Diary of a Happy Hawk

Sophomore Year in a Nutshell

Posted on September 18th, 2012

This time last year I was either homesick, enjoying all of my freedom away from home or wondering what to do with all the free time I had. But this fall is completely different. Instead I am doing the complete opposite… trying to figure out how exactly I am going to survive my sophomore year. Since turning into superwoman apparently isn’t an option, I don’t think there is any other way to do it other than taking everything one step at a time.

One step at time works a lot better for me with a planner, or two, or 50. I learned this the hard way when I lost my planner, then my cell phone and my backup to-do list. How? I don’t know. This fiasco went on for a few days and meanwhile, I had to rely on memory of when I had meetings (which didn’t work so well) and basically hope that I didn’t have any assignments due. I couldn’t commit to anything in the future, since I was unaware of all of my upcoming obligations and I ended up being so dysfunctional that all I wanted to do was scream and hope my days would go back to some sense of order. And they did once I found my phone & planner.

After a stressful week where nothing seemed to be going right, one by one things started to look up. Then I found this quote online that says “Some days you’re the bug, and some days you’re the windshield.” Honestly, I couldn’t have said it better myself. With that being said, this week I am determined to be the windshield. (And now my planner is also on my computer… so I’m good to go!!!)

Even though I can’t be superwoman, I apparently enjoy flying through my days by filling up every possible minute of “free time”. What does my Sophomore year look like? Here, let me break it down..

Classes- Oh yeah, that’s why we’re all here… 11 textbooks make my bag quite heavy.

CEN- Events on events on events, meetings galore, and remembering to breathe. Good thing I like what I have the opportunity to do, huh?

SOAR- Soon, on Mondays I will get to fly to the second tier of a leadership program! (Ha… get it?!)

Orientation- It’s not quite over yet (and I won $5 at an event the other night! But really… coffee money!)

Blogging- It’s my escape from the real world, even though I am writing about the real world. And sometimes I like to go back and read how crazy I sound.

Job Hunt- I WILL find one… eventually.

Did I mention I signed up for a few more clubs at the Involvement Fair??? Too bad some of the meeting times clash.

Well, that’s all for now. It’s 8:30 p.m. and I am more than ready to go to bed. Did I mention that I’ve been sick? I must be the windshield, I must be the windshield, I MUST be the windshield…

Posted in Fall 2012 - Sophomore

Comments Off

Why Hello There, Sophomore Year. Nice to Finally Meet You.

Posted on September 4th, 2012

Even though a small part of me wonders where summer went and how it’s possible that I am already back in Rhode Island, I am thrilled to be back in my home away from home.

Two weeks ago I filled every last inch of my car with stuff that I insisted I needed for my first apartment. My car is not that big, so luckily my parents were kind enough to drive down with everything else a week later. I, of course, still had to make a few Target runs because there was no way my roommate and I were about to let our apartment look bland. Though there are still bags that need to be unpacked I love coming home to something other than just a normal dorm room. Even though I am a couple of miles of campus, I absolutely love living in Almeida and we even have a walk in closet!

Next mission, though… find a job that could somehow fit in my crazy schedule.

The reason I came back to campus two weeks ago is because of Late and International Orientation. There was quite a large number of incoming students at this orientation, in fact way more than I had ever anticipated. Everything more or less went off without a hitch, but now I am pretty sure the true test of my abilities will come in to play. Can I remember all of my orientees names? No probably not. Can I at least remember their faces? I can sure try. The challenge starts now. (Actually, a week ago as I was moving one of my student’s futons up to the 5th floor of the residence hall…)

The Fun Kids

Classes began last Wednesday, which basically means that reality set in. Sometimes it feels like I am on campus so much doing other things not related to academics that I forget what I am here for. I was reminded over the summer though when I had to purchase ten textbooks… Anyway, I started off my first sociology class well by arriving 20 minutes late after thinking I could get from my apartment, down Metacom Ave., find a parking spot in J-Lot, and walk to CAS within 20 minutes. For future reference, it’s not possible. After finally making it to CAS I then walked into the wrong classroom (late…) which was extremely awkward. Eventually, I found my class in a completely different building and made the walk of shame into the CORRECT classroom. Good first impression, huh? Other than that, I am hoping that I will enjoy all of my classes this semester especially considering I took on a sixth course. It’s always go go go in my world!

