Rock and Roll is Here to Stay!

Homecoming week is rolling right along...Todd Carey's concert last night was AMAZING! I bought his CD, "Watching Waiting" and also a t-shirt! My boyfriend really liked him too! He got a t-shirt too! So now we can be matching! :) After the concert I worked on some homework, I'm trying to get ahead because we're on the road to Grinnell and Knox for volleyball this weekend.

Tonight is "School of Rock," which will be playing in Bear Auditorium since it is too cold to show it outside. Since I'm gone all weekend, Damico and I are having a date night: we're going to Roadhouse (the college hotspot for pizza) and then to the movie afterwards! It should be a fun night!

"In the words of AC/DC: We roll tonight... to the guitar bite... and for those about to rock... I salute you."

--Dewey Finn, School of Rock

--Christy

Homecoming Week for the Red Hawks!

I can't believe it is already Homecoming week! In honor of our Rock and Roll themed Homecoming, S.M.A.C. has planned many events this week! We kicked off the week on Sunday with window painting in the Commons and a brat fry at the soccer game. On Monday, dinner was a picnic on Memorial Lawn (which was delicious!). Today, musician Todd Carey will be performing at the pub at 7 p.m. Tomorrow S.M.A.C. will be showing "School of Rock" on the Union Lawn, then Friday comedian Rob Paravonian will be performing in the Terrace at 8 p.m. followed by FIREWORKS on Sadhoff! Saturday, of course, is the game at 1 p.m., but at noon is the Walk-to-the-Game, where rally towels will be given out!

I am so excited about Todd Carey tonight! I just checked out his music for the first time today and I am so glad I did! I was planning on going shopping in Oshkosh after practice tonight, but I am definitely going to go see Todd Carey tonight!!!

Check out his website: http://www.myspace.com/toddcarey

With all the awesome events going on, this week is sure to rock!

--Christy

T is for Tuesday and Two Tests

Hello there!
What a hectic couple of last days it has been! I don't even know where to begin! Let's see...a quick re-cap of the weekend: Friday night we had our conference opener against Monmouth College (we lost 3-1), but Saturday afternoon we had another conference game, against Illinois College (we won that one 3-0!) and afterward we had a potluck/grill-out with all of the parents! It was delicious! Sunday was a day of studying, all day. So was yesterday. Today I have two exams; I already took my Spanish one and I am off to take my Research Design and Statistics one in 15 minutes!

I have come to the conclusion that exams and projects come in cycles, so when I have one exam, chances are I will have another exam or some other big project due the same week. This is one of those weeks! But after today it should be all downhill! We don't have a volleyball game tonight, so I am able to go to the SMAC meeting at 8 p.m. and it's Homecoming Week so we'll have a lot to talk about! Other than the SMAC meeting, tonight I am going to catch up on sleep! No more 4-hours-of-sleep nights! :)

--Christy

I love Thursdays!

Thursdays are probably my favorite day of the week! I don't have to be anywhere until 9 a.m. and what a treat that extra hour of sleep is! I only have one class on Thursdays: Latin 430, from 10-noon. Other than my one class, I also work in the morning from 9-10 a.m. and then again in the afternoon from 1-2 p.m. My only other committment is volleyball practice from 4:15-6 p.m. So I have a good hour and a half available for a nap!

Tonight is also the Equestrian Club's kick-off event: wagon rides and a BBQ at Cedar Ridge! I really want to go to that (plus my roommate, Jess, is the president and founder of the club!), so I am going to try and talk my boyfriend, Damico, into going after practice! He's usually pretty tired after football practice, but how can you turn down BBQ and a wagon ride? :) I can't wait!

But if we decide not to do the wagon ride and BBQ, there's always the Iron Chef Cooking competition! Sponsored by Residence Life, the 4th Annual Iron Chef Cooking Competition involves whipping up a tasty creation with a secret ingredient in only 30 minutes! I don't know that I could cook, but it would be interesting to see what some of the chefs come up with!

