The Most Wonderful Time of The Year!

Campus is quieting down as we near the end of finals week! I just have one more exam to go and then it is home sweet home for three long weeks. While it will be nice to be at home with my friends and family, it was hard to say goodbye to my friends here and roommate. It was the last time we were together in 2011! I know we will keep in touch often over break and come back ready for a crazy 2012. One of my favorite things about this time of year is the exchange of cards and goodies. Every year my roommate and I make our own holiday card to mail out to our friends and families. It was fun to make cocoa, put on Finding Nemo and get to writing!

It is easy to get into the holiday spirit here as lights and decorations everywhere surround us. The tree in the campus center with EC ornaments is still standing tall from Holiday Weekend, which was a few weekends ago. This year’s theme for Holiday Weekend was Take Me To The Moon. The graduating class gave their annual gift at Holiday Banquet. Their gift of a nutcracker was so unique and adorable! Who knew purple and gold nutcrackers existed?! It is always heartwarming to see our campus community come together for our Thanksgiving meal with friends and families. While it was a bit odd to hear carols instead of the usual college songs, it put everyone in the holiday spirit. Holiday Ball took us to the moon on Saturday with lights, stars, and moons galore. It was a great celebration to wrap up the term and the year. Have a holiday and an astonishing new year!

Holiday Season Has Arrived!

The holiday cheer that started with Thanksgiving Break has carried back to campus! Break was a lot of fun but still seemed so short even though we had a full week off. It was nice to get to see all of my friends from home and visit my High School through EC Ambassadors to talk to students about EC. Thanksgiving was yummy and nice to spend with my family. While it was nice to sleep, it was great to be reunited with my friends. I can’t believe we had so much to share with each other after only being apart for one week!

While we were away, campus was magically decorated with purple lights on several of the trees around campus, trees and wreathes in the offices, and lights in many dorm rooms. Best of all, the huge tree went up in the Dining Hall! I can’t wait to see how the graduating class decorates it for Holiday Banquet on Friday. I wonder what new ornaments will be on it this year…

Tonight, the holiday celebrations started early as Hillel hosted the annual Dreidel Social. It was nice to catch up with friends and take a break from all of the homework we have. We ate latkes or potato pancakes (with applesauce of course), sufganiyot or jelly doughnuts, hot cocoa. It was fun to play my friends in dreidel. And what Hanukkah celebration would be complete without a little Adam Sandler as we watched Eight Crazy Nights.

I know these next few weeks will just fly by but it still seems like there is a lot to be done before this term can come to a close. This weekend will be a great break from work with Holiday Banquet and Holiday Ball!

Hoops Hysteria, Theme Dinner, and Orchesis! Oh my!

This past Thrusday was an event filled day here on campus. The evening of fun started off with our Founder’s Day Theme Dinner! This is one of few events on campus where colors other than purple or gold prevail on campus. This term’s theme was the 80’s! To get everyone like totally stoked to the max, throughout the week in Mackenzie’s they were playing classic 80’s movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. For the event, all of the Dining Services workers were dressed to theme and even formed an air guitar band to perform for us. We got lots of 80’s swag, candy, and funny photos from the photo station as gifts. And what Theme Dinner isn’t complete without our treasured Cowles Hall as a cake! To keep with our theme we also had a Pac Man cake and cookies. It was like totally rad!

Our night then continued with the Orchesis show! The dances were amazing! There were a variety of dances performed from lyrical to tap to hip-hop. It was great to see some boys up there as well. It was nice and felt a bit odd to be attending the performance and not have to worry about the Encore requirement anymore. I can’t wait to see what other dances Orchesis has in store for next term’s show. It definitely got me excited for our EC Tap Ensemble show next term as well.

The final event of the evening was Hoops Hysteria! It was nice to see so many members of the college community come out for our pep rally to support our basketball and cheer leading teams! Everyone was very excited for the free shirts and the chance to win a TV, futon, iPod, and other awesome prizes.

The whole evening was a great way to start ending the week! Just one more week of classes until Thanksgiving break!

