My 20th Birthday

Hey all!

It's been a really busy couple of weeks (which is why I haven't posted for a little bit), but here's my update on everything I've been up to at Tulane.

I've had so much schoolwork to get done. And on top of that, I had some CACTUS stuff to get done (more on that in my next post) and then some Women in Science things as well.

Anyways, it was my 20th birthday last Friday, and so I thought I would share some pictures from that. We went to La Thai, possibly one of my favorite restaurants in the city, for dinner. It was delicious. Then, we went back to my apartment and had some birthday cake, baked by the two best friends/roommates a girl could ask for (Amanda and Arielle). It was a great birthday!

Also, it was the first big prospective student weekend this past weekend, and I got to meet some really cool prospective students on the tour I gave. Hopefully I'll get to see you around campus this year as you preview our school!If you've already submitted an application, good luck!

September-ness

Hey all!

I feel like I am constantly apologizing for not posting in a while, but once again, I'm sorry for not having posted in a couple of weeks.

Let's see. What's been up? Well, I've just had a lot of schoolwork to do. It's amazing how much reading I've had to do since school has started. I guess I've never really taken a semester full of liberal arts classes, and for the first time in my college career I have papers to write every week and lots of pages to get through every night. But it's okay. As least I find the topics interesting.

One really cool class I'm taking is this persuasive writing class with Professor Joseph Letter. We spend most of class in discussion and Professor Letter is a really great lecturer. One really cool thing is that since the class is about how to apply ancient rhetoric to the modern day, we can use sources such as Youtube and Wikipedia. It's great!

Also, I've been doing a lot of stuff for CACTUS which is always really fun. And when I get the chance, I hang out with those crazy people I call my friends. Example:

My roommates, Amanda and Arielle, and I holding up our friend David in our living room? I honestly couldn't tell you why we thought this was a great idea for a picture... Haha.

Oh! Actually, I gave my first couple of tours for the new year last week. They were really fun. I love meeting new prospective students!

Anyways, that's all from my end. I'll be better with posting from now on. Actually, my twentieth birthday is next week, so hopefully I'll have some pictures from that up! Hope to see you around campus!

Outreach Tulane

Hey all!

I've been so swamped with first week work, that it's been a little hard trying to find time to update, but here goes. I am loving all of my classes so far; they're all pretty interesting. And! Not having Friday classes is probably one of the best life decisions I have ever made.

One of the things that I have been super busy with for the past few weeks has been helping with Outreach Tulane. For those of you who don't know, Outreach Tulane is the big campus-wide community service day that CACTUS (the Community Action Council of Tulane University Students) and the Center for Public Service (and various other organizations on campus) put on every year the Saturday after move-in. Basically, it's about a thousand volunteers who help out at various sites around the city. Now can you see why I haven't had time to update?

The day turned out really great, actually. We had a great turnout (even though everyone had to be unreasonably early for college students on a Saturday), and we did some great work in the community. One great (Project Greenlight) installed energy efficient lightbulbs in houses. One group cleaned up cemetaries (Save our Cemetaries).

My group actually got to help out with the Community Health Fair and Play Day by playing with kids whose parents came to get health screenings from the Tulane community health bus. This was all part of a bigger day that was the 4th Commemoration of Hurricane Katrina, and it was great to see Tulane students be able to be part of the New Orleans community. Actually, it was just great to see the community come together as a whole to commemorate the 4th anniversary, to mourn the losses, and to celebrate what has been regained.

Anyways, I don't have pictures from the day of yet (yeah... sorry... I suck), but I promise pictures as the semester progresses!

Moving back in

Hey y'all!

Sorry I've been a little MIA, but here's the good news, I'm back in New Orleans! I moved in on Wednesday into my little on-campus apartment, and I've just been having a good time decorating and getting ready for freshmen orientation since I'm an orientation coordinator.

So all of today was spent moving boxes up and down the twelve stories of Monroe (so tiring... and with humidity? Killer!... but it was great to hear parents hear they appreciate it) and now I'm heading over to a floor meeting with my girls and the RA.

