this is it. this is my last blog as a student voice for the college of mount st. joseph. i've been thinking about what i wanted to say here for quite some time and then it hit me - advice. yea, its cliche but i've taken a different spin on it. i've chosen to walk around the dorm building with a notepad and pen at hand and ask some of the students to share some advice. i had given them some background for my reasoning and then stated that it could include quotes, lyrics, inside jokes and more and could revolve around academics, college life, relationships, and humor. the statements i received revolve around a wide spectrum of these topics:

Honesty is the best image.

Be prepared for shattered expectations. It doesn’t always mean broken. It can be a growing experience.

Don’t let your schoolwork get in your way of a good education.

Think with your head, not your heart.

If the ocean were whiskey and I were a duck I’d float to the bottom and stay there.

It’s true what people say; patience is a virtue. But without taking risks you are not guaranteed rewards. If you see something worth fighting for, NEVER turn down that opportunity… you gotta live to learn. You gotta crash and burn. You gotta make some stances, and take some chances. You gotta live and love and take all life has to give. You gotta live and learn so you can learn to live.

Don’t let somebody be a priority in your life if you’re only an option in theirs.

A life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

I’m not afraid to be who I am.

I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day. And I believe in miracles.

I have learned that your college friends become a kind of family: you eat together, laugh and cry and do absolutely nothing together – until you can’t remember how you ever survived without them.

Tough times don’t last but tough girls do.

Even a broken clock is correct two times a day.

Success is a peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best.

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

Regret nothing that once made you smile.

To coxify: to complicate simple matters.

When you see the light at the end of the tunnel get off the tracks.

Talking in a British accent while intoxicated makes your time worthwhile.

Being different is being normal.

Its something unpredictable but in the end its right, I hope you had the time of your life.

I hope you dance.

Live life for those you love. When you get the chance, do it for someone else.

Prayer in action is love, and love in action is service.

Dance as though no one is watching you, Sing as though no one can hear you, love as though you have never been hurt before, live as though heaven is on earth

Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.

Be still and know that I am God

Let go and Let God

The hardest thing is loving someone and then having the courage to let them love you back.

In life never stop dreaming... for in dreams, we never stop living.

Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting

We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and call it love.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

The greatest thing you will ever learn is just to love and to be loved in return.

God only brings on this challenge in our lives because he knows we’re strong enough to handle it.

Live your day with no regrets. A year from now, are you going to look back on today and be proud of the decisions you made and be happy with the memories of your actions?

No matter how bad a person is, there is something good about them so be like the humming bird and pick the sweetness of virtues.

I am more than happy to be leaving on this note. Constant encouragement to succeed and be the best you can be is the strongest love and that will go on forever.i wish nothing but absolute success in all of your endeavors and will part with the pride that I have earned a degree from the mount and that the education i've been rewarded extends so far past the classes. thank you, everyone, for your time and interest.

 Class Dismissed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIVyRjAI0pI&feature=related

It's the end of the semester... :( We're studying for exams, turning in last minute projects, and packing up the dorm rooms. I've gotten to the point that I have only three more exams and I've just taught my last lesson at Oakdale. I have now turned to my dorm room. I cannot tell you how much I am a pack rat and how many things end up in places that I didn't know existed.

I had literally every wall covered with posters, pictures, and other things just EVERYWHERE! I have to take it all down too. :( I've managed to fill three boxes with pictures, books, knick knacks, pillows, blankets, and other stuff. I have, left, to pack the essential things, my bedding, bath and kitchen stuff, trash cans, clothes, the couch, foot stools, shelving units, and my fridge. It's quite a lot to move and I'm not thrilled about it. And the fact that we're moving is a problem too. What do I do with it all? Normally I would put it all in the attic and just leave it there for the summer but now that Mom is trashing the attic and putting everything AND anything in boxes, I have to put the boxes in my room and just let it all sit in the corner. It's a sad fate for the boxes and the state of my room will be horrible soon. It will have at least 6 boxes, all three of my suitcases, and tons of shelving just sitting around waiting to be moved to a new home. And me with it.

But it's interesting how things just come to an end and we can't stop it. Today is the third day of May of the year two thousand and ten and I cannot believe how quickly the time has passed! I sound like a broken record with that but I can't help it! I didn't realize how quickly time has passed! This time last year I was preparing to go to London and spend 7 weeks in foreign countries! And I'm currently reading the Gemma Doyle series by Libba Bray and in it they are in London and they're mentioning places that I know! And I only know them because I spent all that time there discovering new places in a new city in a new country. And now I've already spent my time there and I wish so desperately to go back... It's just amazing that this year I'm moving to a new home and how easily time just flies by and I don't even realize it...

