Peace, Party, and Volleyball

Today I went to a presentation by Dr. Ann Frisch of the Nonviolent Peaceforce. Dr. Frisch is a retired professor from the University of Oshkosh, who is now a member of the US Fundraising Board and a returned international civilian peacekeeper. She talked a lot about her organization, Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP), which is a nonpartisan unarmed peacekeeping force composed of trained civilians from around the world. I am very interested in Peace Studies, after taking a Peace Studies Maymester and traveling to Hagley Gap, Jamaica last spring. I spoke with Dr. Firsch after her presentation about internship opportunities and I hope to be in contact with her in the future.

Tonight for dinner, Student Activities is sponsoring a Block Party to celebrate the closing of the streets! WRPN FM, Ripon's own radio station, will be providing the music, Student Activities will provide chalk for drawing on the roads, and dinner will be served outside too! What a great way to celebrate!

This weekend, the Red Hawk volleyball team went 2-0 against Grinnell and Knox! Putting us at 3-1 in conference and 7-9 overall. This week we are getting ready for our conference match against Beloit on Saturday...

--Christy

A Greener Campus!

Today work is set to begin on removing two streets that run through campus: Seward and Elm Streets. The removal of these two streets will make camus greener and more pedestrian and bike friendly. This is such an exciting time to be a student at Ripon College! In the two short years I have been on campus, I have seen so many positive changes: the remodeling of the Pub, the building of the Senior Apartments, rennovation of Todd Wehr building, addition of field turf on the football field, rennovation of the Pickard Commons to create more space for students and student organizations...and now this! I can't wait to see how the new, "green" campus will look!

This weekend we have two home volleyball games, against Knox and Grinnell. Going into the second week of conference play, we are 1-1, and ready to mark up two more wins! Also happening this weekend: Mentalist Wayne Hoffman will be on campus tomorrow night, Capture the Flag tournamnet sponsored by Kappa Delta sorority and showing of "Get Smart" on Saturday.

This weekend is also Family Weekend, so tomorrow's classes are open to parents! There are informational sessions about the History of RC, Updates about what's happening on campus, Off-Campus programs, and Seed Collecting with Professor Skip Wittler! It's sure to be a great autumn weekend!

Enjoy it!

--Christy

Weekend Roadtrip!

This weekend marked the start of conference play for the Red Hawk volleyball team! And what better way to start off the season than with a 7 hour road trip to Illinois College and Monmouth College, two schools in the Southern part of the Midwest Conference. We left Thursday night and arrived at our hotel in Jacksonville, Ill. at 2:30 AM! It might have been a long trip, but it was very comfortable! We watched movies, listened to music, slept, and of course, did homework!

We opened Friday night with an awesome win against IC, then lost to Monmouth on Saturday. My mom drove down from Minnesota to watch the games, which I loved! I rode back with her Saturday after the game and was abel to spend some time at home and see my family.

Today, my Spanish professor, Dr. Fuerch, is holding a meeting for all students interested in studying abroad in Spain next semester! I have already sent in my application and am excited to learn more about study abroad! The program I am going through is called Academic Year Abroad. It's program is located in Madrid, but there are also programs in Toledo, Sevilla, and Alicante.

Not to mention all of the other study abroad programs Ripon offers:

-Botswana
-Budapest
-Costa Rica
-Argentina
-Florence, Italy
-Montpellier, France
-Paris, France
-Bonn, Germany
-Turkey
-India
-Japan
-London and Florence
-China
-Russia
-Semester at Sea
-Tanzania
-Ripon, Yorkshire, England
-Bangor

If you want to learn more about these great opportunities, check out the Ripon Website, http://www.ripon.edu/Academics/special_programs/off-campus/index.html! Happy surfing!

--Christy

Mondays aren't so bad after all!

Most Mondays are usually my least favorite day of the week, but yesterday there were a lot of great things happening around campus! During lunch, SMAC sponsored "Monday Music Madness," a free concert in the Pub. Ari Herstand, a native of Minnespolis, MN :), performed. He sounds like a mix of Dave Matthews meets Ben Folds...check him out on iTunes!

Last night was also the kick off of Sigma Chi's Derby Days, a week-long series of events, raising money for the Children's Miracle Network. Last night the guys sponsored a bon fire behind Storzer Athletic Center. What fun!

Tonight we have a home match against Marian College at 7 pm...I'm excited! I love home games! The students really come out to support one another and it's a fun time for everyone! I'll let you know how we do!

Have a great Tuesday!

--Christy

Updates!

A lot has happened since my last post! We've played three volleyball games, against Edgewood College, Alverno College, and Wisocnsin Lutheran College. Our overall record is now 2-5. We are off to a slow start, but we haven't started conference play yet, so we are looking to work out all the kinks before our first conference match of the season, which will be against Illinois College a week from tomorrow.

In other news...
-I am studying abroad in Madrid, Spain next semester, so I have been working on my application for the Academic Year Abroad program. I'm so excited! :-)

- I am volunteering through the Spanish department to help teach English to the Hispanic population of Ripon and assist with homework, documents, and other paperwork.

- One of our Politics and Government professors, Dr. Colucci, is making a presentation today about his new book, Crusading Realism, which examines the shift in American foreigh policy after the 9-11. He's also doing a book signing following the presentation...I'm thinking Christmas present???! :-)

- A new photography exhibit, "Small Arms," is opening tomorrow night as a part of the Caestecker Fine Arts Series. Artist Michael Kientz descirbes the exhibit as "a collection of children dealing with the impact of social and economic conditions dictated by adults and their politics." After taking a photography class last summer, I have a deep appreciation for photography. This exhibit sounds so interesting and I can't wait to check it out!

- This weekend, Theta Chi fraternity is holding their annual Frisbee Golf tournament! The course leads golfers all around campus and proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

- On Saturday there's also an Intramural Kickball tournament, but I don't think I'll be able to play because we have a volleyball tournament this weekend too!

Hopefully between volleyball and homework I can check out some of the wonderful things happening on campus in the next few days! Have a great weekend! Go Red Hawks!

~Christy

It's that time of the year again...

Welcome Back! And welcome to the inside scoop of what's happeing at Ripon College!

This week is actually our second week of classes; we had our first day last Wednesday, but I've been back since the 16th of August for volleyball! It's great to be back and see everyone again, but, as always, it is hard to get back to the grind of homework!

For those of you who don't know me, I'll quickly tell you a little about myself. I am a junior at Ripon this year, and I am originally from Rochester, Minnesota. As I mentioned earlier, I am an outside hitter on the Ripon Volleyball team. When I'm not playing volleyball, I am in the classroom with a full schedule this semester! I am a Psychology and Spanish double major with a minor in Sociology, so I am definitely keeping busy! I work in the Admission Office and am also on the Marketing Advisory Committee on campus.

I am here to give you a student's perspective on life at Ripon College, so if you ever have any questions or would like to know more about events on campus feel free to email me at LookerC@Ripon.edu!

--Christy