I Love 3:45 AM Wake Up Calls

Blogger up!

Yes, this blogger was up pretty early this morning, 3:45 AM to be exact. Also factor in that I went to bed around midnight, so that's not even four hours of sleep. Am I ever thankful for Kwik Trip cappuccino in Black River Falls, the ability to sleep in 15 passenger vans, and the complimentary coffee at our hotel in Germantown, Wisconsin.

The night before we were at Target Field in downtown Minneapolis. It was chillier than expected (or wanted). The stadium was beautiful and we had seats in the upper decks where we could look down on home plate. These were great seats as seen by this photo I nabbed.

However, it was a pretty low attended game. The Twins squared off against the Boston Red Sox and from the get go, the Twins didn't stand a chance. Top of the first, the Soxs scored two runs and kept the momentum until the ninth inning. David Ortiz had two homeruns along with a double. The final score ended up being 9-4. 

While the game was interesting to watch (and I was keeping score by hand), what was great about this game was our class bonding. I sat next to Rachel, Brendan, and Katie and we sure had a good time. Our dinner consisted of excellent $1 hot dogs, which for a baseball park, is a pretty good deal. 

In the middle of the game, we realized that the Milwaukee game began at 12:10 PM instead of a later night game we had gotten stuck in our heads. It was going to be about a five and a half hour trek to Milwaukee, which meant we needed an early start. When the game finally ended a little after ten, it was back to our hotel and straight to bed. 

The first part of our trip to Milwaukee began with sleeping, which is always difficult in a van. You can't really sleep for long periods of time, normally just 20 minutes here followed by rearranging your body for another restless 30 minutes or so. But sleep is sleep in this case and when we woke up around 7 AM, we were in Black River Falls at a Kwik Trip. While my classmates aimlessly wandered around this gas station, I knew exactly where to go and exactly what I wanted.

Cappuccino. 

The Wisconsin roads we took to Miller Park today where all extremely familiar to me. These roads symbolize Fargo summers and remind me of countless adventures I've gone on to scout camps, Wisconsin Dells, Milwaukee, and more. On top of that, Kwik Trips are a Fargo road trip staple. Cappuccinos are always a given as a way to keep the drive (and our stomachs) interesting and happy. 

We arrived at Miller Park with plenty of time to explore the stadium once we were inside the park. Our seats were very different than at Target Field. We were sitting in the bleachers behind right field (aka we had a nice view of Ryan Braun). 

It was a completely different atmosphere at Miller Park. There were way more people and the crowd was roudier. All these distractions made it a little harder to keep score, but I managed. This game was also not quite the blowout we saw the day before. The Brewers pulled out a 4-3 win in the bottom of the ninth.

Post game, we checked in at our hotel and went out for dinner. The hotel had recommended this great restaurant called Brisco Country. We were full and had great conversations. It was dinner like this that made me excited for the next several weeks. A short class period occurred post dinner and now I'm here, in the hotel lobby, catching up on some blogging and making sure the group blog is fully functional. 

 
We take off early for Chicago tomorrow and arrive back in Cedar Rapids tomorrow night. And that will conclude our Midwest tour. Cannot wait for game three seeing the Cubs and the Brewers face off at Wrigley.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Let the 2014 May Term begin!

So the day after graduation, I began my next month-long adventure. MAY TERM! I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in my third May Term. It's another Writers Colony, like the one I participated in May 2012. Except no Lake District or sheep, instead, baseball.

Here's our schedule, slightly altered now, but relatively accurate.

Our first class meeting was Monday morning. We chatted about baseball memories we had, the writings we would complete, assigned jobs for the trip, and read some box scores. We were suppose to see the Kernels play on Monday night, but the rain and lightning canceled the game. 

Today, we got up and headed to Dyersville to see the Field of Dreams. You know, that movie with the phrase, "If you build it, they will come?" Yeah, that field. 

It was a chilly day in Iowa and stepping out of the van we were met with quite a chill. The wind was what really made the day nasty. Lucky for us, the only other people at the field actually had a Coe connection. There was a couple who had been Admission counselors for Coe in the late 1970s, early 1980s. We had a lovely chat with them and even got our first group picture with them!

