The Final Post

It all went by so quickly! This is my last post to the Rockhurst blog. For now... Who knows where I will end up for graduate school for physical therapy? Next year I have accepted a job with my sorority to be a leadership consultant. I will be traveling for a year to all of our chapters around the United States, helping with things that they might need help with. I am excited for this next chapter in my life and for the chance to be a real adult. It’s a little scary to think it is that time already. As soon as I walked across the stage I am expected to be an adult. My time at Rockhurst has been truly transformative. I was able to become an even better leader and learn a lot about myself. I would never give up the experiences that I had these past few years. They went by quickly, but they left such an impression on me. I hope I speak for everyone in that aspect. It has been a great senior year, busy, hectic, and stressful, but I wouldn't give up any of that.

               

 I took this picture with Father Curran after graduation. It was like closing the book to my Rockhurst undergraduate career. He asked me what my plans were and remarked on how that would be a perfect career field for me and my strengths. I feel like that moment was so full of Magis, because I know that he meant what he said and that he really did care about my plans after college. I think that this is something that shows what Rockhrust is about. At the end of the day it is not the money that you pay to come here, but the people that you meet along the way who take a sincere interest in you and helping you achieve your goals. I am determined to live greater and fulfill the core value of magis the rest of my life.

Time Flies at Rockstock

On Friday night SAB held our annual spring concert Rockstock on Lower Burke. The weather was great for an outside concert and it was really nice just being out of school for the weekend. This was my last concert here at Rockhurst unless some friends want to invite me back next year for a concert! The featured band this year was Time Flies. I went to the concert with some of my residents, and when we arrived it was packed. Since, I had never heard of Time Flies before or any of their songs I was curious about what type of genre they fit under and what to expect from this concert. There were over two thousand people in attendance at the concert and it was the biggest concert that Rockhurst has hosted on campus.  The actual concert was very well put together. There were a lot of different genres that the group played. They began their set with an original song, and the rest of the concert went back and forth between original songs and covers. One of my favorite things that they did was an original rap to “We Can’t Stop” by Miley Cyrus. The members of SAB had come up with a list of words that described Kansas City and Rockhurst and the members of Time Flies made a rap using all of the words. I thought that was really cool and it showed that they had more talent than I thought. Each cover that they did, they added something different to it. Like the remix they did of “Under the Sea” they changed the words and added a rap to it as well. I had a lot of fun at the concert listening to the music, but SAB also provided other activities for people to do during the concert. The photo booth was one of the most popular options. There was also a table where you could create your own sticker or laptop skin. The concert was a blast, and a very nice ending to a very busy week. Now it’s time to start finals week. Wish me luck!

Hawk City Heroes!

                The Tuesday that everyone returned from Easter Break marked the beginning of Greek Week. Our theme this year was Hawk City Heroes. So, here we go, the one week where all Greeks come out to compete for the much coveted title of Greek Week Champion. The week started off with a tame beginning of pop tab collections and turning in Yogurtini receipts. Banners went up in the front of Massman, and chalk drawing commenced in the morning until two pm. The day concluded with speaker David Stollman from Campus Speak. He gave a really awesome speech about holding each other accountable for our organizations. I think that it is something that everyone can learn from in the Greek system. We are accountable for what happens to our Greek community we cannot put it off on other people. The next day opened with capture the flag, and ended with Greek Olympics. This was one of the more competitive days that there is, but the race for the lead was really close. The final day of Greek week brought a lot of fun skits and awards announcements. I announced our newest members to Order of Omega during the ceremony. I was really excited about that! This week is always really tough for me because I want to cheer on my organization, but I want to cheer everyone on because I love Greek Life, and I feel like it is something that we need to use to lift each other up as opposed to tearing each other down. I always hate it when other organizations cheer against another organization. I feel like that defeats the purpose of creating Greek Unity. I feel like this week was better organized and didn’t allow for competition to get as out of hand as it has in year passed, and I was very thankful for that. I can only see Greek Week getting better from here on out.

Easter Break

Easter Break was a very relaxing time for me. I will probably regret not working on my homework like I should have, but the weather was so nice! I took time to actually enjoy my last break of college. All too often during break I am running, working, doing this that or the other. I never take the time to enjoy my break or to stop and smell the roses. So, this break I decided that I would do that because I won’t get the chance again, while I’m in college. I it’s important to take a break when you are given the chance. However, I can’t ever sit still and just relax, so I began to think and wonder about what life is going to be like next year. I got a job as a Leadership Consultant with my sorority and I will be traveling on the road four to five weeks straight. I will be dependent on others to help me get the things done that I need to get accomplished. I thought about how this job is going to change me for the better, and help me be more flexible, like a jellyfish. I thought about my fears. Will I be good enough for this job? Will it be a good fit for me? Can I grow and learn from it? All of these thoughts raced through my head over break. I had to think back to my time in the Dominican Republic and think to myself “Si Dios Quiere”. This was a huge reminder for me that if it is in Gods will it will work out. Si Dios Quiere. I would not have been blessed with the opportunities that I have been given if it wasn’t something that I was meant to do. Senior year has definitely been an uncertain time in my life because I am on the edge of making so many big decisions. It is important that I try to stay grounded, and take time to relax, but I need to take more time to reflect and discern on my path and where it has led me so far. I wasn't expecting to have such a deep and reflective break. I did want to go Easter egg hunting, but my mom said I am too old for that. Oh Well, I thought I'd give it a try!

