Thursday, January 23, 2014

Weekend Activities (part 1)

Oftentimes, I like to talk about the different opportunities that there are around Kansas City for recreational and cultural activities.  The next few weeks, I want to go through many of these that I have been able to take advantage of over the past few years.

#1: First Fridays

Since my first year at Rockhurst, I have regularly gone to First Fridays in the Crossroads District.  First Fridays takes place, exactly as stated, from 7-9 pm the first Friday of every month.  Countless art showrooms open up their doors to the public to view the art.  Additionally, many restaurants in the area (Christopher Elbow Chocolate among them) have special deals at the time of this event for the public.  Street artists and performers also make appearances throughout the area making it a whole evening affair that can be incredibly enjoyable for many students, visitors, and residents alike.  Over time, my friends and I developed a pattern of visiting favorite showrooms and favorite areas to walk through.  We would also plan the event around dinner or an evening watching movie favorites for a great start to the month!









#3: National World War I Museum


Just this last weekend, I was able to visit the National World War I Museum for the first time.  After purchasing a Living Social deal giving me half price tickets, my boyfriend and I spent the large part of the day exploring the museum.  It was recently renovated and it including educational videos and interactive exhibits, which brought pieces of the history alive and allowed for a cohesive experience involving the artifacts and the history behind the progression of events throughout the war.  There were also several temporary exhibits and a gorgeous view overlooking the city from the top of the Liberty Memorial.  The small cost was definitely worth the experience at this museum.

Continued part 2 next week....



Thursday, January 16, 2014

Last first week

Syllabus week- this is what most students call the first week of the semester in which most classes spend the majority of the time going over the syllabus and outlining the rest of the semester. This week is always an enjoyable transition, because it provides a chance to hang out with friends for a while before getting into the full swing of the semester.  This semester, I am taking several different classes- two accounting courses, a communication, a management, and a business course each.  It will be a full semester with 15 hours and 20 hours a week working.  While many students do manage a much busier schedule, I am excited to have a full schedule, yet with time to enjoy my last semester.

Spring semester also tends to go much more quickly than the fall semester.  I think this is a result of two different things.  First of all, we lose almost an entire week for actually taking classes.  Secondly, I think that with an entire week off in the middle of spring semester, it divides the semester so that both "sections" are fairly short.  However, many students also have troubles getting back into the semester after such a long break.

I recently learned that 40% of our campus is involved in a fraternity or sorority- this huge portion of our campus is especially busy this time of the year as they start to welcome new freshmen as potential new sisters (or brothers as the case may be). This whole new group of students being involved means that there are a huge number of people very involved during this semester.

A group of representatives from various sororities on Bid Day

Friday, January 3, 2014

Support in all Forms

Throughout my time at Rockhurst, I have always been impressed by the excellent support that is provided for the students by the faculty and staff (and of course other students).  However, in the last month of classes, I have seen a lot of this first hand.

First of all, I apologize for the very late blog post.  Shortly after my last post, my maternal grandfather passed away.  This fairly sudden loss in my family, shortly before the end of the semester, provided a lot of stress in my entire family's life.  This difficult time also coincided with finals week for my siblings and I, which meant many projects and papers due at the same time.  The professors however, were so incredibly supportive, and allowed me to complete a few of the projects on my own timeline.  Other staff members offered their condolences and students texted me to offer their support while I went back home to be with my family for the funeral.  I have been so incredibly grateful for all of their kind words and their kind support.

Winter break has been (as I'm sure for many students) going by much more quickly than I may have hoped.  While many have taken the chance to work or travel, I have enjoyed most of the break back in western Kansas.  I know that if everything goes according to plan, I won't be able to take 2 weeks or more off in order to just relax between stressful times, so  I'm very happy to take this time off!  So I will share a few pictures from the break!
My car got snowed in the first weekend of break!

Christmas day games & candy with my mom's side!

My dad holding our new family dog Belle!

Sushi date with my dad!

Cuddle time with my boyfriend and his family's dog