Is it Friday Yet?

Phew, quite a bit has gone on since I last updated my blog...
When I left you last, I was running into the cloud of anxiety that surrounded the Man Pageant... not only was this a class project that would help determine our grade, it was actually affecting others' LIVES... no pressure or anything, right? Well, the Man Pageant went AMAZING. We had a packed house, and even community members, President Joyce, Dean Ogle, and many other staff members from the school, were in attendance. With a lofty goal of doubling the Man Pageant profits of last year, (our goal was to hit $3,000), we were freaking out when one week before the pageant, we were just nearing $900. Doubling the amount seemed impossible, but we really kicked it into high gear and ended up raising 3700 DOLLARS!$!$!$! What great evidence of how hard work pays off... and it felt WONDERFUL being able to make an impact and raise all of that money with executives from the Huntington's Disease Society of America right in the front row...
This past weekend, we initiated our 3 Alphas on Friday. Then, two of my sorority sisters and I hopped in a car on Saturday and went to stay at a BEAUTIFUL hotel in downtown Chicago. One of my best friends had won a free stay there... she wins EVERYTHING! It was nice to get out of town for a night, and it would be even nicer if my friend would pass a little of that luck my way...
As of Sunday, my plate just got a whole lot fuller... and that is because formal recruitment kicked into full swing with our first round party of the recruiting season. We had a lot of girls this round, so many that we had to separate them into 3 groups. It was nice to get to meet a group of girls, and it is SUPER nice to begin seeing ones who could be my future sisters.
Well, this weekend should be a fun one, if my rhetorical criticism paper doesn't kill me first. I have a 25 page paper due Friday that is haunting me everywhere I go, so it will be so nice to turn it in and put that bad boy out of my mind... at least until it's time to do our mandatory revisions. Then Saturday, we have our sorority formal in Oshkosh. Formals are always a blast, but this one promises to be extra-enlightening. For one, it will be my first formal as a 21-year-old SENIOR. And two, it will be the first formal to which I bring a new boy ..... we'll see how he keeps up with me and the rest of my sorority sisters... poor boy won't even know what hit him! ;-)

Picking Up Speed!

Well, it seems to me like the semester has really gained some momentum this past week... I think a large part of it has to do with the upcoming Mr. Ripon Man Pageant for the Huntington's Disease Society of America that we are putting on for our Applied Communication class. This is one of the main projects for the class, yet I am a little hesitant at labeling it a "class project." This will actually be a real event, and the proceeds will go to real people suffering from HD, which to me, catapults it out of the realm of most class projects...

Anyways, it has been one of our primary focuses of the semester, but with it nearing quickly, we are really kicking it into high gear. Yesterday we had the dress rehearsal. Tonight and tomorrow I will be helping sell tickets in the commons. And all weekend I am devoting any spare time to completing several random tasks, including sprucing up press releases and painting banners.

There's not a TON going on this weekend... my little sister is coming to visit tomorrow. She's a senior in high school, and much to my delight, is seriously considering Ripon as one of her potential future alma maters. She will be coming and meeting with an admissions counselor, and I'll be giving my two-cents as well. Saturday is the last conference football game of the year (and of my college career... sad day.) It's away at Lawrence, our biggest rival. I am hoping that I will find enough time to break away from my slew of random tasks and be in attendance!

It's November Already?

It's hard to believe, but it's officially NOVEMBER.... that is just a strange concept to wrap my mind around. Where is the semester going? Well, regardless, I had a FANTASTIC weekend. On Thursday, we did the haunted house thing up at Merriman for the smaller children in the community. It wasn't really much of a haunted house, just mainly trick or treating around to each of the rooms, bobbing for apples, decorating pumpkins, etc. It all went so well, and we had a pretty good turnout for a community event aimed at 5 year olds! Then the rest of the weekend was just crazy dress-up fun. One night, my friends and I decided to be the mob, so we spent the night chasing people around with these fake tommy guns that we found that were absolutely AWESOME. And the other night was, to put it simply, AMAZING. It was soooo much work to put together the haunted house at Merriman for the college students. Being our first year and all, we really wanted to make a good impression so that we could get continued support for years to come, so we spent many many hours and days getting costumes, decorating the house, doing test runs, etc. So when the time came to actually put it on, we were all pretty nervous but mostly excited. and it turned out to be a hit! We received soooo many compliments, and we collected a LOT of cans to donate to the local food pantry (that was the cost of entry) It was a long night (3 hours of scaring people after days of decorating... yikes!) but it was SOOOO worth it. It's definitely an event I will consider coming back to help with when I'm an old alumni next year!