Graduation is even this Saturday. I'm not graduating until May of next year but under my classification in my academic records, I'm listed as a senior because I've taken so many credits. That makes me feel so old! I cannot believe that my time in college is almost over... :( I love school and I know I'm not ready to leave it yet... Maybe that's why I'm becoming a teacher. ^-^ I even have my three month anniversary with my boyfriend this Saturday, that is how much time has flown by. I can't believe it... I also have to say goodbye to my friends who are graduating and make plans with my other friends to do things over the summer, plan things for next school year, and just generally make sure we stay in touch while we all go our separate ways for three months. I am honestly ready to do nothing for a while but I know I will regret that after only a few weeks into summer. I manage to get myself in a vicious cycle where I can't wait for school to be over, have fun with no school for a while, wish I was back in school, then dread the end of summer, happy to be back at school, then hate to be back at school, and wait until the next break. It's a cycle that is never ending and oddly very comforting to know that I know what my life will be like. And yet, I don't want to know. I don't know... :(

But I know one of the last things to come down in my dorm will be my star lights hanging in my window. They are on a timer and are on from 6 PM until about 6 AM. They are a comfort and joy to me and I love my stars. They will be the last thing to be remembered from my junior year of college... I cannot wait for the next part of my life to begin and yet I don't want to leave the comfort of what I already know behind...

As yet another semester comes to a close, it is time to reflect on all those things that have changed over the past 15 weeks, well, actually 14 weeks as we do have 1 more week and exams yet.

This semester, I have gotten to delve more deeply into my major, Special Education, with my 5 classes: methods of math, curriculum and methods of spec. ed., diagnosis and remediation in reading, geometry, and classroom management. I have found something useful in each class, I think. Methods of math has shown me that when teaching little kids about math, we shouldn't assume everything we spell out clearly actually makes sense. Such as, if we show 2 apples plus 2 apples equals 4 apples and we ask how many apples are there, then we shouldn't be surprised if they say 8 because there is actually 8 apples on the diagram even though we're only wanting the number on the other side of the equal sign. In my curriculum and methods of spec. ed. class, I have learned to make an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), write an Evaluation Team Report (ETR), and modify assignments for a student with special needs. In my diagnosis and remediation in reading class, my teacher has shown us that we can give free and very useful reading diagnostics to evaluate the reading abilities of students who may need help. In geometry, I haven't learned anything I haven't already learned, but it was a helpful refresher course when I did get into my practicum for 4th graders. And in classroom management, I have learned different models that are helpful in discipline and structuring a classroom to promote learning, motivation, encouragement, and fun. Not every class I've taken has given me as much but this semester seems to have been a good one. I look forward to one more semester of classes before I student teach in the spring next year. That's scary...! :O

I also participated in the March for Life in Washington DC back in January, saw Jeff Dunham for the first time with my friend Nicole, created a board game that was only worth 10 points but looks like I bought it :D, saw the Polar Bear Plunge for the first time, got involved in a practicum with special needs students, saw the Saints win their first ever Super Bowl, was almost in a heads on collision, had a series of snow days and several feet of snow over the semester, witnessed an awesome winters Olympics, had my first ever real Valentine's Day, my grandpa broke his hip and is still recovering, saw Ringley Brothers and Barnum and Bailey's Circus, sold my house, bought a new house, went to Spring Formal with my boyfriend, participated in the "Bye, Bye Birdie" musical, and had too much fun at Spring Fest. It has been an action packed semester and I have enjoyed almost every minute of it!

With only one week to go, I have only two projects to finish and one paper to edit but I do have three lessons to teach for my practicum. How nerve-wrecking is that!? Then I also have three sit down exams- ewww- and one take home. That'll be fun- not. Then it's out for the summer! My parents just sold our house and bought a new one- all within a week so now we have to pack everything up and take it to the new place. Fortunately for me, most, if not all, of my stuff is in the dorms so I just have to move my stuff from school to, hopefully, the new place in two weeks, but I don't know how well that'll work out. All in all, it's a new adventure I'm looking forward to even though I'm not that excited about doing it right now. :(

With all this going on, I am swamped with things to do and finish but I am having fun taking all my learned knowledge and putting it to good use. I am excited to start some new chapters in my life and I can't wait to start! :)

I have been on a journey since a year ago this comingMay.  A journey that went from being asummer employment position to showing me what I want to be in the future toteaching me how to be that person.  St.Joseph showed me that I wanted to be a teacher... I would still be acommunications major right now if it were not for the fact that I got theopportunity to work in a summer school classroom last year.

