Sunday, July 21, 2013

Another week of Summer has passed...

Hi All,

It is hard to believe that another week of summer has flown bye. I do not even know where this week went to. It seems like yesterday that I was blogging last when really it was over a week ago. Hard to believe.

Yesterday our family had tickets to the Chicago White Sox Game so I went. It was hot but fun. It was a good game too. It is always funny when the biggest cheer was in the 4th inning when the Sox scored. It was not only because the Sox scored but because it also happened in the 4th inning. You might ask what is so special about the 4th inning while Dunkin Donuts here in Chicago runs a promotion that when the Sox score in the 4th inning everyone wins a free small iced coffee. It is funny to see how the excitement level increased with everyone winning the free coffee. Also, at the game yesterday was the most successful "Wave" through the crowd that I have seen in a long time. It went around the stadium twice, at least. It is interest to watch how when more people are doing the wave in the sections approaching your section you are more likely to do it. Anyway, I must let it be known that when it comes to Chicago Baseball I am a Cubs fan through and through. I only go to Chicago White Sox games because my youngest sister and my Dad are big Chicago White Sox fans.

Here is a picture my mom took of my Sister and I at the game 

In other news I am starting to look in Grad School. So Wednesday, I went to meet with the program director of Notre Dame's Master's in Nonprofit Administration (MNA) program. I really like Notre Dame's campus and they are supposed to have a really good program. It was good to sit down and talk with their program director and hear more details about the program. Knowing that there is a good chance I will be going to grad school also means it is time to start thinking about the GRE. You know how in high school you think that ohh once you finish the ACT you are done with standardized tests... haha such a joke. Anyway so this week I should take some time to start reviewing for the GRE. Good thing is that your GRE score is good for 5 years so once you take it and are happy with your score even if I defer grad school for a few years I will not have to retake it.

Also, the learning center at Rockhurst does offer GRE preparation materials so I am going to be sure to make use of those in the coming months leading up to the test.

This week looks to be a pretty typical week as summer weeks come. I found a living social (like Groupon) deal so my Dad and I are going kayaking tomorrow evening so that should be interesting. Otherwise it is a week to plow along and hopefully get a lot of work done for my internship and try to spend some time enjoying summer (before it escapes). Anyway hope you have a great week. I found this quote hope you like it.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Summer Internship

Hi All,

The title of this blog post is deceiving because the internship I am currently doing is not just a summer internship. It is one I started back at the end of March and will continue till the end of this coming academic year/my senior year (aka till late Spring of  2014). Sorry I have not talked much about my internship till this time. It is not because I am not enjoying it or anything. Much to the contrary- I am really loving my internship and is giving me some fantastic experience.

My official title is AMI Planning Intern for an organization called the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. The Mission of the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance is to strengthen the social sector with a talented, prepared workforce. They are based out of Kansas City, down in the Power and Light district for those of you Kansas City people. The Nonprofit Leadership Alliance is the national organization that certifies nonprofit professionals. I am currently enrolled in the program through Rockhurst University so through doing the Nonprofit Leadership Studies Major at Rockhurst I will also receive my CNP Designation from the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. So once I graduation I will be able to put MY NAME, CNP. To read more about the program Rockhurst offers in Nonprofit Leadership Studies check out this link http://www.rockhurst.edu/academics/undergraduate/majors/nonprofit-leadership/overview/

Back to my role as the AMI Planning Intern. You might be wondering what is AMI. AMI stands for the Alliance Management/Leadership Institute. AMI is the national institute held every January for the students seeking their CNP designation. All students before they get their CNP have to come to the Institute at least one time. Over 550 students will come this year to the conference along with campus faculty and Social Sector Leaders. At the Institute there will be workshops for the students to go to, Keynote speakers, a case study project where the students go into the community and work on a real issue a nonprofit is currently facing and many other neat things! I will be sharing more over the coming weeks and months!

I am working on putting the Institute together from details about the schedule to the fundraising aspect. Over the coming weeks and months I will be sharing more with you. To learn more about the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance visit: http://www.nonprofitleadershipalliance.org/aboutus/aboutus.html#sthash.jxWkYJYz.dpbs

Inspiration

The Motivation Blog! I have dedicated one blog post to motivation. Hope you all enjoy. Rockhurst has motivated me to be the best leader that I can be!


Photo: Hard TimesPhoto: The truth about success.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

4th of July

Hi Everyone,

Hope everyone had a great fourth of July! Here in Chicago the weather was the best it had been all summer. It did not rain for over 4 days (I think that is the longest period of time over the summer that it has gone without raining). 


On Thursday I went for a bike ride with my Mom. It was a great morning for a bike ride. We ended up going like 16 miles it was so much fun. We went to a family friends house for dinner in the evening. The afternoon was spent just cleaning the house and relaxing. One of my friends came in this past weekend and we were having a gathering at our house over the weekend.

More on that to come. I found this cool quote! Hope you enjoy it!