Back to the fun stuff. CEN!

1,2,3 Weekend finished up yesterday with an amazing performance by Stephanie Coplan and We The Kings. The weather couldn’t have been better and there was a great turn out- I wish I knew the final count! The only downside is now I have the line “Check Yes Juliet” stuck in my head and am driving everyone crazy because I can’t stop humming the tune. But hey, I don’t have a problem with it. CEN’s Arts & Culture chair played The Avengers on Saturday night, and even though it unfortunately had to be moved into the field house due to weather approximately 220 students showed up to watch the action film. I really don’t like movies, and yet I only got up once and didn’t fall asleep! That is basically a new record for me. Oh! And of course we had Arden Myrin on campus on Friday night! Did you know that she is from Rhode Island?!

We The Kings

That is all I have for now. Have a good week everyone and happy fall!

PS- HI CAROL!!!

Posted in Fall 2012 - Sophomore

Comments Off

It’s Not “Goodbye”… Just “See You Later”

Posted on July 12th, 2012

First, please accept my apologies for not writing as soon as orientation was over. The last week of orientation was without a doubt a memorable one, and since I have been home I have found myself missing 45 of my new best friends or trying to catch up on my lack of sleep. I haven’t been 100% sure about what I want to write about, but the more I wait the more I forget the little details of that week, so here it goes!

On June 24th, six OAs and two professional staff members ventured with Swoop to Fenway Park! It was Rhode Island appreciation day and Swoop, along with the Salve Regina mascot were invited to go to the Red Sox game and also go onto the field with Wally the Green Monster. Even though I have lived in New England my entire life, I had never been to a Red Sox get let alone gone on the actual field! Without a doubt, that was the best first Red Sox game at Fenway that I could have possibly experienced. Go Sox!

Me & Swoop at Fenway Park

RWU at Fenway

Thursday of that week was our last themed dinner. The last dinner we all have together is formal, and this year we were lucky enough to have it at Leo’s. The evening was full of harmless mischief (if you ever meet Sean Thompson, ask what we did to him when he gave a speech… here’s a hint “#swag”), laughter, tears and an OA version of “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion.

Later that week, after all of our orientations were over, we took the trolley (yes…. I do mean the trolley) and a shuttle up to the Wrentham outlets and then continued on to our vice presidents house for a pool party. I am happy to say that 45 of us got in and out of there without breaking anything (or stealing the adorable dog…)! To top off an eventful day, everyone piled back in the trolley and shuttle and started the drive back to RWU, with a much needed pit stop at Eskimo King.

We spent our last weekend on campus working on our Fourth of July float. In 2011 it won Best in Parade and considering Bristol has the oldest Fourth of July celebrations in the country, there was no pressure to win it again. Ha. Though sometimes working on the float seemed tedious, and there was always a desire to do everything perfectly, the end result was phenomenal.

The float outside of Cedar Hall

What do I mean by phenomenal? I mean that we were all outside the float and ready to go by 5:45 in the morning that way we could get to Colt State Park in time to be considered for judging. Even though that didn’t start for another couple of hours, we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the judges and most importantly the results. And then the time came…

The judges finished analyzing every float and came to decisions on awards. At this point we were all standing around our float watching to see what everyone else was winning since the judges just “skipped” over us making it seem like we didn’t win anything. Rumor has it they just happened to “skip” over the float last year as well. We didn’t want to get our hopes up, but after hours of working on the float all we wanted to do was bring back Best in Parade to the university for a second year. And guess what….? WE DID IT!!!! I am pretty convinced that our excitement was so loud that we woke up anyone in the area who wasn’t awake yet, and made every one around us think we were crazy… but that’s okay, right?!

BEST IN PARADE!

