The Waiting Game

First off a big thank you to the one competitive scholar who responded to my last blog post. If there are any other competitive scholars out there feel free to still comment!

With lent already upon all those who are catholic. I feel like I am coming to an end of my waiting game...

Things I have been waiting to hear on:
1. The Truman Scholarship. The Truman scholarship is a $30,000 graduate school scholarship given to about 65 college juniors every year. Each university across the country is allowed to nominate up to four people for the Truman scholarship. I was the only student from Rockhurst that was nominated for the Truman Scholarship. It was a great honor in and of itself to be nominated for the Truman scholarship. Each university that participates in this has a faculty adviser that oversees and helps guides the students through the process. Rockhurst has not had someone win the the Truman scholarship in a long time.

What is really awesome about this scholarship is that there are basically no strings attached. Those who win the scholarship can use the money at any graduate school of their choice. The only catch for the scholars is that 3 out of their first 7 years post graduate school have to be spent working in public service (aka for the government or for a nonprofit organization). Seeing that working for a nonprofit is how I plan to spend my life the one requirement is easy for me.

2. Desk Manager. This past week I had my rehire interview for the on-campus job I currently hold as Desk Manager. I have had the position for the past two years. I will be the first to admit the job has it's challenges but it is a great job overall and I feel so fortunate that I get to be part of the Rockhurst Residence Life Staff. Within the next two weeks I should find out if I am going to be rehired for my position as Desk Manager. I am really excited to hear back about that because it determines my living situation for next year. As crazy as it is, all the housing applications for next year have already opened and deadlines for certain upper-classmen housing options close as soon as March 1st.

3. There are two other scholarship applications that I have finished up over the past few weeks and submit for review this coming week. It will be interesting to see if I get either of those scholarship applications.

4. There is a lot more I am sure. I have to decide what I am doing this summer for work.

Have a fantastic weekend I will post more after I find out about the Truman scholarship. By the way the Truman Scholarship has a funny twitter feed. It is quite entertaining to read. Yesterday they posted a picture of all our applications.. . 


And finally I leave you with my quote for the week. I found this cool website that had quotes from Steve Jobs.. so that is why I have picked his quotes for the next few weeks.

I pray that I may be crazy enough to think that I can change the world. 

Anyone reading out there have any questions for me RU related or just life related?

"What a great day for Rockhurst"

The title of this blog was the title of an email sent out to the student body, yesterday (Friday) was competitive scholars day at Rockhurst University. Over 305+ high school seniors came to Rockhurst. All of whom have been admitted to come here next year and represent to top tier of students. 

From the  competitive scholars day reception after all the interviews were done. Notice how nice the convocation center got transformed!

The email read "We have 305 scholars attending, and with their guests, a total of 835 people! These are record numbers for this program.We have 440 guests arriving at 8:30am, for optional morning program and by 12:30pm all of our 835 guests will be on campus.Close to 200 members of our campus community; from faculty to staff to students will be involved in making this day a wonderful experience for our guests, and in allowing Rockhurst to show one of its best attributes—our people."

It was really exciting to see all these potential Rockhurst students and their parents on campus. It reminded me of three years ago when I came here to interview for one of the 10 full ride scholarships. The year I came to interview there were only about 100 students here interviewing. This year the number of full ride scholarships they are giving away is up to 30 since they had over 300 students come for the interviews! 

Thinking back to when I came for Competitive Scholars day, it really confirmed where I was thinking about going to school. Going into the interview secession's with other candidates (potential classmates) and getting to know their background. More than the full ride conversations it is a chance to have an intellectually based conversation around topics that are of interest to everyone. You also get a chance to meet with some of the faculty members who conduct the interview secession's  To this day I still remember some of the faculty members that interviewed me while I was here. Additionally, some of my fellow students who came to be interviewed I have ended up becoming good friends with here at Rockhurst. For me the interview was not very intimidating instead it was a really good chance to share with others some of the life experiences that I had that shaped and formed me. 

Now for the 300+ Students that came to competitive scholars day it is waiting time to find out if they are one of the luck 30 to get a full tuition scholarship. If any of the competitive scholars happen to be reading this blog I would love for you to comment on how you enjoyed the experience of the day and if it swayed your college choice at all? Hope to hear from some of you! 

Here is the Quote for the week!

Semester in Full Swing

Hi All,

Hope everyone had an awesome week. My week seemed to either go bye super fast or felt really long I can not decide which though.

