April 8, 2011

BEDA Day #8: Really Really Quickly

Alright so once again I'm writing a really really short post because I needed to be in bed 2 hours ago because I'm tired and sick and tomorrow is Relay for Life so I have to be up at 8am! OMG.

Ya. So tomorrow is Relay for Life on my campus. We don't do the overnight one because no one would come because stupid people can't give up one night of partying to help raise awareness and money for the fight against cancer.

Relay is very close to my heart this year, which I will probably discuss more tomorrow, but will briefly discuss now. I've now been touched by cancer in my family when my dad was diagnosed last year. So for the first time ever I will be Relaying in honor of someone. Relay this year is especially close though because this weekend will be the one year anniversary of my dad losing his battle to cancer, so it's actually going to be a really tough weekend. But in a way, I'm glad Relay is the weekend of this date because what better way to remember my dad than to work hard to fight against the disease that killed him? It seems kind of right in a way. Plus I will be with my friends who have meant the world to me over the past year and have helped me so much.

So tomorrow, I will be walking for my dad in hopes that more children don't have to lose someone they love to this horrible disease. How about you?

Thing that made life awesome today:
It's Friday. Enough said.

April 4, 2011

BEDA Day #4: This will be the shortest post ever...

Hello all. So I know that it is past midnight which means that technically I didn't get a post up for Monday, HOWEVER I have two excuses that I believe are perfectly acceptable...you can choose which one you like best.

Excuse #1: I haven't gone to sleep yet so technically it's still Monday to me.
Excuse #2: On the West Coast it's only 10:19 so it's still Monday...and I'm from the west coast even though I'm currently residing on the east coast.

There you have it. I really don't have much to talk about in this post because it's one in the morning and I have class all day and a quiz tomorrow so I need to go to sleep. Plus my throat hurts which is just not a good thing at all. Basically, I need some sleep.

I will however briefly explain why I'm writing my post at 1:20am. Monday nights are always really busy for me. Sometimes I go to Historical Film Society at 6pm and then I usually run straight to RHSA meetings after. Tonight was one of those nights. See, until about an hour ago, I hadn't been back in my building since 4pm this afternoon, when I left to go to the library to do homework. I didn't really think about BEDA because it's a Monday night and all I was thinking was "great I can't start my homework until 11pm"

So here's the other thing. RHSA meetings usually run from 9pm-11pm, however we are doing elections. Tonight was the elections for PR, so elections ran until 12:20am tonight. Which means I didn't get back to my dorm until 12:30am...an hour ago. Hence the late blog post. But it's here and it's probably crappy because I'm exhausted and haven't slept in 2 days, so with that I'm going to go to sleep.

Goodnight. :)

Thing that made me happy today:
I got an 80% on my Macro exam...meaning I passed and will not be failing economics this semester! YIPPIE!

April 3, 2011

BEDA Day #3: So Brittany and I were sitting in the middle of a crime scene...

Yes. That is my life.

Today has probably been one of the most interesting days of my life. It's definitely ranked in the Top 5. And you get to hear about it!

As as I mentioned in my previous post, today was the STARS conference, a leadership conference held on campus for all the hall governments. The conference ended up being a ton of fun. Every hall performed a lip sync/roll call to start it off and this ended with a bunch of cheers and a round of Ride that Pony. Some of the lip syncs were fantastic and everyone did a really great job.

Next, we had a keynote speaker come in and talk to us about leadership. Now personally, my favorite part of leadership conferences are the keynote speakers because they always have some amazing things to say and I always walk away with new insights into leadership. We did some really interesting activities that I've never done before, which made it even more exciting. One activity (which was my favorite) was that we were all in a giant circle and someone could step in and say what kind of leader they were. Anyone else who was the type of leader then stepped into the circle. It was neat to see all the different dynamics of leadership. My favorite was Meghan's, who said "I'm a leader that motivates other people." I like thinking of Hall Gov as the leaders that motivate the residents in our halls.

The other neat activity that we did was to lead around our partner who had to close their eyes. So the first round I led my partner around while his eyes were closed. Then he did the same for me. And then we switched it up and the person who's eyes were closed led while the "guide" protected them from running into other groups. It was interesting to see why certain people preferred the different scenarios.

Thankfully after the keynote we got to eat lunch, which was a very good thing because we were STARVING. Then we started our programming sessions. The first program I went to was called Empower-Mint and it was a self-exploration program where we wrote down a goal for ourselves and then thought of the things that were stopping us from achieving those goals. But it wasn't a simple goal. It was something that we were having a hard time overcoming. During the second session, my hall gov presented, which didn't really go too great. But we still ended up having a good time.

The last program I went to was definitely my favorite. We had to have a 5 minute conversation with someone we didn't really know and then pick three characteristics (from a chart) and make a bracelet for them with different colored beads and each bead represented a different characteristic. It's funny because it was a very simple program but I really enjoyed it and funny enough I really love the bracelet that my partner (and new friend) made me. He said I as calm (which I think is crazy since I feel like my life is a giant chaotic mess), that I'm truthful, and that I have love and compassion for all the activities I'm involved with. Needless to say, I walked out of that program having learned something about myself, which is the entire point after all.

