and she could most definitely tell
some very embarrassing stories about me) but that is not what I am here today
to do.
Let’s start with a little background on our relationship.
Steph and I met in religion class in first grade, making us only about 6 years
old at the time. Allegedly I brought a doll with me to class and while showing
it to the class, the head popped off. I honestly do not remember this at all,
but the funny part is that is one way our friendship works. We both have these
vivid memories of the past that the other does not remember at all. One thing
we both remember is that many hours talking on the phone (and probably just as
many hours of me getting frustrated and hanging up), stupid inside jokes (that
I was mainly the butt of), and just really always being there for each other.
Just about eighteen years later and we are still just as close.
 |
| At her brother's wedding June 2016 |
The reason this girl is so inspiring to me is her complete
dedication and motivation in everything she does. When we were in undergrad school
she was working two part-time jobs on top of being a full-time student and maintaining
a spectacular GPA. During all of this she still managed to go to the gym pretty
much daily and (I’m pretty sure) she still slept as well and had way more of a
social life than I did. I found it difficult to juggle my part-time job with school
and she was doing so much more than that. I have always admired her for that.
 |
| Gym buddies! |
On top of all of her motivation and drive she is also a
great friend. She has always been 100% supportive of me and everything I do.
When I first started losing weight and I would share my results with her, her
words were always so encouraging and helpful. We were gym buddies for a while
as well. That is a big part of staying motivated in my opinion, having someone
to do it with, and she was always there for me… even though if I tried to talk
to her while we were working out I was literally scolded. She is there for me
about anything, anytime of day, no matter what. Not everybody is lucky enough
to have a friend like that and I truly appreciate her friendship so much.
 |
| Celebrating her 24th birthday, July 2016. |
I will sum this up here as I don’t want this post to be the
size of a novel (and it easily could be). I truly appreciate and am so thankful
to have this girl in my life. She is here for me no matter what with absolutely
no judgments and always offers her best advice. She tells me what I need to
hear, not what I want to hear, and to me that is a real friend. For so many
reasons Steph inspires and motivates me to be a better person.
0 comments