EC Service

We may be a small college but the service projects we are involved in are quite large. Student Alumni Council recently celebrated Autism Awareness day where we lit up the archway of Tompkins Hall, an upperclassman dorm, blue and decorated with streamers and balloons. It caught everyone’s attention, not just because it was a foreign color to our purple bubble. Our photo won “Best Use of Decorations” through the national Autism Speaks U contest!

Yesterday, with Circle K, the collegiate chapter of Kiwanis, I lead a group of students back to Owego, New York to take part in Make A Difference Day, the largest national day of service. Our club partnered with the Charles H. Bassett Youth Foundation, a local organization that aides youth giving back, to clean up the area and recognize the work of those that have given up their time to help the community recover from the tragic floods that hit a month and a half ago. We raked leaves, picked up trash, cleaned the historic community fountain, and set the food up for the day. It was nice to recognize the community members for their dedication with certificates and ice cream : ) It was amazing and inspiring to see the number of young people who have volunteered. There were college students like us, high school students, middle school students, and even elementary school students. It just shows how easy people of any age can get involved. Especially with the hard times Owego and many other areas are facing, it was refreshing to let the community know that their good deeds have not gone unnoticed.

Mocktails + Puppies = Midterms?!

This week the library has been packed with tired and stressed students anxiously waiting for the week of tests, papers, and quizzes to end so that it can be break! With all of the craziness of classes, there has been a lot of fun as well. Last night our dorm had a mocktail party where we enjoyed some alcohol free apple fizzles, sea breezes, and bay breezes. We played games to get to know the dorm better as well. It was neat to see what you have in common with people and to learn more about your friends. It was a nice break in between studying!

Tug, Benson, Mona, and Levi joined us tonight at the Library. They are all therapy dogs in the area and came to help everyone de-stress for the last night of midterm week. They were all so cute and friendly! It was such a nice and much welcome distraction from my Health Psychology paper. Who wouldn’t want to come play with puppies for a bit?! They definitely lightened the mood and re-energized everyone. It also encouraged everyone to get their work done so it will be that much sooner that we will be reunited with our own pets : )

Elmira's Honored History

The end of my week involved a lot of recollecting. As the purple scaffolding indicates, there is a lot of renovation occurring on our campus to our beloved Cowles Hall. This building is honored with history, as Cowles Hall is the original Elmira College. It is the site that alumni cherish, as it was their dorm or classroom. I could not be more excited to enter the building for the first time when all of the construction is completed to better understand the roots of our college.

As a part of the renovations, the treasured octagon that topped the building was removed. When this occurred, campus was buzzing with the news. Everyone was shocked and felt like the heart of the college was damaged. Even though we knew that it just needed some surgery and would return, it just wasn’t the same.

Yesterday marked a significant milestone in the remodel, the final purple beams were ready to be installed to complete the new and improved octagon. A ceremony was held where members of the college community were invited to sign the final beams and watch as they were lifted in the air and secured in place. Everyone came out to make their mark, adding a touch of our legacy to the college. It felt good to see the final piece of the octagon put into place and to know that we were a part of it. Cowles Hall is naked no more : )

Watching the ceremony made me excited to come back to campus as an alumnus. Tonight I had the chance to connect with alumni as a member of the Student Alumni Council. It was a lot of fun to hear their tales of campus life and Cowles Hall at the Binghamton New York Area Alumni Event. I was pleasantly surprised to see some familiar faces from Reunion 2011! It is nice to see how others have taken what they learned at EC and put it into good use in their careers.

Sunny Days Sweepin' Across All EC

September is full of traditions, new and old, here at EC. This surprise long weekend started off with a group of us going to see the Lion King in 3D! I’m sure the other moviegoers appreciated our recitation and singing along with the entire movie. It’s interesting that we still know every word, and the voices, for this childhood favorite but do not have the vocabulary we need memorized for our classes down pat : )

The next morning we were up bright and early for Octagon Fair! There were a lot of different takes on this nautical theme and many pirates and sailors dressed up around campus. For Hillel, we brought the Dead Sea to EC with some mineral mud for people to try. At the Active Minds table, we had Swedish Fish for sale and a Name that Nautical Phobia game. Sadly, the 2013’s ran out of luck and were thrown into EC Jail. It was nice to have Alumni and future EC students on campus as Saturday was the first Open House of the Fall.

