"I think this must be like my 20th panel..." November Campus Visit Day

Yesterday I was up early and in the library for our November Campus Visit Day. Cedar Rapids and Mother Nature teamed up for some nice weather and the icing on the cake was the exceptionally wonderful families I got to interact with.

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The "Suite" Life Isn't Always Sweet (Or Tidy)

When I talk to people about my living situation, everyone says, "Wow, I would LOVE to live in a hotel for four months." Or, some of my peers will make the humorous reference to the Disney channel show, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. 

Um...think again.

There are definitely pros and cons of our hotel life. First and foremost, the staff at the Hotel Belleclaire is OUT OF THIS WORLD. This is a pro.

I honestly can't say that enough. Since they know we are living here for four months, they've gotten to know us and do whatever they can to help us make our rooms feel "homey."

Take this morning for instance.

I got up and worked out and when I came back, I knew our room needed a good cleaning. This is a con of living in a hotel room; things seem to get messy fast. Faster than my apartment or room back home.

I showered and once Whitney was up, we got to work. I called down to the front desk, asked for new towels, garbage bags, and a vacuum. All were brought up to our room within ten minutes.

An hour and a half later, the bathroom and bedroom/living room had been vacuumed and dusted. We got rid of our old towels and about a weeks worth of trash. I reorganized my counter space and put all my clothes back in their right boxes.

The room feels so much better. Being clean in a hotel room is really key because you don't have a lot of space. Getting lazy for a few days is totally okay but if you extend it past that, it's not good.

It's a beautiful day here, 55 degrees and sunny. We have our windows open and I've already taken a stroll just around the hotel.

Maybe we are living the suite life after all. ;)

A Sunny Delightful Writing Center Conference

Poster group

I work in Coe's Writing Center.

And we do some pretty amazing things.








One of the coolest things we do is attend conferences that bring together other writing centers. We meet for three days to discuss the issues our centers are facing, what triumphs and discoveries we have made, and engage in a never-ending dialogue of our job as tutors/consultants.

Chloe, myself, Ariana, and Ashley at the zoo

I've been fortunate enough to attend several writing center conferences for the past three years. I've traveled to Baltimore as a freshman, Madison as a sophomore, and now, San Diego as a junior.

Thirty-nine writing center consultants made the trek to California, leaving at various times last Wednesday. I flew in a group of six, arriving in San Diego around 8 PM. Thursday and Friday were spent at the conference and then Saturday was my adventure day!

What is neat about these conferences is that we undergraduates are rare. Most writing centers across the United States employ graduates as their tutors. If colleges with undergraduate students do attend the conference, it's usually their director and maybe a few consultants. When Coe College arrives at this conferences, people usually just smile and anxiously await their chance to talk to us and how we conduct business.

We also had the opportunity to present in a poster presentation. My group discussed our move from Stuart-Peterson to the Gage Annex. We had an hour long time slot where people came up and talked to us. It was fun to talk to new people and articulate what happened before and after our move.

On Saturday, I spent the day the San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park. After dinner at a Thai restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter, a small group of us headed to Pacific Beach to see the ocean. Then our time in San Diego was over and I got back to campus around dinner time on Sunday night.

Skyfari

It was a FANTASTIC trip. I got the opportunity to bond with my fellow consultants as well as have many discussions about my job as a consultant and the writing center as a whole. The Coe College Writing Center is a place to be very proud of and I'm so happy to be working here.

View from the plane

Balboa Park

 

Panera and Frozen Yogurt: Reward for a long and successful weekend

This past Friday and Saturday, I was swamped helping Admissions with Scholarship Weekend.  I'll be posting a recap of all the cool things I did and all the amazing people I met in the near future!

Anyways, to celebrate the end of a successful Scholarship Weekend, my friend Anna B. and I decided to go out for dinner.  Anna B. is our new student body president and she and I wanted to talk about some Senate things but also catch up!  We ate dinner at Panera, chatted long after our food was gone, and then headed over to Orange Leaf, the new frozen yogurt venue in Cedar Rapids.  Orange Leaf is an ADORABLE place, decorated in bright orange and white.  Along one wall are a bunch of frozen yogurt machines and YOU, yes you, get to pick out what flavors you want and how much you want.  To finish off your frozen yogurt creation, you add some toppings and then pay the cashier by the weight of your dessert.  It's really neat!

My Saturday night ended with homework in my room.  Since I've been busy all day Friday and Saturday, it seemed like the best idea!  The frozen yogurt was delicious and the conversation was fantastic!  I love nights like these because I get a chance to catch up with friends and take a little break from campus to explore Cedar Rapids.  It's a win-win for everyone involved!

Saturday Homework in the Writing Center

I've now got seven days of classes under my belt and let me tell you, the homework has already started piling up.  I love love love my classes so my homework is fun and exciting.  But anyways, Heidi and I woke up early and headed over to the Writing Center to get some work done.  Although the Writing Center is closed on Saturday, any consultant is allowed to access the space any day of the week.  We sat at the big table in the back room of the WC and worked all day.  I accomplished so much -- only have a few things to take care of tomorrow and I'll be golden for the start of the week.

Going to grab Indian food with Alison W. tonight and then I'm going to see Beauty and the Beast (in 3D!) with some other friends.  Should be a fun night in celebration of all that I've accomplished so far this weekend!