There are so many great orientation activities, I'm so excited! My favorite one is called Reily Rocks. If you don't know, Reily is the recreation center here on campus (and our gym as well). And they put on an event for freshmen where they have a night of video games, great food, and fun activities. Oh! And the free t-shirt is usually awesome.

Also, I'm looking forward to meeting my Newcomb Little tomorrow for the pinning ceremony. (More on that later)

And another great one? The riverboat cruise. Basically it's a dinner cruise for the freshmen (and since I'm an OC I get to go too!) and there's music, dancing, and great views of the city, too! Here's a picture of Arielle and me on the cruise freshmen year... (wow, I look so much younger...). It was one of the first times we ever hung out as roommates, and it was a lot of fun. We also met a few of our good friends that night, too!

Okay! Have to go now! Don't want to be late. But I'll start posting regularly again after this entry! Oh! Also, classes start on Monday! We'll see how that goes...

August already?

Hello there!

Can you believe it's August already? In almost exactly two weeks I'll be taking off on a plane to New Orleans. I can't believe it that summer has gone by so quickly. It's been a really nice summer - I met some great new people, explored both San Francisco and Berkeley, made a little money, learned a little bit, hung out with old friends, watched a lot of Giants baseball and slept a lot. What more could I ask for?

So what's in store for me next year, you ask? Well, I don't know how many of you know this but next year is going to be my last year at Tulane! Can you believe that I'm graduating (fingers crossed) in the spring? I can't! But I am totally excited and can't wait for the year to start. Things I'm looking forward to:

- Moving into and decorating an on-campus apartment with two of my best friends.
- seeing friends who I haven't seen all summer
- orientation (I'm going to be helping out at Monroe this year!)
- Newcomb Big Sisters/Little Sisters (more on this one later)
- Outreach Tulane
- meeting the new community service scholars
- seeing my mentee Myles again
- homecoming weekend
- GWA stuff (I love meeting prospective students... I hope to travel somewhere cool this coming semester to talk... I can't wait until Jeff sends out the city list!)
- Mardi Gras (haha... I know it's in the Spring... but come on! What's there not to be excited about?)

There's probably a lot on that list that I'm not remembering right now because, as always, there's a lot to be excited about here in New Orleans and at Tulane!

So, good-bye summer, hello Tulane! See you all in a couple of weeks!

Berkeley and Baseball

Hey all!

Quick summer update in case you were curious what I have been up to away from Tulane. Well, I definitely miss New Orleans, but I'm loving my time here in California. Like I mentioned in my June post, I moved up to Berkeley to take a summer class (which has not been very fun... but it was necessary so I just have to deal, I guess) It's been really fun here hanging out with friends from high school and whatnot.

Actually, a couple of weeks ago, I got to meet up with a friend of mine from Tulane who is working in the Bay Area this summer. She and I actually went to a southern-cooking restaurant in San Francisco. She had the gumbo (pretty tasty... not as good as the real thing), and I had some really good mac and cheese. Mmm. It was reallly nice to see a familiar school face!

Other than that, I've been trying to catch as many baseball games as I can because I absolutely love baseball and the San Francisco Giants (who have been doing remarkably well this season!). The stadium is actually a quick subway ride across the bay, and I love spending afternoons at a game. Here's a picture with me and Lous Seal, the Giants mascot, from last night (sorry the lighting isn't very good!)

Anyways, that's all from me. I can't wait to see a bunch of new faces in the fall! Hope everyone's summer is going well, too!

June Things

Hello all!

It's been a little while since I've updated, but here goes.

I've been home now for about a month and a half, and it's been really fun (my mom's cooking is delicious!) I'm actually taking a summer class at UC Berkeley this summer, so I moved into an apartment in Berkeley and am enjoying my time so far! I'm still looking for a job (I had an interview at a retail clothing store, so keep your fingers crossed for me on that one), am probably going to start volunteering at some local elementary schools next week, and am looking forward to meeting new people.

Other than that, I went to my brother's eighth grade graduation and a few of my friends' younger siblings' high school graduation. Oh. And this weekend? Going to my first SF Giants game of the season (finally!)

Can't wait to meet all the new freshman in the fall! Hope everyone is having a nice summer!