Sunday brought on the first and last night of singing as today was Mountain Day! This was the first ever Mountain Day on a Monday. It was a very unexpected surprise to wake up to those congratulatory papers slipped under the door. The day was great with many games, raft races, picnic lunch, a memorial service for alumni who have passed away, iris planting and more. It will be hard to face reality and classes again tomorrow….

Endings and Beginnings

And the start of a new year at EC has begun! It doesn’t seem like the summer is over yet. This summer, I stayed on campus to work in Admissions and with Orientation. It was nice to make friends with a lot of different people and hang out without the craziness of clubs and a lot of homework. While it was a little weird to have the whole campus to about 120 of us, EC was still busy with tours, classes, and Summer Registrations. Once August came around, it was fun to welcome the Glorious Class of 2015 with all of the freshman, transfer students, and international students. It was weird at first to have so many people back on campus but it’s nice to have our EC family back and growing.

This week was the first week of classes here on campus. While I’m busy with five classes, I like my schedule a lot. The material in my classes seems to relate with Health Psychology and Complementary Health Therapies. I’m enjoying taking classes outside of my major to mix things up.

While excitement over new classes, new rooms, and new friendships is filling campus, today a somber atmosphere prevailed in honor of 9/11. Today at noon, our campus and community came together for a ceremony hosted by our Student Association. ROTC, College Republicans, College Democrats, A1 & the Sauce, The Chiclettes, and Hillel all joined forces to lead the ceremony with readings, singing, speeches, and more. The bells on campus rang 10 times in honor of each year that has passed since this national tragedy. Especially in light of the catastrophic flooding in my hometown, it was nice to be reminded of the strong sense of community that rose out of 9/11. Everyone is pulling together to rebuild their lives just as they did then.

Goodbye Term III! Hello Summer : )

The relaxed atmosphere of Term III has been replaced with a bittersweet one. Classes are wrapping up, people moving out for the summer, and the activities for Senior Week have begun. My roommate and I have been putting off packing but now finally need to start seeing as we are leaving tomorrow. Our room looks so bare without all of our calendars, pictures, and notes from friends on our walls. To make the packing and goodbyes a bit more fun, we decided to start watching movies while we pack. Seeing as it’s 85 degrees here, we might have to take a break soon and cool off in the fountain one last time : )

While summer will be busy staying on campus to work and volunteer for Reunion and the Orientation Programs, I am really looking forward to all of that to start! I am excited to meet the Alumni that are returning and hear their tales of EC and even more excited to welcome the incoming class of 2015! Orientation is going to be a lot of fun, not only to be reunited with friends but also to help our newest EC family members adjust to their new home.

It’s hard to think that I am half way through my time here at EC. It feels like yesterday that I was packing up to move here instead of getting ready to move out again. My time here has flown by entirely to quickly! I am so grateful for all of the opportunities and friendships I have made here so far. I am excited to see what the next two years have in store, although I wish time would slow down!

Wonderful Wednesdays!

Term III here on campus is starting to wind down. Today is the last Wednesday of freedom as next week at this time, classes will be ending and moving out for the summer will commence. It has been great having Wednesdays off. I’m going to miss the nice break in the middle of the week. Aside from the sun bathing, fountain swimming, kan jam, and softball games, campus still remains busy with activities. Last week Wednesday was the Poster Research Session where people from the social and behavioral sciences joined forces with the science department to showcase the research completed by students. My group from Experimental Psychology presented our findings from our class last term. We did an experiment on whether colors like blue and pink affect how people perceive faces as either aggressive or sensitive. While we didn’t find that color had an affect on perception, overall people rated male photos as more aggressive and female photos as more sensitive. It was a lot of fun to see the other research findings as a lot of students participate in these experiments.

Today was a beautiful day on campus with the sun shining and temperatures nearing 80 degrees. For those that were not outside or wanted to take a quick break, Tompkins Dorm Council hosted an all day movie marathon. Currently we are watching the Ugly Truth while Valentine’s Day and Letters to Juliet aired earlier. All of the movie junk food was served, including octagon shaped cookies :)

While I will miss the Wednesday fun of Term III, it will be nice to have summer arrive!