Campus Visit Day

This past Saturday, we had over 200 people visit Coe's campus for our November Visit Day.  I started my morning off early (I had to be ready to go at the library by 8 AM).  After a quick pep talk, I headed up to the Perrine Gallery to man the College Scholar's Program Table (this is Coe's Honors Program).  David Nordmann, the director of the Scholar's Program, was also there and we spent an hour talking to prospective students about the program.  I will do a post all about the Scholar's Program in the upcoming week.

After chatting, we had another pep talk while the families were in Cherry Auditorium listening to a student panel.  Then it was time for tours.  I showed four students and their families Coe's campus and told them all about the neat things they can do here.  The tour went well and I hope the families had an enjoyable time.

Once the tour was over, I helped out Natalie and Josh (two Admission counselors) with an informational session.  I got to talk about my Coe experience and some of my favorite parts of Coe.  That was fun and I was glad I was able to share my love of Coe with even more prospective students. 

To any prospective students who attended Campus Visit Day -- I hope you had a wonderful time.  And I hope to see you back on campus soon!  If you have any questions, feel free to post comments here and I'll answer them for you.

Welcome Prospective Kohawks! Campus Visit Day 2011

On Saturday Coe had a few more people on campus than usual.  Not only was there the second home football game of the season (we won!) but it was also a Campus Visit Day.  That meant I was up early to help Admissions welcome students and to give a tour.

I had a great tour group, filled with some great kids.  It was fun showing them around campus and telling them stories about my own experiences.

Also, mine and Heidi's room was a show room in case people wanted to see a Murray room.  I even made a pretty sign to put on our door but sadly, no one visited our room!  Oh well, I'll keep the sign for future Campus Visit Days!

Our next Campus Visit Day is Saturday, November 12th.  You can still register here.  It's a great way to see campus and also listen to panels or chat with your Admissions counselor to learn more about Coe.  Or, even better, you could come on Friday, sit in on some classes, have lunch in the caf, and talk to professors in the area you're interested in studying.  Round the weekend off with Campus Visit Day and you're sure to have a great weekend!  

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.

 

My First Saturday Night on Campus

Well since I'm all moved in it was time to catch up with friends.  The perfect day to do this was Saturday night after dinner with President Phifer and his wife.  Alison, Haley, and Millie came over to my room and we watched Anastasia while eating my homemade oatmeal raisin cookies and Berry Burst Oreos (which we decided tasted like Berry Kix).  Heidi and a few other friends joined us for parts of the movie; they were going to an Orientation event so couldn't watch the whole movie.  Once Anastasia finished (you know, when Dimitri picks up Anastasia and kisses her), Haley, Alison, and I went out to the quad with a blanket and looked at the stars.  We were just talking, trying to figure out if we knew the people who were walking by using their shadows and outlines as a guide, and looking up at the sky.  It was so simple but made for such a great night.  It made me excited for the adventures I'm going to have with my friends this year and the great school year I'm going to have.

A Beautiful Saturday Off Campus

There are just some days when you've got to get off campus.  You need to explore someplace new.  And that's what I did today with my good old friend Alison.  After working at the library and eating lunch in the caf, we walked a few blocks northeast to catch a city bus.  For only a dollar we ended up at Lindale Mall where we did some shopping.  It was nice to just walk around and enjoy the nice and pleasantly warm weather.  From Lindale we walked to Best Buy, Half Price Books, and then treated ourselves to Chai Tea Lattes at Starbucks.  We drank our lattes while waiting for the bus to take us back to Coe.

What I love about today was the adventure aspect.  We got around the city thanks to public transportation and our good old legs.  It wasn't expensive, only $2 dollars and today that will probably not even buy you one gallon of gas.  It was fun to do something exciting and different on a Saturday.  And it was good hanging out with Alison, she's a fantastic friend (who is also from the state of Wisconsin) and we get along so well.  We're both writers and lovers of history and literature.  Ideas are always bouncing back and forth between the two of us and we both have started to carry a little Moleskine book around with us to write our ideas and quotes in.  And we frequently go back and reread and laugh about our various quotes and the stories that go along with them.

This is what is fantastic about Coe and college in general.  Second semester is when you really start to cement the friendships you began first semester.  I think I have spent every weekend in 2011 hanging out in small groups with my various friends.  We are bonding and becoming closer each weekend.  And we do the simplest things like going to Lindale, taking advantage of public transportation, studying and writing in the PUB or Writing Center, watching a TV show or a movie, or just talking for hours on end (that one is my favorite).  We constantly cut each other off, eager to share our stories, opinions, and ideas with the people we trust the most.  And when we talk, we don't just gossip or discuss the latest fashion trends or the boys we think are attractive, we talk about so much more (and much more important topics) : our classes, what we're learning about, what we want our futures to hold, national and world issues, problems we are dealing with, things we dream about, plans we want to make.  Just like I saw in Common Hour, the conversation is intellectually stimulating.  College is a whole new level, and I completely understand why so many people told me that as much as I loved high school, college was going to be even better.

Well there's warm tea to be drank for my sore throat, French Renaissance to be read, and Firefly episodes to watch so I best be off. More to come as always.