The Writing Center is Hopping!

So I came into the Writing Center tonight at 10 PM to work my usual shift and I was quite surprised to find the Writing Center hopping.  There were more people in here than usual on a Wednesday night.  It seems like school is most definitely in full swing.  So many conversations going on as I entered the WC and like usual, I end up in a couple of them.  Of course, when I arrived I had a conference and now I'm taking care of business (which consists of sending emails, reviewing my planner, and blogging).  Once I've taken care of business, I'll work on the papers I have due next week before going to bed.  As usual, my day has been jammed pack.  What to know what I did?  Read below! :)

Started my day with Part I of Admission's Photo Shoot.  Our photographer is a man named Billy and he's fantastic -- friendly and makes being in front of the camera comfortable.  I spent around an hour and half being in photos before going to my Psychology class.

From Psychology it was off to Admissions.  Two hours later, I went to Barcelona and then Cultural Studies.  Went back to my room to do some homework.  Before Senate fun, I headed to Dows to learn how to be a house manager.  Basically, starting with the next show (Twelfth Night) I could be the go-between with the Stage Manager and the audience as they are heading into the house before the show.  I think being a house manager would be fun and I'm excited to have the opportunity to.

At our first Budget and Finance Meeting, we were able to pick out our normal meeting time: Tuesdays at 3:30 PM.  Then I had a Senate PR meeting to get ready for CoeFest.  Which, for those of you who don't know, CoeFest is a Summerfest-like festival Senate is hosting on October 8th.  Senate is bringing in multiple bands for an afternoon of music complete with a pig-roast and volleyball.  Should be fun.  Once those two meetings were over, it was time for the actual Senate meeting.

From Senate to band for the usual two hour rehearsal.  It flew by and then I ended up at the Writing Center, typing this blog post.  I'm actually drinking coffee (with lots of creamer and smidge of hot chocolate mix) so we'll see how that goes.  Maybe I'll go the dark side and enjoy drinking coffee!  Watch out!

And that's my day.  Pretty awesome, right?  I think so.

What to Look Forward to This Week

Hey readers!

I feel terrible my posting has been random and spontaneous; I've just been so busy recently with schoolwork, jobs, clubs, and finding some time to just relax!  But never fear, I'm back and ready to BLOG.  Here's what I'm up to this week which translate into what blog posts you might be reading!

First off, I finally put up Blindspot footage.  Check it out!  Now here's a list:

• Wednesday and or Thursday: Photo shoot for new publications.  A bunch of students will be roaming around campus and getting our pictures taken for brochures and publications we send out to prospective students.  I've volunteered to be a model so we'll see how that goes.
• The Budget and Finance Committee of Student Senate is up and running.  Whitney, our treasurer, has put together some informational meetings to help club treasurers and to refresh the B&F committee members.
• Speaking of Senate, Senate is hosting a band festival called CoeFest on October 8th.  More info on that coming soon.
• The first theatre production of the year starts on Friday.  It's Old Times and it should be a good way to start the year!  I'm an usher for a few of the performances (ushers courtesy of Off Stage Players) so not only will that be a new experience, it will be fun as well!
• I'm working the Reference Desk at the library for the first time on Sunday.  I'm excited but a little nervous; I hope I can help anyone who comes to the desk! 
• May Term options have started coming out.  I hope to make a list of options available this upcoming May as a preview to what a prospective student might see in their first May Term.  
• I also am in the process of writing two papers: one for History of English Literature and one for Barcelona.  I'm planning on doing some major revising and editing this weekend and hopefully with the help of a few of my Writing Center friends!
• And finally, in terms on new things on my blog.  I want to get a list going of classes I've taken at Coe with general overview, professor, thoughts on the class, etc.  And I want to get another page going with all my tips.  Hope to spend some time perfecting those pages and updating my other pages this weekend.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but oh well.  Back to homework but expect more posts soon!

 

Blindspot Footage

Here it is!  Enjoy! :)

A Fabulous Thursday!

