Catching up after being gone

Hi All,

So sorry for the blogging delay! I was at a conference all last weekend! It was the National Collegiate Honors Council Annual Conference. It took place down at the Sheraton in New Orleans. It was an awesome conference full of nerdy people from honors programs at colleges and universities nationwide. The conference website is: http://nchchonors.org/annual-conference/2013-conference/

This was my first time ever being in New Orleans so it was a great escape from the routine and ordinary of the semester. Especially at this time in the semester when we are in the midst of a long stretch of full weeks it was nice to take a little vacation. It always makes coming back a transition and busy catching up from all the work that didn't get done at the conference. New Orleans certainly has a unique flavor to it. It grows on you after a little while. Haha. The French Benigets (or something like that. Not quite sure how you spell that) but there are super good in my opinion they are ten million times better than donuts. The hotel was pretty awesome we stayed up on the 32nd floor.  Great view, great workout room and a nice pool. More to come on the conference in the coming weeks!

This the my fourth National Collegiate Honors Council Conference. I went to present on behalf of the Rockhurst University honors program to present on best practices for fundraising your honors program. It is a great honor to be asked by the honors director to go and present at these conferences.


The theme of the conference was conflict, transformation and creolization. The description of the theme was, "Since its beginnings as a French colony in 1718, New Orleans has ever been a focal point of social and geopolitical conflicts. Evolving from the intersection of Native Americans, French and Spanish explorers, colonists, nuns and priests, as well as African slaves and free people of color, these confrontations resolved over time into a new synthesis by a process now known as Creolization. The cradle of jazz, Mardi Gras, and savory Cajun cuisine, New Orleans is a paradigm for the creativity that emerges from multicultural interplay. With the resurgence of Spanish language and culture brought by a new wave of immigrants following Hurricane Katrina in 2006, as well as the incursion of new investors in abandoned areas, cultural conflict and development continues to color the city. The resulting confrontations among values, languages, religions and artistic endeavors will continue to transform the city of New Orleans as a rich and unparalleled source of creative cultural synthesis."