Finals Week

Hi all So believe it or not finals week is here. I honestly do not know where this last week has gone to. Between last tests, projects, preparing for finals and all the Christmas activities going on around campus this last week was so quick. As I write this I should really be studying for my accounting final tomorrow but I figured I needed a break. It is so weird to think that in five days I will be home for the Christmas break. Yesterday morning my CLC (Christian Life Community) went to volunteer at a clothing distribution for low income families. The organization had collected 1.2 tons of donated clothing and our role was to get the clothing sorted and set up for the families to come in. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning. After all isn’t that what the Christmas season is all about?

            This past week one of the organizations I am in sponsored Zumba classes as a way to de-stress. I had never done Zumba before but I found it to be a fun and a nice chance to relax.  So tonight is the annual Student Senate Midnight breakfast. As I think I mentioned in a previous blog entry I am on Student Senate so I am helping to serve breakfast to all the students that come tonight.

            Finally, last night was the annual Rockhurst Ceremony of Lessons and Carols presented by the Center for Arts and Letters and the office of Alumni and Constituent relations. It was a great concert. The Rockhurst Choir sounded great. I am always a big fan of holiday concerts and then of course the best part they had a free reception after the concert with holiday cookies J.

Hope you have a great 2^nd week of advent.

Here is a quote from one of my favorite Christmas songs called Give This Christmas Away by Matthew West: “Give this Christmas away If there's love in your heart Don't let it stay there Give this Christmas away And your life will be changed By the gift you receive When you give this Christmas away Give this Christmas away You have the power Just give it away Give it away, give it away”

Thanksgiving

Hi Everyone! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I really enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. For me the Thanksgiving holiday is just such a nice time to reflect on all the blessings I have been given with over the last year. Our families church back in Naperville, IL does a very nice Thanksgiving mass where the homily consists mainly of time for those in attendance to share if they want how they have been blessed this past year. My sister came home from college and my Grandma came in so it was nice to spend thanksgiving with them. I think my sister Hannah (the only one of us three still at home enjoyed a break from the quietness although she is not fast to admit it). Again I asked her if she wanted to be my guest blogger and write my blog entry for me but she did not take my up on the offer.

My Dad, Hannah and me hanging Christmas lights.

This Thanksgiving break was shorter than last year. Last year we got the whole week off and this year we only got three days off plus the weekend. In case anyone was wondering I was not one of those inline at 10pm on Thanksgiving day waiting for Walmart to open. My question is what happened to Thanksgiving being a day to spend with family…at the rate society is going black Friday might become black Thanksgiving. Any who those are just my thoughts.

So this is the last week of classes before finals. I cannot believe I am almost done with three semesters of Rockhurst. Next week is finals then CHRISTMAS BREAK! It was nice being able to tell my parents this morning when I left that I would see them in only 12 days.

The two days of classes last week were a little crazy I had two big exams in those days. Both of them went pretty good I think. One of them took my like three hours… It was all writing too. I have never had my hand cramp up so badly.

I hope everyone enjoys this advent season.

As we enter into this busy holiday season I would like to share part of song with you:

“ I need a silent night, a holy night
To hear an angel voice through the chaos and the noise
I need a midnight clear, a little peace right here
To end this crazy day with a silent night
To end this crazy day with a silent night” I need a Silent Night by Amy Grant

Shortest Week of the Year

Hi everyone,

So I am excited... I get to go home Tuesday night. We only go to classes for two days this week but those in those two days I have a paper due and two big tests so it should be an interesting week. When I get back from Thanksgiving break I have 4 days of classes then 4 days of finals. Then I am done for Christmas break :) It is hard to believe I am already done with one and a half years of my college experience. 

Hope everyone has safe travels where ever you might be going over this Thanksgiving weekend. 

Ill post a longer entry later in the week. 

It's almost 70 out and Thanksgiving break is only 9 days away!