The Weekend Zeus Got Loose!

This past weekend was a nice break from classes and work as it was my first May Days celebration! This year’s theme was the Weekend Zeus Got Loose. For the dance on Friday night, togas prevailed which was interesting to try to make a toga and to see what toga creations others came up with, especially the guys. Some girls really went all out and bought fabric to cut and make their togas. Others just used their bed sheets (no worries, I didn't see any dirty, unwashed sheets used). My roommate and I ran out to Hobby Lobby and made some stylish head pieces from fake leaves and flowers. I must say they turned out pretty nice. Zeus would be proud : ) After the dance we ran around campus and took tons of silly pictures. What better time is there to get those memorable photos with Mark Twain!

The next day was the carnival! There were a lot of activities and events like inflatable’s, carnival games like ball toss, prizes, Iron Chef showdown, airbrush tattoos, photo booth, water balloon fight, a D.J., yummy carnival foods like burgers, cotton candy, snow cones, fried dough, and more. I enjoyed being outside and meet up with friends, even though it was a cloudy day. It was a great day, especially since I won a purple crown : )

Thanks to Natasha Wagner'14 & Christian Bruce'14 for their awesome photography skills!

New Season, New Term

Today was a very exciting day as it was the start of the much-anticipated Term III. I have been looking forward to this, as it will be my first one on campus.

The relaxed atmosphere is a nice change of pace as just two weeks of go, the stresses of finals week was everywhere. It was a little hard to get back in the swing of things today, as last week was break. Having the week off was nice to relax and spend the holidays with my friends and family. When my alarm went off this morning though, I was a bit confused but quickly realized that it was time to get ready for class.

My term started out on a fun and challenging note this morning with Creative Advertising. We viewed a variety of different ads and started to break down what is occurring within them. I am excited to learn more about what is behind and advertisement, how to develop an ad campaign, and develop my creative skills further.

After I got out of work, the clouds parted and sun began to shine down on campus. People were out playing frisbee and softball on Carnegie Lawn already while others started on their reading outside. To celebrate the start of a new term, our RA got us some Fun Dip candy and Rita’s Italian Ice.

It is shaping up to be a good term : )

We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give

Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give." This weekend best exhibits what he means by this as many gave their support to a worthy cause and later were honored for their hard work.

Saturday marked the start of Relay for Life here on campus. This event is one that many hold close to their hearts, as it is hard to find someone that has not been affected by cancer. 40 teams with over 350 people worked to raise money for the American Cancer Society. It is always amazing to see events like this that bring the college community close together. The night was packed with great performances by the EC Naturals, Tap Ensemble, and people cutting off their hair and shaving their heads to show their support for this amazing cause. While it was an exhausting time, it was worth it as over $15,000 was raised.

Sunday brought another rewarding day, as it was the Psi Chi inductions. There were 17 new members that were inducted into the International Psychology Honor Society. We gathered in Hamilton Hall for a nice ceremony and brunch with our families. It was a nice morning getting to chat with professors out of class and meet the family of my friends. Now time to get ready for another exhausting week! I am definitely ready for Term III to get here so the weather does not keep bouncing back and forth between sunny and warm to snowy and cold. At least it is officially spring : )

It's a Bug's Life

Tonight, my roommate and I had an extremely traumatic experience. We had a close encounter with a bug in our room. The episode felt something like this Mentos commercial.

Copyright MentosUS

My roommate and I were talking and all of a sudden she started to freak out and look above my head. I ran over to her side of the room and did not see anything at first, however, the bug made an appearance on the ceiling causing us to scream. This was no ordinary bug; this was a monster that was probably a good 2 inches in size with a few too many legs.

We ran down to the hall to our friends to see if they could kill it but they were not home. Then we ran back to call our friend from upstairs to come down and kill it. Unfortunately for us, she hates bugs too and starting freaking out. She then ran down the hall to a friend who is a bug killer extraordinaire. Once we moved our furniture (so there would be no chance of the bug in the bed) and as the bug came out of hiding our brave friend managed to kill it in EC style with our purple flyswatter.