  This semester in particular though, I havelearned far more about teaching to the student than I have about teaching ingeneral.  I have had more of a chancethis semester through my volunteer hours to interact with the studentsspecifically and it has been a great learning opportunity.

I have had experiences with a child that speaks a foreignlanguage and another who is from a foreign county altogether... the 3rd gradeclassroom that I work in has given me the chance to work with several childrenwho have learning disabilities and a few with ADD/ADHD.  The one central thing that I have learnedabout children with disabilities and all children in general is that seeing thechild as a person, seeing them as a whole and not just as another student to poundideas into, is the key to the success of teaching.  Each child I work with is unique in how theylearn and when I teach I need to take that into consideration the quality ofuniqueness.

These children are by far the most pleasing aspect of my servicethis semester... they make even the darkest days seem worth it.  When I walk into the classroom I amsurrounded by smiling faces hugging me and telling me they missed me.  Honestly the most displeasing thing I can thinkof is when they children ask me why I am not there with them all the time andwhy I cannot stay longer when I have to leave. For two semesters now I have been with this class and with the childrenin the aftercare program and they don't like to see me leave... nor do I liketo leave them.  As I said before, I canbe having the most awful day, everything can be going wrong and I will walkthrough those doors into that classroom and their smiles and warm embraces willwash away all of my troubles for a few hours... I know this is the right careerfor me, the kids show me so every day.

I cannot tell you the names of these children, but they are my silver lining in this dark cloud:)

So this weekend is musical weekend. "Bye, Bye Birdie!" is showing at the Mount this weekend and the first two shows were Thursday and Friday night at 7:30 and two shows are left on Saturday at 7:30 PM and Sunday at 2 PM. The show is looking great so far and all of our hard work is finally paying off. I am really having fun with it. I am more or less in charge of the stage crew but you won't find my name in the program because when I came into crew this year, the information had already been sent to the printers for the program so it was too late to add my name. :( That kinda makes me sad but that's the way the world turns sometimes so "put on a happy face!" (a line from the show- lol!).

But today, Saturday, is my roommate's 21st birthday, Sam! She told me two weeks ago that her three best friends from high school/hometown wouldn't be able to come down to the Mount for her birthday so I put into motion some plans that, so far, have seemed to make Sam so much happier about her birthday! I managed to create- and PULL OFF- a surprise birthday party for her last night at a downtown hot spot. I got about 10 or 12 people to travel to Fountain Square and hang out with me and Sam last night. There was even a cake, birthday tiara, sash, and birthday necklace! Sam was very surprised and excited! I was so happy for her! :D She was very happy to see that people came out to celebrate her birthday with us: Shiv and boyfriend Brian, Tricia and boyfriend Jeff W, Allie, Nicole, Ryan, Anne and friend Jeff, my boyfriend, Chris, Rachel and boyfriend AJ, Megan M, Megan P and her boyfriend Jeff C. It was a great time and I was so happy about how well it turned out! My boyfriend and his mom were the ones that made the cake and decorated it. It was awesome! And tasted amazing too! Sam only had one fruity beverage but that's fine that we managed to get her to have at least one. :) She also spent a lot of time dancing with friends and it made her seem very happy last night! :D

I also had my other friends Molly T and Katie decorate our dorm room while we were gone so when Sam and I got back, there were streamers and balloons in the dorm room. Then after Sam left this morning to do priority registration, I decorated the dorm a bit more with streamers on the door in the hallway and balloons and then some signs saying "Happy 21st Birthday Sam!" in the hallway. Then I also managed to get two of Sam's best friends- the ones that originally couldn't come- to come down to the Mount to surprise Sam! I had them hide in the shower because Sam is more or less afraid of the shower. When Maria and I go home for the weekend or she's in the room by herself at night, she opens all the doors and the shower curtain 'cuz she's afraid there might be something hiding in it or whatever. So when I brought her upstairs today, I told her that she could have her birthday present after she got Megatron out of the shower. (Story: she watched "Transformers" by herself in the dark once and that is now why she is afraid of things being shut while she's alone at night so Megatron frequently hides in the shower.) So when she went to find Megatron, Molly A and Cara jumped out of the shower. It was priceless! She was so scared! And Molly recorded everything on her camera so I saw what her face looked like and it was awesome! I loved it! Then they went out to lunch together since Cara had to leave earlier than Molly. But Sam and Molly will be going to the musical tonight so they won't have to cut that visit short at all.