Hi all, Well it is 8 days and counting till Thanksgiving break! (really only 6 days of classes, 5 for me because I do not have class on Friday). I am very happy I had a pretty productive weekend this past weekend. The weather was awesome this weekend. The temperature yesterday was around 70!  On top of getting  a lot of school work done. I also went out for breakfast with my Aunt on Saturday at First Watch which was very enjoyable.

The Rockhurst Men’s Soccer team played Friday night winning and also played yesterday (Sunday) as well. Their win on Sunday advanced them to the Elite 8 and gave their head coach Tocco his 600^th lifetime win. So congrats to Coach Tocco who is also my Professor for Accounting. The team plays next weekend out in Pennsylvania. If you want to stay up on how they are doing make sure to “like” Rockhurst University Athletics” on Facebook. (as a side note I am the one in charge of updating the Rockhurst Athletics Facebook page).

Men's Soccer team after their win on Sunday

            Last week was just such a crazy week. I had the nonprofit breakfast which I helped with on Monday morning. Then that afternoon I did week one of a four week volunteering stint at a local YMCA with their afterschool programs as part of my nonprofit administration class. That evening I spent a majority of it preparing for the Dinner with the Industry event sponsored by the Dean’s Student Advisory Board. I coordinated the online sign up for the event. That Dinner was Wednesday night and it went really good. It was a great event were students who signed up got a free three course dinner and got to network with a industry member from a field that interested them. This event serves as a great way to get internships. There were about 30 industry members at the event and about 100 students; which was comparable to the numbers we had last year at the event. On Friday I assisted with the Resident life event Beyond Words (which I have decided to make a separate blog entry later this week probably).

Quote for the week: “For with God nothing shall be impossible”-Luke 1:37

P.S. I am not sure if it is too early but as I write this I am listening to Christmas music…It just makes me so happy. The Christmas season has always been one of my favorite times of year.

            

The good (busy) life.

So I apologize in advance that this entry will be shorter. I will have more time to post later in the week. This is just a really crazy week for me (or at least crazier than normal).

One of my friends last year recruited me to help the Association of Fundraising Professionals in Kansas City with a breakfast for National Philanthropy to honor those who have given back to the community. It was a super nice event. I did the audio and visual stuff for the breakfast and awards presentation. I am sure I will elaborate on this event at some point later one. (I have a confession there is a test I should be studying for right now but I really wanted to post.). But procrastination is the life of the college student right?... Well not for me normally I try not to (and succeed at not procrastinating 95% of the time).

On Wednesday night there is an event on campus called Dinner with the Industry sponsored by the Dean’s Student Advisory Board (which I am a part of). We bring in about 30 local professionals in all careers and give students (all majors invited) to come network and have a free three course dinner. Which college student will pass up free food right? Well sorry to cut this short but I have an American Government test I should get back to studying for.

So my quote today is going to be from the song Ride of Your Life from the What a Girl Wants movie. Come on here’s your chance. Don’t let it slip right through your hands. Are you ready for the ride of your life. Your dreams are riding on the wind. Just reach out and pull them in and get ready for the ride of your life” 

Board of Directors

So I figured I would make an entry of what I submitted as my candidate statement for the NCHC Board of Directors:

I am a sophomore at Rockhurst University, double-majoring in Nonprofit Leadership Studies and Accounting.  Rockhurst University is a Jesuit university and one of the major tenets of the Jesuit mission is service to others. This has always been an important value in my own life.  This past year, I had the honor and privilege of becoming a kidney donor to my Dad.  I am currently working with a grant from the Helzberg School of Management at Rockhurst University to coordinate a trip to Haiti, inspired by a service trip to Haiti that I took in high school. At the NCHC 2011 conference, I was a student moderator for two sessions and a session presenter. At Rockhurst, I serve on the Honors Student Association Executive Board and as a Student Senate Representative on the Honors Advisory Committee. Since I have been VP of Activities on the Honors E-Board there has been a tremendous increase in student involvement in activities. Further, last year, Rockhurst hosted the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities Honors Conference and I played a major role in the planning of the conference and presented a session.  I also had the good fortune of attending the NCHC 2010 conference, where I volunteered with conference set up. I am also the Desk Manager of 19 Desk Assistants in Corcoran Residence Hall (the site of our Honors Housing) as well as co-president of a student health organization on campus and serving on the Student Advisory Committee for the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance in January. A student seat on the Board would only allow me to further serve others.

The opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors for NCHC would provide me valuable experience with nonprofit organizations, which would be applicable to my major in Nonprofit Leadership Studies. Moreover, I am tremendously dedicated to the honors program. By year’s close I will have already completed the required 24 honors credit hours. Additionally, I will have half of my nonprofit courses completed, so I have a strong understanding of how nonprofit organizations work. Finally, Kansas City is located only a few hours from the site of the annual board of directors meeting in Lincoln, which will ensure attendance at the required meetings. I humbly ask you to consider me for the two-year student board position. Thank you.

This will soon be online at http://nchchonors.org/2012_nominees.html along with the other candidates that are running. 

Hope you have a great week! 

"There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream" - Author Unknown 

NCHC 2011

So you are probably wondering what in the world NCHC stands for. NCHC stands for the National Collegiate Honors Council, which the Rockhurst University Honors Program is a member of. There are over 800 colleges and universities across the country that are members of NCHC. This past weekend was the annual conference for NCHC bringing together over 1600 students and honors from over 500 colleges and universities. The conference took place in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. So I got to take a nice but busy weekend trip out to Arizona. I along with another student from Rockhurst had submitted a proposal to present at NCHC last spring and found out over the summer that our proposal had been selected to be presented at NCHC. This is the first time in recent history that any Rockhurst students have presented at NCHC. So Kaela and I along with Dr. Walker, the director of the Rockhurst Honors Program, made the trip out to Phoenix.

            In addition to doing our presentation at NCHC we also heard countless other presentations and two keynote speakers. The other presentations we heard gave us numerous ideas on how the Rockhurst Honors program could be improved and what is working well for other schools. It is really a great conference that helps me to understand what makes the honors programs at colleges and universities across the country so special. At these types of conferences you get to meet really awesome people from all over the country which is fun.

            One other cool thing about this conference is that they have student positions open on the Board of Directors for NCHC. My honors director nominated me for one of those positions and now it is up to the voting member from each institution to vote on who they would like to see on the Board of Directors for NCHC. I am writing a personal statement for people to know more about me so I will post that as my next blog entry in case anyone is interested in reading it.

Hope you have an awesome week! We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fall Break then comes Fall Weather

Well I am not quite sure where that fall break went to. It seemed like it was almost over before it started. My youngest sister wanted to write my blog for me this week but she never followed through on this...So I am sure you all probably want to know what I did over break. Well when I got home on Wednesday I went to a couple of meetings I had set up with the organization I had done a volunteer internship for over the summer. It was a great experience doing that volunteer internship. There is something to be said for completing an internship without pay. In the end I learned so much doing that internship that will help me when I graduate from RU. An additional perk of going back last week to the organization was that I got to be interviewed to be on a local news station. After my meetings I came home and relaxed I was still tired from the bus ride home.  

            On Thursday it was try to attempt to get my homework done day. Fact of the matter is you never get as much done as you want to at home. It is just so nice being home though, sleeping in your own bed and catching up with your family.

            On Friday it was a day to spend with my Mom. We went out to breakfast at my favorite place Corner Bakery (It is a Chicago thing) then she took me birthday shopping since my birthday is this week. Most importantly though we just got to spend time together talking about life. Nothing can top that.

            Then on Saturday our family went down to visit my sister at Bradley University which is about 2.5 hours from our house. It was awesome to see her. She is a freshman this year. However it makes for a long day. It was the first time I had ever been down to Bradley.

