Honors Events

As a part of the honors program each student is required to attend at least two honors events a semester. The events are meant to help us bond with fellow honors students and get cultural experiences right on campus. Honestly, the events sounded a little annoying and time consuming in the beginning, and I had very little interest in attending them. Now, I have come to enjoy them and I find them very rewarding. There is a wide variety of options and plenty of events to choose from, so it is pretty easy to find things of interest at a time that works for the student. I have only heard of two people having a difficult time finding an event they can attend and both people were on the dance team. Unfortunately, their schedules just don’t seem to mesh well with the program. So far this semester there has been a movie night, a cartoonist, and a jazz piano player. There will also be a day of service for us to participate in in a few weeks.

Last semester, I attended a kickball game and a picnic. The jazz piano player has been my favorite event so far. I started taking piano lessons this semester through Rockhurst and they have required lots of hard work (much more work than I expected). I thought that because I had taken lessons for a while when I was little that I would be better than I am, but I barely struggle through short, boring pieces like Kumbaya and Jingle Bells. The work I have been doing gave me a great appreciation for the man who came to play for us because last week I get the chance to watch him sit down and produce beautiful music without even any sheet music. It was inspiring. He even taught us a little bit about how jazz music is organized and what makes it different from pop music, classical, and other common genres. It was a nice mental break in the middle of midterm week, but it was still very interesting. I liked it because it was something I will probably never have the opportunity to learn in a classroom or see for free. I’m sure people normally pay quite a bit of money to attend a concert like the one we got to attend for free.  

Midterm Exams and a Beautiful Spring Day [:

Getting ready to go outside

Today was the second full day of spring break and it was a beautiful one. Although the temperature has dropped again and all of us Midwesterners are quite sick of winter at this point, it was great to just relax at home after a jam-packed first half of the semester. There have not been many chances to catch my breath so far this semester because our breaks have been so far apart. At many times, I felt as if I could not breathe at all. A full two months passed between winter break and spring break. Although that may not seem like a lot in theory, in practice, it is. Granted, there was one long weekend right after we got back from winter break, but hardly anyone took advantage of it because we had all just been home and there was no reason or need to go back. After that, every weekend has been filled with dances, mandatory events for Theta Phi, homework, retreats, and many other activities.

            Last week was a lot to handle for Rockhurst University. The pressure of midterms piled on top of the lack of sleep, general stress, bitterness towards the cold weather, and homesickness created a strong negative attitude that seemed to be flowing from every student at school. Luckily, there was one ray of light that saved us from completely losing our minds; the weather.  On Thursday afternoon (the day before we were free to go home), the temperature was in the seventies and the sun was shining brightly. After about twelve, the campus started buzzing and did not stop until well into the night. Everyone was outside. People were reading on the hammocks, there was a volleyball game in the sand pit, my friends and I were playing soccer, and many were playing music or doing homework on the quad. It was like the campus had taken a huge sigh of relief. It was a great way to leave school because it was on a slightly more positive note than I was expecting. Plus, I even met a new friend during our game. One thing I have come to love about our campus is our ability to bounce back from a hard situation and make the best of a sunny day.

Snow Day Wishes

Sydney and her roomie  in the blizzard

This weekend did not turn out the way we planned. We were going to visit Sydney’s family in Omaha, go to the zoo, and eat at some essential Omaha restaurants. Unfortunately, the temperature in Kansas City has been below freezing since Friday and the icy snow began last night. This morning, it looks like a blizzard outside, so we are glad we decided not to go because it would have been terrifying to drive in.

To be perfectly honest, I was pretty happy to be staying at school because I have two tests, a presentation, a midterm, and Greek Unity activities all happening next week. I desperately needed a chance to get ahead and rest before I could take on the week. And although things worked out for me, I feel bad for Sydney. She has not had the opportunity to go home or see her family since winter break and I know how excited she was for this weekend.

It seems like everyone (Sydney and I included) is moving in slow motion lately. Campus has been full of droopy eyes, and grouchy dispositions for a few weeks now. I think it is because everyone is in need of one thing; Spring Break. It has been almost 7 weeks since school started and the only long weekend we have had was the weekend right after we got back (so no one went home for it). That means it has been almost two months since most people have been home, seen their family, or had any sort of mental break. For me, it has been too much.

Like I mentioned earlier, it is looking like a blizzard outside right now, so hopefully we will end up with a snow day. It probably will not be enough to catch up on weeks of sleep deprivation, but it will be a step in the right direction. I never realized how much I would be affected by not being home, but now I see what a huge deal it is and what a toll it can take on a person’s (or an entire campus’) mental heal. Well, I’m sure we will all make it through the next couple weeks and will come back from break ready to finish the semester out strong.