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

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

Rockhurst "Football"

Rockhurst has a very popular tshirt at the bookstore that says "Rockhurst University Football: Undefeated since 1958"- coincidentally, this is the year that the university football team stopped competing.  However, the soccer (European futbol) team have had an incredible record over the past many years.  With one of the top "winning-nest" coaches (also great accounting professor, Anthony Tocco), and a supportive program with other talented coaches.  The team hosted the regional games last weekend, and after winning those- progressed onto the NCAA Division II Final Four games today in Georgia.  While the team did not win these games, this was an incredible opportunity for the team, and we are proud that they were able to represent the university in such a great way, and do so well to progress this far.  

Otherwise, this week has also welcomed many visitors- several food vendors have come to campus as the current food service provider contract will need to be renewed or a new one decided on by the summer of 2015.  This meant that there were different groups of people on campus surveying students and getting a feel for the scope of Food Services on campus.  We hope that they will be able to find the right fit for campus, whether it is with our current provider or a different direction!  

Capstone and Events

Well this marks the final week of my capstone presentation for my International Business degree.  It seems as though we were just presented with the different options for our capstone groups to work with, so obviously the time has gone by very quickly!  On Wednesday, my group will present our final proposal for ways that the National Airline History Museum can make changes to increase their marketing presence and increase visitors to the museum.  This presentation will be in the form of an almost hour-long presentation in front of board members, classmates, and professors.  We will be talking about our recommendations for the museum, based on our experiences visiting the museum, discussing the issues with our contact, and researching solutions based on what other museums have done in the past also.  Some of the best parts about working with the museum was the events that we have attended as a result of being a part of this project.


The first event I attended was the Celebration of Flight in the middle of September.  This event included Red Bull Flugtag fliers who did stunts, visiting planes open for tours, and the whole building open for visitors.  I attended this event with my boyfriend, who thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Flugtag fliers (in the background of this picture) in addition to other parts of the museum.  Attending the event was incredibly useful as we looked at the ways for the museum to continue to benefit from our work.

Later on, in November, I attended the Salute to Veterans event at the museum.  This event was a 40s themed evening party that included dinner, silent auction, and dance to benefit the museum.  Red, white, and blue adorned the planes, and all of the decorations throughout the museum, which provided the theme for the evening.  The evening started with hor d'oeuvres all around the venue, and then I was connected with a few of the board members and ended up enjoying the evening with a few of the board members and their significant others.  There were several veterans who had been POWs during World War 2 who attended the event, in addition to countless other veterans from all lines of the service.  After many ceremonial pieces specifically addressing the holiday, the visitors sat down to enjoy songs and dinner for the rest of the evening.  

These events, among a few other visits to the museum really set off the opportunities that lie in weekend plans in Kansas City.  You never know how you might be spending your time when there are so many things out there for people to enjoy!  

Leadership Symposium

Tom McDonnell

In addition to Dan Rather last week, the week held a slew of activities for our first ever Leadership Symposium week.  The inspiration for this week came from a discussion that executive board members had with our own Father Curran last semester.  He questioned why we should not have a week dedicated to leadership, as Rockhurst has continued to enjoy its reputation for leadership throughout time.  As a result, Senate worked with several other organizations, including SAA, SAB, SAAC, and the Order of Omega (I might have missed a few, and I apologize if that's the case)  Monday, we had a speaker, Tom McDonnell, who is the President and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation.

Tuesday was an alumni panel sponsored by Order of Omega, and Wednesday was a presentation by the former president of Harvester's and SAB's Turkey Dinner.  At the Turkey Dinner, all of the canned goods collected (admission for the event) were then donated to Harvester's. SAB made an awesome video about the Turkey Dinner, so I definitely recommend watching it! (linked earlier in the paragraph)

Thursday was Senate's Town Hall event, inviting several speakers to speak about the state of the university, including Town Hall.  Finally on Friday was Res Life's annual Beyond Words event.  Each one of these events had wonderful attendance, as students understood the influence of the speakers and the importance of their contributions.

Dan Rather

Everyone outside the Finucane Center

This Monday was the second annual Leadership Series event for Rockhurst University.  This year, Rockhurst invited legendary journalist Dan Rather to speak to students in a Q&A session and had a luncheon at the downtown Marriot for various community members, staff & faculty from Rockhurst, and some students to attend.   Thankfully, I was lucky enough to be able to attend both the Q&A session and the luncheon!  I was incredibly impressed by how personable Dan Rather was both while talking to our students and while talking to the large group.  While at times speakers held at arms-length can be very difficult to relate to, I overheard one student saying, "I just wanted to ask him if he would be my grandpa!"

The students with Dan Rather at the Q&A

Monday morning, about 20 students gathered in the Finucane Center, along with several faculty and staff- Dan Rather arrived and allowed us to jump right in, asking questions from many different subjects, ranging from the main theme of leadership to reflecting on his experiences.  He had many different insights, that were really incredible to hear about.  His reflection on leadership was very insightful, including four different main points.  These were character, vision, communication, and decisiveness.  The most incredible part is that Mr Rather stated that every one of the leaders he interviewed exemplified these characteristics, and how they carried over into leadership positions for everyday situations also.

Next, we went to the luncheon at the downtown Marriott.  At this particular event, there were countless guests from around the Kansas City community.  I had the opportunity to sit with executives from UMB Bank, faculty and staff members, and two other students which proved for great conversation throughout the meal.  Dan Rather was yet again, very personable- taking a selfie with the student (a close peer) who introduced him and sharing stories about his marriage.  It was such an opportunity to see him speak to such a large, influential audience, and I truly enjoyed the opportunity to attend this event.  I only hope Rockhurst continues to provide these types of opportunities for students in the years to come!

International Opportunities in KC

Last Friday, UMKC hosted an event with the International Trade Council titled "Getting Started in a Global Career".  This event was held at the new Bloch School of Management Building, and connected students or recent graduates with professionals already in an international career, along with members of the International Trade Council.  This organization allows professionals and students to attend events and gatherings focused around the international hub of Kansas City.  For this event, it was focused around why, when, and how to begin your global career.  They brought in many influential people in this process from the university end including deans, recruitment personnel, and a study abroad coordinator.  Additionally, there were several speakers who are already very active in a career around the world, including a man who has been to 35 countries, all for business, to a woman who talks to people around the world daily from her office here in the Midwest.  Each spoke about the pros and cons of traveling for work, (since that's the dream of many college graduates looking at an international career), in addition to the overall fascinating scenarios that being involved internationally poses.

With lunch and networking time following the event, students got a chance to mingle with the professionals, to both make contact for future opportunity and to simply ask for advice.  I know that I really enjoyed a chance to get to hear exactly what a usual position in this area includes- its interesting how so many positions now include work overseas, but all in a different way.  Additionally, I learned a lot from speaking with one of the professionals about different opportunities for the future.  Her position was of particular interest to me, and by just talking through my interests and skills with her, it helped me feel more confident that something will be out there for me when the time comes.  Until then, I will just keep attending events like this!