Starbucks at 6:15 p.m. is busier than one would think. The baristas are shuffling back and forth trying to get drinks out to customers as fast as possible. While students patiently wait for their beverages, a Shippensburg University student, Rebekah Elbel walks in. She is wearing a brightly colored pink coat despite the freezing temperatures and dark, cloudy skies brewing outside. As she sits down across from me, a radiant and contagious smile begins to show.

Elbel is currently a junior majoring in business administration with hopes of someday working for a large fashion retailer. Not only does Elbel attend school full-time but she also works two jobs during the school year, manages her own fashion blog and interns with College Fashionista as well as GIANT Food Stores.

Elbel not only has a love for fashion, but she also enjoys the business aspect as well. Last summer, she worked as a GIANT Food Stores operation intern in Hagerstown, Maryland, where she worked alongside the customer operations manager and non-perishable manager. Even though the internship did not give her a chance to work with fashion, Elbel was able to learn the ins and outs of the retail industry.

As an intern with GIANT she had the opportunity to meet people from the Netherlands who came to the United States to discuss future GIANT Food Stores and the process in which they go through to open a new store.

When summer ends and the school year begins, Elbel puts her internship with GIANT aside and focuses on her internship with College Fashionista where she talks to students on campus about the latest fashion trends. With the internship, she is not only able to express herself, but she is also able to share her love of fashion with other students around campus.

Elbel has always had a love for fashion but said she has gotten a great deal of her inspiration from the women in her life. She explained that her boyfriend’s grandmother also dreamed of working in the fashion industry when she was younger and urges her to follow her dreams no matter what people say or believe.

“My absolute dream job would be to be a stylist,” she said, “I would love to maybe even work for Kate Spade someday.”

As she talked about her College Fashionista internship, she mentioned her personal blog, which is her biggest inspiration.

In September 2014, Elbel started her own fashion blog called “Beauty is Fleeting,” in which she writes blog posts on life, fashion, beauty and much more.

“I’ve always liked writing, but I’ve come to really love it,” she said with a smile. “Creating this blog was a way for me to step out of my comfort zone and try something new.”

Not only has she received positive feedback from her friends about her blog, but she has also received great feedback from other people from around the country.

So far, Elbel shows no signs of stopping or giving up on her big dreams. She works hard each and every day to balance school, work, a successful blog and her personal life. She takes life one day at a time and proves that the sky is the limit.

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