Monday, October 28, 2013

Fabulous Fall Break


The ride home

This past week/ weekend was our fall break. It began Wednesday the 23rd but most people left Tuesday after classes. The couple weeks leading up to break were mid-term exams, which were not as terrible as I expected. The only class where I had an official mid-term was French. The rest were just regular tests. I was pretty lucky in this respect. A lot of my friends had multiple exams in one day which stressed them out, so I think it is safe to say that everyone was ready to go home and catch their breath. I caught a ride home from one of my friends and we left around 12:30pm on Tuesday. The ride home was a blast because we sang pretty much the whole way.
Pi, my kitty [:
When we got to my house my beagle, Zoey, was ecstatic and could not stop barking and wagging her tail. It was good to see that because in college you obviously don’t have and fuzzy friends to greet you after a hard Bio exam. My dad was not quite home at the time so I got to spend some quality time with my step-mom just talking. Now, I’m not going to give a play-by-play of my entire break, but it mainly consisted of seeing family and my boyfriend, Graham. I didn’t have a whole lot of time to rest because I was always rushing to see the next group of people, but seeing family is refreshing enough in its own way.
Miss Zoey!
The second night I was back, I did get to see a group of my friends from high school. We went to Denny’s and just sat around exchanging college stories. Since I’ve been at Rockhurst, my biggest focus has been God and attempting to improve my relationship with him. This lifestyle has resulted in minimal drama. I have been called to do some things that are not exactly easy, but that type of stress is pretty unique. I saw something completely different in the stories of my friends. They all mentioned drinking, one-night-stands, and missing class. Of course these things produce stress and drama due to their nature, but it was completely different from what I was experiencing. Through our conversations I received a pretty hard slap in the face when I realized that I did not completely fit in with them anymore. Our priorities were different and I did not have the same struggles as them. I did not even know what to say to comfort them when that used to be a forte of mine. My realization was a bit upsetting, but I think it is ok. Everyone changes in college and I believe Rockhurst in helping me change for the better, even though it is not always easy.


Thursday, October 17, 2013

The Phoenix

Amanda and me
        One of the reasons I chose Rockhurst University was because of the small number of students in a large city. Most of the time, if you look at small schools, you find yourself in a small town with nothing interesting to do off campus. Fortunately, most Jesuit schools place themselves in the very heart of a city so they are in the middle of all the action.
Erin and Dave
        A few nights ago my sister and her boyfriend came into town to visit his family and me. Both my sister and her boyfriend have small children so we spent most of the evening at his parents' house with them watching Brave and just hanging out. But once the little ones were in bed, my sister, her boyfriend, my friend Amanda, and I all went out to a jazz/ piano bar called The Phoenix. I don't spend any time in bars because, honestly, I hate being around drunk people, but this was a totally different experience. There was live music played by very talented musicians that were improving most of what they were doing. The singers pretty much ordered what they wanted. Even if the musicians didn't know the song, they still tried and it ended up sounding amazing. My favorite part of the night was when a slim, dark-skinned woman (who looked like she could be my niece in 20 years) got up to the microphone and sang a jazz version of the song "Hello, Young Lovers" from "The King and I". It was beautiful and original.
The food was also very impressive. The 4 of us ordered a few appetizers to share and all of them were delicious. There were hand rolled mozzarella sticks that were to die for. I will definitely be going back soon. Amanda also told me about a nearby karaoke bar someone told her about so we made plans to check it out soon. Although both of these places have the word “bar” in them there is really no need to drink. The jazz bar was so fun and it was a great place to sit and chat with a few friends if you are ever just looking for somewhere off campus to go.



Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Homecoming


Christine, A friend from high school
       Last Saturday was homecoming. I was extremely excited the first time I found out that Rockhurst still has a homecoming dance when the majority of other universities do not. College kids still love to dance just as much, if not more than, high school students. So, why not have a dance?

       The whole weekend was a lot of fun. My boyfriend, Graham, came in on Friday night and got to hang out with some of my friends a bit more and get to know them. He always hears me talk about them but that doesn't necessarily mean that he had faces to go with all the names. Everyone was extremely kind and inviting to him which was such a relief. It is important to me that everyone knows who he is and vice versa. That way he doesn’t feel like a stranger that knows nothing of my new life at school.

       On Saturday he came with me to my friend Bridget’s house with a bunch of the other girls to get ready. He was a quite a trooper. He also had Bridget’s boyfriend and father to keep him company so he wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the amount of estrogen surrounding him. We all did our hair and makeup together and were ready just in time to meet everyone back at school so that we could carpool to dinner. We went to Buca di Beppo which is a nice Italian place in the Plaza. If you have never been there, it is essentially an underground maze with twists and turns all over the place, so be sure to bring your map and compass. After dinner we took a few minutes to snap some pictures in front of a fountain before heading back to school again.
The gang's all here!

       At Rockhurst, we are bussed to homecoming from school. It is a way to make sure no one drinks and drives. They have buses heading to and leaving from the dance all night long so you don’t have to worry about missing one. Personally, I think the buses are more fun than just driving because everyone starts singing and being silly. You can do that in a car but it is much better with more people. The dance itself was at Union Station which was a cool venue (although it was not particul

arly practical for a dance). The music echoed too much which made it hard to hear. Plus, the music was not exactly meant for dancing. Regardless, it was fun to dress up and spend some time with my new friends. I can't wait to do it all again next year.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Roommates

     Your roommate is arguably the most important person you will meet when beginning college. If you do a random pick you will be living with an almost complete stranger so there are a few pieces of advice I would like to give based on my experience and the experiences of my friends so far at Rockhurst.
A note from Mary when she hung wet clothes around our room.

       1. Be completely honest with your roommate about what you need in the beginning.
            It is easier to tell a complete stranger that you need a clean room because at that point it is not personal. Then, they also have a chance to try and work with you. If you wait until their side of the room looks like a bomb just got dropped, it becomes personal and feelings can get hurt making the rest of the year can be awkward and painful.
       2. Be kind and understanding towards your roommate. 
            What is important to them in a living space may be very different than what is important to you. If you try to see things from their point of view they will appreciate it and the whole atmosphere will be a lot better for both of you. Plus, you may gain a new, refreshing perspective on life.
Mary and me [:
       3. Do not touch their things.
             You may think you are being nice by making your roommate's bed or washing their laundry but that may not be the way they see it. To them it may come across as rude and as if you have a problem with the way they do things.
       4. Talk Talk Talk.
             This one is pretty self-explanatory and it may seem like the most obvious thing in the world but you would be surprised. If you do find something to be a problem or you are thinking about changing something, just talk to your roommate about it. If you are sensitive in the way you phrase things, chances are they may be perfectly fine with what you would like to do. For example, I decided about 2 weeks into school that I did not like the way my roommate and I had our room set up. I talked to her about it and we ended up rearranging the room together. It was a ton of fun and we got to know each other a little better.
     If you are still unsure about the whole roommate thing, don’t sweat it. If you end up being with someone you really don’t mesh with there is always the chance to swap about a month into school; however, that shouldn’t be a problem. Roommates are fun and can end up being one of your best friends.