That's All Folks!

Well guys, it's that time of year. Graduation time!! I am currently working on my last project and then I am done!! Right now I'm doing my final portfolio for my Middle Level Education class and decided to take a little break and say my goodbye! Since I'm a Senior I won't be returning to blog in the fall so this will be my last blog. I really enjoyed sharing my college experience with you (Even if I did not do so good this term - Sorry!) and I hope you learned something about what it's like to be a Mercyhurst Laker!

My plans for the summer are to return to my usual job hostessing at a local restaurant that I've worked at since I was a freshman, do a little work as a secretary for a school near my house and maybe get some volunteer hours in at the Pittsburgh Refugee Center. I'm also running my first 5k! It's in Columbus, Ohio and it's called "The Color Run" their slogan is "The Happiest 5K on the Planet" and I don't think they are lying! And let's not forget I'll be lesson planning for my student teaching in the fall! So I'd say my summer is pretty packed!

This is a promo vide for the Color Run! :) I can't wait!

I'll be spending the next few days packing up my apartment, hanging out with friends, saying goodbyes and preparing for graduation. I can't believe it's already here and I know I definitely am not ready to leave Mercyhurst behind! I've made amazing friends that i know I will have for a long time, and I;ve had some wonderful experiences and great memories. Mercyhurst became my second home for the past four years, and I'm sad that I have to leave.

So to all my friends, classmates, professors, faculty & staff at Mercyhurst - Thank you, it's been great.

Some of the best girls I know at our last Ambassador event!

Hockey and Soccer and Radio Shows!

Howdy everyone! Sorry for such a long break! The past few weeks have been insane up here at the Hurst! First of all a huge congrats to our Mens and Womens Hockey teams who both went on to their respective playoffs in Rochester and Wisconsin a few weeks ago. The games were amazing - and the fan support was unreal! We rocked the Mercyhurst Ice Center (MIC) Friday, Saturday and then again on Sunday to rally a win over Holy Cross.

Next up - Soccer Club! We are currently in full swing getting into Spring Term - which is why I've been so incredibly busy! We are in charge of the soccer intramurals this year which is great because we are helping them revamp the process a bit to make it a bit more streamlined. We start our games NEXT WEEK! Crazy! Intramurals are free, co-ed and you have to have one girl on the field at all times, we play 7v7 including a goalie, and play in the evenings after classes have ended. There are playoffs at the end concluding in a championship game - prizes included!

My team winning 3rd Place at the Fall Equinox Tournament!

We are also planning our Spring Equinox Tournament! This is a fundraiser for the club, and we host a tournament for students to participate in and win great prizes. This is separate from Intramurals where we plan the games tournament style and it is all one on one or two weekend nights.

Finally - we are also going to an International Friendly Tournament down at Slippery Rock University in April! I'm so excited for this, because we will get to play teams from other schools all around the area and across the state! This will be a fun and competitive tournament which will be a nice change from our regular pick up games, which aren't really very competitive.

And finally - I've been Clinical II placement for the past 3 weeks now and love it. I taught my first full lesson on Monday and it was great! We read a radio-play as a class and then the students were given several options of an assignment to complete. My co-operating teacher and my supervisor had really positive things to say about my lesson - which is great feed back and is making me way less nervous about actually student teaching in the fall!

Right now I'm off to lunch with some friends at the Laker Inn, and then playing soccer with the club tonight - because it's gorgeous outside!!

So if you're somewhere where the weather has been fantastic, get off the computer and get outside and enjoy it!

Later Lakers.

Last Spring Term!

Hey everyone!!

Spring term has just gotten started here at the Hurst! I came back up to Erie well rested and ready for Spring after spending a wonderful week in Marco Island, Florida relaxing on the beach with my friends!

We built a giant sand fort :)

As I mentioned in my previous post I am taking Clinical 2, but I'm also taking Pedagogy and Practice of Middle Level Education, as well as Language and Literacy II. The Clinical 2 class is one of my most important classes - I spend this whole term going into a local middle school two days a week and have a seminar on Friday Mornings.  Pedagogy and Practice focuses on teaching methods that we can use later in our classrooms. Language and Literacy II is a class that looks at how to teach kids to read, write and focus on how to promote literacy in all classes.

I really like my classes this term and am super excited to see what I will learn! I'm headed to dinner with my roommates shortly - it's Breakfast for Dinner in the cafe! :) Can't wait!!

Catch ya later

Oh it's FINALLY FINALS!

Hey everyone!
Just one last blog before I take my last final and head down to the sunny, sandy beautiful warm beaches of Florida!! The past few days up here at the Hurst have been very busy for everyone! I have had a project and final paper due for my Applied Linguistics class on Tuesday and my last final is on Wednesday for Environmental Problem Solving! YAY Only one left!

