I’m not athletic. I never have been, and I doubt I ever will be. BUT, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.

This past weekend, I cheered my friends on at the St. Louis Marathon. They looked like they were all having so much fun that I decided I’m going to participate in it next year. By participate, I mean the half marathon, definitely not the full. I have to start training for it this summer, and if I stick to my plans I think I’ll be able to do it.

On another note, I’m SO jealous of everyone who got to hang out in the quad last night. They had a huge inflatable race…thing, an inflatable movie screen and dinner outside. And they played “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” which I am dying to see! But what was I doing? You guessed it! Studying for Physics. Hopefully next time I’ll be free!

I always manage to keep myself busy.  I’m usually tied down with homework and work, so I take advantage of every spare second I find.  Over break, I was lucky enough to continue my Easter tradition. This was my third year playing the Easter Bunny for the neighboring city.  I had to wake up at 5:15 am so I could help hide Easter eggs. We had over 8,000 eggs full of candy and prizes for kids to find. At about 8:00 am, I suited up and prepared myself for the wide range of reactions I would get from the kids. Some kids are terrified of the Easter Bunny, and others are like the opposite pole of a magnet. I never know what to expect from them.

When I tell people that I am the Easter Bunny, they act like it is an easy job. I thought it would be too, but then I tried it. I think the hardest part is the head. Now, I’m a pretty petite person. I’m only 5′2 3/4″, so at least I can’t really intimidate the kids with my height. But when I put the head on, I am lost. My eyes line up with the cheeks.  The eyes are a few inches too high, so I’m constantly trying to adjust the head without all of the kids noticing. My mom escorted me around before the hunt to say “Hi” to all of the kids. First of all, the Easter Bunny has to be silent, because bunnies can’t talk. I’m not a quiet person, so that makes the job a little more difficult. Some people who recognized my mom came up to talk to her, and all of a sudden I was attacked by what felt like at least ten kids. But my head doesn’t allow me to see the ground, so all I know is that I had many young ones attached to my legs as I tried to walk around the field. While I was sitting down for pictures, a lot of parents would set their children on my lap without warning. Parents who did ask, would direct their questions towards me. Since I couldn’t talk, I had to find a way to communicate with them. Luckily I found a way to position the bunny head so that when I moved it moved.

I have some great memories from the morning:

• I’ve never seen so many children terrified of the Easter Bunny. Good thing I don’t take it personally.
• A young boy brought be a carrot.
• A baby boy was dressed up as an Easter Bunny when he sat on my lap.
• Another young boy came up behind, reached up the Easter Bunny head and found my hair. When he asked why I had hair, I shook an Easter Egg and he said “Yummy!” He forgot all about the hair and took the candy.
• I stayed warm while everyone else was freezing.

All in all, my day as the Easter Bunny was very enjoyable. I can’t wait until next year!

I’m one of those students who takes a long time to do my work, who likes all subjects and who loves learning. I came into SLU as a Medical Scholar, and couldn’t believe the opportunity I had before me. I declared myself a Biology Major at the end of my sophomore year, took Physics over the summer at SLU, received my acceptance letter to Saint Louis University’s School of Medicine and hopped on an overseas plane. While in London, I gained a better sense of myself and my dreams. I became more independent, more outgoing, and best of all, happier. It was then that I realized that my head and my heart were going in two completely different directions.

Just this past week, I changed my major to Communication, and I gave up my seat in the SLU School of Medicine, class of 2014.  While I’m sad to see one page of my book turn, I’m excited to see there are more chapters ahead. I’ve learned that my strengths are not coincidences and that happiness is most important.  

But what else did I learn? I learned that, no matter what, SLU faculty and staff will do their best to accomodate your desires. Is it normal for a second semester junior to want to change her major? No. Is it easy? Not really. BUT…it’s possible.  I emailed my advisor in the College of Arts & Sciences. She met with me a few days later (amidst all of her registration appointments) and gave me the information and advice I needed to take the next step. Then I emailed the chairperson of the Department of Communication. We met within the next few days. I sat down and was nervous of what her reaction would be. But she was GREAT! She gave me the reassurance I needed and the encouragement to follow through with what will make me happiest in my future. 

