It's Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus

Amongst stress and overwhelmed-ness, I think it's really important to take time out to just sit around, relax and do something that you really enjoy. I personally love to watch tv, like I said before, I use it as a break from studying.

Here's my October wish for all of my readers:
Watch Hocus Pocus before the month is over. It's a Disney movie, so it's not too scary, kids can watch it, but even bigger kids like me LOVE to watch it all month long.

It is a movie that reminds me of my childhood and I have already watched it three times this month and plan on watching it once more before October fades into November.

Aside from all of this Hocus Pocus, tonight was pledge speech night; Ambassador pledges gave 3 minute speeches on some piece of Mercyhurst history. There are 75 kids pledging for Ambassadors, we heard 30 speeches tonight. It started a t 8 and we left around 11. Needless to say, tomorrow night is going to be a very very very long time again.

Luckily, my 10:05 class was cancelled tomorrow, so I don't have class until 12. I am going to stay up a bit longer and get some work done and then go to sleep and enjoy the chance to sleep in longer than usual!

Stressed and Overwhelmed

Due online tonight at 11:59 was the research section of a public relations campaign for my Public Relations course. I just clicked submit at 10:40 so that might give a little bit of an indication of how much time a do not have.

The end of the term is coming in about three weeks! Isn't that CRAZY!? This term went by so fast and now that it's just about over, all of the important stuff for classes is due.
I have a term public relations campaign due before the end of the term, a framing research paper on the topic of Muslims in America and how the American media frames our perspectives on what to think about certain topics such as the threat of the burning of the Qu'ran and the possible building of a Mosque near the 9/11 site; this paper is for a class called Comm Theory and Research. I also have a legal memo on the topic of contracts due for Business Law and two more exams in Financial Management.
If anyone out there would like to take some of this work and do it for me, that would be great! (just kidding!).

How do I stay on top of all of these things might you ask?
I make a lot of lists! This really helps because I lay out everything that needs to be done and when I finish them, I am awarded the wonderful pleasure of highlighting them and calling them finished!!

Above is a picture of one of my lists. The highlighted orange are things that have been accomplished! Go me!

Aside from the list, I am attempting to stay ahead of the game as well as do work in the library. This helps because I am away from my roommates and from the tv! By placing myself in the library, I am forced to stop all other things and focus on the task at hand. Then, I always give myself something to look forward to such as going to dinner, or watching Glee...this is great because it makes me motivate myself and work harder knowing that something fun will be happening later on.

Amongst all of my school work I also have to juggle clubs! Today I had a meeting with the executive board of the Leadership Certification Program. We planned the snacks that we will give out at our next motivational speaker who we will watch via internet...it's Nigel Barker! He's going to tell us how to "reveal a better you." Last night I had a meeting with the other five members of the up and coming Student Alumni Association. We are working on getting it approved as a Recognized Club here on campus. That way, we will receive money from student government and many other benefits. The SAA is going to do many things such as network with alumni and host events on campus; the most important thing we are beginning to work on is a "Hurst Book. Many other schools have one, it will be a book given to students here that holds all of the traditions that students love to take part in. There will be an empty spot on each page for students to insert a picture of them and their friends taking part in some of Mercyhurst's favorite traditions.
Tomorrow, I have our first meeting for Christmas on Campus- this is when a bunch of underprivileged children from the Erie area come to Mercyhurst and hang out with current students who help them with crafts and other exciting things like seeing Santa, hearing the Christmas story and picking out Mercyhurst-provided gifts for their parents. Since Christmas is such an exciting time of year (also known as the most wonderful time of the year) I am super excited for the planning to begin! 

For now, I am off to do some more homework - this probably does not surprise you!
If you are as busy as me, I hope that you too find comfort in making lists, crossing things off and watching Glee as a way to take a study break!

Get Ready for the Picture of the Week!

Today a bunch of us from the Ambassador Club went to a local bowling alley for a great bowling competition! For the Ambassador Club, we are required to complete 100 service hours throughout the school year, so the winning bowling team was awarded with 2 hours. My team took 3rd place!

I Want to be an Ambassador, I Want to Shout it Out Loud!

Reason # 5 to come to Mercyhurst: Our "club life" is where it's at! Mercyhurst offers over 85 registered clubs and organizations that students can get involved in. Even better, if the club doesn't exist here, you can create it! Brandon, a boy in my grade, is really into public speaking and becoming a better presenter and there was not a club here that pertained to that interest, so through the office of Student Engagement and Leadership Development, he created the "Public Speaking Club."