After the programs, we got a break and I had to go to a Community Service opportunity for an organization that I'm applying for called NRHH. We decorated the covers of cards for child cancer patients to send to their friends and family. It was actually really fun and I talked to some people that I never would have expected to have a conversation with. I also got to see my RA from last year, which was great. Then it was back to my dorm to quickly change and go to the STARS Banquet....and guess what!

MY HALL WON 1ST PLACE FOR ROLL CALL:



Woot Woot!

And now, on to the funny story...the one that involves the title of today's entry.

So earlier when I was on the break from the conference I came back to my room to shower and take a little nap. Well there were some kids outside my building being loud and playing music. I ended up leaving not long after that. Apparently they were standing outside drinking (yes at 3:00 in the afternoon on a SUNDAY) and the cops came and told them off (or something like that). When I got back from my community service, they were all in the lounge on my floor, playing beer pong and basically having a party in the dorm lounge. I found this rather odd because I'm pretty sure that's way against the rules of our building, especially because I'm sure most of them were under 21.

Anyway, when we got back from the banquet tonight, my friend Brittany and I decided to do work in the main lounge. We actually ended up taking pictures with her webcam and right as one of the RA's walked by the fire alarm went off (for the second time this week btw). When we came back inside we just went back to our work. So far, mostly normal. Then at around 8:45pm one of the RA's came in and told us he was having a meeting there at 9 so he asked us to leave. So we did and went up to the 2nd floor lounge where the party had taken place earlier that day. There were still beer cans all over the place and it was actually kind of ridiculous and annoying. But whatever. I left to get some ice cream from my room and when I came back I realized one of the doors to the lounge was locked, so when my friend let me back inside we unlocked the door. Whatever...no big deal right?

Haha. Wrong. A few minutes later my RA came in and was like "Hey, wasn't this door locked?" and we were like "Ya, so we unlocked it" and she goes "Uhh...guys...this is a crime scene...that's why the door was locked."

Oops. Apparently the kids that were having the party in the lounge set off the alarm (we don't know how) and the cop was the one who locked the door so that he come back and get evidence later. And we were just sitting in the middle of a crime scene eating ice cream and writing papers. Whoops.

In all honesty, it was probably the most hilarious thing that has happened to me in a really long time. We just starting laughing and we decided it just definitely wasn't our night. But really it was quite funny. And crazy. Basically tonight was crazy. But it was fun.

And that's the way college is supposed to be. It's those great and MEMORABLE experiences...like eating ice cream in the middle of a crime scene...that makes all the work and studying and paper writing worth it. Because while we're doing all of that, we're also having fun. And being silly. And that's the best part of college...in fact it's the best part about growing up.

the end






Actually...here's a few pictures from STARS:








April 2, 2011

BEDA Day #2: The Great Part of Dorm Life is annoying people who blast music all night long...

Oh wait. That's not right.

Hello there and welcome to BEDA Day #2. I think we can guess what today's blog is going to be about ^^^^.

I love living in a dorm. Especially my dorm. I have an awesome Resident Director, an awesome RA and I work with an amazing Hall Government. What I don't like is my room. Or rather the location of it. Well actually I just hate the people who live next to me. And they sort of hate me too. It's definitely a hate/hate relationship. See my neighbors like to turn on their annoyingly loud rap music at about 10pm every single Friday/Saturday night. Sometimes it goes off at 11:30pm. Sometimes it goes off at 1:00am. I'm hoping tonight is earlier rather than later. Because I have to wake up at 8:00am tomorrow for STARS (more on this later) and if I don't get to sleep it's going to be a very hard, long day. Mostly because it's an all day event. And I need my freaking sleep!

So what's STARS? Well it's this leadership conference that is held on my campus every year. It's for all the Hall Governments on campus. We do fun things like cheers and lip syncs (something our school is FAMOUS for). Then we get to present and attend programs that different hall governments put on in their halls throughout the year. I unfortunately did not get to attend last year so I'm super excited! I'll have a full report late tomorrow night and hopefully some pictures to go with it.

I'm keeping this post short tonight because I'm in the middle of watching Country Strong and I want to finish it before I go to sleep tonight.

Thing that made life awesome today:
1)I'm listening to Charlie McDonnell's newest CD to block out the loud rap coming through my wall.
2)I got a parking spot in the parking lot of my dorm today. This never happens. It made my day :D

the end

April 1, 2011

BEDA

Well hello there. Happy April! So as some of you may know, this month is BEDA/VEDA month. In case you don't know what that means, let me inform you :)

BEDA: Blog Every Day in April
VEDA: Vlog Every Day in April

You're now informed. I've decided to take part in the BEDA challenge this year. I thought about trying to vlog every day and actually put something meaningful on my youtube channel, but I'm still having a lot of trouble learning to use iMovie (I know I'm stupid) and besides that, I honestly don't think I have the time. I mean, I'm not even sure I have the time to sit down and make sure I write a blog post every single day for an entire month. So as they say, I'm taking baby steps. I have decided however that I am going to work on my video making and video editing skills this summer, so maybe my channel will be watchable come Fall. We'll see.