Again I've been super busy.  Had class this morning and we discussed Astrophil and Stella.  Basically it's a sonnet sequence written in 16th century England about a man (Astrophil) pining over a "perfect" woman (Stella).  The discussion got lively and that made the class go by so fast and made it so interesting.  During that hour and a half, the benefit of small class sizes was a huge advantage and our class has built a better rapport with our professor.

Then it was Admissions.  Today was a Nassif Food Day which basically means the full time staff members bring an assortment of food and everyone in the building gets to try new food all day!  I had lunch there and then worked my usual two hour shift.  Right now we are in an intense data entry mood; the counselors are coming back from college fairs and high school visits and the student workers are entering names into our database so we can send potential Kohawks information and keep in contact with them.

Once my shift was over, I went to study at the library but of course, got sidetracked and ended up talking to some people for longer than I expected.  I guess I would have to thank my dad for that trait!  But again, this long conversation reinforces the idea of the Coe community.  A community which I adore!

I also had a Writing Center conference today with a friend.  She was working on a paper and needed some help revising.  It ended up being an hour long conference and it was fantastic!  Basically this is the sort of conference every consultant dreams of having.  The writer is engaging and really wants to make their paper better.  Dr. Bob would have been proud of the conversation we had and I truly do think I helped make a better writer as well as a better paper.  Goal of Writing Center consultant ACHIEVED.

Now, I'm studying for my first Psychology test tomorrow.  It's on three chapters of material covering the areas of psychology, the brain, neurotransmitters, sensation and perception.  Wish me luck!

  

Homecoming Group Photo

Here are six beautiful ladies that went to Homecoming this weekend.  :)

L to R: Haley, Gina, Nicki, myself, Anna, and Alison P.

Jazz hands.

Homecoming 2011

As you probably saw in my last post, my Saturday was going to be quite busy.  After my post, I went to the football game where Coe had a nice victory.  It was a close game though, most fans were on the edge of their seats the entire four quarters until the last 50 seconds when we had the ball and victory was in our hands.  There were a lot of students there and also some graduates from last year.  It was weird seeing them back on campus but I'm sure they were glad to be back!

Nicki and I

Once the game was over, I did some homework and then got ready for dinner and the dance.  Haley, Alison P., Anna H., Gina, Nicki, and I went over to Nicki's house and took pictures (they will be coming soon).  Then we went to Granite City for supper.  There were other Homecomings going on so we had to wait a bit but while we were waiting Haley took some more pictures!  The food was delicious (I had smoked salmon!) so it was all worth it.

Me all dressed up!

Post dinner we ended up back at Coe and took a shuttle to the Clarion, where the dance was held.  Again, it there was a little waiting but we finally arrived at the dance.  There were a lot of Coe students there and I spent a lot of time mingling and seeing how others' Homecomings were going.  I would say I was at the dance for about two hours.  Then I came back to Coe and went to sleep.  My busy day was finally done.   

Homecoming Saturday!

Hello!

It's Homecoming Saturday and the campus is excited!  The football game starts at 1 PM versus Simpson so let's hope for a Kohawk victory!  I just gave a tour to a prospective football player which was super fun and went well.  The plans for the day are as follows:

- Football Game
- Dinner with Haley, Alison P., Anna H., Nicki
- Homecoming dance

Should be lots of fun!  Expect a post soon on all my adventures!

Happy Saturday!

Firoozeh Dumas Comes to Campus

Okay, so if you remember back to my summer posts, I had a post about Firoozeh Dumas -- she is and was the first speaker in the Marquis Series this year.  I got the opportunity to talk to her several times while she was on campus and her being here was definitely a great way to start off the week!  (Picture from Firoozeh's website.) 


Monday:

She came to campus and spoke to the freshman in the morning.  Her presentation to them was on the history of Iran which she tied into Persepolis (the first-year common book).  I met her for the first time shortly after she spoke to the first-years.  Professor Eichhorn, my FYS professor from last year, called me and informed me Kayla, my Writing Fellow from last year, and some first-years were talking Firoozeh to the PUB for lunch and I should join them.  I did and we had a grand old time.  This only pumped me up for her presentation (the formal Marquis Series' presentation) I was going to later that night.  