I am not saying that there are a lot of bugs here so please do not be afraid! It was a very unexpected visitor, only our 2^nd bug all year. For all of the future college students, please be aware of this possible incident wherever you go. Make sure to pack a fly swatter as a precautionary tool. Also, be aware of the fact that if you live in an all girls dorm, there are a lot less people to help you kill a bug and panic will shortly ensue.

A Sibling-less Siblings Weekend

What an exciting week back from break! I am ready to tackle the rest of the Term and get ready to enjoy my first Term III on campus. It was a bit weird to come back to a Cowles Hall without an octagon! I thought I had come back to the wrong college. While I know it is for the construction and will be worlds better in the end, it still gives me a funny feeling to look at.

The first week back was busy with a Marketing project but ended on a good note with the start of Sibling’s Weekend. While I do not personally have a sibling, I still had a good time meeting the brothers, sisters, and cousins of my friends. It was nice to see families again that I have not seen since Parents Weekend. Mackenzie’s was busy on Friday Night with stations to create your own wax hands and grow your own bamboo plants. My friends and I went to go see Tangled, which was absolutely adorable.

Saturday, I make a quick trip home to get ahead on my Encore Performances. I went to see Ann Hampton Callaway with the Binghamton Philharmonic. The performance was absolutely amazing. They performed hits from the Great American Songbook. Now I have two more Encore Performances left and then I am done forever!

For now, it is time to get ready for another week!

Fiesta de Elmira!

Hola mis amigos y amigas! Tonight was the much-anticipated Dining Services Theme Dinner! This term’s theme was a Mexican Fiesta. I have never seen the dining hall so colorful with minimal amounts of purple before. Everyone was in the fiesta spirit with ponchos, sombreros, maracas, and a few fake mustaches. There were cacti everywhere, even with ice sculptures. The food was great featuring enchiladas, guacamole, bean dip, corn salsa, mango salsa chicken, corn bread, jalapeño poppers, and more. The extravagant cake this term was a giant sombrero! To top it all off, there was a mariachi band, which was a fun treat. It was nice to see so many students, faculty, administrators, and their families enjoying their evening together.

This celebration came just in time before the craziness of midterms sets in. Next week is going to be rough with three midterms, one quiz, a ten-page research proposal, encore, and group work due. It will all be over soon enough with break around the corner! I cannot believe it is halfway through the term already. Not that I don’t enjoy how beautiful campus is in the snow and the purple rock salt, but it would be nice for some warmer weather and Term III to arrive. Off to the library to start working ahead!

A Very Gold Weekend!

What an exciting weekend on campus. Between Athletics Alumni Weekend and the Super Bowl, there has been gold everywhere! To start my sports filled weekend, my roommate and our friends headed up to the Domes to cheer on our Men’s Hockey team as they took on SUNY Cortland. The Domes were especially festive as it was decorated for all of the alumni back for a visit, even with the usual purple and gold zamboni. The game was pretty intense as the score was tied for most of the game. In the end our guys came through as we won 6-4!

Tonight as I’m sure all of you know is the Super Bowl. I’m currently enjoying the game at my dorm’s party. Our lounge is so festive, divided into a black and yellow side and green and yellow side. We are a bunch of dedicated fans, blowing air horns for each score. We even have sponges and mini footballs to throw at the screen when bad calls occur, although we have thrown more at each other : ) The ads have been a lot of fun to watch too, especially since I am taking marketing this term. I can’t wait to see who wins, and for the new glee afterwards!

One Circus of a Weekend

Happy end of January everyone! This term has been charging forward, filled with a lot of work and events. This weekend was the perfect way to end the month with the EC Tap Ensemble show. The theme of our show was “Tap is a Circus.” Our show featured dances from all experience levels that we have been working on since September. It is amazing to see how talented the advanced dancers are and how far others have grown, especially those who have never put tap shoes on before.

I never realized all of the possibilities that could be done with tap. Kudos to our officers for being so creative with the dances! There were more “traditional” dances to songs like “Somewhere Beyond the Sea,” a kick-line style to a Cascada hit, a jump rope number to “Jump Around,” popular numbers like “Take It Off,” and so much more. Here is a video and some photos that I took from back stage of “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga.

While I will miss tapping, it will be nice to have some more free time. Time to get back to work!