"The Traveling Bubble"

“The Traveling Bubble”

By: Rachel Smith ENG 336

“If you want to make money, you have to be educated”, the bubbly Autumn Vanous enthused, starting, as she sat on the grass accompanying the beautiful day on September 13^th.  The 33 year old married mother of two had much to say on Thursday, much of which shed greater insight on who she really was as a person.  With bright eyes and an open mind, Autumn began to discuss her life in great detail, holding nothing back. Despite her confident and relaxed demeanor, Autumn revealed that she was slightly discouraged by the judgment of others before she decided to attend college.  Not being able to commute as easily as others, and it being impossible for her to go away to college, Autumn said her main reason for going back to college and Frostburg was to prove to her disbelievers that she wasn’t just a “ditzy” girl, and that she was smarter than what they thought.  Autumn proved that with one of her greatest accomplishments in life, making the dean’s list at Alleghany College two years in a row.

Going back to college wasn’t the most characteristic event of her life.  In Autumns lifetime she’s done many eventful and charismatic jobs and activities, all which contribute to her exciting and bubbly personality. Autumn confessed that she used to be a still walker and an acrobatic performer for Universal Studios.  She was also a delta flight attendant.  As Autumn gushed about her past jobs, her recollections of being a delta flight attendant was the most melancholy she appeared during the whole interview.  Autumn revealed that at the time of 9/11, she was scheduled to fly, but was on leave because of her pregnancy.   This had a great impact on her life and made her appreciate the moments she has now and the moments she’ll make in the future.

Aside from her many interesting occupations, Autumns true love is traveling. One of her biggest goals that she wants to accomplish is visiting every country in the world.  She’s been to Canada, Jamaica, and the Bahamas. “I’ve also been to practically every place in the Midwest”, Autumn stated, proudly. She also talked about how much she loves going overseas, and how she’s grown an overwhelming love for the ocean since her father was a commercial fisher. “The ocean runs through my veins”. Autumn stated, excitedly. Autumn also shares a similar love of travel for music, because of her passion for dance. “When you love to dance, you have a greater understanding of music”.

After all was said and done, Autumn reverted back to the first ideas she stated in the interview, making money and being educated.  The one thing that she wanted to take from being at Frostburg is a degree.  “I want to have the feeling of knowing more than I did when I started”, Autumn stated firmly.  Five years from now, Autumn is afraid of where she thinks she’ll be.  “I don’t want to think five years from now!” Autumn said charismatically.  Eventually she confessed that ideally, she would want to be ‘gainfully employed in a job that is conducive with her moral and ethical values’. Her true dream however is to aid in creating the society more independent.  “I want to create self-sustaining buildings for everyday living”, Autumn said.  Having society “get off the grid” is one of the most important things to Autumn, and every day she strives to get to the place where these dreams could be accomplished.