I never knew it would be so easy to change my major so late in the game (and to something SO different than what I originally desired). Everyone made me feel so comfortable and confident throughout the whole process. And now? I have a new faculty mentor, a new major, and I’m still planning to graduate on time. 

SLU makes sure to educate the whole person…and they make sure to do so according to the students’ desires.

No matter how much I love SLU, I ALWAYS look forward to break. For Spring Break, I just went home to spend time with my family.  Since I came back from London, I haven’t had much time to spend with my parents, so they each took a day off of work to spend just with me. We went to lunch at my favorite spots and took my precious dog for numerous walks. He’s still recovering from the ACL surgery he had this summer. Ouch!

Over break I also turned the big 2-1. I can’t believe I’m so old already! That night I went out to a fabulous dinner at Lou Malnati’s in Chicago. If you’re EVER downtown and like deep dish pizza, I would highly recommend it. Here is a picture of me and my boyfriend after we stuffed ourselves with pizza:

Now, I’m back at school. I thought that after midterms were over I was supposed to have a break. I WAS WRONG. I have a huge physics test coming up this week, so you probably won’t hear from me until I finish.

I ALMOST FORGOT!!!

CONGRATULATIONS to all of the future Presidential Scholars! I believe some (if not all) have already heard whether or not they received the scholarship. Everyone did a great job and should be really proud of themselves…and they should all come to SLU. Who wouldn’t want to Be a Billiken?!?!

If you come to SLU, you can never expect to have a dull moment. I love being involved, meeting new people and making a difference. When I walked into the closing session of Presidential Scholar Weekend, this is what I saw:

Yes, this is me! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I walked in. Towards the end of the session, all the staff walked towards the front of the room. It just so happens that I stood right next to…myself? That’s not something you can say every day.

My favorite weekends of the year are, yes, you guessed it…PRES SCHOLAR WEEKENDS! We get to meet so many people and show them how amazing SLU is. One of the highlights of this past weekend was that a few potential scholars read my blog! How exciting! But now that Presidential Scholar Weekends are complete and I only have one midterm left, I don’t know what to do with my time. I thought my first step would be to make another post! Here are some pictures from an exciting last weekend:

Two of my favorite Pres Scholars: Jori and Emily!

Sarah, Dan, Cole, Andrew, Jori, Emily, Robin, Katie and Me

On Friday, I get to spend a week at home. I can’t wait to see my parents and my dog. It will nice to relax and finally sleep. My birthday is exactly one week from today. I can’t believe I’m so old.

I always get so excited for Pres Scholar Weekend. This is my THIRD YEAR interviewing, and it seems like only yesterday I was interviewing for the scholarship myself.  I answered a lot of questions at the reception on Friday night regarding the interview. Here are some tips if you are coming to Interview Weekend B:

1. Be Yourself! I know everyone probably gave you this same advice, but it really is important!

2. Smile! We aren’t here to scare you. In fact, we want to give you a scholarship! The happier you are, the happier we are.

3. Turn off your cell phone!

4. Tell me something about you that I can’t find out from paper! I have your resume and essay, but now I want to know you. All of your scores and grades are thrown away. Tell me something that will make me remember you…and make you get the scholarship.

5. If you can’t think of an answer right when we ask it, take a second to think.

6. Show us that you love SLU! That’s why you’re here, right?

7. Have fun! We already like you, and that’s why we asked you to come visit us. We want to get to know you on a more personal level. All of your accomplishments are great, so show us that your character is even better!

Good luck to everyone interviewing. I had a blast getting to know everyone this weekend, and I can’t wait to get to know the rest of you this Friday.

I just updated my Google Calendar, and it made me realize how far into the semester I already am. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t actually had the chance to sit down and realize how quickly the past month has gone by. I haven’t even had the the time to update all of February in my calendar. I’m going to be SO BUSY! What do I have to look forward to in the next few weeks? Tests, tests..and oh, more tests. (My favorite part of college, not.) Valentine’s Day. Presidential Scholar Weekend. Working in the Office of Undergraduate Admission. My Mom’s Birthday. Did I say tests? Hopefully beautiful weather.

