Finals

I have been trying to figure out what my third blog this week will be on and honestly my mind has been so preoccupied with my final projects that that is the only thing I can think of!

I can't wait until this semester is over! I have to write a 3-paper for World Masterpieces II that is due in a week and haven't started it yet (normally I don't start papers this late, but To the Lighthouse has been a really difficult book to read and understand).

I couldn't figure out what to write about and finally decided on my thesis today (yay!).

I also have an editing project due next week and I am not nearly done *tear*

I have more finals to worry about too and the fact that Greek Day is this weekend does not help!

So wish me luck! (I know I will do well in my classes like always, but at the moment I am overwhelmed with projects/finals)

Song & Skit and Greek Day

There are two huge greek events this weekend: Friday- Song & Skit, and Saturday- Greek Day!

On Friday, all greek organizations are going to perform either a song or skit they have prepared. Fraternities compete against each other and Sororities compete against each other.

There will be judges who decide who gets 1st, 2nd, 3rd, (etc) place. 

My sorority is Delta Tau Sigma and I am extremely excited about our song & skit.

I can't tell you what we are doing because it is top secret until tomorrow haha- sorry! 

What I will tell you is that we are NOT going to be in leotards this year!! (for the record I was not part of that song & skit last year and thankful for it!)

But I will definitely blog about what we did and how it went after Greek Day.

Saturday all the Greeks are going to be on campus competing in different activities such as toilet bowl race, mattress race, tricycle race, three legged race, etc. 

The Greeks are extremely competitive- last year it got so bad that Greek Day was almost cancelled this year. 

Anyway, I will blog about Greek Day after it happens, but it is something that has occupied my mind a lot lately and just wanted to throw it out there.

Honoring the Memory of Professor Kelch

Today the LTU Scholars had a reception honoring the memory of Professor Kelch.

We had a plaque made and hung it up on the door of the Scholar's room.

Kevin Kelch passed way last year. It was a very unexpected death and it broke the hearts of many students and faculty members. Including mine.

Kevin Kelch was the founder of the Scholars Program at Lawrence Tech. He was very passionate about many things and made great contributions to the university. One the the two greatest contributions that Kelch made that made a difference in my life are 1) Creating the Media Communication Program in LTU; If it wasn't for Kelch, I would not be attending LTU. Being a student at LTU has brought so many opportunities and experiences and I thank Kelch for making such a great difference in my career and life. 2) Creating the Scholars Program; The Scholars Program has been a great help at making college life easier. It has helped me in numerous ways: making long lasting friendships, getting involved in the community, being with a group of students who care about their classes, and the program has also helped me financially (supplying snacks, drinks, paper, pens, bluebooks, etc). Most of all- I have somewhere to be and do homework while I am at school (I am a commuter)- the scholar room is my home.

It has been very difficult to say goodbye to Kelch. He was very passionate about the Scholars program and it was a difficult process deciding on a new director for the program. Kelch is simply unreplaceable. However, I have to say that our new director, Holly Helterhoff, has been doing a great job!

I have many great memories with Kelch and know that he is in a happier place. 

Through my religion I have learned that death is a messenger of joy- and we should be happy that the person is in a better world. 

I ask myself sometimes why he had to leave this world so early- but I must have faith in God and know that it was for a reason.

I will always remember Kelch and I know he is always with the scholars :)

Writing Proficiency Exam [Help!]

I recently remembered that I signed up to take the Writing Proficiency Exam on Friday.

I feel so unprepared and am scared to take it.

I knew I had to take it this semester because I am taking my last writing class (World Masterpiece Two)- so the writing is fresh on my mind.

However, I don't know what to expect from the exam or how to prepare for it.

If you have taken it please give me some tips.

For those of you who don't know what the WPE:

"The Writing Proficiency Examination, is a graduation requirement for all LTU undergraduate students. It's a timed (two and a half hours) writing exam during which you write an essay of at least three double-spaced pages (at least 750 words) in response to one of several writing prompts provided at the exam. You write the essay on a laptop computers provided for that purpose."

