Fan Profile: Kelly Jacobs
Alumni Kelly Jacobs (’08) has an appetite — an appetite for living a healthy lifestyle and inspiring others, all while remaining True Blue to her Georgia Southern roots.
In fact, Jacobs calls herself a “Georgia Southern gal getting fit and inspiring others.” That tagline greets readers of her Georgia Southern-themed healthy lifestyle blog, “Eagle with an Appetite.”
In June, she started the blog as a way to help keep her accountable for her own healthy lifestyle. She also wanted to connect with other University alumni for encouragement. Jacobs’ blog has an average of 400 page views daily, and she said “Until I started writing, I didn’t realize just how many Georgia Southern alumni were out there and how much we could encourage one another.”
But being healthy to Jacobs doesn’t just mean eating the right foods and exercising. It also means being spiritually healthy, enjoying life and having a positive outlook. She also promotes happiness, helping others and overall self-worth.
“My overall goal is just to inspire others to lead healthy lives and of course I also want to lose weight and get healthy,” she said. “But more than that I think some people just need encouragement. I’ve gotten so many emails and Facebook messages saying ‘Thank you for doing this, you’re encouraging me.’ Some days I’ll have a Bible verse that goes along with my post, or just something silly and fun for people to read. But mostly I do it for encouragement.”
Jacobs said the name for her blog stems from the fact that she’s a culinary arts teacher at Brantley County High School, and of course, because she is a Georgia Southern graduate.
“I always try to mention Georgia Southern in my posts. If I’m giving a recipe, for example, of how to make a frappe, I’ll put it in a Georgia Southern cup,” she said. Additionally, Jacobs posts about return trips with her husband Chris (‘05, ‘08), to football games, and how they both stay involved with the University. She also shares her tailgating recipes, game day outfits and much more.
And while Jacobs’ blog has a lot of Georgia Southern followers, she loves mentioning Georgia Southern to her readers to introduce them to the spirit of the University, and to show her true appreciation for her experiences here.
“Georgia Southern to me means family, and it’s a large part of my heart,” she said. “It’s what made me who I am today by the leadership skills and knowledge that I got from the University. I went in as an 18-year-old baby and came out ready for a career. I look back now and I’m blown away at how much I learned about myself just from Georgia Southern.”
Visit Kelly’s blog at www.eaglewithanappetite.blogspot.com.