Monday was highlighted by an awesome weather day. The high monday was somewhere around 76 degrees. It felt awesome! The campus felt so alive! I think the warm weather brought out the best in everyone. Everyone was outside. A lot of people were running. I actually went for two runs on monday with two friends. It was so nice to be able to get out and run in just shorts and a T-shirt. One run I went on was just two miles the other run was like 6.3 miles. It was nice to catch up with some friends while I was running. A lot of students at Rockhurst like to run. More than I thought would enjoy running, honestly. I remember thinking that freshman year. Also the one room on campus that has to get the most use per square footage is the workout room. That room is always busy. It is a nice room, it is just small. I was joking with a friend it has been particularly busy this semester. My friend replied "It is everyone's new years resolution to work out more frequently and it will die off in a few weeks". My friend is probably true.

This weeks inspirational quote. 

The weather went on a drastic change. It rained all day Tuesday which defiantly changed the number of people that were out and about walking around campus. Tuesday I had an HAC (Honors Advisory Council Meeeting), which consists of two students and about 8 honors faculty members who are on the committee. We advise the Honors Director on various issues. Also on Tuesday afternoon I went to the weekly event campus ministries hosts called pasta and prayer. Which is exactly what is sounds like. We have "prayer" first which is normally mass then we all head over to the campus ministries house for "pasta" which a few students prepare. It is always really nice to have a home cooked meal and fellowship for this weekly event. Last semester I had class during the time so I was not able to attend.

On Wednesday it snowed! We got like an inch of snow here. It is crazy how the weather can turn cold so fast! The rest of the week was pretty routine. Each week I will try to highlight a different part of the week. So keep coming back to check for more!

I love 4 day weeks

I am being completely honest in my status. I love these four day weeks. Especially when they skip my most class heavy day (minus that I enjoy the classes on that day). Oh also exciting since I do not have class on friday's my 4 day week turned into a 3 day week. Otherwise this has been a really good week for me and is a relatively light homework weekend. I am taking advantage of the light homework weekend to work on three different scholarship applications.

I was looking at my planner for next week. It seems like next week is when all the club meetings get back into full swing. This past Friday I had our first Honors E-Board meeting of the semester. The Honors program is something I have been involved in since the beginning of Freshman year. Second semester of Freshman year I got elected onto E-Board and have served as VP of Activities for the honors program for the past two years. I really enjoy getting to plan all the activities for the honors program. This year the honors program welcomed it's biggest freshman class that they have had in a long time! It is great to see so many freshman passionate in the honors program. This spring we have the official "Freshman Inductions" into the honors program and then we also have E-Board Elections. One cool thing about freshman inductions is that we choose one freshman to talk about how their experience has been in the honors program.

This past week the learning center also opened again for the semester. As I might have mentioned before I am an Accounting Tutor. This semester I am also an Supplementary Instructor for the Managerial accounting classes. I enjoy getting the opportunity to help the students.

Cool Pic and Quote for the Week:

Hope you enjoy! 

God Bless! 

Week One Done (#TuesdayisMonday)

Well week one of classes are one! (Well the first four day week that is).

On Tuesday we went to our Monday classes because we have this coming Monday we have off for Martin Luther King Day. The PR office made signs saying #TuesdayisMonday. It was weird though I felt like I was back in high school because the homework given on the first day was due the next day. 

Residence Life and the service learning center are putting together a "day on" instead of a day off. Their is a service project going on and then they are showing a movie about Troost avenue and the dividing line that it has been over time. It should be an interesting movie I am looking forward to seeing it. 

This semester is my forth semester in a row in which I do not have classes on Friday. I am really getting used to it. It is a nice day in which I can be productive (at least that is the goal when each Friday begins). Now, it doesn't always happen that way but there is always hope.

I am going to really enjoy my classes this semester I think. My favorite class will be my final nonprofit class that I am required to take for the major, that is Volunteer Management. Since my internship last summer with Northern Illinois Food Bank I have become really interested in volunteers and how organizations can use them more effectively. With the baby boomer generation getting ready to retire I am expecting to see more and more of them volunteer during their free time. A large part of my volunteer management class is going to consist of planning a half day program for a group of girl scouts from Kansas City. The second part of the project is then recruiting volunteers to run the program that we design for them. It should be a really interesting and fun class. 

As an added bonus it has been in the 50's the last two days so I have gotten to go run outside. I did 6 miles each of the last two days. Today's run was really good. 

So at the Nonprofit Conference I was at in Atlanta over the break each campus submits a video on why they think their campus should win campus of the year. One campus used the song "For the Money" by Montgomery Gentry 
Here are the lyrics, it really struck me as I have felt this way that you can't be in it for the money.