But tonight the musical should be awesome! Molly A, Sam, my parents, boyfriend, and brother and his girlfriend (whom I have yet to meet), will all be there. It should be awesome night! Now I just need to get homework done, stop getting sick (I keep developing a fever with no other symptoms as far as I can tell), and sleep some more then I should be fine! I hope... :)

well i heard a little something on facebook today that its national procrastination day. i'm really not so sure about this. because i'm suprising myself with the amount of work that i'm really getting done today. well to be honest, its all work that should have been figured out by now, BUT ITS NOT LATE! but either way, i'm actually being productive today. on the day where i should be celebrating excuses i'm actually progressing and doing some really good work. yikes - does this mean i've actually grown up. do i have to actually be REAL adult now. okay okay okay, i know. i'm already an adult. i'm graduating from college in 23 days and it is pretty dang nerve-wrecking. this past weekend when i was home for my sister's wedding i had talked to sooooo many family members and friends of family members and friends of friends, and neighbors, and people that i haven't seen in 20 years. what did we talk about? well i'm sure this will sound familiar: so what are you doing when you graduate? ..... guess what - i have no idea. sure i've thought about my options with teaching, and volunteer work, and continuing school, and hospital jobs, and whatnot, but will i actually do? i don't have a license to teach or a masters to even substitute. i don't have a psychology title in my degree. i don't want to go back to school right away. its all a mystery right now. the biggest issue on my mind at the time is thesis. i have one week to get this thing posted on the wall and then its done. my senior thesis to graduate college with a bachelor's in art will be done.

what's so cool is that when it is done - i'll be free to make the choices i want to make with the freedom of time and enjoyment of a college degree!!!

So last night was Spring Formal! One of the biggest social events that the Mount, and especially CAB, puts on! Last year it was at the Newport Aquarium but this year it was at Paul Brown Stadium. I saw outfits there that ranged from black from head to toe, sweater vests, bow ties, dresses, gowns, tuxes, suits, mobster pin stripe suits, hats and Fedoras, Michael Jackson gloves, and many bright colors! It was quite a show of design and fashion (and sometimes lack thereof).

I had musical practice for "Bye, Bye Birdie!" earlier that afternoon until 5 so after practice was over, everyone bolted for the doors trying to get home and to the dorms to get ready for the dance. It started at 7 technically so people had enough time but most of us thought we wouldn't. Which is strange considering our director, Mary Mazuk, was one of the chaperones and she was required to be there early anyway. So of course we were gonna get out early. :P Thanks Mary!

So we all got ready; I did with my roommates Sam and Maria. Sam wore a pretty teal dress, Maria in a floral black and white, and me in a black and grey striped. My boyfriend wore blue and yellow so we didn't match but I really didn't mind. We all got to the stadium about 7:30 and then ate dinner (rolls, turkey or brisket, potatos, veggies, salad, fruit, pasta, and something else I couldn't identify). Following that, we played Monte Carlo! So gambling! We were all given 24 chips in the beginning and then you gambled them and tried to make more then cashed the chips in for raffle tickets. The prizes we had were: a plasma TV, a PS3, a Coach purse, an IPod Shuffle, an IPod Touch, 4 Red's Tickets, 2 $50 BP cards, a $100 Target card, a $50 Target card, and a $25 AMC card. The games that were there were: Beat the Dealer, Craps, Roulette, Black Jack, etc. My boyfriend and I made friends with the dealer at Beat the Dealer and we walked away with 216 chips between the two of us. We got 54 raffle tickets for them. At the beginning of cashing in, the ratio for tickets was 1:1 but gradually increased as more people turned in more chips, so we cashed in at 4:1 sadly enough. And then we didn't win anything. But I had too much fun anyway. :) The dancing was loud and fun but good.

Then all day today I was recovering from the dance and I was wiped out. My house also went on the market on Friday and we had a showing Saturday morning but now I have to make sure my room at home is spotless when I'm gone. It usually is but it has to be even better than normal so that someone will fall in love with our house and buy it! :) So it was a very quiet day.

This week will not be quiet though. I am the Stage Left Manager and Props Mistress for the musical so I have to be at the practices for this week, Hell Week. Shows are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:30 PM and Sunday at 1 PM. They should be great and I'm really excited! I just have to make it through all the practices this week before I can relax. And I'll only relax a little bit before I stress out about projects coming up. But overall, life is good. :D