One of the first thoughts that came to mind when I began contemplating the logistics of moving away from home was my library card. I’ve had the same one since fourth grade. From my once-beloved Hello Kitty wallet to my prized Marc Jacobs clutch, it’s had many homes. I’d like to see a list of all the books it’s swiped. Though I chuckle at its now retro design and the curly signature that adorns the back, it’s been a constant companion and I’m serious when I say I owe that card a lot.

Of all the changes to come, getting a new library card feels the most final. Even when I went to college in Lawrence, Kan., and studied abroad in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, I kept the card handy because I knew I’d be coming back soon. This move is different.

At the end of the summer I’ll be moving to Chicago, where I willl be able to continue working full time as I take up a masters degree in integrated marketing communications. Even though Chicago is only a one-hour plane ride away, after sticking close to home for college then moving into my parents’ house after graduation, this move feels like my first real taste of being on my own.

Soon enough I’ll have a new library card with a grown up’s signature on the back. But maybe I’ll keep my old one just in case.

The inaugural Grundfos Kansas City Walk for Water, which took place June 16 at Kauffman Stadium, greatly exceeded my expectations. About 150 people participated, raising a total of $47,000 to fund safe water systems in Haiti through the non-profit Water Missions International.

Clean water in the developing world was the perfect cause for Grundfos, a global leader in advanced pump solutions and a trendsetter in water technology. In addition to raising money, the event also raised awareness of the global water crisis by placing participants in the footsteps of those who walk an average of almost four miles per day to provide their families with what is often contaminated water.

Halfway through the 3.5-mile walk, we stopped to fill buckets with water, simulating the true burden of life in a developing nation. Although we certainly can’t say we’ve walked in their shoes, the walk imparted a sense of the hardships they endure for a resource we in the U.S. don’t think twice about. All together, the 150 participants collected about 100 gallons of water — the amount that the average American uses on a daily basis [EPA]. Now each time I turn on a faucet or take a drink of water, I can’t help but think about the struggles that one in eight people worldwide faces just for clean water.

See photos I took of the event on Grundfos USA’s Facebook page.

Although we’re a multinational company, it has taken a lot of effort and strategy to bring us to 806 Facebook fans and 1,072 Twitter followers. Thus far, the work I’ve put into Grundfos’ social media presence has been promising. In just half a year, fans have increased by 134 percent, followers by 178 percent.

But get this (this is what I love about social media). Sinbad’s, a locally owned business in Kansas City, started its Facebook fan page last month and today has 965 followers. In less than two months, Sinbad’s surpassed the number of followers it took Grundfos two years to collect. I love social media because it is the great equalizer when it comes to marketing. It levels the playing field between big and small businesses. Do you think promoted posts change this?

More than one in six people — 894 million worldwide — lacks access to clean water [UN]. Because of this, a child dies every 20 seconds from diseases caused by unsafe water or poor sanitation [UN]. Given these statistics, it isn’t difficult to believe that the wars of the future will be fought over this precious natural resource. According to a report issued earlier this year by United States intelligence agencies, water scarcity combined with poverty, social tension and poor leadership could lead to the failure of numerous states [U.S. Intel].

The facts may be daunting, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything about it. On Saturday, June 16 at Kauffman Stadium, I plan to take part in the Kansas City Walk for Water to benefit Water Missions International, a non-profit that raises funds for safe, sustainable water solutions in the developing world. The Walk for Water is a non-competitive, educational event that puts participants in the shoes of those who walk nearly four miles a day to provide their families with what is often contaminated water. Halfway through the walk, participants will fill buckets with water, simulating the true burden of life in a developing nation.

The truth is we can never pretend to fully comprehend the struggle of water scarcity — an American taking a shower uses more water in five minutes than the average person in a developing country uses for an entire day [UN]. But this walk will help raise awareness of the global water crisis and bring relief to those in need. Please consider joining me. You can get involved in one of three ways:

• Sign up online to walk. Registration only costs $25 and comes with a T-shirt and a Royals game ticket.
• Volunteer your time. Email me if you’re interested in helping to run the event.
• Make a general donation to the cause or help me exceed my fundraising goal.