Her presentation was fantastic that night.  Firoozeh is very funny and this speech was more about how she ended up publishing two books: Funny in Farsi and Laughing Without an Accent.  (Side note: She's currently working on a third tween fiction book!)  Both books are memoirs about her life adventures.  Funny in Farsi deals with her and her family moving to America from Iran and the various things they run into, such as the language barrier.  This book is also filled with anecdotes about her family members.  The message I really got out of her speech was to never give up.  She started writing her stories down when she was in her 30s and it took many years and a few rejections before she found a literary agent who wanted to help her publish her books.  As someone who hopes to be published someday, that was inspiring and encouraging to hear.  

I of course bought her book after her presentation and had her sign it for me.  We briefly discussed my name and the abundance of "l"s.  

Tuesday:

I woke up early, as usual, and went to Topics in Composition (the Writing Center development/staff training class) which I'm not actually enrolled in this semester but Firoozeh was going to be there so I wasn't going to miss it.  This was an open question and answer session where we hit on a lot of different topics.  Firoozeh was extremely personable and friendly; we learned a lot about her and I'm sure she learned a lot about us.  I think my favorite moment during this session was when Firoozeh was talking about her love of libraries (I'm sure some of my readers are saying, "Of course Hailley loves this section."  You know me too well).  She was telling us about this one book she read about a girl who dives with horses (part of a circus like show) and then the girl became blind but she still continued this stunt.  This true story takes place during the Great Depression.  As Firoozeh was telling us this, I remembered I had seen the movie version of this story which is called Wild Hearts Can't be Broken.  I raised my hand and said, "You know that's a movie, right?"  Firoozeh didn't know a movie (made in 1991) existed and was quite excited to see it.

 I went to class, worked in Admissions, and then went to the Writing Center to have tea with Firoozeh.  There were about 10 girls, Dr. Bob, and Firoozeh.  This time we went around, introduced ourselves and talked about our life dreams and goals.  It was a casual yet exciting conversation.  We laughed a lot and shared a lot of stories.  It was decided that I'm the unofficial mayor of Coe because apparently I know a lot of things on campus.  Which is good because then I can let you know on this blog and keep my friends on campus in the loop.  An hour went by and unfortunately, tea was over and Nicki (freshman Writing Center consultant and also my 6th floor neighbor) had to take Firoozeh back to her hotel.  We said our goodbyes (I even got a hug!). 

In my opinion, Firoozeh is so inspirational.  As a writer and as a person, I felt rejuvenated Tuesday afternoon as I walked back to Murray; I was ready for anything (which to me last night meant a lot of reading for my classes).  I think my favorite part of the whole experience was just getting to know her in a short span of 24 hours.  She called me by name Tuesday morning and gave me a hug when she was leaving.  She was just so great and personable, I’ve come to admire her a lot. 

      

   

Senator Reelected!

Good news!  Yesterday was the campus wide voting for Senate seats for the 2011-2012 school year.  Each year you have to be reelected if you'd like to continue to participate in Senate.  This year I ran for a spot in Murray (if you remember, last year when I joined I came in as an At Large Senator).  An email hit everyone's inboxes last night and I'm one of the four Murray Senators!  Our first meeting is tomorrow and I can't wait to see what Justin and Kelly (the President and VP) have in store for this upcoming school year.

Side note: There has been a lot of exciting things happening on campus so look for some more posts soon.

A Good Friday

I can't believe another week has flown by!  Today was an especially good day.  Here's what happened.