We then ran the bases, played catch, and tried to stay warm. I even got this nice shot of the field.

 

It was a little odd to not have any corn on the outskirts of the field. Kind of changes your perception of the field. I remember the last time I was there with my family, we attempted to take the classic "walking out of the corn" picture. There was no way to do that this time. 

With chilled hands, we jumped back into the van and ate lunch at a local spot in Dyersville. It was delicious and we even saw our Field of Dreams friends.

Warmer and no longer hungry, it was time to head back to Coe. While we had talked about seeing a Kernels game tonight, the cold weather prompted us to just watch a baseball movie in the Writing Center instead. We saw The Rookie, a classic baseball movie that just warms your heart. 

Now, I better finish packing and then get to bed. We take off for the Twin Cities tomorrow morning. While I'll blog on this blog during the trip, our class also has our own collaborative blog to share our experiences. I happen to be the blog manager for our class blog, so you should check it out! 

The Diploma is There...Graduation 2014

At Coe, graduation is a full weekend event. I was lucky enough to have my dad, grandparents, aunt, brother, and sister attend the weekend festivities. On Saturday, the day began early with Honors Convocation. I formally received the Charles Cannon award as the distinguished English major, as well as the Delta Eta Book award for my hard work both in and out of the classroom.

The weather was great on Saturday and it was nice to casually walk around campus, running into many of my friends. I showed off the caf cuisine to the family before we headed to the library for the Phi Beta Kappa initiation ceremony. As soon as I walked in, I saw my good friend Ashley, who had arrived earlier in the day for graduation. Ashley and I are English major buddies and we also roomed together in NYC. She graduated in December and moved out to New York. I hadn't seen her since December so needless to say, we were thrilled to be reunited. The initiation ceremony was very nice, complete with signing the Phi Beta Kappa member book and learning a secret handshake. After the ceremony, my family and Heidi's family got to chat and take photos. Haley joined the bunch and bam! it was like we were back in freshman year. It was so good to see both of them and celebrate graduation together.

The day didn't stop there. The next event was Baccalaureate. We donned our robes and motorboards and lined up behind Sinclair. It was the first moment where it really felt like, yeah we're graduating. Baccalaureate itself was very nice. Our speaker was Reverend Wayne Meisel. He was an excellent speaker along with the student speakers. They all talked about all the potential our futures have and all the good memories we have from our time at Coe.

Then the day gets a little crazier. My dad, brother, aunt, and I hopped in a car bound for Mt. Horeb. My younger sister, Hannah, was on the junior prom court. The prom just so happened to be graduation weekend (because that's how my life works, everything happens at once). We got back just in time to watch court walk and to see my sister crowned the prom queen! I was one proud sister.

The Queen!

Post-prom pictures, we hopped back in the car and went back to Coe. It was totally worth it. 

The next morning, it was graduation. It was surreal to put on my robe and head to the Victory Bell. As I stood in line, waiting to ring it for the second time, I kept thinking about my past four years at Coe. I thought of all the friends I made, the mentors I gained, the things I learned, the papers I wrote, and the experiences I had. It was overwhelming, so many good memories contained on and off campus but all related to my time at Coe. When it was my turn to ring the bell, I stepped up, got into a stance and rang it with as much gusto as I did four years earlier. I rang the bell with a smile on my face knowing that this end was the start of a new beginning.

From there, we walked to our seats on the library quad (and I'm so thankful it didn't rain during our ceremony). When the Dean read my name and I walked across the stage, the same sorts of feelings I had at the bell rushed through me. On stage, there is a large duct tape arrow directing you towards President McInally. I felt all my Coe memories being directed towards the President. Here I was, finally accepting my diploma and the best part was, I helped picked the man I was shaking hands with. The moment lasted only a few seconds, but it was one of the proudest moments of my life. I had a huge grin across my face.

I did it.

After the ceremony, we got about 20 minutes of photos before the rain started. Here's a sample of some of the photos, more to come! 

English majors unite!

Angela and I

Hayleigh, Hailley, and Kyle

Heyo Wisconsinites!  

