And the Countdown Begins!

5 more days until the semester ends! Where has the time gone? I don't know whether to be excited or confused!

This past week has been a pretty eventful one. With it being the last week before finals, all major projects and assignments were due. On Thursday, I turned in 2 ten-page papers and 1 six-page paper. It was a moment that I had been waiting for for quite a while! With each paper that I turned in, I could feel the stress lifting off my shoulders. To celebrate the completion of our assignments, my housemates and I cooked a super delicious meal for our weekly dinner together. We decided on nothing less than...a turkey! This was my first ever turkey-cooking experience, and looking back I realize how thankful I am that I had help. Not only help from my housemates, but that of youtube and online how-to's. Considering how little we knew about cooking a turkey before we started the process, our end result turned out pretty well. Mashed potatoes and stuffing accompanied our main course, making it seem like Thanksgiving all over again! 

On Saturday, my parents drove up to Kansas City to watch the Rockhurst University student choir concert. Every year as the fall semester comes to a close, the choir performs in the Ceremony of Lessons and Carols. This is a beautiful Christmas concert where the choir performs the Christmas songs that they've worked so hard on during the semester. It's held at St. Francis Xavier Church right across the street, and is open to all students and the community. At this concert, a variety of instruments are brought in to accompany the choir, including an oboe, flute, violins, and a cello. It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful the music is! This year was my fourth, and final, year :( I know I am really going to miss performing in this concert!

students dancing to Christmas music

To kick off finals week, each year Rockhurst's student senate hosts a midnight breakfast on Sunday evening. All the essential breakfast foods are present, and for this reason it is a pretty popular event among students. This year, the line to get into the cafeteria went through the hallway, down the stairs, and into the student union. There were so many people! The fee was $1 or a canned food item, which go toward charity. Christmas music is played while everyone eats, and this year a mini dance party even took place. This breakfast is a great time to take a break with friends and get some energy for the long, (yet last!) week of the semester. To all students, good luck on finals! You will do great!

An Early Thanksgiving Feast

One of the most celebrated days for many a Rockhurst student is the Thanksgiving dinner, hosted by the Student Activities Board. Each year, SAB puts on a dinner for the students and faculty, about a week before Thanksgiving break. It's a perfect opportunity to get into the holiday spirit! All the staples of a Thanksgiving dinner are included- green bean casserole, stuffing, rolls, mashed potatoes, turkey, and pumpkin and pecan pie. In fact, it's such a big deal that students arrive as soon as an hour before it begins just to wait in line. The only cost is either a canned good or one dollar, which goes to a local charity. This year's dinner was absolutely scrumptious. It's heightened my excitement for break, which is only 4 days away!

On Friday night, I attended my sorority's fall formal- Theta Phi's in Disguise. I find this formal to be especially exciting. Each person in the sorority asks one of her sisters to find her a date. Until the night of the formal, she won't know who her date will be, and the date doesn't know who he will be going with. Each sorority sister decorates 2 identical masks- one will be hers, and the other will be her date's. They find each other at the dance based on their masks. It's always so fun to see who everyone brings! 

Cupcakes and Rollerskates

I feel as though these last couple days were a mini blast from the past. On Friday, I babysat for a little 4-year-old girl- soon to turn five. Since her birthday would be the following day, her mother said we were more than welcome to bake some cupcakes for the party. I haven't had a cupcake in ages! She left out on the counter a variety of different cake mixes, icings, and sprinkles. I couldn't pass this opportunity up! I quickly realized that the little girl loved to bake just as much as I did. She convinced me that she needed to take a taste test from every cake mix, so I decided I should do the same thing too :) Our finished products ended up being triple chocolate fudge, and fun-fetti, which happen to be two of my favorites!


The next evening, I attended the date party of one of Rockhurst's  fraternities. I was super excited when I found out we would be going roller-skating! Once we got to the rink, I was flooded with childhood memories. I remember how roller-skating was the "cool" thing to do when we were younger. I myself held a couple birthday parties at the rink. Since then, however, my skating skills have gotten a little rusty. I was pretty wobbly when I first stepped out on the rink, but by the end of the night, I felt I was skating much more smoothly. With the winter months approaching, this night of roller-skating proved to be good practice for another one of my favorite activities- ice-skating!