I would go into more depth about the tests, but I’m sure it’s pretty self-explanatory. I don’t like tests and I don’t think anyone else does either. Then I get to Valentine’s Day. I feel like this is a “hit or miss” holiday. Some people love it and some people hate it. While I don’t hate it, I do think that it could easily be dropped from the calendar. I think you should love everybody everyday. Now I get to my favorite part of the month: Pres Scholar Weekend!!!!!!! I work in the Office of Undergraduate Admission (see how clever I was to put that in right after?), and everyone has been busy getting ready for the two interview weekends. I’m so excited to finally get the ball rolling! I’ve always looked forward to meeting all of the awesome incoming freshmen, but I’m more excited this year than ever! I think that after working in the Office of Undergraduate Admission, I’ve realized how much time and effort it takes to put the weekend together. If you’re coming, get ready for some good fun and good food! My mom’s birthday is February 24th. I miss it every year for Pres Scholar Weekend, but hopefully I’ll be able to do something nice for her this time around. Last time I sent her flowers. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! And finally, beautiful weather!! Last Wednesday I thought my hands were going to fall off on the way to class. And now? It’s absolutely beautiful! I gave a two hour tour on Friday because the family and the weather were both so nice! It’s supposed to be a high of 64 tomorrow. Hopefully we get it!

When I looked at my blog, I realized this never posted from last week. I need to work on improving my technological skills. Sorry!

I thought I was going to have a severe case of travel withdrawal when I returned from my semester abroad, but boy was I wrong! Whether I’ve gone ice skating, to the movies or out to eat with good friends, I’ve had an amazing time back at school. This past weekend, my co-RA Claire invited a bunch of people to go skiing at Hidden Valley Ski Resort in Eureka, Missouri. On Sundays they have a special family deal from 3-8 p.m. This means that anyone can get a lift pass and rental skis/snowboards for only $40! We had a really great time and a pretty great turnout! Here are some pictures from our trip to the slopes:

For some reason, I couldn’t get my left ski to turn in any direction while I was skiing. I didn’t want to take the time to exchange them (there were really long lines), so I went along with it. In an attempt to show my friends how hard it was to work with my skis, I wound up having a nice, long stretch. Instead of helping me up, my friends took a picture:

OMIGOD OMIGOD YOU GUYS! 

I love how much St. Louis has to offer. From great dining to wonderful shows, St. Louis has it all! Speaking of wonderful shows… On Saturday night my boyfriend took me to see Legally Blonde the Musical at the Fox. It was AMAZING! I know so many people who have seen it already, and they all loved it. I would recommend it to everyone.  

But now, lt’s TIME TO GET SERIOUS. I already have tons of homework to do, but I can’t expect anything else in my major. I can’t believe I’m a second semester junior already! My undergraduate years are going by way too fast.  I need to savor every moment I can.

On another entertainment note, there’s BLOOD IN THE WATER. I hate to admit it, but I’m a sucker for one reality show - The Bachelor. It’s the one show I watch throughout the week, and I’m addicted. Jason’s gotta watch out for the sharks!

I’m thinking about getting WHIPPED INTO SHAPE. My friends are running the half marathon. I am probably the furthest from a runner anyone could ever be, so when they first suggested that I should do it with them I laughed. I decided to try anyway though.  I’ve made it up to three miles, so I only have ten more to go! (Total joke, I know.) I’ll let you know if I decide to try it.

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, every girl should practice the BEND AND SNAP. I’m just kidding! I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about this holiday. Don’t you think you should love everyone every day? I do!

I know this was a random entry, but I wanted to incorporate a few of the hit songs from Legally Blonde this weekend (OMIGOD, SERIOUS, BLOOD IN THE WATER, WHIPPED INTO SHAPE AND BEND AND SNAP)!  It’s only at the Fox until the beginning of February, so you should buy your tickets now.