If a student fails it the first time, they can take it a second time with a $25 registration fee. If they fail the second time, they are required to take another Com course- and if they fail that course, they can not graduate.

So you can see why I am nervous!

Piston's Game

20 of the Miss Michigan contestants and Miss Michigan herself went to the Piston's game last night at the Palace.

It was a very fun night. It was the first time that I watched a game from a suite- I must say that view is definitely not the best, but it was nice to share the space with the girls.

The girls and I were able to promote the Miss America Organization and the Miss Michigan pageant coming up in June.

It was exciting to see people's reactions as we walked by with the crowns on our heads- specially the little girls. This type of events remind me just how much people (specially younger girls) look up to each contestant- I am truly a role model for many young girls and proud of it!

We all had a good laugh as we broke all stereotypes by getting pizza and pop as our dinner. After getting our food we went to the suite to enjoy the game.

The Piston's had an amazing game last night! They were up by almost 20 points for the majority of the game- and of course, the Piston's Won!

As we watched the game, we had a visit from the Piston's mascot. We took a lot of pictures.

We all had to leave the suite before the game was over to set up for our autograph session.
We signed signature for I believe a little over an hour- it was fun, but my hand did hurt a little after (but it's something I got to get used to!).

I ended up going home about 11:30pm- it was a long, but fun day!

Local 4

My Advanced TV Writing Class went to the Local 4 studio on Thursday. It was a really exciting trip.

I was able to see how a newscast is run backstage. It is definitely a lot of work! 

When you turn on the TV you see the talent behind the anchor table, but the people who are really running the show are off camera. There is the audio person, camera person, producer, director, floor manager, etc.

We met Devin Scillian, Rhonda Walker, Ruth Spencer, and a couple

of other people. They were really nice and gave us great advice.

My favorite part of the night was able to sit on the anchor chair and pretend to be working for Local 4 :)

I am still not 100% sure of what I want to do, but I have narrowed it done to three: Anchor, reporter, or advertising (TV commercials). So being an anchor is one of my dream jobs.

I have to extend a thanks to Erian for being the only person who thought about bringing a camera- thanks to 
her I am able share my memories of sitting at the anchor desk.

I also have to thank my two amazing professors (do I get extra credit for that? jk lol)- for taking us to Local 4. It was a great learning experience.

The Reason Being Under 110 Pounds Sucks

I have tried donating blood three times now.

The first time I was told I didn't weigh enough (I had to be 115 pounds). I was probably about 103 pounds.

So...the next time I tried donating blood I decided to be clever. I told them I was 115 pounds.

This worked nicely until they found out my iron was low- that sucked.

Apparently now they changed it from 115 to 110 pounds (which doesn't really help me), but I guess its better since I may be able to reach that weight someday.

LTU had a blood drive today and I went in (unprepared to answer the "how much do you weigh?" question). I ended up saying I didn't know- but I clearly don't look like I weigh more than 110 pounds. This man ended up giving me reasons for why I should not donate (since I look under 110 pounds)- here are some of the reasons I remember:

People under 110 pounds are....

1) More likely to faint

2) More likely to have low iron

3) More likely to pee on themselves

4) More likely to be hospitalized

I think the one that convinced me was the peeing on myself- that just didn't sound pretty.

So...once again I was declined.

I may sound all tough by saying I want to donate bad, but the truth is that I am scared shitless about needles- I hate them. I was that girl who cried bloody murder in the doctors office when getting a vaccine and then scared all the kids in the waiting room.

So in a way I was relieved, but I have many reasons why I want to overcome my fear. Here are my top two:

1) To save a life of course!

2) My mom was saved due to blood donors- I want to return the thanks.

So maybe after the Miss MI competition, if I don't win, I will make myself 5 pounds fatter and then donate blood for the first time.