B&F Day: Another One in the Books

So, if you haven't heard, I'm completing my second semester as Student Senate Treasurer. It's one of my favorite club positions to hold on campus because it's a great way for me to interact with clubs and see all the great things they are doing.

One of my responsibilities is to hold Budget and Finance Day, a grand old day where every club on campus that would like money for the next semester presents in front of the committee. The committee has the right to approve or deny aspects of the budget. It's a long day (we start at 8 AM) but it's worth it.

So on snowless December 1st, I woke up and drove to Bruegger's to get bagels for the committee. My committee started showing up around 7:50 AM and we started the budget presentations shortly after 8 AM. We went until lunch and then took a break for Panchero's. Then we went back to budgets.

L to R: Hailley, Alexis, Peter, and Ashley

Overall, it was a great day. It was nice because I had run the day before so I knew what to expect. I'm glad it went well but I'm also glad it's done.

Post B&F, I came back to my apartment, did a little homework, and then had a few friends over to unwind after a full day. It was nice to have people over, recapping the day, or just talking about finals, Winter Break plans, and our lives in general. Perfect example of my kohawk family.

Chocolate gold coins were being thrown at us because we're GOLDEN! :)

A slow start, but a good day

Happy Tuesday!

Thanksgiving Break is within reach, but much will need to be done before I can head back to Wisconsin for a nice little break.

Today was a little bit of a slow start. I've had to stay up pretty late the past couple of nights working on outlines and plans for two research papers (Honors and 18th century literature) and so sleep has not been a consistant thing. Because of this, mornings have been a little slow to get going.

When I woke up, a little later than expected, I knew I better get going. I had lunch with my fellow junior clarinetist, Elise, at Zio Johno's, which is right across First Avenue. It was delicious and so nice to catch up with Elise! Just like me, she has been extremely busy with her music education major classes and other musical activities.

After lunch, I received an email to set up my first potential interview for New York this spring. It's at a literary magazine called A Public Space and I'm quite excited. I've been working hard at applying to a variety of companies on top of homework, work, and club involvement. Nice to see one starting to move forward!

Then it was homework time until my weekly Budget and Finance committee meeting. We are currently gearing up for Budget and Finance Day (December 1st). I'm excited but also will be glad once it's over (that means I gain A LOT of time back in my life). But in all seriousness, I love being the Student Senate Treasurer. It allows me to work with so many great clubs and help them do amazing things. I also like to think I help to empower clubs by making the whole receiving money part less stressful!

It wouldn't be a day without a little coffee and so I hit up Starbucks with two fellow English majors, Millie and Ashley. We have a short explication on the novel we are working with for our final paper due tomorrow, so we drank coffee, gave each other conferences, and finished our papers.

Now, I'm back in the library, hard at work at blogging and other various homework. Shouldn't be too late of a night; my body clearly needs some rest!

First Senate Meeting

Last Wednesday, senators convened for the first Student Senate meeting of the fall 2012 semester. Elections had happened the week before and it was nice to see some new faces in the Lynch room. Anna and Max have some big plans for the upcoming semester and I am excited to get some treasurer items rolling.

The first item of business was to elect a chairperson, the person who runs our meetings. Once we did that, the executive board introduced themselves and explained our roles. Hopefully this week my Budget and Finance Committee will be able to meet and get started on allocating some money!

The next big item on Senate's agenda is our Organization Conference on Saturday. All the campus leaders will be meeting to discuss ways to improve their clubs and keep interest going throughout the semester. We are bringing in a motivational speaker and providing lunch. It should be fun.

Glad Senate is back and I'm ready for another great semester of working with clubs and helping them do the things they want to do!

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!

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.

Student Senate Promotion!

On Tuesday we had our elections for Student Body President and Vice President.  The race was close but Anna and Max won.  Both are my age and I've had both of them in classes and have worked with them in the Writing Center and Admissions, respectively.  They had asked me to be the treasurer if they won and I accepted. 

On Wednesday night I was officially sworn into office.  I took over for my friend, Whitney, who spent last semester showing me the ropes of being the treasurer.  It's going to be a lot of hard work, but in all honesty, I can't wait.  I love Senate and by being treasurer, I will be able to help the clubs out on campus even more. 

This weekend I'll spend some time getting situated and organize things so I'm ready to start next week.  Be on the lookout for various updates as I navigate my way through supplementary allocations and budgets.  It's going to be a wild ride!