In Like a Lamb and Out Like a Lion?

Happy March! It certainly doesn’t feel like it’s time for March with the winter we’ve had so far. We barely had snow here, which is unusual for this area and time of year. The weather last week was all over the place! We had huge snowflakes making our purple bubble a snow globe, warm sunshine, then a huge thunderstorm with lightning that lit up the sky. While I miss going sledding and seeing snowmen all around campus, I am I enjoying all of the warm weather and not having to clean off my car! All of the sunshine and temperatures dabbling in the 50’s has made me eager for Term III.

To have Wednesday’s off and play in the fountain will be great again but I don’t want to wish this term away. I am really enjoying my classes this Term! On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I have Child and Adolescent Psychology and Macroeconomics. My psychology class is a lot of fun to learn about growing up and thinking back to our childhoods. Macroeconomics is interesting, especially learning about the different models of the economy and looking at consumption on a large-scale level. It is nice to have the same professor as I did last term for Microeconomics.

Tuesday’s and Thursday’s are my marketing days with Consumer Behavior and Service Marketing. Consumer Behavior is a great class that blends core concepts in Psychology like the big 5 personality traits and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and shows how they appear in the way consumers respond to different marketing strategies. We have a fun group project for that class where we were given basic information like ages, income, and area they live and creating the rest was up to us! It is neat to mold this family to the specifications given to us and think as actual marketers do. Service Marketing is another good class where we learn the process and problems associated with selling a service. This class is going to be helpful in life after college and most businesses are trying to sell a service or an experience, not necessarily a product. Pretty soon it will be time to meet with my advisor and select classes for next term and year!

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.

New Year, New Term, New Students!

Happy 2011 all! I hope everyone had a joyous holiday and break! It feels good to be all settled in again and ready for Term II. It was nice to have some time off, especially without any work to do, but it was pretty lonely without my roommate at home and without seeing my EC friends all of the time.

This term started a little earlier for some, as it was January Orientation. About fifteen others and myself arrived on Saturday to make folders and handle other preparations. It was weird to have campus extremely quiet for the day but all of that changed on Sunday as we welcomed over 30 transfer students and later on the returning student body. Showing students around campus, helping people meet their advisors, moving some students in, and getting to know these new faces were all a lot of fun.

Today was even more exciting as it was the first day of classes. My schedule is great so far! Experimental Psychology, Language Development, and Principles of Marketing are all shaping up to be challenging and interesting courses. I was a little nervous having a completely new set of professors but they were all extremely nice. It should be a good term getting to them better and working with my classmates.

I cannot wait to see what Individualism & Community in American Life brings me tomorrow!

Hoe Down Throw Down

When this week first started I was dreading it. I had 3 tests, two group projects to work on, three papers, meetings, registering for classes, and more. It actually turned out a lot better than I expected!

Registering for classes went smoothly! My schedule is looking pretty nice for next term. I am excited for it to get here now that I know what I’ll be taking. It’ll be sad to see this term end because I really enjoy my classes. They are all really interesting and I have learned a lot from them. Personality and Principles of Management have been especially enjoyable. In Personality we look at different personality traits, where they come from, and what influences them. In Principles of Management we learn about what managers do and look at the challenges several companies face.

Today was made even better with Dining Service’s Theme Dinner! This Term’s theme was Simeon Benjamin’s Hoe Dow Throw Down. My friends and I knew we were in for a good time when we were hit with the smell of barbeque as we entered the Campus Center. The dinner was yummy and the dessert was great. Candied apples and a cake that looked like Cowles Hall- it doesn’t get much better than that : ) Below are some photos to enjoy!