Ah, let me tell you a little story about my family

Daddy almost made a living with eighty acres and a plowHe could've bought that place twice over working for someone in townAh, but you should've seen him in his fields at harvest timeHe'd swear the gates of heaven opened and he was standing first in line
You can't be in it for the money Money comes and money goesYou can't be in it for the money Oh, you got to satisfy your soul
I grabbed the world when I turned eighteen I turned it over and I shook it hardI filled my pockets up with money But it burned a hole right through my heart
You can't be in it for the moneyMoney comes and money goesYou can't be in it for the moneyOh, you got to satisfy your soul
You know everybody's got a purposeFrom mending bones to tending farmsYou might say that I found mineWhen I wrap my hands around this guitar
And I still wonder if I'm crazyTrying to bring a dream to lifeBut I look forward to tomorrowAnd I sleep pretty good at night
You can't be in it for the moneyMoney comes and money goesYou can't be in it for the moneyOh, you got to satisfy your soul
You can't be in it for the moneyYou can't be in it for the money

Christmas

Christmas was amazing. Simply put. It was great getting to be home with my family and just relax. Possibly what made it even more rewarding was working at the food bank prior to Christmas and seeing all the people who were able to have a Christmas dinner thanks to hard work of the food bank staff, volunteers and donors.

On Christmas eve my Mom was in charge of the Christmas Pageant at the 4:10 mass and my sister Hannah was the narrator (she did a fantastic job if I must say so myself) so our family all went to that mass. I am always willing to help out at masses, so I ended up doing the sound board at that mass. It was a really great mass with a great but simply homily. It is so exciting to see the church all decorated and packed on Christmas Eve. You might be wondering why mass is at 4:10 it is because it actually takes place in the gym. The church has a mass that starts at 4 and once it fills up everyone comes to the gym. Some families just come to the gym every year for mass and do not even bother dealing with trying to find a seat in the church. Then our family came home and had a few family friends over for pizza. It tasted great to have Chicago pizza once again! Our family always enjoys going to the midnight mass  (actually at 10:30pm with a pre-concert at 9:30) so after dinner we went back for that mass. There is something very special about that mass. Mass ended right at 11:55. 

Christmas morning was spent at home with the family opening presents and having a nice family breakfast. After all that was finished we went to South Bend, Indiana to see my Dad’s extended family. Only my grandma lives in South Bend, but we all come there for Christmas. It was nice to see my cousins, aunts and uncles and grandma. For whatever reason part of me was just longing to be at home with my family though. Anyway it was fun and we had a great Christmas dinner.

The day after Christmas me, my Dad, uncle and cousin went to see the college football hall of fame before they moved it. It was a really neat place.  Below is a picture of my sisters and I. For Christmas my parents had been wanting pictures taken of the three of us kids so that is what we got them for Christmas. 

Reflect and Discern

Hi All,

To all you out there thank you for reading my blog this semester! I enjoy blogging sorry for being brief at times. This year the theme at Rockhurst was reflection and discernment so now it is time to reflect on the last few weeks. A lot has gone on the last few weeks since Thanksgiving when my last full blog was.

• I'll start at the end. I had no finals and got a chance to meet up with my former internship supervisor and help out Nonprofit Leadership Alliance with some planning for their conference in January. 
• On Thursday I took my last final. It is nice to have 4 accounting classes completed and under my belt. It is really rewarding it is still interesting to me and I have a great group of students in my study group. A few of them I have taken all four of my accounting classes with. 
• On Wednesday I had one final. Additionally, I am not sure if I have mentioned this before in my blog before or not but I am an Accounting and Business Tutor in the Learning Center at Rockhurst (on a side note they set a record of the number of appoints they have had this semester). It is really awesome that at Rockhurst University lets all students come use the Learning Center Tutors for any subject for free (unlimited times too). 
• I really enjoy being an accounting tutor. It is nice because I spent 2-3 hours tutoring someone for my accounting class. I feel like I understand the concepts better when I take the time to explain it to someone. 
• I really enjoy helping people! 
• It is a paid job :) 
• It also looks good on your resume.
• On Tuesday I did not have any final exams. We had a discussion in my developing worlds economics class. It was a great class. We studied how organizations can be effective in dealing with development in third world countries. 
• Monday was a day full of studying since I did not have to take the optional final. 

This is my reflection on finals week more to come. There was an abundance of food everywhere we went on finals week. I am pretty sure I gained a few pounds. :)

More of a reflection on the semester to come.