I’ve been a part of the Nonahood News staff for close to five months now, and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life. The content in this paper, put together by those in the Lake Nona community, is unique, original, positive and overall inspiring. I feel that I get to know each writer and the portion of the community they specifically represent through their writing while I’m reading and editing their articles every month; it makes me hopeful because I can firsthand see how all of the different types of people in our area can come together to produce a great and enjoyable representation of Lake Nona through words. It’s like seeing all of the branches connect one by one to create a magnificent tree. 

For this month of October, there’s a lot to be excited about as we get into the full swing of the autumn season and the start of incoming holidays with Halloween. If you do celebrate the holiday, we have a couple of articles to build excitement with the whole family for the scariest day of the year, like Katie’s Cucina and Family Fridays. We also have enthralling takes on this new age of streaming and the struggles of playing soccer in the never-ending heat of Florida, respectively, in the recurring columns Zen and the Art of Being Online and Sunny Side Up. Of course, October isn’t just the “month of Halloween,” it’s also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and we have some uplifting articles that aim to spread awareness about how we can participate in the fight against cancer with PINKTOBER and Lake Nona Relay For Life. 

After realizing how quickly October arrived, especially when it felt like June was just yesterday in our constantly advancing culture, I felt a sense of fright about how each year seems to be going by faster and faster. But now that October is knocking on our door, and the last quarter of the year begins, I feel more motivated than ever to make it count. It’ll soon be 2020, and we’ll be thrown into another decade of an unknown future. I’m definitely enthusiastic about what I’m sure will be a memorable, bright and innovative future here in Lake Nona, but until then, how I’m going to make October, November and December count will be what’s on my mind.

How are you going to make these last three months count, Lake Nona? How are we going to water our magnificent tree?