--Christy

Avast! It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Ahoy mateys! Today is September 19th, which means one thing: International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Although no professors celebrated this day, I had some fun with arrrrrrr few friends! Today I only had three classes, and was done by noon...but I had to work in the afternoon, so I wasn't able to enjoy the beautiful weather! I sure hope this weather keeps up! Although I did buy a few scarves when I went shopping on Sunday, I'm not ready to break out the winter gear quite yet!

Tonight the Greek Council is sponsoring "Making Greek Great" with Lori Hart Ebert, who will be speaking on issues concerning Greek Life and informing independents about Greek Life and some of the benefits. On campus, we have five fraternitites and three sororities, but it is important to know that you don't have to be Greek to hang out with them. As an independent, I feel very welcome by all the Greek organizations on campus and they all get along well with eachother.

At Ripon, as a first-year student, you are not able to pledge until second semester. I think this is a great thing; it gives you the opportunity to get to know people and decide if Greek life is right for you, and if so, which organization matches your personality and your beliefs. Greek is great, but so is independent life! To each his/her own! :)

...And if you decide to be a pirate, we support that too! ;)

Take arrrrrrr easy!

--Christy

!Un Bonito Martes!

What a beautiful day! The weather sure made it easier to get out of bed this morning! After being up late finishing homework, it was nice to wake up to a beautiful sunny day! I only had two classes today, and I'm on my way to my Stats lab soon, from 2-4 p.m. After Stats, I have a couple hours to work on homework and grab a quick dinner before heading down to Storzer for my volleyball game at 6 p.m. We play Edgewood tonight at 7 p.m., the last of our non-conference play. This weekend marks the beginning of concerence play for us.

Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) is making Red Hawk Nation fan t-shirts for volleyball and they're supposed to be in tonight, so I can't wait to see them! I ordered one for me, and also for my mom, dad, and sister! I think they are such a great idea and a good way to get fans! :)

So most of my evening will be taken up with my game tonight, but after thatI have some homework to do and then hopefully I can watch a movie, or even go to bed early!

Go Hawks!

--Christy

Here We Go Again...

Another weekend has ended way too fast. My mom came up Friday and Saturday for my volleyball tournament, so that was a big highlight of my weekend! We played two mathces Friday night, losing both to St. Norbert's and UW-Steven's Point. After the matches, my mom and I ran some errands: we got groceries and a few odds and ends for my room from K-Mart, picked up some pictures I had develped from Walgreen's, and then went to the Comfort Inn, where we ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut. It was a very relaxing night and it was sooo good to catch up with my mom! I hadn't seen her in a MONTH!

Saturday I had two more matches, at we lost our 10 a.m. match against UW-River Falls, but won our 2 p.m. match against Martin Luther. Our last match went to five games, so we didn't finish playing until 4:45 p.m. I was bummed I didn't get to play in the frisbee golf tournament, or see any of my boyfriend, Damico's football game, but I made him a sign before the game, so he was pretty happy about that. :) After the tournament, my mom and I went out to dinner at Big Stella's with Damico and his dad. It was fabulous! We also managed to take a few pictures by some of the Septemberfest decorations! After dinner my mom helped me unpack, and then she left for Minnesota. I took a nap, then spent the night with friends.

After brunch on Sunday (my favorite meal of the week!), Jess and I went to the Fox River Mall in Appleton to do a little shopping. The trip was definitely successful! That mall is overwhelming! We stopped at Taco Bell when we got back to Ripon around 6:15 and then Jess had to go to Youth Group while I unpacked and worked on homework. I didn't have very much homework and I was able to get to bed before midnight!! :D

Today should be a busy day, and I have a volleyball game tomorrow night, so I have to work ahead on homework for tomorrow too. I have class until noon, lab from 1-4, practice from 4:30-5:45, and I'm also on a Marketing Advisory Committee, through the office of Marketing and Publications, and we have our first meeting today, but I think I'll have to miss it due to practice. Mondays are just insane!

