Katie Knobloch was ready to proclaim her message to all of campus.
She stood on the top of the Nittany Parking Deck with a grin on her face as snow flakes landed on her hair and coat. Vying for a better view of the campus below her, she grasped the cold steel pole of the fence that surrounds the top deck.
She steadily lifted her feet, one at a time, onto the concrete ledge below the fence to gain just a few more inches of height.
She took a deep breath of the cold air and then belted out the two words that have made such an impact on her life in the last few months: "Carpe diem."
"If you don't stand up on the edge, you are going to miss out on life," Knobloch said, mixing allegory with reality.
For more than three months, Knobloch has been trying to live out "carpe diem," which is Latin for "seize the day." Every day since Dec. 10, she has given herself a task to accomplish.
"Shout as loud as you can" could now be crossed off the list.
After completing the task, Knobloch publishes them on the blog she began specifically for this project of making each day as unique as the snowflakes falling around her.
In fact, it all started with snowflakes.
Don't let stress blog you down
Last fall was a stressful time for Knobloch. She was in the process of changing her major from engineering to elementary education, and she needed to meet a demanding grade point average.
She felt that it was a make-or-break semester in her life, and the pressure was reaching a maximum.
"I hated all the work. I hated not being able to see my friends. But I had to just do it," she said. "I was tired of not sleeping. I was tired of feeling like I was trapped. My life got to the point where it was so scheduled and so to-the-tee that I felt like a bird in a cage."
It was at that tipping point that Knobloch decided she was going to take a new approach. She was going to live her life "one day at a time."
The blog was Knobloch's answer to the stress.
"It was kind of just out of the blue, I guess," she said.
The idea came from a book she bought her freshman year: "2,001 Things to do Before You Die" by Dane Sherwood. The book is a checklist -- a life itinerary of goals.
Since she began the blog, the book has become home to dozens of color-coded tabs. The green ones are the easiest tasks, which can be accomplished on busy days. Yellow and red are more involved, said Knobloch, whose easy-going attitude and quick smile bare little indication of a student who once felt crushed by stress.
Knobloch decided to take the book and give a testament to each day's adventure on her blog: "Carpe Diem-- One Day at a Time," (fortunamtempta.blogspot.com).
Since beginning the blog, she has also taken to making her own goals and letting friends suggest goals. She kicked off the campaign with a letter to her first grade teacher, thanking him for his inspiration in her life.
"I was extremely touched," said Benjamin Horn, Knobloch's former teacher. "Most people don't even remember who their first grade teacher was, much less let them know that they inspired you 13 years later."
Horn said Knobloch never even mentioned the blog in her note, but simply expressed her gratitude for his inspiration.
Knobloch's father, Pat Knobloch, said he is interested to see how his daughter's blog could touch others' lives.
"I found that my life has been enriched because of the characters that I have met, and I feel that to some people, Katie will be a character," Pat Knobloch said. "She seems like a happier, more positive person. ... I think that this blog helps affirm in her mind that she can do more than she had envisioned."
But when she reflects on the blog's beginnings, Knobloch particularly likes the project she posted three days into the list: making paper snowflakes.
It was the exact random outlet she was looking for.
So instead of cutting just a few of the blue and white pieces of paper precipitation, she created 50. Then she hung them in the bedroom of her 22-year-old sister, Laura.
Knobloch's mother, Cheryl Knobloch, said the simplicity of goals like "make paper snowflakes" is the blog's strength.
"It's something that every single one of us can do," she said. "Anybody could see the simple humor and enjoyment in some of these things."
Laura loved her new snowflakes. Knobloch loved her new blog.
The world through new eyes
As news of the blog spread on Knobloch's floor in West Halls, more people have encouraged her in the endeavor. Some even collaborate with Knobloch on occasion for the posts.
"It's a lot of fun and some of them are really eye-opening, too," roommate Brandi Wingate said.
Wingate (sophomore-aerospace engineering) said "Videotape Yourself Eating Then Play It Backwards" was one of the most memorable posts she participated in.
"I'll always walk into the room, and she'll be doing something different," Wingate said. "It's never inconvenient to me at all. It's actually entertaining."
But ultimately, Knobloch said, she isn't too concerned about other people reading the blog.
"You know, I forget that people read it," Knobloch said. "It's in my head, and I am writing for me. But then as soon as I hit 'post' and look at it, I'm like, 'Oh man, other people are going to be looking at this,' and it kind of weirds me out, but I don't change anything for people, because it's not for people. It's for me, and if other people enjoy it, that's good."
When Knobloch's cell phone alarm goes off at 3:45 p.m. every day to remind her to do the blog, she said its important to make sure the blog tasks don't become a chore in her mind.
To get the most out of it, you have to amp it up.
She said that two years ago she never would have believed that she would be updating a blog with daily tasks, like writing fan mail to her favorite artist -- Paul Simon -- or learning to sing "Happy Birthday" in three languages.
"I was so shy," Knobloch said. "It just makes me a happier person. You know I was having a tough time, but now I have something to look forward to today or I have something to look back on and laugh at."
Knobloch said the blog has taught her to appreciate the small parts of her day she usually takes for granted.
As an example, she pointed to one day when she noticed tulips blooming in front of Old Main.
While her initial instinct was to pass them by, her mantra of "carpe diem" gave her second thoughts. She stopped and lowered her nose down to the violet flowers.
"I walked past those every single day, and before I stopped to smell them, they were just pretty little flowers," Knobloch said.
"But then every day after that, they weren't just little flowers ... and it made me smile every day when I walked past them."
Back at the top of the parking deck, Knobloch opted to bound down six flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator.
She emerged on a path of freshly fallen snow.
As her boots forged a new path in the powder on the way back to her dorm, she physically embodied her own words of advice that have helped shape her blog:
"Each different turn you take or different twist that you make will lead you down a different path, and it's what you see on that path that helps you learn lessons."