Had class.  Psychology in the morning, then Barcelona and Cultural Studies in the afternoon.  The crazy thing about all my classes this semester is that they either overlap with other classes I'm taking or ones I have taken at Coe.  For instance today in Cultural Studies we read the poem, Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelly.  I've included the poem below, thanks to Poem Hunter:

I met a traveller from an antique landWho said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,Tell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.And on the pedestal these words appear --"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bareThe lone and level sands stretch far away.'  After we read the poem, Dr. Bob promised a dollar to anyone who could name the form of the poem.  We were all silent for a moment until Dr. Bob prompted us by saying, "How many lines does it have?"  Fourteen.  Which means it's a sonnet.  Which I had learned about in my British Renaissance Poetry class last spring.  I shouted out the answer and therefore, I'm one dollar richer today.   So it's things like that, where my classes are overlapping that makes learning so much fun.  When I can tie everything today, well, that's a pretty incredible feeling.  And I think it makes remembering everything for that next test or paper that much easier.  Because it's relatable and relevant to my real life.   In between Psychology and Barcelona, I went to le Table Francaise, the French speaking group that meets Fridays.  There was a great turnout and it was nice to tune up my French.   And, in between Table Francaise and Barcelona, I met a girl on the third floor of Hickok named Delaney who had read my blog.  We were just sitting in the hall waiting for our classrooms to be open when she said, "Don't you write a blog?  Because I think I've read yours."  And I was like, "OH MY GOSH I DO WRITE A BLOG AND YOU'VE READ IT!"  I had a minor freakout in the hallway I was so excited.  That's probably the biggest reason I love writing my blog -- I love love love meeting people who have read it.  It makes me feel really good that people are reading it and it's having some impact.  Woot! After classes were over, I still had my clarinet seminar in the late afternoon.  I'm really enjoying the new clarinet teacher I have this semester, Stephanie Nuss.  Dr. Carson is on a sabbatical so Stephanie is filling in for him.  She's super enthusiastic and knowledgeable about clarinet and I'm learning tons from her.   Dinner in the caf and then it was back to Murray to do some miscellaneous homework before heading over to Dows for the first Blindspot of the year.  I got some footage of some of the best acts and I'll post a montage soon. Blindspot had a huge crowd, Dows was packed!  What a way to start the Blindspot season!

The PUB is Open for Business!

On Tuesday the PUB officially opened its gates for business!  Alison, Haley, and I proudly used the PUB on Tuesday night to have our grilled cheese.  Boy, did I miss grilled cheese this summer.  My goal this semester for the PUB is to use my Coe Cash over the entire semester and not the first two weeks which I did last spring.  Whoops!  We'll have to see how my goal plays out. 

Alison and I then spent the rest of the night in the PUB, establishing our PUB nights once again.  There was some excitement in the PUB because there were Kohawk Live! auditions (a few students will get the chance to perform an act of their choosing one Wednesday night in the PUB.  It's sponsored by SAC).  But after the auditions, the PUB quieted it down as it should and Alison and I were able to get some work done!

Cedar Lake Walk

One of the classes I'm taking is Cultural Studies; it is taught by Dr. Bob and it is also known as the Walking Essay class.  We are looking at the culture that surrounds us and other cultures we haven't experienced yet.  This class also gives me the opportunity to explore other areas of Cedar Rapids.  Our first walk was around Coe and we discussed the various expansion plans the college had and it was fascinating to think about how things would have looked if certain plans had followed through.  Our second walk was the Dairy Queen which is only a couple of blocks away.  During that walk I learned a lot about the various types of trees we encountered and it was also interesting to observe the houses that are basically in Coe's backyard (the northeast side of campus).

My third walk was a walk I went on with Haley.  It was to Cedar Lake.  Around the lake there is a walking and biking path.  Haley and I were lucky to have such a beautiful day to complete our walk.  It was easy to get there -- we simply walked northeast on Center Point Road and then took a left at J Avenue.  Once we got there we started on the paved path but eventually ventured off onto a foot path to see the Cedar Lake and to take some pictures.  Haley is a photographer and wanted to do a photo shoot in conjunction with our walk.  The photos turned out great (see some of them below) and one even ended up as my new blog photo!

Our walk ended up being two hours.  It was nice to talk to Haley and I wrote down a lot of great material I hope to use in my essay.  It was nice to see the Cedar Lake and I hope to go back there soon before the weather turns too cold!