Today is a pretty exciting day for me. Not only am I taking on this challenge, but it's also my first official weekend off from work. Well I guess I'm not really off. Instead, I'm officially a jobless college student. YIPPIE! Long story short, I was working at a restaurant in the town next to where I go to school and I absolutely hated it. I worked all weekend every weekend and it was starting to affect my schoolwork so right before Spring Break I quit.

So today was the first Friday that I didn't have to rush off to work right after class. So you know what I did with my day? Well first I went back to my room and called my mom to see how my sister is doing (she's been very sick this week), then I went over to the Student Union to hang out with some friends. Now, unfortunately, it's raining today, so I couldn't really just sit outside and enjoy life, so instead I came back to my room and sat down and finished my book. Which was very good by the way.

I then decided that I should probably go grab some dinner, so I stopped over at the dining hall to grab some food and then came back to my room to watch some Doctor Who and youtube videos.

In short, I relaxed. I got to do absolutely nothing and I loved it. I know it seems odd that I wanted to spend my first night off alone, but sometimes it's just necessary to get that alone time. It's really hard to constantly be running around and never have time for yourself, so even though my night may have been more eventful if I was hanging out with friends, it wouldn't have been the relaxation that I needed. I have to say it's been a pretty successful day.

Now honestly, if I do blog every day, it's probably not going to be all that exciting all the time. But there are some exciting things happening this month that I will make sure to write about. Sunday is this thing called STARS conference, which is a conference held on my campus for all the Hall Governments and it's going to be a ton of fun. I might even switch it up and post some pictures on here of the conference. Next weekend is Relay for Life...another exciting event. And the weekend after that I'll be visiting my family in Pennsylvania for a few days and hopefully we'll get to do some sight-seeing (which was supposed to happen last year) and I definitely need to take pictures of that. And then, if I'm lucky, at the end of the month Katherine and I (and maybe some of my other chapter members) will be going down to Brooklyn to help set up a library that The HPA is helping to build.

All in all, it should be a very exciting and eventful month. I hope that I'll be able to document it with words and pictures and maybe actually have something interesting on here. We'll see. :)

As a side note, I finished two books for the DAC, but I haven't written the reviews yet. Those two reviews are probably going to go up as part of this BEDA challenge, so I won't just be ranting about something random every day. I'll try and get those posted over the next few days.

Wish me luck and if your participating in either challenge this month then good luck! May the force be with you!

:)

March 22, 2011

How I'm Spending Spring Break

This week is Spring Break (woot woot!) so I'm back at home for the week. It's been really nice to be home, especially because I've gotten to spend so much time with my mom. However, I still had to bring home schoolwork...in fact I had to bring home a lot more schoolwork then I was originally planning to. See I was supposed to take all of my midterms and quizzes and such before spring break, but that didn't work out because professors got sick and things are the syllabus got changed last minute, so I had to bring home a bunch of crap to study. On top of that, because I was so behind in almost everything last week, I brought home all of that work to do too so that I could go back to school at least somewhat caught up.

Right now my big downer is this paper that I have to write for my English Lit class. It really wouldn't be too bad except for the fact that 1)I didn't too amazing on the last paper, 2)I was supposed to bring the professor an outline before spring break so she could help me, and 3)I missed the class where we did a close analysis of one of the poem's I have to write about and therefore don't know what points she thought were important.

Oops. So now I'm sitting here in the library at UNLV attempting to write a paper that I really have no idea how to write. I have absolutely no motivation to do this and can think of a billion things I'd rather be doing at this very moment. Which is in fact why I am writing this blog post. I also have to go put more quarters in the meter soon or else my car will get towed. That's not too great since I don't want to leave my stuff in this library and I have to be back here by 4:00pm to meet up with Karina (yay for best friends!).

I just realized that last sentence really had no flow and made no sense, but that's ok. At least I can recognize my horrible writing mistakes. Before I waste anymore time sitting in this library, I think I better get off the internet and actually accomplish something. Sadly I can only spend 2 more hours here before I have to get the car back home so I might as well take advantage it and get some work done.

Wish me luck and enjoy the lovely spring! :)

March 18, 2011

2011 Debuet Author Challenge UPDATE

So I recently went over the book list for the 2011 DAC and I pretty much changed my entire list. So here is a new, updated version of the books I'm planning to read (note: a lot of these have already come out but I haven't had the time to read them yet)

1)The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher
2)Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (already read)
3)XVI by Julia Karr
4)The Latte Rebellion by Sarah Jamila Stevenson
5)Warped by Maurissa Guibord
6)Those that Wake by Jesse Karp
7)In the Arms of Stone Angels by Jordan Dane
8)Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky
9)Hourglass by Myra McEntire
10)Stracrossed by Josephine Angelini
11)Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
12)Hereafter by Tara Hudson