Over the break I think I figured out I think I spent at least 20 hours traveling from Tuesday night to Sunday morning. Want to hear about how I am getting to go to Phoenix AZ next weekend? Stay tuned for the next blog! Have a good week!

Quote:"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. 

Norman Vincent Peale"

It's Finally Fall Break

Alright so I thought I would have time to post this Wednesday but the break just escaped me. So…written Wednesday the 12^th: Yesterday I finished up my final two midterms that I had to take before my fall break. It is a great feeling to get those midterms behind me. Although I do have a decent amount of homework to do over this short fall break. Its hard to believe I am already done with 1.25 years of college! Last night I rode the Megabus home. (Highly recommended for those thinking of coming to RU from St. Louis of Chicago. I got home to Chicago for a grand total of $15.50. The only drawback is that it is almost 11 hours to Chicago on the Megabus. Alright off to enjoy my break now.

Today’s Quote: “Anything is possible. You can be told that you have a 90-percent chance or a 50-percent chance or a 1-percent chance, but you have to believe, and you have to fight.” –Lance Armstrong.

Another one bites the dust

It is hard to believe but I have already finished one of my classes. My Nonprofit Fundraising and Development class concluded last Tuesday night. Most of the nonprofit classes are formatted as half-semester accelerated classes. The class meets for four hours one night a week and then also meets on one Saturday. Four hours gets to be a little long I have to admit but I have begun to get used to it. As I have mentioned previously I really enjoy my nonprofit classes. I have really found a deep passion for nonprofit organizations so these classes are perfect for me. A lot of the nonprofit classes have a service learning component to them which is nice. The service learning component to this one was either participating in or helping with the Hopkins 5k and then following that up by writing grant proposals that they could use for additional support in the coming years. I find it interesting the range of the ages of the students we have in our night classes. For example about half of our class was night students or nontraditional students. This age range makes for some really good discussions. When I return from fall break I start another nonprofit night classes called nonprofit administration.

In our class we read an awesome little book called The Go-Give to supplement out textbook. Here is a quote from it. “The Law of Value… Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment”- Bob Burg and John David Mann

So I’m trying something new and writing two shorter blog entries a week so check back in a few days for the next one.

Family Weekend

So as I mentioned in my previous blog entry I would talk about family weekend in the next blog entry so I am sorry it is so delayed though. It is hard to believe family weekend was already over a week ago. However looking forward I get to go home in just over a week for fall break; which is always exciting! (Not like I don’t love RU or anything sometimes it is just nice to go home and be spoiled for a few days).

            So anyway… my family came up for family weekend this year which was so nice because they were not able to make it up last year. They made the eight hour drive in on Friday. That afternoon my sister got a tour of RU (she is a junior and thinking about coming here). It was a perfect weather weekend all weekend long. That evening we sat outside had dinner and watched the family weekend soccer games. On Saturday we attended the Helzberg School of Management and Professional Development’s activities which included different speakers as well as a panel discussion. The panel discussion was very interesting and thought provoking. I hope they decide to do it again next year.

            Then on Saturday afternoon we attended Family and Alumni weekend mass at St. Francis Xavier Church (the church were we have our weekly 6pm student masses at). The President of RU Father Curran did the homily and the RU choir did the music for the mass. It was a very well done mass.

            Back to why I didn’t get to writing this until now… I had to turn in my final project for my nonprofit fundraising and development class (it is an accelerated class so this week is our last class already!) and I also had a Honors Christianity II Exam Thursday and a presentation in another class Thursday so it was a busy week and midterms are coming up soon… (fun stuff I know J ).

Okay so one of my hobbies is running so this week a picked a running quote from a famous runner… “You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement. Steve Prefontaine

The picture blow is on this huge chair that got put up outside the upperclassman hall (XL) This is a picture of me and my sister Hannah (the one who took the tour).