2011 Writing Center Retreat

Every year during Labor Day weekend, the Writing Center holds it annual retreat.  Dr. Bob choses a new location every year and for 2011, we went to the Amana Colonies.  I had never been so I was pumped to check out the place this past Sunday.  We arrived around 9:30 AM.  Our meeting location was the Ronneburg Restaurant.  It was a very nice place and lunch (chicken, pickled ham, mashed potatoes, corn, and fresh five-fruit pie) really hit the spot!

The point of the retreat is to get to know and reconnect with our fellow staff members and also to practice our conferencing skills so we are ready for another school year.  There is always a writing exercise which becomes the material we conference on.  The prompt this year was to write on a word dealing with writing and or reading.  I chose the word shelf life and had an interesting time reflecting on that word.  Hopefully I'll be able to post my reflection once I'm done revising it.

It was a beautiful day for the Amana Colonies and I got a little time to do some exploring.  Of course, I didn't see nearly everything the colonies have to offer and I'm planning on making a return visit!  We left Amana in the late afternoon and reconvened at the Writing Center for make-your-own-sandwich dinner and then the annual Writing Center skits.  The skits are always hilarious and a really good consultant bonding exercise.

The retreat then continued today, Labor Day.  We used the Clark Alumni House for today's activities which included another conference and discussion on our writing center handbook called the Enchiridion.  After a hodge podge lunch, our retreat was over.  It was a nice way to spend some quality time outdoors, to see a new area of Iowa I hadn't explored yet, and to continue to get to know other Writing Center consultants.  We have a fantastic staff this year and I'm excited to see what things we will be up to.      

Rainy Saturday Morning at Brewed

Saturday was a pretty quiet day on campus.  It probably didn't help it was raining for most of the day.  I decided to wake up early and get a jump start on my homework.  It is a three day weekend, but I'd rather have some extra time on Monday night to regroup and get ready for week two.  For a little treat I went to Brewed Awakenings, located just across First Avenue from Stuart Hall to do some studying.  I ordered a Orangenilla, which is orange flavoring, club soda, and a splash of half and half.  It tastes just like an orange dreamsicle.  Delicious.  And, I got some good studying done.  Finished reading Beowulf for History of English Literature, read a psychology article, and started on an essay for my Cultural Studies class.  Productive morning.  Glad to know I was able to slip right back in to doing homework and staying on top of all my assignments.

 

Coe Night at the Kernels

So for the second year in a row, I headed to the Perfect Game Field to see the Cedar Rapids Kernels.  They are a minor league baseball team.  If you remember correctly, I went to the game last year and had a great time.  Five bucks got us a ticket and t-shirt and all we had to provide was transportation.  The field is about five minutes from Coe, pretty close and convenient if you ask me.  Haley, Alison W. and I all went and unfortunately, the Kernels didn't win this time.  There was a good crowd of Coe people there and it was more fun this time because I knew many more people.  It was a hot night but luckily, soda was 2 for one so it wasn't hard to stay hydrated!  A really nice way to spend a Friday night after my first week of college!

      

Ah! So Many Exciting Things Going On!

It hasn't even been a full first week of school and I'm already swamped.  Now, I like being busy, trust me, but sometimes I just need to take a step back and breathe.  Take today for instance.  I participated in a discussion on the first part of Beowulf.  I had day two of working in Admissions, which included a tour so I can learn the route and start working on my own unique tour.  I helped my neighbors on my floor decorate their room.  I had another meeting with one of my Writing Fellows and I'm confident she's going to write an awesome revision.  Then after dinner I played beach volleyball for the first time this year.  I LOVED IT.  Sure, I was super sweaty and sandy afterwards, but it was a blast.  There were seven of us and we had probably too much fun.  This was a perfect study break.  I finished my night in the Writing Center doing some homework.

It's hard to believe I've only been here a week, it seems like so much longer.  I've seem to have fallen into the groove of things pretty well.  Since it's Labor Day Weekend, we don't have school on Monday.  I actually have a Writing Center Retreat so get ready for some posts on that.  I'm planning on trying to get ahead on my homework this weekend and also work on adding some more cool content to my blog.  Stay tuned!