So Long and Fair Well 2009

The Year is coming to an end and I am more than grateful it is over. This has been one of my hardest learning years yet. I wouldn't take away anything from it though. I rather hold things in my heart than to not have known them at all.

Why do people do some of the things they do? I wish there was an answer. It's one of those questions I asked myself many times this year. It's one of those many unanswerable questions that I will just have to forever live with.

My new years resolution? Well.......to forgive and forget I guess.

When Life gives you lemons........make lemon tarts (much better than lemonaid)

I have learned a lot this term, none of which is from any of my classes. I really believe that I'm not at school so much to learn as to just become a more rounded and experienced person.
Someone told me once that life isn't so much "up and down" as spirally. Things going round and round in a downward fashion until eventually you reach the end. Not in a negative sense as in a conclusive one.

Next term will be very different. It is highly likely that I will no longer have my job. I failed a crucial midterm in Astronomy that basically will bring my GPA down. (The average was a 68%) I have to have a certain GPA to keep my job. It's a good thing that adaptability is one of my strengths. I have friends off campus whom I will move in with. I'm in the process of searching for a new job now. It's kind of sad because I have put a lot of hard work into this job and do enjoy it some days.

Well everything happens for a reason right? :)

Short update

SO it is already week 6 here at OSU. Kind of crazy cause it feels like the term just started not that long ago.

PACURH is in 9 days now too. It's gonna be an interesting trip since this will be my official first Conference as the NCC. I went to NACURH as the NCC in training so it didn't exactly count. I keep having that feeling that I'm going to forget something.

As far as everything else my life literally revolves around work, school, and when the next time I get to dance is. I figured out that I am literally dancing almost 2 hours everyday if not more. It's what I do. SO on average at least 14 to 20 hours a week. It's almost a half time job. Right now in Coolshoes we are working on a Tango routine that Cathy has just come up with. I'm literally sore everyday from some of the moves but I don't mind to much.

School isn't too bad, I have a bunch of midterms next week right before and after PACURH, so that's going to be interesting.

Well that's it for now, I'll write more when I feel like there is more for me to write on. :)

Midterm Season

So this week alone I have three midterms.....This means three tests that are at least 45% of my grade if not more. The best part is.....they are all within 12 hours or less of each other. Gotta love college.

I'm not very good at taking tests really, especially multiple choice. I always second guess myself unless I really, really, know what they are talking about.

This week is going to be interesting because I have those three midterms and then bootcamp at the end of the week. Bootcamp is basically Hall Council training at a camp in Northern Oregon. I won't be going up till Saturday but then I'll be up there till Sunday afternoon.

We are starting our Tango routine for Coolshoes on Tuesday. I'ts gonna be intersting becuase Cathy wants all the girls to be able to do the splits so that we can put a leg on our partner's shoulder.....Yeah I'm not really there yet.

This week is gonna be interesting for sure. I'm ready though, I can handle what ever come my way.

My Job (photos)

My Job

I think one of the many questions I have gotten this year has been. How do you like being an RA? I would like to clarify my job a little bit. I am NOT an RA. I don't even work for UHDS. (University Housing and Dining) I work as an executive of the Resident Hall Association aka RHA. That is the governing body of students that help support and promote the halls and their Hall Councils.

My full tittle is the National Communications Coordinator or NCC. My job in a nut shell, I represent OSU by taking a delegation or residents to leadership conferences. There are three a year, PACURH, No Frills, and NACURH. I am the representative of OSU who sits in on boardroom meetings and voices my opinion on Pacific and National decisions that are made.

PACURH is the Pacific Affiliate of College and University Resident Halls. This is just the Pacific Conference. It will be held at Western Washington University this year on November 13, 14, and 15. Since WWU is a smaller school we are only allowed to bring 5 delegates besides ourselves and an advisor. In previous years an average delegation was between 8 to 10 people plus the NCC and advisor. I'm excited for this as well as a bit stressed.

No Frills is the Winter Conference that is all business. Only the NCC, Advisor, and NRHH President goes to this. (NRHH is another group on campus that I am a member of, the National Resident Hall Honorary)

NACURH is just like PACURH except it's national. This year it's hosted in Southern California at a term school which means that it's actually going to be at the beginning of the summer vs. in the spring. It'll be interesting. The last NACURH was at Arizona University. That was my first conference as NCC. The theme was "our place in time" so we dressed up in 50s outfits one day.