--Christy

Finally Friday!

What a week it has been! I am so glad today is Friday! I survived my chemistry exam and am ready to cruise into the weekend! Today and tomorrow we host the Ripon Invitational volleyball tournament, so we have matches tonight at 4 p.m. against St. Norbert College and 6 p.m. against UW-Steven's Point. I'm excited because my mom is coming over for the tournament too! Ripon is three hours from Rochester, Minnesota, where I'm from, so she is coming over tonight and then we're going to stay at the Comfort Inn tonight and then she'll come to the games tomorrow and then we're going to go to the football game together!

Thank goodness I had two exams this week and I am able to relax a little this weekend, because there is so much going on! Tonight, SMAC is sponsoring a magician, Peter Boie, but I'll have to miss that because of my tournament. But that's not all! Tomorrow Theta Chi, one of the fraternities on campus, is hosting their James Bond-themed 30th Annual Frisbee Golf tournament for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and also a Thunderball Volleyball Tournament.

Going on Downtown Ripon this weekend is Septemberfest, which will include a custom car show on Watson Street, a dog walk parade through Historic Downtown, a Brat Fry, live music by Dave Sky, Taste of Ripon, Cookie tossing, a lip-sync competition, the New Tuba Dan Band on the Square, and a World Record Breaking Twist Attempt! Ripon will attempt to break the world record for the most people doing the twist at the same time. The previous record was set in 2004 at a high school dance in Yorkshire, England, which is where our sister city, Ripon, England, is located. They had 1,692 people dance the twist for 5 minutes and we're going to break their record!

So as much as I want to relax this weekend...there is so much to do! It is sure to be a fantastic weekend though!

--Christy

Chemistry Crunch Time!

The countdown begins...less than 24 hours until my chemistry exam, then I can finally relax! Last night I took a break from studying to go to one of the volleyball captain's apartments for rootbeer floats and poster-making, then it was back to chemistry. I attended a review session this morning at 8 a.m. and there is another study group tonight, but I think I'll miss that one due to practice. I just can't wait for this exam to be over with! Then tomorrow night, my mom is coming over for my tournament and we're staying in a hotel for the night! It will be so nice to see her and just talk, relax, watch a movie , sit in the hot tub. :)

Today I only have chemistry and latin, so I'm half-done with my classes for the day! I am done with class at noon, work from 1-2 and then I'll be a hermit for the rest of the day: studying for chem and only taking a break for volleyball practice.

--Christy

Half-done and Half-asleep!

Wednesday is here, it's all down hill from here, right? My Spanish exam is over with and I did well on it! Now I just have the dark cloud of Organic Chemistry hanging over my head until Friday. But that's not all I have to do! I have been going, going, going, and I am so tired! Last night we had a home volleyball match against Maranatha BAptist Bible College; we won in three games, which was nice! We were supposed to have a girls' night last night and watch a chick flick, eat ice cream, and just catch up, but suprise, suprise, everyone had too much homework! But we will try again soon; with me playing volleyball and all the other girls' committments too, it's hard to find time to get everyone together to just hang out and talk. Hopefully we will have time this weekend! My roommate, Jess, and I are already planning on a shopping trip on Sunday! :)

As for today, though, I already had Chem, from 8-8:50, next I have Spanish from 10:10-11, followed by Research Design and Statistics from 11:15-12, then it's an hour (for napping!) and I work again from 1-3! Volleyball practice at 4:15, dinner, studying, and a volleyball dessert night at one of the captain's apartments! I'm excited, it will be a nice study break! And hopefully I can get to bed at a decent time, and work on this enormous sleep-debt I've accumulated this past week!

--Christy

The Week of the First Exams...