When I give tours of the school, a frequently asked question by parents and students is "what advice can you give to a student coming into Mercyhurst?" My first answer is always to GET INVOLVED! Being involved with things at Mercyhurst will completely make your experience. We offer such a wide variety of clubs, there is something for everyone here.
For more information on student life and activities here at Mercyhurst, check of this link:
http://mercyhurst.edu/student-life/

One of my favorite clubs on campus is the Ambassador Club. It was one of the first clubs I wanted to be involved in when I started here as a freshman. The Ambassadors are the people that you see walking around campus wearing beautiful and prestigious green jackets.

Becoming an Ambassador is actually a long process, this is because the club only accepts the best. The Ambassadors are students from all grades, our main job is to give tours of the school to prospective students. Other things that we do are tours for alumni/important visitors of the school and working various functions and ceremonies all the school throughout the school year.

So, to become an Ambassador, one must go through the "pledge process." How it works is that you have to attend a class (once a week) for two consecutive terms. During the first term you learn all about the history of the school, you present a three minute speech and you take an exam. If you are accepted into the second term, the second term gets a little more intense, you must once again give a speech, this time it's five minutes, take an exam, shadow a current Ambassador on two tours and then conduct a "solo" tour of your very own. 

If you are accepted into the club, you get to attend the "Spring Tea" in which you receive the coveted green jacket, sign the book and sing the Ambassador song (it's basically 60 college kids screaming/singing the words "I want to be an Ambassador, I want to shout it out loud"). 

Once you are in the club, you are awarded with a scholarship and you must complete 100 hours per school year.

I joined the club when I was a freshmen, I was inducted during spring term of that year. Joining the club has been so beneficial for me and it was one of my smartest moves so far. 

This year, I am secretary of the club, so I am awarded with a larger scholarship and I have a few extra duties. I love love love the Ambassador club, I made so many great friends and have been given countless opportunities. I am extremely proud to wear the green jacket and to be a member of one of the most elite clubs at Mercyhurst College! 

A Dinner Here is Never Second Best!

Dinner tonight in the cafeteria was AMAZING!!!
I am a fairly...ok, just kidding...I am a very picky eater. Most people here at Mercyhurst really enjoy the food and I am one of those people, so hearing this from me, you can take it as a valid source since I am so picky. The reason I'm so darn picky is because I grew up with my mom's cooking! I come from an Italian family and my mom pretty much makes dinner every night and she's a great cook, so when I got to college, I had to do some adjusting to the new and unique dishes made by the cafeteria. All in all, I can always find something to eat, this is especially because we have two cafeteria locations.
The Egan Cafeteria is our main cafeteria  on campus, it's buffet style, eat as much as you want, pig out kind of thing. It's located basically in the center of campus AND it's right next to the boys' dorm...they love it! In Egan, there's always a ton of options, they have a center area where it's always the main course, it differs day to day so you don't have to worry about getting sick of the food. They have a deli (sandwiches, wraps), a chef station where the chef whips up yummy things right in front of us, a grill area where they always offer hotdogs, hamburgers, chicken patties, fries, onion rings (a college dream), cereal and waffle stations, a brick oven pizza station and a full salad bar. This cafeteria is open from 7am to midnight so you don't have to worry about missing a meal if you have a weird class schedule.
Our other location for food is the Laker Inn which is in our Student Union. The menu there stays the same daily and it's made to order food, not buffet style like Egan. Some options here are an Subway-like area, a Mexican  area (yummy tacos, burritos, loaded nachos!), a grill area and a stir-fry area which.

Tonight my friends and I went to the main cafeteria, Egan. It was "tailgate night" in the caf and they had all football themed food which was delicious! Since we're in Erie, PA, we are right in the middle of Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Cleveland so they had decorations for the Steelers, Bills and Browns and food that is typically from all of those cities.
I was overwhelmed by the amount of delicious food tonight and I even took a picture of my plates to share with all of my readers!

Here's round one of dinner! Pierogies, onion rings, fried mushrooms, steak salad and buckeyes for dessert!

Reason #4 to come to Mercyhurst- Parkhurst dining services. Being away from home, you need to make sure you're comfortable. One way to ensure that is by checking out the food options. Here at Mercyhurst we offer two cafeteria locations with a huge variety. Our food options satisfy even the pickiest of eaters (me)!

A Small Town Girl Meets the "Big Apple"

Midterms. What a horrible word.
Let me tell you all about my midterms. I had 2 last week. Now those weren't bad at all because I was really into studying for them and I worked really hard and I ended up doing really well. Another reason that I didn't mind them last week is because I was looking forward to my weekend in NEW YORK CITY!!

