A Very Haunted 'Hurst

Perhaps you've heard- Mercyhurst College is in fact HAUNTED!- Cue the eerie music, cobwebs and a witch flying past the moon. Without spooking you out too too much, a lot of spooky things happen here! As an all girls school in 1926 as well as a convent, Old Main and Egan Hall are two of the most haunted buildings that we have!


Original campus buildings- perhaps this is when all of the haunting began!

 This week was perfect in reminding me how much fun and how spooky it can get sometimes here at Mercyhurst. This week, the Mercyhurst facebook page released a series of ghost stories called "Haunts from the Hill." A few of us were video taped with creepy lighting to tell some of the most popular haunted tales of Mercyhurst!

Check out my video that tells the story of a fire in Egan Hall that killed and badly burned some of the residents... their spirits are said to still haunt the building!

What's super scary about this tale is that up until 2009, Egan Hall was used as a freshman girls' residence hall and I actually lived there- today it's known as one of the most haunted buildings at Mercyhurst! Luckily, when I lived there I never experienced any supernatural activity but I must admit that I would often look behind me and feel a little spooked here and there!



This past Saturday was one of the Student Activities Council's most popular events- "Haunted 'Hurst" which allows our students to take a haunted ghost tour of all the haunted buildings on campus. "Ghosts" pop out and scare you, characters seem 100% real- this is not your average haunted house people- this stuff is real! The tour guides stop at important locations and tell spooky tales of ghost spotting!

Halloween social!

Also this week- two of my clubs had Halloween parties! The Student Alumni Association held an event- we had pizza, blood to drink (aka fruit punch hehe), candy, mummy wrapping games, pass the pumpkin and haunted music! The Ambassador Club held a Halloween party in the Student Union for the pledges who are working to be admitted into the club. This was a great chance to get to know a lot of the students and to see if they are good in fun social settings. We had prizes for the best costume, bobbing for apples and even a young man dressed as a woman!!

If you haven't already- sit back, grab some hot apple cider, pop in your favorite Halloween movie (Hocus Pocus of course) and enjoy the spookiness of this time of year. BUT if you're interested in a real haunted experience, check out our very own haunted campus-it won't disappoint!


"If you don't believe- you better get superstitious!"
-Hocus Pocus

Taking the Next Step- Applying to Graduate School

I have nearly come to the end of the road in my time here at Mercyhurst. Actually- I'm just kidding!

I am currently in the process of applying to grad school, my number one choice being a master's in Organizational Leadership right here at Mercyhurst! So just when you thought I was leaving Mercyhurst- think again! A bit of background on what this program actually is, as described on the Mercyhurst website , it "prepares students to manage this new paradigm better than most MBA programs because of the nature of the courses offered. OL prepares leaders with skills in critical thinking, communication and people management -- skills that can be applied as the workplace evolves."



As I begin the grad school application process, I am working on asking professors to provide recommendations for me as they hopefully tell how wonderful and smart I am! I have also registered for the GRE which is a necessary exam to be admitted into the program. I will be taking it over Christmas break, it'll be here before I know it! I am also applying for a graduate assistantship- if chosen by a department, this will allow me to receive either a 50 percent or 100 percent tuition waiver in addition to an annual stipend!

The best thing about the entire application process is that Mercyhurst has rolling admissions, there is not a true deadline (this works for undergrads too) that everything must be in by! I am able to apply online through the Mercyhurst site.

This process is a bit stressful but I am fortunate to be working with the staff members who are very helpful and accessible!

Senior Gift Update and Fall Break- Time to Relax a Bit!

This past Tuesday the Senior Class Gift Committee presented proposals to Dr. Gamble, the President of Mercyhurst, Dr. Livingston, Vice President for Advancement, Jeanette Britt, Associate Vice President for Advancement, Dr. Tobin, the Vice President for Student Life and Ryan Palm and Liz Tobin, Director and Assistant Director of Alumni Relations (they're our advisers for the committee too).
It was extremely nerve-racking because there were A LOT of really important people in the room- talk about pressure!

