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!

One Historical Night

Tonight was a very eventful night on campus. I got to experience the best of two worlds, athletics and music. My friends and I helped to make EC history as we attended the first ever home game for men’s volleyball. It was so much fun! The stands were packed with purple and gold. The team took on Nazareth College whose colors also happen to be purple and gold (we had more spirit though!). Both teams brought intensity to the game. There were some points where we thought we were going to get hit by the ball; luckily no fans were harmed : )

A bit before 8 we headed out to catch the first Encore performance of the term. We quickly switched gears from making history to learning about some music history. Tonight was musical excerpts from La Traviata presented by Tri Cities Opera. It was one amazing performance. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect at first as the performance started out with only two pianists. After the first number, the audience was shocked as two performers came out in costume and started to bring their powerful voices into the mix. They performed with a lot of emotion which brought the Italian and back story to life.

I cannot wait to see what other great performances and sporting events the rest of the term will bring!