The last.... Fall Semester

It seems that for many people, this (senior) year is one to live it up before entering another step of their education- grad school.  Since I'm not intending to go to grad school following Rockhurst at this time, I'm trying to decide what things I will either miss most about college, or that I will never get to do again once I have a full-time job, have to pay rent, and deal with similar obligations.  I'm hoping this will help me live every single day with as much enthusiasm as most people reserve for weekend trips and other special occasions. 

I was very happy to get to complete my summer internship having gained many skills and a few more connections (thank you LinkedIn).  And I took my last opportunity to take a week off just to spend time with friends and family right before classes start.  

We are welcoming over 400 (I believe close to 450) students to Rockhurst this week.  They all moved in (along with the upperclassmen) two days ago, on Saturday.  I hope we'll have a great group of Hawks who will continue to be involved on campus, and represent Rockhurst well in all of their endeavors.  I will be facilitating the Freshmen in Business Seminar, which will allow me to continue to be a part of the journey these young students will take throughout the first semester here.  

For now, that is all!  I have more moving in to do and preparation for a day full of meetings tomorrow!  

Summer Living

As college students, summer often thrusts many of us into the throes of a difficult living situation. For some, it's a difficult re-adjustment with living back home with parents and siblings. For others, it's a chance to live independently with new friends in a new city, or a city you've grown to love. The past few years, I have been in the former situation. As the oldest, I was the first to 'come back' home for these brief months. While my mom outwardly seemed very happy to have me back, the constant struggle for control proved to be challenging for both of us.  (you get used to a certain amount of independence living 6 hours away from your family, but being aware that you are living with people who like to sleep at 3 am is also a novel concept) This often proved to be difficult and was ultimately eye-opening for both of us. While those past two summers were invaluable for myself and my family to grow and learn, I have got to say that I am embracing true independent living.

During the school year, the university provides a very strong support system for housing. As a recipient of the Trustees' Scholarship, I have to live in on-campus housing, and I enjoy that support system. With classes, work, extracurriculars, and a social life, it is near impossible to also find the time to consistently cook meals, deep clean spaces, and the like. However, this summer I've moved into my first place that I'm actually renting. Really it's the top half of a duplex with two other friend near campus. But I have enjoyed this new step into independence. 

I am especially loving making my own schedule. While I am at work from 8:30 to 5 pm at work every day, I've utilized a Groupon deal to then go to workout classes near my work after. This unique community of mostly young women who are interested in getting in shape, (but also slightly enjoying the exercise) has meant a chance to meet lots of new people- if not by name, atleast it's by their face. Then after getting home (sweaty and tired) its nice to settle in for a movie night with my roommates, a good book, some cleaning, or a long phone conversation back home. All of these small steps have helped me realize a few things. 

1) I will not do well living alone. I like talking too much, and that's all there is to it. 

2) I am obsessed with clean floors. I don't like shoes, so that must be why. 

3) Screened-in porches are fabulous

4) Who needs cable?

5) I sometimes need an intense workout after a long day of work. 

So as I continue my summer journey, I hope that others also have their chance to enjoy 3 months of company anywhere. In your hometown, in a new city, or simply with some good friends. I promise that every space is a learning opportunity in more ways than one. 

SUMMER

I apologize for such a delay in my posting this past month!  I hope to keep it up throughout the summer, but that always takes a certain amount of motivation, which escapes me for the few months I have off per year.  The last few weeks of the semester finished up quite well.  And while it was sad to see many of the seniors leave, whom I have spent the past three years growing and learning with, it was also inspiring to see everyone move on with confidence to the next step in life.  It is crazy to think that one year from now, I will also be in that place!

My siblings all together for my
brother's graduation

This summer, I'm working an 8-5 job in North Kansas City as a market research intern.  This is my first summer staying in the Kansas City area, and its exciting!  I've moved in with a few friends just down the street from Rockhurst, and so I still get to enjoy the same area of the city- only with a little more time to explore!  With a groupon that I've taken advantage of, I've been going to fitness classes after work, which also helps to fill the time and keep me active after being in a desk all day!  I got to spend a week home with family as we celebrated my brother's graduation, and it was the perfect chance to really soak up the first few bits of summer together, since we will all be in different places for most of these summer months.

I got to enjoy a beautiful Memorial Day weekend in Kansas City with my boyfriend- complete with a walk to the park, and lots of time to visit out on my porch.  Additionally, with a groupon that I've taken advantage of, I've been going to fitness classes after work, which also helps to fill the time and keep me active after being in a desk all day!  I remembered how much I love to read and have already read two books in one week's time-- just for enjoyment!  I could definitely get used to all of this.

