Softball Practice!

This year I am the manager of a Co-Rec Intramurals Softball team. The team consists of girls from my bible study and guys from The Dive. Yesterday was supposed to be our first game, but it was rained out. My roommate and I were really looking forward to going out on the field and getting dirty. We hadn't practiced softball in awhile, so we went out in the rain and played catch. Before long, we were practicing our slides into "home plate." Above, you can see the before, after, and during pictures. It was a lot of fun and a great stress reliever.

I look forward to better weather next week. Intramurals is such a fun way to spend time with friends and relax after a long week of classes. Our team name is "Sub-Par." I'm not really sure what it is supposed to represent, but I let the boys pick the name.

Woman's Conference '08

Every other year, The Dive, hosts "Woman's Conference." (They also have "Men's Conference" the same weekend, but I'm not invited to that!) About 50 girls travelled to Ashtabula to have an "exaggerated" Girl's Night! Most of us didn't know many of the other girls very well, so this was a great opportunity to build new friendships. The conference consisted of eating lots of food, playing crazy games, talking a lot, and making crafts. Most of The Dive staff women gave talks on "women struggles," such as: eating disorders, self-confidence, and relationships. The staff also conducted a Panal for us to ask tough questions. It was a great way to grow spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. I think it is so important to find close relationships with woman during college. I heard a quote during my freshmen year that has stuck..."Some look for a husband in college, others look for bridemaids." I have only known my friends in college for three or less years, and already I am closer to them than friends from high school, that I have known for majority of my life.

Big Break '08

Pictures L-R:
My roommate and I with the host of Big Break. My "Big Break" roommates on the balcony of our condo. Attempting a pyramid!

A few weeks ago I attended Big Break in Panama City Beach, Florida. Big Break is a spring break opportunity for students involved in Campus Crusades for Christ. Every year Campus Crusade holds Big Break for four consecutive weeks. This gives colleges all across the country the opportunity to attend the conference. About 40 students from Kent State's chapter of Campus Crusade drove down to Panama City Beach to join 850 other college students from other campuses.

Every day we attended a morning meeting and an evening meeting. During the meetings we sang with a worship band from Minnesota, listened to speakers, and played a game or two. Between the two meetings we went out in groups of 3 and initiated conversations with other college students.

This was my first spring break trip and it was definitely a blast. I am really glad that I was able to go and grow closer with so many of my friends!

My spring break wasn't that of a typical college student. Every morning we attended

SNOW DAY!

This past week we had a SNOW DAY! Snow days are exciting in college because it is very rare that campuses call off. I am apart of a campus alert system that sends a text message to my phone whenever there is an important message or emergency. I receieved a text message at 5:30 am about the snow day. I was excited to know that I could roll over and sleep in. The mobile alerts are great because some of my friends accidentally went to class because they were unaware of the cancellation and had not checked their email.
Although I wanted to play in the snow and spend the day sled riding, I decided to catch up on some homework. I was relieved to have this extra day to finish a few papers I had been putting off. Thank you snow!

As an education major we have these groups called, cohorts. A cohort is basically the group of people that are in the same year, major, and methods class. Last week some of the girls in my major went to see our friend Nate sing and play his guitar in downtown Kent. We are starting to become a family because there are only 11 of us and we will be spending the next year and 1/2 together. It is great to have such supportive friends that I can go to whenever I need help in other classes or advice on various issues.

Performing downtown was a great opportunity for Nate and he talked about it for weeks. So we decided to surprise him! He was very excited and even dedicated a song to his "INLA ladies."

KSA formal

A few weeks ago I attended our annual formal for Kent State Ambassadors (KSA). KSA is an organization that serves as a liaison between alumni, the university president, and other student organizations. I have been a member for three years and currently serve as the treasurer. KSA has given my a great opportunity to network with university donors, alumni, and other organizations. We attend luncheons hosted by Dr. Lefton, give campus tours to alumni, host the homecoming events, and are involved with Relay for Life. KSA Members are required to hold a 3.0 GPA and express positive character qualities. Most of the members hold officer positions in other campus organizations. This is convenient when we are interested in collaborating with other students. The formal had a Masquerade theme.

3rd Eye Blind Concert

Last Tuesday, Third Eye Blind came to Kent State and performed in the MAC center. The Undergraduate Student Senate sponsors events like this throughout the year. In the past few years comedians like Dane Cook and Bob Saget performed.
It is definitely a good idea to take advantage of these events because it is either free or only a small fee with your student ID.
Third Eye Blind put on a great performance and

even announced that they are releasing a Live Performance CD this year. The exciting part about this was that they recorded this CD during their performance at Kent! Now I can buy the CD and say that I was singing in the background!