After that we walked in the parade with 125,000 people lining the streets, which is one of the coolest things that I have ever done. 3.1 miles later and it was over, which meant that orientation was also over and once we took apart the float we were “free to move about the cabin…” All that there was left to do was pack…

However, we needed to get one last adventure in before going our separate ways. I don’t actually know exactly where the nine of us went, so I suppose it’s a good thing that I trusted who we were following. All I do know is that it involved wandering through the woods at night and cliffs. Yes, I know none of what I just said sounded like a good idea, but it turned into one of the best nights of my summer. These cliffs had at least a 180 degree view of the bay, but probably even more than that. It was pretty warm out on the fourth, so as we sat on the cliffs we saw so many beautiful sights. On one side of the bay was heat lightning that was so intense you could see more than just flashes, but streaks of lightning that reflected onto the bay. Across from the heat lightning on the other side of the bay was an orange rising moon that was moving at such a fast pace that it almost seemed like you could actually see it in motion. Between Tiverton, RI and the power plant in Fall River, MA (so all around the bay) were multiple fireworks shows. At one point we could pinpoint at least seven different shows going on at once in different towns, along with random fireworks here and there. Heat lightning, fireworks and an orange moon all reflecting on the bay at once… there is no other way I could have imagined ending the Fourth of July and my five weeks in Rhode Island. It’s times like these that I wish I had a camera that took pictures of exactly what I saw, that way I could show just how unbelievable it really was.

Overall, yes I was at school because it was my job. And yes my job was to make incoming freshmen and their families feel welcome and comfortable coming to our university. That itself was rewarding, but I didn’t originally expect my summer to be so much more than that. Everyday was a new adventure, and there were always surprises hidden around every corner. I finally understood what every past Orientation Advisor had told me about what it was like being an OA. It meant that I was going to have the best summer of my life, and that I was going to leave the experience with 45 best friends and more connections to the university than ever before. And you know what, being an OA was just that… the time of my life.

Have an amazing summer and I’ll be back soon!

Posted in Summer 2012

Comments Off

Think BIG!

Posted on July 2nd, 2012

Hello again!

I am excited to write this blog as we have been keeping busy and having a lot of fun since training commenced. I recently went home for the weekend for a graduation, and it’s still really weird to think that this time last year that I was in those shoes. So many things have happened in my life since then whether expected or not, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

On the weekends when we are not working on the float, we are free to do whatever we please… like sleep… on the beach. Last Sunday a group of us went down to Newport and relaxed on the beach, in the ocean and walked the cliff walk. Though there was a red tide, that didn’t stop us from diving into the water to cool off, and surprisingly enough it wasn’t that cold. There is really nothing better than spending the day on a sandy beach with some of your closest friends, especially in Newport.

Newport

The Saturday before that we decided to go up to WaterFire Providence. There was also a Portuguese festival going on the same night with a concert and dancing. WaterFire was really neat, and attracted a huge crowd. We discovered that you can rent a gondola and roast marshmallows by the fire as long as you bring your own equipment, but we’re college students and didn’t have $160 to do so… Instead we took crazy pictures, sat on the edge of the water and listened to people yell at us to not fall in, and danced at the Portuguese festival even though none of us were Portuguese. That night still sticks out in my mind as one of my favorite nights of orientation.

Concert

Two weeks ago our Traditions committee decorated the commons for our jungle themed dinner. There were many of us who dressed up in cheetah print, and those who went all out by actually wearing a costume that looked as if they were riding on top of a stuffed tiger. Even though we probably looked ridiculous, motivational dinners are one of the most fun activities that we do.

Jungle Dinner!

Tuesday began our orientations, starting with transfer. I will admit I was really nervous to work with students for the first time, especially knowing that most of them were probably the same age as me if not older than I was. And on top of that, they have all already had some sort of college experience. Luckily it went well and I felt prepared to work with a larger group of incoming students the next day. However, I was assigned to family staff the next day and my nerves resurfaced. I was so worried about working my first orientation ever and having to interact with parents, and I was nervous that I may have an answer that a family member didn’t want to hear. Every returner told me that it wasn’t as bad as I was making it out to be, and in the end it was actually a of fun. If anything, the parents seemed to be just as nervous about college as I was when I was an incoming freshman, and all they wanted to hear about were my experiences and how my family and I got through. In the end I just had to trust in my training and understand that I was in fact capable of representing the university. After session 1, I would gladly work with families any day. They all seemed truly understanding and grateful to have students to help put their minds at ease.

Session 1 was tiring and I was so happy to be able to get some rest before going home for a graduation. Last week was a busy one as we had 4 days full of orientation. I had the opportunity to work with students both sessions, all of whom were enthusiastic about being here at RWU. It’s kind of a cool feeling to think that the first glimpse of life at school is at orientations, and we as OAs are responsible for making the incoming freshmen feel welcome.