Another Monday is here...that means another week of classes, rain, and first exams. This week I have my first exam in Spanish and also in Organic Chemistry. My Spanish exam is today and O-Chem on Friday. This past weekend we didn't have volleyball at all, so I was able to get ahead in my schoolwork, which will be nice during the week. We have a volleyball game tomorrow night at home against Maranatha Baptist Bible College, so it is nice to be a little ahead!

But the weekend was pretty fun! Friday night Theta Chi hosted a thug party, full of tinfoil grills, fake tatoos, velour, and lots of ice. I got dressed up with some of my girlfriends. It was fun to go around and collect items from the boys! We got jerseys, bandnas, hats, boxers, shorts, pants--everything! We were pretty thuggish! Check it out!

Today is also a blood drive on campus, so I might have to stop by that too! Good thing I only had a fake tatoo! :)

--Christy

Naked Roommate On the Loose!

Today is a beautiful day, and I only had one class! Granted it was two hours of Latin, but I'm done! I have volleyball practice this afternoon from 4:15-6 p.m., but some of my girlfriends are all going to Green Lake for a picnic, so hopefully I can meet up with them after practice! Then tonight SMAC presents Harlan Cohen, who will be giving advice from his best-selling college student handbook: The Naked Roommate: & 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College. I have read a little of this book...and it's pretty interesting...here is a section Harlan wishes he could have told himself before going to college, from his website: http://www.thenakedroommate.com/

Just relax.

Have fun.

Enjoy it all.

Your job is simple:

Be your personal best,

Meet lots of new people,

Make new friends,

Make smart decisions,

Possibly find a career,

Possibly find love,

And take risk after risk so you can find out what you love and what you don't love. Expect that all risks you take will not always go as planned. Some will, but not all. When it diesn't go as expected, don't go on the attack, don't give up and hide--instead, look inward, look woutward, and then move forward. If you do this, you'll leave college with more than a degree. You'll leave knokwing what it takes for you to be happy. Really, what more could you want.

I think that is great advice! And I can't wait to hear more tonight! Harlan also plays the guitar, and includes a lot of audience participation, along with a unique brand of humor, he is sure to be a hit tonight!

--Christy

Red Hawk of the Week!

I found out on Monday that I was voted Red Hawk of the Week after my performance in last weekend's Ripon Invitational! As Red Hawk of the week, I get my name up on the Announcement Board at Storzer, and on the website, and I get a free pizza from Roadhouse! I love Roadhouse pizza...I still have left-overs sitting in my fridge from Saturday after the tournament when my dad and I went there! :) This weekend was a lot of fun, here are a few pictures a player's dad took!

Yesterday we had a game at Wisconsin Lutheran Collge, in Milwaukee. We won pretty handily in three games: 30-22, 30-15, 30-23. I finished with 1 kill, 3 aces, 5 digs, and 2 blocks. It was a pretty short night, so we stopped at Wendy's for some dinner before coming back to Ripon. I finished up some homework when we got home, and went to bed, trying to get rid of this little cold I have! We don't have a game until next Tuesday, so hopefully I'll be healthy and caught up on sleep by then! :)

--Christy

You can view the Red Hawk of the Week at: http://www.ripon.edu/athletics/redhawk_pow/2007/2007_Fall_POW.html

Happy Labor Day!

I cannot believe Labor Day has already crept up on us! And for the record, yes, we did have classes today! Crazy, I know. And what a long day it was; I am still tired and sore from the tournament this weekend. We ended up 2-2 on the weekend, beating MSOE and losing to Rockford College on Friday, and beating Clarke College and losing to St. Mary's University on Saturday. I thought we played very well for the first tournament, and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the season has in store for us! We have another non-conference game tomorrow night at Wisconsin Lutheran College, in Milwaukee, so hopefully we can take what we learned this weekend and put it to use against WLC!

Today has been tiring so far, and tonight I'm finishing up homework for tomorrow, but also working ahead on my homework for Wednesday. We leave tomorrow afternoon at 3:45, so I will actually have to get out of my Research Design and Statistics Lab 15 minutes early, and will be busy all night, so I must labor hard tonight!