Have a fantastic week everyone! 

A Full Senate

So last Thursday was the first official meeting of the RU Senate with all the newly elected and appointed members. It is exciting to have a full senate now. I have a feeling that we will do lots of great things this year. This is my first full year being a part of the RU Student Senate. I tried running for Student Senate last fall as a freshman but was not elected or appointed. However last January I was appointed to student senate and then reelected by the student body for another year. We have an awesome advisor for Student Senate, Dr. Matt Quick who is also the Dean of Students.

            For those of you who may not be familiar with the RU Student Senate we do various activities around campus and are also the voice of the students when they have concerns that need to be addressed or ideas for improvement. Some of the events the RU Student Senate is better known for include:

            The Senate BBQ which occurs in conjunction with the free stuff fair (or more formally known as the Student Activities Fair).

Senate Midnight breakfasts on the evening prior to finals starting both semesters. (It actually ends at midnight, don’t think it doesn’t start till midnight). This is a really fun event in which the Senators make breakfast (including omelets) for the student body. It is a really fun way to start off what can be a very stressful week for some people.

Third major event is Senate BINGO! I never thought I would see more people playing bingo in my life. It is just a fun evening of bingo, really awesome prizes (such as an IPAD last year) and free pizza for all who come out. It is a fun evening for all.

            Well that is all I have to say for this one…It is a super busy two weeks (last week and this week) for me…  If you want to keep on the happenings of RU Student Senate make sure to check out http://rustudentsenate.weebly.com/index.html

Hint hint… the next blog entry will be about family weekend (and Yes this year my family made the 500 mile journey to see me J )  Hope you have an awesome week.

Oh yes… this week’s quote is from The Servant Song (sang at mass here on a regular basis) Will you let me be your servant Let me be as Christ to you Pray that I might have the grace To let me be your servant too” 

Come Holy Spirit

Last Tuesday was the Mass of the Holy Spirit here at Rockhurst. The President let all classes out so everyone who wanted to could attend the mass. Mass of the Holy Spirit is celebrated at all the Jesuit Colleges and Universities across the country on the same day; which I think is so cool. The Mass of the Holy Spirit was a tradition started all the way back in 1548! Rockhurst had a great turn out at the mass. Those in attendance included Regents, Trustees, Staff, Professors and Students. Father John Craig who is in his first year here in Campus Ministries gave a great homily.

One part of the mass of the mass I found particularly neat was how the first reading was read in three different languages (English, Spanish, and French) at the same time! I am also a huge fan of church music especially some of the “newer” church music. The Rockhurst Choir was awesome during the mass and the song selection was also perfect for the occasion.

Then following mass it was a perfect day outside and Rockhurst had a free lunch on the quad for all who were in attendance at the mass. You know students will not pass up free food! It was just a great way to start off the year asking the holy spirits blessing on the school year. The Students present at the mass read a blessing for the staff, and faculty present at the mass and then the staff and faculty read a blessing for the students.

This week’s inspirational quote is taken from the program at the Mass of the Holy Spirit:

“We stand called by the one spirit to share the very work of God; to shape our future, to renew the face of our fragile planet, and to heal its many communities. We celebrate our common call and purpose” 

May the God of wisdom, knowledge and grace bless each of us as we begin this year! 

A weekend to remember… in a different way

So as the title implies this weekend was a weekend to remember. On Saturday I participated in the Nelson Hopkins Skip and Run.

The Skip and Run is a 5k to benefit the memorial scholarship fund for Nelson Hopkins who was a high school senior living in the local community when one day in late 2009 he was found dead by police not far from campus. He was walking home from the bus stop after spending time at the downtown library filling out his college application. So at 10 on Saturday morning about 280 Rockhurst Students, faculty and local community members took the streets running to raise money for a scholarship fund set up in his honor and to honor the legacy that Nelson left.

