Welcome Back

Bikes and architecture- pretty typical!

Rembrandtplein

I apologize for being so late on this post!  After the end of the challenge in Denmark, one of my teammates, Sarah, and I went for a few days to Amsterdam.  While many people may have a certain perception of this city, I had a fabulous time taking in the architecture, the museums, and the city in general.  We had quite a few adventures- following a tram to pick up a bag that was left there on the very first day and taking the tram the wrong way and ending up in a "weird" part of town (as the bartender who helped us said) were the (somewhat bad) highlights.  But only losing the small expense of a cab ride is much better than it could have been.  And I absolutely loved walking around the canals in the city, although the wind chill proved to be as cold as the Midwest.  Additionally, the Van Gogh exhibit was phenomenal, and I was very moved by the Anne Frank house/museum.

The line to the Anne Frank house stretched
around the block on a very chilly morning

I have been so blown away by the response that Rockhurst has given following our return to the US.  I arrived back on Thursday afternoon (after an all-day interview process for a summer internship) to be greeted by almost all of the professors at the Helzberg School of Management as they were gathering for a faculty meeting!  It was an unintentional timing, but it was nice to receive so much excitement and support from all of the professors.  Additionally, we were greeted in the lobby with this sign (which is still hanging up in the lobby of the business school):

The Rockhurst PR & Marketing Office also released a story, which got put on the Rockhurst website, congratulating us on the competition.

However, since the trip was not without problems, the adjustment back has been quite difficult.  Without a working computer for the past few weeks, doing all assignments, emails, and catching up has been happening during late nights in various computer labs around the campus.  As my first time without a laptop for any extended period of time, it was quite the adjustment!  Luckily Rockhurst Computer Services got it up and running again in just a few days!  Additionally, my phone ceased working while in Amsterdam, so setting up a new phone (with originally no contacts) created a few awkward conversations.  It was also frustrating to return to my car at KCI, to find that it had lost almost ALL coolant.  With no phone to call AAA, and no sleep in 20 hours, I did what I could, and with the help of a nice mechanic at the nearest convenience store, made it back to campus safely.  Luckily I took it into the shop before leaving for Easter Break, because it needed something new that might have ruined my engine if I would have driven with it that way.  I was incredibly disappointed not to have my car to leave for Easter Break, but I was lucky to have a boyfriend who came to Kansas City and drove me there and back instead, so I was not spending Easter Break by myself on campus.

This week marks the final week playing "catch-up" and by Friday, I'll be ready to start up final projects!  Only one more month left and it'll be on to new summer adventures with an internship/job, new housing, and NO homework!!  (perhaps the most exciting part)

A few of my favorite pictures from Amsterdam-- on the left, a view of the buildings and canals, on the right, my travel companions-- Dave (on the right) was another Grundfos challenge competitor from the KU Engineering team, Sarah (in the middle) from the Rockhurst team, and Vinzent (on the left) from Germany who studied at KU for a year with Dave (he met us in Amsterdam)