Preparing for finals!

Well, I'm taking a short study break to update you on my finals thus far.  I had a test and presentation on Saturday, a full day of studying on Sunday, and more studying today.  I finished my paper and take-home paper for Honors and am studying for my Literary Analysis exam (which is tomorrow at 11 AM).  At 1 PM, I am done with my sophomore year of college!  Which is really hard to believe.  I will be on campus until next Tuesday when I take off for England.  I promise to tell you more once finals are over!

First Day of Finals!

Hopefully the rainy weather isn't getting to too many people.  Today is the first day of finals and it seems to have gotten here too quickly!  Thursday was the last day of classes, Friday (yesterday) was Reading Day and now it's time for finals.  I had a 8 AM final this morning, thank you ancient mythology.  But it went well and soon I'll head over for my French exam, which is basically Heidi and I presenting our final project!  Then it will be back to studying and writing papers for my other two finals on Tuesday.

Leadership Convocation 2012

The picture above is pretty nice, is it not?  Well, last night Coe held its 13th Annual Leadership Convocation.  Every spring, nominations go out to all of campus to recognize the leaders at Coe College.  I was nominated as an outstanding sophomore year.  All nominees were asked to come to a dessert reception where President Phifer presented a key-note speech and both individual and group awards were given out.  Out of the five sophomore nominated for outstanding student, I won!  Pretty cool, right?  I'm very proud.  The girls with me above are the other Outstanding Students of the Year from their respective grades (freshman to senior, L to R).  It was a great way to end my Monday night.  

Savy Studying Saturday

Finals start next Saturday!  Woah, woah, woah.  There is much to do before my first final rolls around next Saturday at 8 AM.  So today is a work day.  I am currently sitting in the Starbucks in Cedar Rapids with my friend, Ashley, writing papers.  We are both English majors and we are working on our Literary Analysis papers.  If you remember, I'm writing mine about the sonnet sequence Delia and she is writing her's about William and Dorothy Wordsworth.  It's nice to have someone to study with because they are perfect study breaks when you need one!  My paper has greatly progressed and I know I will spend many, many, many hours on it this week revising and perfecting it.  Well, I think my study break is up, back to the Renaissance!

Happy happy happy Friday!

Good news!  My debut recital performance went very well!  I played my best and people enjoyed it!  The best part is that I was recorded and soon, I'll have an mp3 file of my performance.  Hopefully, if technology is nice, I'll put it up here for you to listen to.  For me, this performance really showed everyone the progress I've made at Coe.  I am extremely proud of myself and hope to play at another Recital Hour again in the future. 

And it's Friday, which always makes people happy.  It's been a long week, so I'm ready for the weekend.  Let me tell you, it will be a productive one.  I am in the midst of working on three papers, a project, and studying for two finals.  Yikes!  But it's what comes with the end of the school year, right? 

But before all the studying occurs on Saturday, there is the final Blindspot tonight.  Lucky for me, I snagged a spot.  My friend Anna and I will be talking about mythology.  We're putting a twist on it though and ending each story we tell with a hashtag (Twitter language).  It should be a fun performance!  That brings my total of Blindspot performances up to three this year!  Wow.  How many will I do next fall? 

Happy Friday everyone!

Anxious but excited: First clarinet recital

It's a big day, I am performing in Recital Hour for the very first time.  Recital Hour is mainly for music majors who perform at least once to show their peers and professors the progress they have made.  I've attended a few Recital Hours to cheer on my music major friends but never performed in one.  This semester Dr. Carson thought I was ready for a debut.  I agreed and have spent the past several weeks working on my solo.  It's a piece by Brahms and I really love it.  On Monday in clarinet seminar, I practiced on the stage so I'm ready.  I'll play sometime between 2:30-3:30.  Wish me luck!

Apologies and Stories!