Three different groups, all members from the Senior Class Gift Committee planned and worked on presentations of gift ideas to propose to the group of administrators. My group presented a proposal on a game room and lounge area that would (if chosen) be a collaboration with Mercyhurst Student Government, thus allowing their money plus our money to create the ultimate game room for the students of Mercyhurst!

After we presented, the group of administrators asked each group a few questions and then us students were sent away as the determined the winning gift. Just yesterday we received notice that...the game room was chosen!!! I was so so so excited simply because they agreed with us that there is a desperate need for an area like a game room on our campus!

Now, we will work very closely with MSG to come up with a game room and lounge area plan. This will be very exciting and I look forward to collaborating with another group in our efforts. More to come as this exciting addition pans out and becomes a reality! As I previously mentioned in another post, the "motto" of the Senior Class Gift Committee is "Living the Dream," based off of a speaker who came to Mercyhurst back during our freshman year in 2008. We chose this motto because we wish to provide Mercyhurst with a gift that will enhance the lives of students and allow them to "live the dream" just like we did!


This weekend is our fall break! I am at home now and I slept in until noon! That was a little outrageous, I know, but I wasn't feeling well, I think I got a little run down after the busy week I had! Now it's time to relax and hang out with my family. Speaking of- my grandma, aunt and cousin just arrived with lunch!

Until next time- don't stop living your dream!

A Daydream Believer and a Homecoming Queen!

This past weekend was a really fun one- our annual Homecoming and Parent's Weekend! So many exciting events took place, it was jam-packed and I barely got any sleep!

Friday started out with my family's fourth time playing Family Bingo. The Student Activities Council puts on this event each year and my parents love it! There were awesome prizes up for grabs like a Flipcam, gift cards and movies but we were unlucky! However, we did have a lot of fun, it's always great to have my family on campus and mix together my real family and my school family!

Saturday's events began with the 5K Race that the Student Alumni Association has been planning for months! The weather on Saturday was absolutely awful but we still had 30 runners participate which was a huge success since this was our first year doing this event! We began the race in the heart of campus in Garvey Park. The runners lined up and on ready, set, go, the bell in the center of our campus was rung by one of our club members!

Then, the runners were off, headed on a tough course wrapping around campus and then on some surrounding streets. One of our professors, Dr. Von Thaden won the race! We concluded the event with a small awards ceremony highlighting a few people which included top Mercyhurst student and top Mercyhurst alumnus!

Saturday's events grew more and more exciting as the football game arrived! Earlier this month I was nominated for Homecoming Queen and placed onto the ballot. I then was notified that I had received enough votes to be one of the four girls on the Homecoming court! I was very excited for this! Before the football game, two of my roommates and I were invited to the alumni tailgating event because we are members of the Student Alumni Association. It was a lot of fun to see so much Mercyhurst spirit in one place! All of the alumni were really happy to be back on campus and seeing old friends again (it kind of hits home that that's going to be me next year!). After the tailgating, I ran home to put on my dress and made my way over to the tailgating tent held especially for the homecoming court.

At halftime, the entire court walked to the center of the field and they announced our names, majors, hometowns and future plans as we walked across the field. We each had with us a white box and in the box was a balloon.

Once we were at our places on the field, the announcer instructed us to open our boxes. The winning court members had a white balloon distinguished from the other people's green balloons. When I opened my box, I was VERY surprised and excited to see my white balloon! I was then crowned by 2011's queen, Amber and this year's king was crowned by last year's king, Dave.

Shane McCabe was the crowned king which was really exciting for the two of us because we have been friends since the very first day of freshman year! We were both very honored to have been given this title!
Check out the Merciad our school newspaper to read all about it!

All in all, this past weekend was SO much fun! It's really hard to believe that next year, I will be the "old queen" who comes back to crown the new one and I will be coming back to Mercyhurst as an alumnus and taking part in alumni activities!

As I quoted in this week's issues of the Merciad, "it's moments like this that I will always remember and hold as special Mercyhurst memories."





I will leave you with a lovely message from a fortune cookie:
"Whatever you want to do, do it- there are only so many tomorrows"