The end of the term is always crazy with projects, presentations, tests and all that jazz. But I'm excited for a few very exciting things coming up in the next week and term! I start my Clinical 2 for Education - so scary/exciting! I can't wait to get into the classroom and meet my students and cooperating teacher! Shortly after we get back from Spring Break, we have Spring Tea for Ambassadors! This is the celebration for the whole club where the new pledges are inducted and receive their fantastic green jackets! For the Seniors it is the formal goodbye from the club. It's really fun - we sing, we give awards and after - we have tea! Also coming up is my final undergrad term here at Mercyhurst! I'll be back in the Fall to complete my Student Teaching (Capstone Clinical), but I'll walk this Spring with my classmates. (a little confusing I realize - but it all works out).

And last, but certainly not least! On Friday MSG and SAC announced that our SpringFest musician would be Sean Kingston this year! Springfest is a weekend long celebration at the end of the year with food, inflatables, games, music and a lot of fun! Plus on Friday night we have a FREE CONCERT for students - and this year it is Sean Kingston!! How awesome is that!?

So I've got a lot to look forward to in the next ten weeks! And you have a lot of great updates to look forward to as well!

Happy Days Readers :)

Happy Monday

Hey everyone! Here is just a quick recap of my past two weekends.

On February 5, I went to see the play "The Importance of Being Ernest" here on campus! It was put on by our Mercyhurst Theater group here on campus. It was an awesome show! I had read the play in high school - maybe you have too - and I liked it then. It's witty, and filled with situational comedy a la 1900s. What's not to like? But in person it's much better! Especially when the Captain of the Lacrosse team is Lady Bracknell!! The students did a great job putting on a classic play - and the audience really enjoyed themselves!

On Friday night I played some futsal in the REC center on campus with some of the members of the Soccer Club! It was really fun to get together with everyone and just run around and play soccer. I scored a few goals so I was pretty happy with myself.

This past Saturday night I attended the Mercyhurst Dance Departments showing of Raw Edges. It is a show in which the junior and senior Dance students in the Choreography 3 & 4 classes create a dance and use their classmates as a cast. It's always my favorite dance show of the year - everything that you see is completely original and always really good. You see everything from formal ballet on pointe to modern music set to dub step!

And of course on Super Bowl Sunday I watched the Super Bowl with my friends at their Townhouse! We had a potluck and everyone brought some kind of food - and it was delicious!! Homemade calzones, spinach chicken Alfredo dip, hummus..... needless to say it was fantastic! I wasn't really rooting for either team - I'm a Steelers fan so I was pretty much just hoping the Patriots would lose - which they did! I basically watched for the commercials :)

This week is Senior Week so I'll be super busy having fun and finishing up final projects! (Classes end next week AHHHH)

Until next time! :)

MERCYHURST UNIVERSITY!

Hi guys!
I'm so sorry it's been so long since I blogged! I got caught up in Midterms and helping with the Senior Class Gift - I promise I didn't forget about you.
But now I'm back with probably one of the most exciting blog posts ever! If you couldn't guess by my post title - and you hadn't already heard the news... Mercyhurst College is now Officially Mercyhurst University! This is awesome news :) That means that my class will be the first class to graduate from Mercyhurst University - I'm so excited!!! This morning the entire student body got an email from the President of the Mercyhurst Dr. Gamble, saying that at 1:45 in the Student Union there would be a very important announcement! So of course I had to go and find out what it was all about. I had a notion this is what it was - but I went just to make sure. The union was packed there were tons of students, teachers, local press and administration there to hear the announcement. This is the video of the announcement and speech!
So for all you future Lakers - you will be the able to roll through those fantastic gates to Mercyhurst University next fall! :)

Until till next time Go MU!!! :)

2012 - It's a new year!

Hey everyone!
I hope you had a great Christmas/Holiday Season & New Years! I was happy to spend a relaxing two weeks at home visiting with family and friends. But now I'm back in Erie and snow is on the ground. We are just back into our 4th week and soon it will be time for midterms! I have projects coming up and I've started to plan out and think about what I need to do in the next few weeks!

I'm a member of the Senior Class Gift Committee and we have some fundraising activities and Senior Week coming up in the next month! Next week we have our Beer and Wine Tasting on campus where we will have local breweries and vineyards come in and talk to us about the different types of beers and wines they make. I'm super excited about it because it's one of the events I helped plan! Hopefully we will have a great turn out and everyone will have fun :)

Senior Class Gift logo and slogan

Talk to you later!