As a note the top person finished in a time of 18 minutes and 30 seconds and in case you were wondering I finished in a time of 21 minutes and 10 seconds. I was happy with my time because it was a hilly course. In high school I was a 4 year cross country and track runner running a 5k is nothing new to me. I also participated last year in the first ever Nelson Hopkins Skip and Run.

            One Sunday September 11^th it was a day to remember for Rockhurst as well as for the nation as we remembered the tenth anniversary of 9/11. So growing up I really enjoyed watching the news and I remember being glued to the TV for about a week after 9/11 happened. So I am not sure about any else but on Sunday I got distracted from my homework watching the 9/11 memorial videos on Youtube. FYI there is some really good ones if anyone is interested.

One of my friends and I had an interesting talk reflecting back on 9/11 saying that we were in 5^th and 4^th grades respectively when 9/11 occurred. We remember what happened and were thinking that we are one of the last years of students that remember 9/11 and were able to at least partly understand it. We made the comment to each other that it is crazy there are kids as old as we were when 9/11 happened that were not even born when it occurred so have no remembrance of it at all.

On Sunday night at the 6pm student mass we honored the 9/11 victims by taking a moment of silence and lighting a candle for each year that has passed since the events 9/11 took place.  It was a simple but appropriate way to remember 9/11. Hope you have a great week!

This week’s quote will take a different perspective… when I saw it I just stopped and thought… “‎‎9/11 in Numbers: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. Total number of people killed in attacks: 2,819. Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343. Bodies found "intact": 289.Body parts found: 19,858. Number of families who never received remains: 1,717. Number of people who lost a spouse/partner in the attacks: 1,609. Estimated number of children who lost a parent: 3,051. Estimated number of New Yorkers suffering from post-traumatic-stress disorder as a result of 9/11: 422,000. So many numbers. But here's one more: 10 years. Forever in our hearts and never forgotten.” It just makes me realize how fortunate I am. Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kqA0JEJchI

Who am I?

So before I start getting into my blogging I figured I should tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Josh Goralski I am currently a sophomore at Rockhurst University majoring in Nonprofit Leadership Studies and Accounting. I have a work study job in the athletic office and I am also the Desk Manager in Corcoran Hall. (Each of those will probably be separate blog topics for a later date so stay tuned). I came to Rockhurst University from Naperville, Illinois (approximately 30 miles outside of Chicago).  Back in Naperville I have an awesome family of my two sisters Bethany and Hannah and my parents. I have and will always be close to my family. 

People often ask me “why did I pick Rockhurst?” My answer to that question is for a few reasons. One of the reasons I decided to come to Rockhurst University is that they had my major (Nonprofit Leadership Studies) which is not offered as an undergraduate at very many universities across the country. Another is the size of Rockhurst. I went to a high school of approximately 3200 students and had a graduating class of 781. By my senior year I finally felt like I had made a name for myself. That took me 3 years too long. One of the awesome things about Rockhurst is that if you choose to get involved (which is highly highly highly recommended) you will be know by name by the student activities staff and many others on campus by the end of first semester if not sooner. Finally I decided to Rockhurst because I wanted a Catholic school. After going to public school all my life but being majorly involved with my church in Naperville I wanted to have my faith live incorporated into the classroom.  So this concludes blog number one. I hope you come back next week for more.

I really enjoy motivational quotes. So every blog entry I am going to try to end with one so here is the first one. This one happens to be inscribed on the Rockhurst bell tower make sure to look at it for yourself when you visit: ““You are called by the Society of Jesus to be men and women who reflect upon the reality of the world around you with all its ambiguities, opportunities, and challenges, to discern what is really happening in your life and in the lives of others, to find God there and to discover where God is calling you, to employ criteria for significant choices that reflect Godly values rather than narrow, exclusive self-interest, to make decisions in the light of what is truly for the greater glory of God and the service of those in need, and then to act accordingly.”  Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., 29th Superior General of the Society of Jesus, 1997