As for what goes on at these conferences....allot of spirit for the delegates and allot of meetings for me. The delegates get to go to programing info sessions to learn things they can bring back to OSU. I require that they take notes at these so that they can type up what they learned that way I can compile everything and hand it out to the halls later.

There is really allot more to it but for now this is a good short summary. ;)

Coolshoes - Sing SIng and Lindy Hop

I am sooooo excited for this Saturday.....excited and slightly nervous.

Coolshoes, the OSU ballroom dance team, will be dancing in Medford on Saturday at the Armory for the Medford Jazz Jubilee. The thing is, this is only week 2 of the Fall Term, and in the past Coolshoes doesn't really just do performances that soon. We have basicly only had 4 class periods to learn everything. That means 8 constructed hours. This also means that the 16 of us, 8 couples, have had to really get our butts in gear and practice a bunch out side of class.

SO what am I personally doing? We have two routines, Sing Sing which is single time swing and Lindy Hop. I got really lucky in that both my partners have been on Coolshoes before and really know what they are doing. This also means that they know how to do tricks. Sing Sing is almost all technical and doesn't have very many tricks BUT Lindy is basicly all tricks. For that so far, my partner and I have been assigned 3 different tricks. Kind of cool!

The Photo that is above is the 2001 Coolshoes group. I put this up so that you can see the costumes we will be waring for Lindy. My partner and I are Yellow. If you want a little more history and old Pics of Coolshoes the link is bellow.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hhs.oregonstate.edu/courses/pac/169/assets/2001/lindy_hop_group.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hhs.oregonstate.edu/courses/pac/169/assets/2001/01lindy1.html&usg=__WqWhLl6hwoo3N79aP5QUEiw2ho8=&h=309&w=400&sz=21&hl=en&start=30&sig2=r2OT8-IXeuk629n5qeOzcg&um=1&tbnid=_GxsKZSI-BL93M:&tbnh=96&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlindy%2Bhop%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18%26um%3D1&ei=kgfMStHZOIrUswOh3JCFAQ

Ballroom Dancing

For those of you who didn't already know. I have fallen in love........with dancing.

It started last Winter when I took a simple swing class and was invited to an OSU Ballroom Dance. I wasn't expecting what I found. When you walk into a Ballroom dance you are usually greeted by music and people of all kinds. At the time all I knew was a little single time swing, which is one of the most basic dances. So when someone asked me to dance a waltz or salsa I was expecting them to leave me when they learned I didn't know how. Rather the quick reply was always "No problem, I'll show you how". You never know what's going to happen at a ballroom dance, they are better to watch than a civil war football game. (I'm really not a football fan anyways so that's probably not the best analogy)

Through out the year last year, I continuously went to these dances to keep learning. I also took several different ballroom classes. Through out this time I had heard about the Ballroom Dance Team called Coolsheos. It was one of those, maybe someday in the future I might try it type thing. When I heard about the auditions in the spring It took a lot of contemplation before I decided to try out. There were several complications to joining the team including the fact that I have a very busy job not to mention classes this year. I went ahead and tried out and ended up making the team.

SO yes this means that I'm crazy busy BUT it also means that I am absolutely doing what I love.

I am now fluent in Single Time Swing, West Coast Swing (my personal fav), Waltz, Foxtrot, a little Tango, Cha Cha and I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

Any ways, there are still styles of dance that I have on my too learn list. This term I am taking Latin I, and Ballroom II. I will find out tomorrow who my Coolshoes dance partner will be for the Single time swing routine. Kind of excited.

Well I am literally of to the First Ballroom Dance of the year right now :) Adios

Sophmore year has begun!

It is fall once again here at the wonderful world of OSU and school has started. For me this means a new set of classes consisting of Astronomy(PH104), HDFS201, Intro to Sociology, Ballroom 2, Latin Dance, and Coolshoes. So far classes are good, alot of reading for all three but not bad. I love having dance built into my schedule .The first Coolshoes practice was a intence but good. Our first performance is going to be in Medford on the 10th of October which is in 2 weeks. SO this means that we have to learn two routines in 4 class periods. It's gonna be an adventure. woot! I think life is going to be a tad bit crazy for me. PACURH is soon on its way. ahhhhhhhhhh! Last night I finished looking through the applications and officially chose a delegation. It was exciting. I sent them all a congradulatory email and we are having our first meeting next week. I'm really hoping I won't forget anything that I have to do before PACURH. I'm trying to compile a list. It will be helpful when they finaly get the website up. SO for the most part Life is CRAZY but i'm lovin it! I especially love being back at OSU!

Blogging!

I have never blogged before so this is going to be a fun.