Quarter of the Way Done!

After just getting back from our fall break, I came to the realization that YIKES... I am a quarter of the way done with my final year at Ripon College. Therefore, the coming of fall break was bittersweet... bitter in that it signifies the nearing end of my college career, and SWEET in that I didn't have to go to class. One of my sorority sisters and I embarked on a 4-state excursion around the midwest. We made our way around Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, and to both sides of Wisconsin, visiting family and friends. Needless to say, during all that drive time, there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity to do homework, so I had a long night of catch-up last night. However, I still don't regret taking it a bit easy over break... I really needed it after a stressful week before...

Well, this week, I am pretty much being ruled by my sorority.... especially Tuesday, I think I will be doing sorority stuff from about 6 PM to 11! At least part of that will be fun time... we do this thing called Serenade where we go over to the dorms where most of the freshmen girls live, and we sing them songs to sort of "re-welcome" them to campus before formal recruitment starts... it's kind of cheesy but cute at the same time.

I think I will need just one more late night of catch-up, and I should be good to go, but you never know... things just seem to have a way of popping up, and before you know it, my plate is full again...

Wild, Wild Ripon

Now that Homecoming week is in full swing, it is honestly encompassing a large chunk of my time. The campus is buzzing with PLENTY of activities to keep students busy. The theme this year is "Wild Wild Ripon," as in wild west. We will be having our first ever homecoming parade on Saturday, and our sorority has to come up with a float that fits that theme. We also will be decorating a window in the commons to represent our group. On top of that, each homecoming, our sorority sells carnations to benefit the Ronald McDonald House, so I will be devoting some of my precious time to sitting in the commons selling flowers, and then delivering them to people's doors Saturday morning.

There are also plenty of events for students to attend. Tomorrow night there is a comedian coming to campus. Friday night we will be having "Couch Potato Playoffs," a trivia competition revolving around tv and entertainment. We also will be having a fireworks display Friday night. Saturday is the parade and OF COURSE the football game.

In my spare time this week, I will be standing in as a campaign manager, as one of my best friends has been nominated for Homecoming Queen. Ok, I guess I won't REALLY be campaigning, as homecoming king and queen are not THAT big of a deal at this school as opposed to other schools, but it sure would be nice to see her win! :-)

Chaos!

Ugh boy am I glad last week is over.... it was so hectic! Mainly, I had our first major paper due in Rhetorical Criticism, so that was occupying a good chunk of my time. The rest of the week was chaos, but GOOD chaos. We had a recruitment activity on Wednesday where we got to meet some more lovely independents, and then on Friday, we picked up three new girls! They are ABSOLUTELY fantastic... I get to be a mentor for one of them, but we spent the weekend getting to know all three. They are so much fun, and I can't express how happy I am that we have them as sisters now! We also had a career panel on Sunday where alums from our sorority came back and told about their experiences in the working world and gave us tips.... I'll tell you, with the economy the way it is, we'll take all the tips we can get!

This week is homecoming week, which promises to be equally filled with "good chaos," so I'll keep you updated with the events as the week goes on!

Mondays make me sick

Literally. I guess having such a looonnnnngggg weekend really took a toll on me, because I don't feel so hot today. I think it's because I'm severely sleep deprived, but I have a cold, sore throat, dizziness, you name it. Hopefully I get over it soon, because I have a big week ahead.
The weekend was another amazingly awesome time. We did the pub crawl on Thursday, Friday was Sigma's Derby Days "nerd party," and Saturday was the actual Derby Days. It was the first time that I have participated, and boy was it a blast! There was a balloon launch, egg drop, gladiator duel, bat race.... just a lot of crazy things. Plus it was a beautiful day, and charity is an excellent excuse to spend the entire day outside. I have a ton of homework to do and editorials to write for my other internships so this week should be prettttty busy, but it will all be worth it... if I can get everything done in time, then it will be smooth sailing into the weekend. This Saturday is Merriman's annual toga party, and seeing as it is my last one, a lot of preparation is in order!