--Christy

Welcome to the Big Show!

I can't believe it's September TOMORROW! It seems like just yesterday I was sitting at home bored and counting down the days until it was time to return to Ripon, now here I am finished with two weeks of classes and playing in the first volleyball tournament of the season! Today I have classes until noon, then I am going to eat lunch and run to Family Video to pick up some movies for tonight! I am having a Disney movie and back massage night with some volleyball and football players. Since we have a tournament tonight and tomorrow and the football team has their first game tomorrow, we are all just goign to stay in, watching The Little Mermaid and Aladdin and trade-off giving back massages! I am looking forward to it!!

But before Disney and backrubs, I get to play in our first tournament of the season! The Ripon Invitational is this weekend, so we play four matches spread over tonight and tomorrow. We play MSOE and Rockford College this afternoon at 4 p.m. and at 6 p.m., respectively, and then tomorrow we play Clark College at 10 a.m. and St. Mary's (MN) at 2 p.m. I'm really looking forward to tonight, I can't wait to see what we can do! For fun, the team has "Secret Spikers" a spin-off of "Secret Santas"; everyone draws a name of a teammate, and whoever you draw you have to make signs or goodie bags for...just fun little motivational things! So I have to think of what I am going to get for mine. We have to be down at Storzer Center and ready by 3 p.m., so I'll have to make something before that!

The 2007 Red Hawk Volleyball Team (I'm #3!)

Don't worry if you can't make the games, you can watch them online! Just go to http://www.midwestconference.tv and you can watch a webcast of the game! :)

--Christy

Happy National Toasted Marshmallow Day!

National Marshmallow Day is just another reason to celebrate today, because today also means one more day until the weekend! It's only the second week of classes, but I feel like I've built up two weeks worth of sleep debt!! Hopefully I'll be able to catch up a little this weekend, because I sure won't be able to tonight. After volleyball practice tonight, Coach Witte is having the team over to her house for dinner, and there's also a hypnotist coming to campus tonight, and I want to go to that too, but of course I have homework and studying to do too! So sleep is definitely not a priority tonight! :( But with a good dinner(I think we're having tacos...or maybe spaghetti) in my stomach, and possibly some marshmallows, in honor of National Toasted Marshmallow Day, I should be able to get everything done that I need to...and maybe even a nap!

The hypnotist that is coming tonight is Daniel James, a comedy hypnotist from Las Vegas, who is supposed to be absolutely HILARIOUS! I really hope I can get enough homework done, so I am able to go!

Hump Day!

Thank goodness it's Wednesday! Wednesdays are one of the lighter days in my schedule, I get my morning of to a good start at 8 a.m. with Organic Chemistry, folllowed by an hour in the Admission Office between classes, from 9-10, Spanish from 10:10-11, and then Research Design and Statistics rounds out the academic part of my day from 11:15-12:05. I have an hour off for lunch or a nap, and then I'm back in the Admission Office from 1-3 p.m. I have another hour break and then volleyball practice and weightlifting from 4:15-6:30 p.m. After practice tonight, it's a quick dinner then off to the Student Activities Fair. The Student Activities fair is put on by the Office of Student Activities, and is a great opportunity for students to learn about all of the different organizations on campus and get involved in those they are interested in.

Some of the organizations I am involved in on campus include the Student Media and Activities Committee (SMAC), which organizes and schedules almost all of the events on campus; Chef's Anonymous, a small club for those with an affinity for cooking (or eating! :D); Orientation Committee, which is responsible for helping first-year students make a smooth transition into college; and I also play intramural sports such as inner-tube water polo, volleyball, and softball, and I think I am also going to get involved in the Pre-Med Society this year as well (in my spare time of course!) But I think getting involved on campus is the best thing you can do in college; it's a great way to meet people, and it's fun too. It really allows you to take charge of your college experience and make the most of it and what it has to offer!