Festival of Student Achievement

The festival of student achievement was held on April 14, 2014. I went to the opening awards and ceremony. The opening speaker was Chris Trani. He was a former student at Rockhurst. He graduated in 2003. His speech was very interesting. He talked about how when he was a student here, he was not a high achiever. In fact, for the first two years that he was her, he was just floating through college, not really sure of what he wanted to do. He visited Mexico with Rockhurst, and it changed the course of his life. When he came back from Mexico, he had more of an idea of what he wanted to do. He felt like he was surer of what he was meant to do. So, he started picking up majors and minors left and right, because some of them were easy to get.

After he graduated, he moved to Juarez, Mexico and worked with a non for profit in Mexico, and he felt like that is where he was meant to be. He brought doctors to underserved parts of Mexico and for a week or two weeks they would do checkups for patients. One day, while he was with a doctor on a call, they were able to diagnose the child with a heart murmur. Instead of being grateful the dad was upset, because they had diagnosed his child with something, but they did not offer any type of cure for the problem. This made Chris feel like he needed to do more. That what he was doing was not enough,

                Through his work he ended up meeting another Rockhurst graduate who had graduated in ’68 and who was working on a project called American House. This is a home for undocumented immigrants. The home is open to them and provides hospitality to them. The Rockhurst graduate, who began this home, took the core value of cura personalis and walked the streets to see who the poor were and to understand better how he might be able to help. Chris helped to document the Annunciation House and helped to create the documentary called an American House which is about how the Annunciation House was started.

                At the end of his speech Chris wanted to pay it forward and told students that he had business cards and if anyone was interested in getting involved more with nonprofits then to give him a call. He really wanted to help and give back for everything that he received from Rockhurst. I thought that was really cool that he was willing to pay it forward and help out current Rockhurst students even though he might not know who they are.

Battle for the Bucks

Residence Life hosted our annual Battle for the Bucks program a few weeks ago. It was a huge success. I think this is one of the better years that we have had. The program ran a good amount of time and a lot of people won a prize of some sort. Battle for the bucks is a program that we do every year, to give students something else to do besides going out on Friday nights. It is an awesome opportunity to spend time with friends in a positive environment and make money as well. We played several games; including the price is right, deal or no deal, and pyramid. The RA’s had a lot of fun acting out the different games and getting in touch with our more outgoing side as game show hosts. My game was minute to win it and Bingo. I think that they both went well. It was fun watching how competitive people got with the silly games. Whenever money is involved people go crazy! I think that the participants enjoyed the games and the rewards.

                Besides the games, we also had free food and snacks available. So even if you didn’t get called up to play a game you were still able to get freebies. We also gave out door prizes to people, so there were multiple opportunities for as many people as possible to win. I hope that next year goes as flawlessly with Battle of the Bucks this year did. It is crazy to think that I won’t be a part of it next year. I won’t have a say in planning or executing. It feels surreal as my semester is starting to wind down. I realize that I am experiencing some things for the last time, and there is no turning back to comfort but only moving forward towards graduation day and a future career. It is scary to think about, so I will stop thinking about it for now!

Service and Class Work Hand in Hand

For my Biology II class our professor asked us to volunteer with Kansas City Wildlands to help remove invasive honeysuckle from a bottom land forest along Blue River. This was the first time that I had been asked to do service for a class. I went with some of my residents on a Saturday morning and we helped to clean and remove litter from the area. It was an interesting and sad experience. There was a lot of trash, litter, and clothing that had been thrown away in the area that we were working in. I found a car mat and a sleeping bag that had not been disposed of properly. They were littered about the area that I was cleaning in. I also found old porch materials and busted up concrete that had been covered poorly by someone with brush from a tree. When I started out in the morning volunteering, I wasn't expecting to pick up as much trash and litter that I ended up picking up from the site. I was appalled by the amount of things I found. It is disconcerting because a few people, who chose not to spend the time or the resources to properly dispose of their garbage, are creating a very dangerous environment for wildlife around the area. I talked to the conservationist that we worked with and he told me about a lot of the biological things that were going on in the area. It was really cool getting to see service and education work hand in hand.  I love getting to do hands on projects and it helped that this project could be directly related to things that we had gone over in class. Having the things I am learning being reinforced when I do things in the real world make me feel confident in the education I am receiving as well as confident in my abilities to succeed next year after I graduate.