So I went to NYC for the first time and it was so incredible. I went on a one day bus trip with my mom, sister, grandma, aunt and cousin, it was a "girls only" weekend trip! I must declare that I am truly a "small town girl" and even though NYC was awesome, I would never be able to live somewhere like that...too many people, too much going on; it was very nice to get back home to nice, quiet, medium sized Erie, PA!
While I was in NYC I met Buddy, the Cake Boss from the show on TLC. The picture is shown below in the picture of the week...even though it's the picture of the week, in my mind it's basically the picture of the year because it was soooo cool! Right when we got off of the bus, NBC studios was across the street and my mom noticed they were taping the Today Show so we ran over to see it and we ended up meeting Buddy, taking a picture with him and getting his autograph!
We also took a tour around the entire city to see all of the touristy spots on a double decker bus. That was really neat and we were able to get on and off of the bus to see everything. My favorite locations were Rockefeller Center....we did some street shopping there, we bough cheap purses, headbands and scarves-it was totally a girl's dream! I also really liked Times Square. Any picture I have ever seen of it could not have  prepared me for actually being there. It truly made me realize how small I am as I was amongst the humongous signs and tons of people.

Here are just a few pictures of the trip:

Here's my sister Chelsea and I on the double decker bus!

My mom, sister and I at Rockefeller Center!

Here's all of us in Times Square..notice all of our shopping bags hehe!

So... back to that horrible horrible word: midterms! Yuck! So like I said, last week, my tests were fine but today I had another test, and obviously I didn't really have time to study for it this past weekend, so I studied a little bit yesterday and then a little bit more today. It was for Financial Management...not exactly my forte, but I think I did well. Now on Wednesday I have my last midterm for Business Law and once that is over I will be on Fall Break!!!! So for now I am working on forcing myself to study and be productive (which is currently my roommate and I watching Footloose). I just keep telling myself study study study and then you'll get a break and you can forget about that dreaded "m" word ((midterms)).

Thanks for reading! I hope your weekend was just as exciting as mine :-)

It's the Picture of the Week!

This weekend some of the girls in my family went to New York City for the first time! We were on the Today Show AND we met Buddy Valastro from the show "Cake Boss" on TLC! We were so excited because we love Buddy and watch his show all the time!

More on NYC to come later on :-)

Wendy Wednesday!

For the past two summers I've worked in the Admissions office here at Mercyhurst. It has been a lot of fun and I made some really good friends working there. During the school year I also work in the Admissions office as a work study, I get paid minimum wage and I complete 5.5 hours of work each week; this isn't too difficult or too time consuming, but I am still able to make some money, which for a broke college student, is pretty nice!

Back to my summer job...during the summer when I work in Admissions I basically do a few different things, I prepare folders that we give to prospective students who come in for tours, I send out packages to students who have inquired about Mercyhurst and most importantly, I give tours!
Giving tours of Mercyhurst is one of my favorite things to do. I love it so much because I have grown so very fond of Mercyhurst and when I give tours, it is my chance to show prospective students why Mercyhurst is the best choice for them. I have gotten very successful at really getting to know students along the tours and then trying to adapt the tour to their special interests. It is so easy to do this because Mercyhurst has something cool to offer for every type of person.
This past summer I worked with a fun group of kids as well as the Admissions staff. Deb, is my boss and she is so much fun, she is sort of everyone in the Ambassador clubs "on campus mom." She takes care of us and we all love her very much! I also worked with Nick, who I have actually known since 4th grade, we went to grade school, high school and now college together! My other co-workers were Kaleigh who is from Erie, we went to the same high school but we didn't really know each other until college, Rhona who is from Ireland and is pretty neat because she has an accent and really funny stories and finally Michelle who is from Jamaica and I always try to mimic her accent but it turns out somewhat like an old English woman hahah!

Every Wednesday during the summer has been deemed "Wendy Wednesday." It's pretty self-explanatory, we go to Wendy's and order tons of food and then bring it back to the office and we eat, chat and of course laugh!
The kids that I worked with this summer of course miss me so much (haha I miss them too) so we decided to get back together today and have a Wendy Wednesday in the Admissions office. Deb, my boss, of course joined in, she loves Wendy Wednesday and she was SO excited that we planned one for today. It was nice to catch up and get together with the group from the summer. Michelle was not there because she is now going to grad school in London! Pretty cool, I know!

So that's what Wendy Wednesday is! It was nice to pretend like it was summer for a little bit and it's always nice to get together with friends since it's so hard to see each other due to our busy busy busy schedules!

Reason #3 to come to Mercyhurst: the people that you'll meet! Who would have thought I would become friends with an Irish girl, a Jamaican girl and a girl that I went to high school with but never really got a chance to talk to! Thanks to college, I've made MANY great friends :-)