By Ginger Dawson
NKyTribune reporter
Looking back, contemplating my life and those of my fellow travelers, there is one thing that always seems to be a universally agreed upon truth—no one, if given the opportunity, would EVER want to have to re-live their twenties. I know I would not.
Now, this does not mean that nothing was accomplished! PLENTY was accomplished. It’s just that this “out of the gate” learning curve is just weighted a little too heavily on hard lessons and can’t seem to tip the scale back to what we thought adult happiness was going to be. It seems like a cruel joke at the time, but it is apparently necessary.
Jen Barnett is done with her twenties. She packed a lot of activity into that decade
After growing up in a small town in Indiana, she headed towards the University of Southern Indiana, located in Evansville.
She made the most of this time and packed in two majors in four years! She has a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations and a Bachelor’s in Advertising. In addition, she has minor degrees in Dance and Psychology.
After college, she relocated to Oxford, Ohio, to explore the possibilities of a relationship that she was in.
During that time, in her effort to find supplemental income, Jen found out a couple of important things about herself. One, she found that she loved event planning; throwing parties and all kinds of stuff like that. It has been a very important organizational skill for her and she’s good at it.
Secondly, she had a stint at being a hair model. In one year, her hair was FIFTY different colors! And, she discovered that she loved wigs. All kinds of wigs. Natural looking ones that could be mistaken as her natural hair, and others that are decidedly UNnatural.
Her collection numbers around 30 wigs. She loves to dress up and change her look. She will change her hair with a style or a wig like I change a pair of socks!
This ability to shapeshift allows her to indulge in one of her favorite recreational pleasures—going out in disguise and partying incognito.
This predilection for mystery, which doesn’t end with wigs, has the most amazing source — at least to me.
Her mother, in an effort to provide suitable reading material for Jen when she was little, looked to her own childhood favorites. She focused on reading her old school “chapter books” such as The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes.
I have to say, I read a few of these titles and it sure didn’t point me towards Final Fantasy XIV, Assassins Creed Odyssey or Hitman! But then, I’m an old fart…I guess.
These are the names of video games that have massive layers of role-playing members who participate in building coalitions to battle and win victories over other fantasy tribes.
Jen has been a guild leader in Final Fantasy XIV for five years and has 25 members on her team. They get together every Tuesday and Saturday to do battle.
This is one reason I like writing this column. I find out stuff I have never heard of in my life! With this, I feel like I’ve been under a pretty big rock. It’s good to let some new light in once in a while.
Jen also meets with a board game group every other Sunday. They play strategy, horror and mystery games. Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft are a couple of favorites.
At least I know what a board game is.
Now getting back to that business of revisiting your twenties.
Jen had an epiphany on her twenty-ninth birthday. She realized that in order for her to achieve the kind of happiness that she wanted, she needed to dedicate her life to helping others. One of her favorite quotes, in fact, paraphrases Mahatma Ghandi. “Be the change you want to see.” So she did.
In 2014, Jen moved from Oxford to Covington after a short stay with her sister, Kelli, in Cincinnati. She also accepted a position as an executive assistant for the Zalla Company, a Northern Kentucky commercial real estate developer.
After moving to Covington, at the absolute worst time—Maifest weekend—she started her mission of helping others by becoming involved in civic organizations and volunteering.
Starting a new job three years ago at Hub + Weber, a Covington architectural firm, she has been able to engage at a very high level. Her employers give her a great deal of flexibility in her work schedule to do this.
Like her college years, She maintains her habit of cramming a lot into a little.
Her civic engagement is so extensive, I’m just going to give you a list:
— Keep Covington Beautiful—President. One particularly memorable moment in a “River sweep” trash collecting event was the recovery of a prosthetic leg—without the body.
— Ride the Cov—Vice President. They are currently engaged in the selection of placing 500 bike racks throughout Covington. Naturally, she like to cycle.
— Covington Parks Advisory Group—Board Member. The board is developing baseline standards for parks and assessing and prioritizing improvements.
— Covington Partners—Lunch Buddy. Jen has lunch every Monday with her buddy, Emily. Covington Partners is a group dedicated to promoting success in life for students through mentoring.
— Covington Partners, again—One-To-One Reading Coach. Every Wednesday afternoon Jen spends time with her mentee, Brandon, to help strengthen his reading skills.
— Residents of Mainstrasse Village—Interim Vice President. ROMA is a neighborhood organization.
— Active Lifestyles and Fitness—Member. This is an interactive online Facebook group started by Dan Fardo, who is the fleet mechanic for Covington. Jen contributes by creating and responding to impromptu exercise events—cycling, rolling blading, walking, etc.. that members can participate in.
After all of this and her full-time job, Jen also has a Dog, Koda, who she rescued from a dumpster. On discovering that dumpsters seem to be good places for finding pets, she also found her cat, Mint, in one. She is an admitted “sucker for all discarded pets”.
Jen loves Covington and likes the fact that it is weird. Covington is not cookie-cutter and it is not like Over the Rhine, Cincinnati’s wanna-be version of us, in her opinion. “We have our own unique brand of strange,” in her words.
I agree with her completely. Wait a second. I’m part of that weird. Oh, well. At least I know what Final Fantasy XIV is now.
One thing that Jen is particularly proud of is her ability to have never met a stranger. For one with her interests in helping others, this is an essential quality. And, I know, first-hand, that it is true.
Ginger Dawson writes about the People of NKY — the neighbors you need to know and people you need to meet and understand. The feature appears periodically at the NKyTribune. If you have ideas for subjects please share them with Ginger at ginger@fuse.net.