Tomorrow I am going to a Red Sox game to represent RWU with some fellow OAs, and Monday/Tuesday is our last orientation. Where did the time go?!

Hanging around

Posted in Summer 2012

Comments Off

“On Your Own But Not Alone”- Orientation 2012

Posted on June 14th, 2012

Hi everyone!!

I am sorry that it has been a month since I wrote my last blog. I took a couple of weeks off for summer, I had a little bump in the road and orientation training has been keeping me busy. But I’m back now!

Like I said, orientation training has been keeping me on my toes whether we’re in sessions learning about every last inch of the University or working on our float for the Bristol 4th of July parade. Apparently our float won “Best in Parade” last year, but no pressure for this year, right?! For the past two weeks we have been busily preparing for the first arrival of the incoming class of 2016. It’s exciting being on the other side of a place where I was just a year ago. What’s interesting is that when I was at orientation last year I didn’t enjoy myself much, and now I am an Orientation Advisor myself. But here’s my reasoning…

As an incoming freshman who had only graduated high school 24 hours prior to the first day of orientation, I was still extremely shy and perfectly content not playing icebreakers with fellow freshmen that I hadn’t met before. My OAs were great, however I was still completely out of my comfort zone. Orientation was all about meeting new people and having fun, and I basically shut myself out of that. However, somehow within a year I stopped being so shy, and now in fact when I tell people that I was always really shy no one believes me which is sort of amusing. That being said, one of the things that I am looking forward to the most in being an Orientation Advisor is to be able to work with those students who were just like me because I hope that I will understand where they are coming from and be able to use my past experience to help them adjust.

Anyway, we moved in May 28th, spend one night on campus and then went camping. Funny story about that- I am from NH…surrounded by nature… and yet my version of camping is staying in a cabin with running water, heat, electricity, cable, etc. Our cabins however had no electricity, heat, water or anything and we had to walk to the “bath house”. Oh, and it rained and we had a tornado watch… no big deal. Basically, I was completely out of my element yet enjoying it. We spent both days outside getting sunburned, but honestly it was a great experience even if nature was all over me. We Orientation Advisors have three “families” that we are broken up into, and those families were who we spent our two days with. Through crazy activities, high ropes, and summer camp meals our OA staff bonded with each other within a matter of 48 hours. In a nutshell, it was a lot of fun.

The high ropes

The gang!

The following week was our last full week of training. It was still full of sessions from different departments at RWU, that way we were more than prepared to answer questions that will be coming at us in the next few days.

That’s all for now. I know it’s short but I just wanted to check in and let everyone know that I didn’t forget to write! Stay tuned for the next one! (I promise it will be more detailed and fun)

Sneak Peek:

Jungle Themed Dinner
Newport Beach
Transfer Orientation and Orientation Session 1
Water Fire
Other surprises!!

Posted in Summer 2012

Comments Off

The Days I Will Never Forget

Posted on May 18th, 2012

As my freshman year came to a close I found myself looking forward to the excitement of this summer and the adventures that next year has in store. Though at the same time leaving a place that I learned to call home was bittersweet. However, before I get to that let’s talk about CEN’s Spring Weekend… because it was awesome.

I like how it is called Spring Weekend, because whenever I heard “weekend” I used to think there would just be events on the weekend… but no. They start on Tuesday and end on Saturday which makes it that much more interesting when you discover that you have a whole week to look forward to.

That Tuesday night CEN played Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol. I wanted to go and see it, but somehow I managed to fall asleep right before I was going to leave. I’m not sure if I would consider that talent or simply a sign that I should go to bed before 3:00am? Either way, I’m sure the movie was great and I’m bound to see it eventually…

Wednesday was probably my favorite event of the entire year (both the afternoon and the evening event). We had set up a table in the Commons with warm pretzels and lemonade, and in order to get a pretzel and lemonade everyone had to write us one secret. Later we posted the secrets onto poster boards and displayed them in GHH along with secrets from past years. While reading the secrets, everyone could enjoy delicious New York Cheesecake and coffee while listening to Dominic Camany. If you haven’t heard of him, then you should check him out. He was great.

