10 Must Haves: Amanda
Amanda Koehler, associate editor of
ADVANCE for Medical Laboratory Professionals, shares her must haves:
- Admitting is the first step: since sophomore year of college, I’ve been a Facebook addict. I love keeping up with all my friends from high school and college, seeing pictures of their new puppy and sharing the latest weird news items. If you love Facebook too, you should check out the ADVANCE for Medical Laboratory Professionals Facebook page here.
- How can you work in publishing without a red pen? No other color will do when proofing pages of our magazine!
- A comfortable pair of black flats. They go with almost everything, and although I like cute heels as much as the next girl, they hurt my feet too much, and I’m already 5’8”!
- I’m always up f
or doing something for a good cause. I’m that person who cannot pass the Santa ringing his bell in front of the department store without giving at least some change. I like feeling that I’m giving back, whether it’s by attending a benefit event, donating money or doing some volunteering. Recently, I’ve been getting involved with the National Brain Tumor Society and their annual race in Philadelphia. My siblings and I are forming a team for the second year in a row to raise money in honor of my mother, who passed away a year and a half ago from brain cancer. (That's me and an ADVANCE coworker at our first race sporting our "Team Roma" shirts!)
- I spend a good part of my day listening to music – I cannot go a day without it. When I’m at home reading or at work writing a feature for our print publication or Web site, I need to be listening to my tunes, either on my iPod or on Pandora.com. I enjoy listening to all types of music … except maybe heavy metal.
- I could sit around and watch movies all day. I took a bunch of film courses in college, and since then have really enjoyed renting random films, ranging in genre (minus horror movies). Some of my favorites include Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Love Actually, Pirate Radio, Gone with the Wind, The Hangover, The Wizard of Oz ... the list goes on!
- In the same vein, I really enjoy my TV shows. I love having TV marathons with my roommates. A good episode of The Office, Friends, Glee, Dexter or True Blood puts a smile on my face. Reality TV is my guilty pleasure, but I’m too embarrassed to admit which shows I watch!
- When I was in elementary school, my mom used to find me sitting next to my nightlight reading long after I should have gone to bed. I have continued to be a voracious reader and I love getting into a good book. I try to read a book a week, although that can be difficult depending on how much is going on. I also love surfing the Web to read news stories, especially those odd but true ones!
- Working for ADVANCE has instilled in me a love for traveling. Before I started working here, I had a really big fear of flying. It still isn’t my cup of tea, but I’ve gotten over it to the point where I just focus on the wonderful places I get to see! So far, my favorite city to visit has been Chicago. I went there in July 2009 for the annual ASCLS conference.
- I know everyone says this, but I’m not sure where I’d be without my family and friends. They are a truly wonderful group of people who have been there for me through everything, good and bad, and I’m so thankful to have them in my life. In my mind, there is no “must have” more important than having great, caring people around you!