It helps that my parents welcomed me home with open arms. It also helps that they spend every other month in California and that I travel frequently for work, giving us much needed breaks from one another. Overall the transition from my beloved college town apartment to my old high school bedroom (complete with Forensics medals and questionable decoration choices) was smoother than I’d expected. Here’s what helped:

• Spending a fraction of my would-be rent money on clothes and other unnecessary items. After all, I’m saving more than $400 a month by living rent-free at home. I think  I deserve the occasional dress, sweater, perfume, skirt, pair of shoes, book, belt, bracelet, hair band, lotion or magazine. In addition to having nice new things, shopping on my lunch break makes me feel better about robbing the economy of the money I would’ve spent on rent, furniture, utilities, etc.
• Using my free time to wrinkle my brain. One of my main take-aways from Psych 101 was that the folds in your brain increase when you learn. That’s something I love to think about while partaking in educational activities like looking up my latest whim on Wikipedia, reading boring yet informative books about business, scanning news websites for interesting articles and listening to cool podcasts.
• Eking out a suburban lifestyle without relying on clichéd (and expensive) Friday nights at the Cheesecake Factory. Finding fun things to do in or near the suburbs is my new obsession. It’s a challenge to think outside the $10-movie-ticket box, but it’s worth it when you find gems like the Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College. Tickets are as low as $5 for students and those who can pass for students.

Ewing, Muriel and Me

It’s funny to think that a little more than two months ago, I was frantically searching for a summer internship, applying anywhere and everywhere that was still hiring. I was lucky that my last-minute search yielded such an amazing experience. My time at the Kauffman Foundation has opened my eyes to the world of entrepreneurship. When you spend most of your time with people who share your interests and career goals, it’s really easy to forget that there’s so much more out there. At Kauffman, I’ve gotten to know professionals and even other interns whose interests lie in government, engineering, technology, medicine, military and business. They’ve provided me with a much broader and very valuable perspective.

Although my primary role was monitoring conversation on the Kauffman Foundation’s social media sites, I also blogged for Maker Faire, wrote Twitter and Facebook posts, researched social media and ultra high speed Internet, translated the website of the Kauffman School from English to Spanish and participated in an intern competition to needs-find for Google Fiber. It’s been a crazy, exciting, busy, interesting, excellent summer.

My team, CitizEnvision, identified the need to revitalize Kansas City’s urban core by bridging the digital divide. The solution we came up with was a low-cost cloud-based device, which we named the Iris. You can see our presentation, along with those of our fellow interns, in the post below. My group was the first to present.

We were also the winners.

The winners, CitizEnvision (Rebecca Silverstein, Nate Olson and me)

Video of the Kauffman Foundation’s intern competition

Kansas City is excited about the arrival of Google Fiber

Like many residents of Kansas City and its surrounding areas, I was thrilled when Google announced it would be building a fiber network in both Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo. Some have said it will put Kansas City in the same category as tech hubs like Silicon Valley, Seattle and Boston. Although I don’t doubt that super-fast Internet will change everything – you just have to think back to the days of dial-up to comprehend the implications of one gigabit per second – it’s hard to predict exactly what it means for Kansas City. Because in a way, Google has developed the answer to problems we haven’t even identified yet. (In my imagination, Google’s programmers are like researchers of basic science, nerds unconcerned with the practical applications of their findings.) Beyond the obvious – faster file sharing, music downloading, video streaming, etc. – how will Google Fiber change Kansas City?

As the Kauffman Foundation was one of the major supporters of Kansas City’s application to Google Fiber, my fellow interns and I have been tasked with speculating an answer to that question. Do you have any ideas? I’d love your feedback.