Ha(il)leys

Ryan and I

Alison P. and I

Ariana and I

Hailley and Heidi, roommates for three years! :)

While I didn't have to move out because of my May Term, it was tough to see many of my friends move out. Millie especially. But, as everyone kept telling us, this wasn't the last time we were going to see each other. 

What a weekend, right? Hard to see my undergraduate time at Coe come to a close, but so glad I could celebrate it with my family and closest friends.   

Finals and Senior Dinner

The last time I wrote, I was hard at work preparing for finals. Since then, lots has happened. I spent the first weekend in May studying for my stats test, working on my final French project, and finishing off my English seminar paper on Jane Eyre. It was a hairy weekend, with nice weather and using my study breaks as a way to sneak out and enjoy the sun.

My stats test on Monday went by without a hitch. My clarinet jury Tuesday afternoon went well and it was hard to believe I won't be taking lessons again this fall. I worked for my final shift in the Writing Center, a bittersweet moment as I took my mug back to my apartment, the label on the side proclaiming, The girl who never leaves, now inaccurate. I can't tell you how much I am going to miss the Writing Center (that's probably one of the hardest things to let go with this whole graduation thing). Tuesday night was my final French class, where myself and my peers presented our individual translation projects. Post class, myself, Millie, Angela, and Chloe got off campus to camp out at the Perkins. We ordered coffee, eggs, and pie and got to work. We all had things due on Wednesday and our study breaks consisted of more coffee and having life chats. Hands down, my favorite part of finals week.

I worked late in Tuesday night/early into Wednesday morning. I made the decision to get a couple of hours of sleep, then woke up early to finish off my final English paper by 8:30 AM. As I sent the email to my professor and realized that I was done with my senior year and time as an undergraduate, it didn't quite hit me. A very anticlimactic moment. However, it did feel good to be all done. A huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders and it was time to relax and celebrate my impending graduation!

The celebration began on Thursday with the annual Senior Dinner. It was held at the Cedar Rapids Country Club, the space place I had my Clark Merit dinner earlier this school year. Everyone got to dress up, eat a fancy meal, and hang out with fellow seniors. We had many speakers at dinner, such as Janet from Financial Aid to discuss paying back our loans and Professor Kensky, a religion professor who had been awarded the Lynch Outstanding Teacher Award the previous year. The other exciting part of the dinner was the announcement of the Alumni Association Outstanding Senior Awards. A male and female win the award each year and are selected by faculty and staff on campus. I'm happy to announce that I selected as the outstanding female. I feel honored by the award and am proud of all the things I've accomplished on campus. Overall, it was a great night and definitely a perk of being a senior!

L to R: Sarah, Hailley, Kat, and Millie. 

Holding my fancy Outstanding Senior plaque

Hailley and Millie. What a duo! 

Hailley and Ariana looking good in blue! :)

The Last...

In some ways, I'm sort of surprised I haven't been more emotional this week as I complete my "last [insert thing/event/item here]." I've maintained composure and probably some of this "cool" front is due to the fact that a) I'm going on May Term so I'm not moving out on graduation day and b) I'll be working on campus this summer since I have a few month gap before graduate school.

Overall this week has been great, both filled with stress yet also reminding me of all the reasons I love Coe and all the people who have made Coe wonderful. I think the best example of this occurred on Monday at my final Writing Center staff meeting. We deemed this meeting our Writing Center Talent Show meeting, which was probably one of our all time best ideas.

Earlier this year, I realized that not many of my writing center peers knew I played the clarinet (which of course you readers knew). When the talent show idea came about, I said to myself, "I should play the clarinet."

Which I did. I resurfaced the Brahms piece I played my sophomore year because it's probably my all time favorite piece to play and I think it really shows off my tone and talent as a clarinet player.

I was first up at the talent show and I had quite the set-up. I had forgotten a music stand and taped my music to the movable whiteboard. Next to me, I had my laptop to play my accompaniment.

It was a good performance. In that moment, I could feel all the support from my peers. They applauded for quite some time when I finished and I had my classic wide grin spread across my face. It was one of those nights where everything felt right. That the past four years led to that moment and the feeling of a community and family. It was pretty incredible.

Well, better get back to studying. Finals are almost here!