Dominic Camany

Thursday, April 26th, was our spring concert!!! I had been running off of about 4.5 hours of sleep since I once again succeeded in putting off a paper until the night before it was due. And not just any night, a night where I wasn’t back into my dorm room until 11:30pm…some day I will learn. Anyway, though I was exhausted I trudged across campus through the rain (okay… through the mist maybe…) with all of my friends to see New Boyz, The White Panda and Gym Class Heroes. Somehow we managed to be some of the first students in the recreation center and were standing in the front row right up against the barriers. I didn’t think it would be that bad, until I was so squished I couldn’t move and I was constantly getting elbows to the head… I learned the hard way that standing in the spot that everyone else wants to be in as well is not going to work so well unless you’re willing to stand your ground. That being said, I somehow managed to get out of the mob of people and to a place where I could breathe. Then the concert became fun Unfortunately, I was that person who forgot to take any pictures, so I apologize that I don’t have any. Just please take my word for it… it was awesome.

Friday we went to Boston after the Quad Fest. My friend and I took the green line from Quincy Market to Newbury Street AND DIDN’T GET LOST. I don’t care how weird this sounds, but being a girl from a place with no cell phone service, navigating cities can be slightly overwhelming. The fact that we got on a T going the right way, and got off where we were supposed to is a pretty big accomplishment in my book. That’s one thing I can check off of my bucket list…

Quincy Market

Finally after a long week was The Block Party, which I also forgot to take pictures of. I didn’t really know what to expect however I didn’t think it was going to be as big as it was. There were two big rides, a bunch of inflatables and the typical carnival games with prizes. It was basically our own carnival, cotton candy and fried dough included. I spent the day learning about my new CEN position for next year and eating way too much cotton candy. Finally, to top off Spring Weekend there were fireworks behind GHH.

Fireworks!

Fast forward two weeks to the last week of my freshman year!

Tuesday, May 9th was the Student Involvement Recognition Banquet (SIRB). It was long, but still exciting to see everyone’s accomplishments this year. I even won an award- which I was completely surprised about and excited. Though, I wish I had brought a different pair of shoes because I was more concentrated on not tripping in front of everyone than anything else. For those that don’t know me, I’m not always the most graceful person in the world. To the Campus Entertainment Network- you all are the greatest and most hard working individuals and I’m SUPER excited to work with everyone next year

My Award

Wednesday was our second Late Night Breakfast. As always, it was delicious. Then again, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day so I think it’s good whenever! This year there were iced lattes with bendy straws. After drinking three iced lattes at 10:00pm, I decided to cut myself off from the caffeine. I now have a nice collection of bendy straws, too!

My parents were coming on Friday, May 11th to pick me up. Honestly, I was looking forward to being able to go home and have no more school work to worry about for a while, however at the same time I met some amazing people that I was going to have to say goodbye to. Some were transferring, some graduating, some pursuing other opportunities and then there were those who I will see in again in August. Some of the hardest goodbyes were to those who I lived with this year, especially because when we all move back at the end of summer we won’t be living together again. People called our unit a cult, but that’s okay with me. I couldn’t have asked for better people to live with.

Maple 12!

Also, the person in the picture with me wearing the Mickey Mouse ears is Amber. She started off as my RA, then became the person who got me involved in CEN, and now is the best “she bff”. She got me through my first year in college during the times when I was acting like a “lost puppy” who couldn’t quite find my way through the ways of college, and for that I thought she needed to be mentioned in my last blog (of my freshman year that is). To Amber- You’re the best and have a great time during your internship at DISNEY WORLD!! <3

SIRB with Amber

In the end, my freshman year at Roger Williams University will be one that I never forget. It was a year full of crazy events, great professors and other faculty/staff (who know my name! Positive of a small school..) and friends that I know will be around for quite a while.

Also, to everyone that traveled through the twists and turns of my freshman year. Thank you!! I hope you’ll tune in for this summer as well

See you in two weeks for Orientation 2012!! Until then, I’m going to turn my wheels off, not depend on my calendar being updated and accurate and just breathe!

Posted in Spring 2012 - Freshman

Comments Off

Older Entries

Newer Entries

Sophomore Year in a Nutshell

Why Hello There, Sophomore Year. Nice to Finally Meet You.

It’s Not “Goodbye”… Just “See You Later”

Think BIG!

“On Your Own But Not Alone”- Orientation 2012

The Days I Will Never Forget

Subscribe RSS

Pages

Categories

Tags