At the ripe age of 22, I was working at my alma mater and was supervising a group of interns. I'm uncertain who felt this was a good idea given that I was very much still a child myself in the business world, but nonetheless here I was, the boss to kids maybe a year younger than me. Two years max. Little did I know, that in title I may have been the boss, but the greatest lesson I have ever learned, came from one of those students.
Gen was a free spirit from San Diego. She had a swagger - rightfully so as she excelled as a point guard on the basketball team. I never saw her without a smile and could often hear her laugh before she entered the office. I knew her when I was an athlete at Davis and so hiring her was a no brainer - I know what it takes to be a D1 athlete at a University with high academic expectations and I knew she could do the job.
Throughout her time as an intern - she made fun a priority. No matter what I asked of her she made it fun. She was about getting the job done and enjoying every moment. I used to get pictures sent from her and her equally as amazing counterpart Paige of whatever shenanigans they had turned the task into. Whether it be trying on the mascot costume to stacking cases of wine - there was laughter.
The thing about Gen was that whatever she wanted to do, she did it. A lot of people talk about what they dream of - of making the most out of every minute - but Gen without a doubt personified that life. She wanted to go to Paris, so she just did it. She wanted to move across the country for a job, she packed up and left. Gen lived her life without fear, without worry, without any real plan (so it would seem) but at the end of the day - she succeeded in all that she did because the only plan was to maximize this gift of life.
Gen graduated and I eventually moved on from Davis and started my new life in Colorado. I remember getting a message from Paige that Gen was sick. She was 26. I remember not understanding the extent of her illness. It didn't hit me that she may die from this. But the more I was kept up to date - the more I understood how serious it was. Gen had stage 4 breast cancer, and it was spreading. We quickly worked with her family and our Davis community to start a fundraiser to help Gen and her family with mounting medical costs. The only way I know how to react in serious situations is to problem solve. But regardless of everything we all did, regardless of how hard She fought - Gen passed away less than a month after her initial diagnosis. I was devastated. I was shocked. I was really angry.
Throughout her entirely brief illness - Gen was happy. She was positive. She was laughing and she was having fun. Her texts were normal and silly. She was dying - an elite athlete - dying from a disease she had no family history of and no warning. And she still made the most of every single second she had.
It will be four years this May since Gen passed. And every day I think about her. Her life and her death have affected me immensely. My entire life I've planned everything, I've set high expectations for myself and I've focused on what I should be doing instead of what I want to be doing. In the past four years I've used Gen's mantra of living life doing instead of planning to guide my decisions.
I am inherently a control freak. I plan everything. I put my dreams aside to fulfill expectations. When Gen passed, from a disease that has greatly impacted my life and the life of those I love, it shook me to my core. It reinforced that life does not care who you are, you simply cannot plan for everything. As hard as it has been for me to step outside of the need to control, I have dramatically changed who I am and how I live because of what Gen taught me. I have setbacks and I struggle - but I work really hard to DO instead of PLAN.
The greatest lesson I ever learned was from my student intern - Genevieve Costello. I am so thankful for that lesson - and I promise to honor your legacy by committing myself to living the way you taught me to live. I never got the opportunity to tell you how much of a profound impact you had on my life - but I hope that you hear me talking to you, praying to you, and channeling your strength in my heart. Thank you for being one of the greatest motivators in my life my point guardian angel, I hope I'm down here making you proud.
#GC12