I am so sorry that I haven't posted in such a long time; I have been so swamped that I haven't even been able to think about posting.  Here's a recap of my week:

• What I spent most of my week preparing for was Budget and Finance Day.  As Student Senate Treasurer, this is my biggest day of the semester.  I led my committee in allocating funds for all the clubs on campus for the upcoming semester.  Budgets were due to me by Wednesday night and then I spent quite some time in the Senate office (in Upper Gage) compiling all the data into one master spreadsheet.  Once all the data was in, I had to make a schedule for the day and then email it out to all the clubs.  Let's just say Wednesday night was a long night.
• But...all that hard work paid off yesterday at the actual event.  It started bright and early at 8 AM.  The committee did excellent, I can't even being to explain how proud I am of them.  We were so on top of things, we ran ahead of schedule (which is UNHEARD for past B&F Days) and then finished early.  Score!  It was an incredibly rewarding day but at the same time, I'm so glad it's over.
• On Tuesday night, I attended a fellow clarinetist's recital.  He's a senior and most senior music majors do a recital.  I enjoyed it because I had heard most of his pieces when he first started them so sitting in the audience on Tuesday night, I could hear the progress he had made. 
• Wednesday was Student Symposium Day.  It's a day where classes are cancelled and current students present research or thesis work they have done.  There was also a speaker, Constance McCashin, at the end of the day, which Senate helped to fund, who discussed anxiety and depression in college students.  A ton of students, faculty, and staff made it out for McCashin and she talked about a lot of good topics. 
• I'm currently in the midst of researching for my large paper in Literary Analysis.  The point of the paper is to prep up for seminar papers we will have to write in the upcoming semesters.  We could chose any topic and I chose the sonnet sequence, Delia, by Samuel Daniel.  If you haven't figured out, I LOVE SONNETS.  Delia has one of my favorite sonnets in it, which I'll post later when I am really working on the paper.  I can most definitely spend a whole post talking about my paper and research.  
• As managing editor of The Coe Review and co-editor of The Pearl, I also spent this week making sure that our proofs were edited and returned to the publishing company so the issues can be here at Coe by April 27th, the day of our publication release.  All three of our literary publications (so add in Colere, the only one I don't work on) are being made.  I can't wait for the release! 
• Last night I attended the orchestra concert.  I had many friends playing in it and it was a fantastic concert!  It was a nice way to end my busy week!  

Currently, I'm in the library, attempting to get caught up on all the homework I kind of neglected as B&F Day approached.  I'm glad the day went well but I'm also glad to get back to my schoolwork.  The semester is winding down!  Only two weeks left!

Home for the Weekend

Well, this past week has kept me on my toes since I was catching up from my NACA adventure and of course, the semester is coming to a close.  Professors are handing out final project assignments and paper due dates which is making the next few weeks jammed packed!  But all will get done.

I'm actually back in Mt. Horeb this weekend to celebrate Easter with my family.  My dad picked me up yesterday afternoon and I'll return to campus tomorrow night.  Nice to be home and be able to catch up with my family.  Of course, I'm using today to get some homework done!  You can't stop a busy girl like myself.

 

Sign up for new classes!

It's hard to believe that the second semester of my sophomore year is slowly nearing the end.  Sometimes it's too much for me to think about since there are so many projects coming up.  You know the end of semester is near because Tuesday and Wednesday of this week it's time to sign up for classes in the fall.  I get to sign up today and here's what my schedule is shaping up to look like:

Shakespeare: Tragedies and Histories
18th century British Literature
French Cinema
Honors: Culture and Revolution

It was be a tough schedule but I'm ready for the challenge!  Now, back to focusing on the classes I'm currently in.

NACA Recap

XY Unlimited. Probably my favorite group I chatted with!

So bright and early on Thursday morning, myself, 10 other students, and SAC's advisor Kelsi took off for St. Paul, Minnesota.  Our destination was NACA, the National Association of Campus Activities.  A bunch of other schools in the Midwest met at the River Center in St. Paul for three days of fun.  I attended educational sessions, listened to performers at showcases, or roamed the "marketplace," talking to groups and nabbing some free stuff.  SAC booked most of their events for the upcoming year at NACA.

The conference was fantastic!  I saw and heard so many great acts and I'm really excited for the groups we are bringing in this fall.  I was so lucky to have this opportunity to attend this conference.  I was asked to go because I am the Student Senate Treasurer and part of our student activity fee helps to pay for these performers.  I've spent the last couple of days telling everyone back on campus how much fun I had and what great people we are bringing in.

Preston Pugmire, a Coe favorite.