Any ideas for how to fill my evenings and weekends here in Kansas City this summer?  I'm open to any suggestions!!

If anything exciting comes my way, I'll be sure to post it also.  Anyone else have big summer plans either?  I've enjoyed looking at everyone's pictures from either going back home or going on vacation already this summer.

Weekend and news

Weekend Home

It seems like I've been quite a few nice little breaks recently.  This last weekend, I went back home for my little brother's senior prom.  I can't believe how grown-up he is becoming, because soon I will be going home for his graduation!  It seems like I was a senior not that long ago!  So I got to have some quality family time and quality time in the car on the 6 hour drive.  This picture was taken at the walk-in ceremony (a small town means everyone gets involved)  My brother drove my boyfriend's Camaro which we drove from Manhattan and his date was a friend since grade school- which I think made it really fun for both of them!

New Dean for the Helzberg School

Some very exciting news that we've received this week is that our official new dean for the Helzberg School of Management has been chosen!  Our interim dean, Cheryl McConnell, was also chosen to continue as dean of the business school!  I'm very excited to have her continue in this leadership position, as this past year has also been a huge year for the HSOM.  I also enjoy knowing that Dean McConnell used to live near my hometown in western KS.  Congratulations and good luck!  

Cooking

The end of the semester also gives a lot of opportunity to learn the best way to de-stress.  I was very excited to make chicken egg rolls from scratch a few weeks ago.  Here's the link to the recipe- they turned out really well, although I'd recommend following it a little more exactly- (mine didn't have quite enough flavor with my modifications with only using dry spices instead of onions and garlic) oh, and I found it just as easy to bake them in the oven (with olive oil on top) or to fry them on the stovetop- I'm definitely not going to fry them in an actual deep fry- so much oil!  Maybe I'll make something sweet this weekend :)  

The Grind

This week has gone by quite quickly yet again!  Tuesday was the Helzberg School of Management's very first Leadership and Ethics Day.  What this meant was that every class that took place in the HSOM on Tuesday had a guest speaker from within the world of business.  My only HSOM class on that day, International Economics welcomed two leaders from Bayer.  It was an incredibly interesting conversation about doing business in an International world, and both shared stories of travel for work and their experiences.  I also enjoyed learning that Bob Grant, Rockhurst's very own Vice President of Advancement, also spent quite a bit of time traveling abroad for his job at Bayer prior to coming to Rockhurst.  The day was filled with countless guests, and I count myself lucky yet again, that Rockhurst is in a large enough city to host so many successful companies who are willing to come to a classroom and speak about their experience.  It seems that the connections that the professors have all across Kansas City is also very inspiring.

I'm also going to be very excited at the end of tax season on Monday- my internship at an accounting firm in Overland Park has been incredibly time-consuming, specifically with being gone for so long earlier this month and the increase of people in and out of the office retrieving their taxes.  Now I'm just looking forward to the finale coming up in the next month!  I have a plethora of summer activities in mind, and I will show just a few with pictures from Tumblr now:  (I apologize for the cheesiness of them all- this is way more fun than the homework I should be doing) and I took them all from the sites listed on the photos :)

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)

Grundfos final

This will be a short post, but I want to conclude my remarks on Denmark while I'm still enjoying my time at the Grundfos Academy.

While our team was not one of the winning teams, I am still extremely pleased with the experience here at the Grundfos Challenge. The students that had been recruited here are examples of the future, of the most innovative, and hard working groups of people that our generation has come to represent. I cannot wait to watch throughout the next 10 or maybe 15 years to see what these students will make happen for our world, all over the world. Simply being a part of this representation has been an honor, and I'm so pleased to have had this opportunity to represent the United States and rockhurst university throughout the past week here in Bjerringbro.

Tonight has been a fabulous example of intercultural relations- working together and enjoying a night to relax and celebrate the accomplishments that we have all accomplished. We enjoyed an amazing dinner at Frisholt, the guest house of Grundfos, and drinks, music, and dancing after. Talking, playing games, and dancing with everyone gave us all a sense of perspective of the importance of working together in all that we do.

Now tomorrow morning, as we prepare to leave Denmark for our respective legs in our journey of life (from Guatemala, to India, china, and all over Europe, in addition to back to the United States) I hope that each of us remembers this past week with fond memories of the students and the staff that truly made the grundfos challenge unique.

--I hope this post includes the pictures I've uploaded- with a broken computer, this is the true test of the Blogger application on my iPhone!--