--Christy

New Year, New Ripon!

When we came back to Ripon this year, there were a lot of people on campus already--consruction workers--who had been busy working throughout the summer to finish the many renovations on campus! Since first coming to Ripon, one year ago, I have seen the new College Apartments Senior Residence hall go up, the mailroom and the Pub rennovations, which are still being completed, the building of a new facility for our Plant Department, the rennovation of the Todd Wehr building, and still coming this year, the remodeling of the Pickard Commons.

The new Senior Apartments, located near Tri-Dorms and the Evans Admissions Center, are beautiful 4-person units, that come completely furnished, with air conditioning, and cable TV... they hardly sound like a dorm! I have spent a lot of time in the apartments so far and cannot wait to live in them my senior year! :)

The mailroom and the Pub are nearing the tail-end of their rennovations; the Pub actually opened for carry-out orders only today. The remodeling of these two spaces will open up a lot of space, and make the area more student-friendly, with more seating, computer terminals with internet access, and also a stage for concerts, comedians, or open-mic nights. I can't wait until the Pub is done; it will be a great place to eat, study, or just hang out with friends!

The Plant Department is in the process of building a new facility down by the Rodman Center for the Arts. Currently, the Plant Department is housed in the basement of the Pickard Commons, but the college is looking to free up that space and make it available for use by student organizations and clubs. The rennovated space in the Commons will have offices for a lot of the organizations on campus, and also serve as another place for students to have meetings, study, or just hang out...Starbucks is so close! :)

Todd Wehr, in 2005 (left) and newly rennovated (August 2007)

Lastly, our main classroom building, Todd Wehr, received quite a face-lift over the summer! Todd Wehr houses the education department, the psychology department, the business and economics departments, and the math and computer science departments. The rennovations over the summer include the addition of an elevator, removal of the window grates, new windows, a new heating system, enclosing the breezeway and the addition of 6 beautiful new classrooms!

--Christy

Another year at Ripon begins!!

It's hard to believe I am starting my sophomore year at Ripon this year! The summer went so fast, but I'm so glad to be back! I was on the Orientation Committee this year, so I returned to campus a week early for Fall Orientation training and also to begin volleyball practices. Fall orientation went well, except for all the rain, and classes began before I had any time to relax! Today will be the fourth day of classes already! I am a psychology major and also thinking pre-medicine, so I have a busy semester ahead of me! I am taking Organic Chemistry from 8-8:50am, followed by Spanish 211 from 10:10-11am, and then the Psychology course, Research Design and Statistics, from 11:15am-12:05pm. I start a little earlier than I would prefer, but that also means I'm done a lot earlier--except for Mondays when I have Chem lab from 1-4pm, or Tuesdays when I have Stats lab from 2-4pm.

Besides classes, I have also been busy with volleyball. During the pre-season, before classes started, we were practicing an average of twice a day, but with classes having begun, we are down to our usual once-a-day practice from 4:15-6pm. We had our first scrimmage this weekend at St. Norbert College, and I think the season looks bright for us! We have 9 returners, 5 of those starters last year, and 4 rookies this year, who will make a great contribution! I am looking forward to the season and to our first tournament this weekend!

Finals are right around the corner...

This weekend was beautiful! I ran in the RC2 half-marathon/10k on Saturday morning...and finished the 6 miles in 58 minutes! I was pretty tired after that, so I took a nap, did some reading, then it was time for Springfest! Springfest was a blast! :)
Sunday I went to the baseball double-header, where I read a little, got a little sun, and watched the boys beat Lawrence!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend!

Me finishing the 10k!

My girls and me!

The Hush Sound!!!

Today was the last day for a lot of my classes...I had a Latin final test and two other classes. Tomorrow is the very last day of classes, then Wednesday is Reading Day (no finals), then the exams begin! I have one on Thursday, a couple of take-home exams due Friday, and then my last final is next Monday.

--Christy