Babysitter, anyone?

After babysitting for a family for over a year, I recently spent my last day with the kids. I was both sad and happy to find out that the husband was offered a new job out-of-state, in the same city that the kids' grandparents and cousins live in. I'm happy that they can now live closer to their family, but it sure was hard to say goodbye to those kids- especially after getting to know them! It didn't feel so great losing a job either :(
I'm happy to announce that there is a silver lining, however. It seems like lately I have been showered with other babysitting offers! They keep popping up out of nowhere, and I'm quite okay with it! It's allowed me to meet a lot of great families in the community, some of which whose parents actually work at Rockhurst. I think this poor college student will be okay for the remainder of the semester- which is actually only 3 weeks and 2 days! Not that I'm counting down or anything...

Stepping Up!

Today I attended the annual Step Up for Down Syndrome walk at Arrowhead Stadium. The money raised from this event goes towards the special services that are provided for those with Down Syndrome, as well as research. The event itself was really neat- there were blown up moonwalks and other jumpy things for kids to play in, games, and lots of food- including my favorite...hotdogs! And ice-cream! And cupcakes! The event concluded with a long walk around the stadium, wrapping around to where we began. As everyone finished the walk, they were given these cute, orange wristbands that said Step Up Walk 2011. 

Throughout the time we were there, I was surprised at how many people were present. The lot where all the activities took place was packed! It made me realize just how many lives are touched by individuals with Down Syndrome. The donation goal for this year was $410,000, but thanks to all those who came and helped support it, that goal was exceeded!  

Time's a Tickin'...

It’s recently dawned on me just how quickly this semester is flying by- and by that, I mean how soon my applications will need to be turned in to graduate schools! At this point, I’ve narrowed down my choices of schools, and have made a neat and organized spreadsheet detailing the specifics for each school. Aside from that, however, there isn’t much for me to brag about. I really need to pick up the pace!

For each school, I will essentially need:

- To fill out the application

- Send in my transcripts

- Send in my GRE scores

- Write a personal statement

- Send my resume

- 3 letters of recommendation

My goals for this week are to send in my transcripts and to ask several of my professors if they would be willing to write my letters of recommendation. I realize the personal statement is a very important piece of the admissions portfolio, so I really need to begin some deeper reflecting on my experiences here at Rockhurst, and how I feel those experiences have prepared me to take this next step. It’s scary for me to think how I’ve already reached this point in my life. It has gone by so incredibly fast, and has taken a lot of hard work to get here. I’m really excited for grad school- I love my major and all that I’ve learned though volunteering- but I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty nervous too! Especially about this admissions part!

This is how I feel

Ice-Cream of the Future

This past Saturday, I experienced- for the very first time- what it was like to work at an amusement park. In order to fundraise for our sorority, my Theta Phi Alpha sisters and I headed to World's of Fun, where we were given various jobs around the park. This weekend was "Halloween Haunt" weekend, and so many haunted houses were set up. People dressed in spooky costumes would roam about the park, sometimes sneaking up on unknowing guests and giving them a fright. 

My placement for the day was in food. At first I was a little worried because I didn't know what my job would entail. However, I was quite delighted when asked to serve in the Dippin' Dots booth. I love Dippin' Dots, and it sounded like a great place to be! After given a one-minute run-through on how things worked, I quickly realized how fast-paced this job was. Apparently I'm not the only one who loves Dippin' Dots! The line was pretty long most of the time I was there, and many people had not mastered the virtue of patience. It took some time for me to get used to the cash register while juggling 3 different orders with varying sizes and flavors. But 8 busy hours later, I felt I was a pretty efficient server. I even managed to organize the freezer that contained extra bags of Dots! 

Working in this booth gave me a greater appreciation for those who work in amusement parks- especially in the food booths. While I still love Dippin' Dots, I don't think serving this ice-cream will be in my future!