Welcome to my blog!

 Hi Everyone!😊

My name is Sydney Charalambous, but most people call me Syd. Only my close friends call me "Syd-bean" or "Squid". When anyone asks for my name I always have to say "Sydney, like Australia" because people can never get it right. 

Background🌎

I am currently majoring in Education, however I am anticipating changing my major. I was a nanny in high school, so I have always loved working with kids and knew I wanted a career in which I can help others, but I do not think I want to do education. I am unsure of what I want to do, so I took a variety of different courses this semester in order to find my passion and future career choice. 

I am originally from New Jersey and lived there until I was 18 years old. I grew up in the same house in New Jersey throughout that time, but moved to a new house one town over for three months. My dad also grew up in the same house that I spent 18 years in, so family is very important to me and I knew I wanted to be close to them in college. Then I moved to Sarasota, Florida with my family prior to attending University of South Florida. I love living in Florida and knew that I wanted to attend school near the beach because the cold weather I experienced in my childhood made me want to remain in the sunny climate.

Aside from living in New Jersey, my extended family lives in Cyprus. Each year, I visit my family there. However, when Covid- 19 began, our tradition was put on hold, but I am excited to go back this summer. I have always enjoyed traveling and exploring the beauty of the world around us. I have also been to Dubai, Russia, England, Germany, and Jamaica. Traveling is a huge passion of my mine, so I would be intrigued to have a job where I got to travel and continue going to new places in the world. When I graduate college, I am going to Fiji to celebrate and further my love for traveling. 

Social Media📷

My favorite media platform is Snapchat because I like to watch people's stories and see the different experiences other have. I also use the app conveniently for communication with my friends as well. Furthermore, I enjoy Instagram because I like to see worldly posts in which my friends are traveling or with loved ones. Social media is a great way for me to keep in touch with my friends from New Jersey and helps me to make new friends along the way through mutual connections. 

Blogging💻

As you can probably tell, this is my first blog. While I do not have much experience with writing blogs, I have read many blogs. For example, I have read fashion blogs as I also enjoy shopping, so reading these blogs helps me to keep up with trends. I also read travel blogs in order to help plan my vacations based on the experiences of others and where people enjoy going to. Reading blogs has been very helpful for me to retain my passions and further. 

One of my favorite things about blogs is the personalization used within as people share their experiences. Blogs are very diverse as people tell their own story, so I enjoy the variety of stories. One thing I dislike about blogs can be some of the topics discussed. For example, I think some blogs touch on topics that can be very sensitive for readers, such as diet blogs. I think some blogs should have a warning page in which sensitive topics are addressed prior to reading to prepare people for topics that could be scaring for them. 

FUN FACTS!!🏐

I don't usually like to talk about myself, but I guess there are a few interesting things I could mention. First things first, one of my favorite activities when I traveled, as mentioned above, was playing volleyball with my dad. I found that I really enjoyed the sport and began to play volleyball for my school throughout middle school and high school. I made many friends and loved playing, but unfortunately had to quit my junior year of high school due to a shoulder injury. I didn't realize I was severely injured until I started having back pains connected with my shoulder. I had a few doctor visits and found out I had a torn labrum. The doctors told me that if I wanted to continue playing I needed surgery, but sadly getting surgery is one of biggest fears, so I chose to end a true passion of mine. 

Additionally, I am an only child in my family, so I am very close to both of my parents. My dad and I are basically twins in different forms. We both love the same hobbies and have similar personalities. While growing up we did everything together, but now due to myself moving to Tampa for school we don't hangout that often. It's sometimes hard for my parents because they don't have me there to spend time with and I am their only child, so they worry. Mentioning family, I am also the only female out of my first cousins, so I am always surrounded by a large, rambunctious energy. With being surrounded by mostly men, it was always competitive and our world revolves around sports. 

The third fun thing about me is that I'm trilingual. I speak English, Spanish, and Greek. English is my first language, however, I have many friends from Latin America who have taught me Spanish over the years. Additionally, given that my family is from Cyprus, I was heavily exposed to the Greek language from a young age. As a result of my upbringing, I have learned to speak Greek and utilize the language with my extended family. With these cultural experiences, I am able to feel more comfortable entering the workforce knowing that I can communicate with a variety of people.