The Road to Adulthood

I am realizing that graduation is rapidly approaching. While staying super busy, going from meeting to meeting, and frantically job hunting, I am still focused on the real reason I am here... school. I must admit I have developed a very chronic case of senioritis, and in the midst of trying to spend as much time as possible with all of the friends I am about to leave, school must come first.
Right now I am in the semester-long process of completing my senior project. I am developing 2 greeting card lines.One line will be a vintage looking line, with soft colors and black and white photos. Those will include sentimental sayings. I am calling it the Signature Series.

My other greeting card line is graphic based, bright colors, and witty sayings. It is called Things Mom Says and makes fun of common "momisms." So far, most of my efforts have been spent on this line and I have developed a few of the card designs.

Apples, Banquets, and a McChallenge!

Thursday, April 4th was PSU's annual Apple Day. Apple Day is one of the longest standing traditions on the PSU campus. The tradition started in 1903 when Principal Russ and faculty lobbied for a new building for the University in Topeka. In those days, students were fined for being absent. On this particular day, the students fined the faculty a barrel of apples for being absent while lobbying in Topeka. Thus, tradition was started, and each year the faculty provide apples for the student body in memory of the successful lobbying on that day.
Another tradition of Apple Day is the Golden Gorilla Award. Students are recognized each year for campus leadership, community involvement, and academic excellence. This year my friends Adam, Erin and I were all given the Golden Gorilla award, and some delicious apples as well!On Saturday, the Graphics and Imaging Technology department celebrated their 100th anniversary. Students, alumni, and faculty joined together to recognize outstanding students and reflect over the last 100 years of the department. As a senior, I was asked to create a display of my work over the last 3 1/2 years. Here, Christel Benson and I are posed with my display. I was able to show my photography display, posters and promotional items I have made for SAC, t-shirts i have designed, and this blog!On Sunday I had the day off. My friend Erin and I were super hungry so we decided to take on a little eating challenge. We ordered the new McNugget meal at McDonalds. The meal includes 50 McNuggets, 2 large fries, and 2 large sodas.Our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs. We started getting full about half way through, but we were determined to finish the whole thing! Twenty-five minutes later, we finished the entire meal. I tackled 30 of the 50 McNuggets, but Erin graciously helped me finish my fries. Needless to say, we did not go hungry for a long time after that meal!

Here, There, and Everywhere

This semester has been crazy busy, so I have lots of updating to do! This is my final semester at Pitt State and I am amazed at how fast it is slipping away from me. In just two short months I am off to the "real world." I am looking forward to everything ahead of me, but there is still so much to do here at PSU before I leave.
On January 30, Presidential Emerging Leaders Program hosted their annual Basic Leadership Training. BLT is an all day event for any student, but encouraged for any officer or leader on campus. The day consists of seminars and activities to promote better leadership skills and finding personal leadership styles. It is a fun opportunity to get to know people in your organizations better and build connections with other leaders on campus.
BLT provides lunch for everyone in attendance. I ate lunch with the Officer team for Sigma Phi Epsilon. These characters had just finished a leadership session about communication. Those headbands were previously blindfolds that they used during the session!The first week of February was Tri Sigma Sisterhood week. Each semester, the sisterhood chairs plan a week of fun activities that allow us to get away from our busy lives and spend some time as sisters. The first night was a game night at the sorority house. Everyone brought their favorite board games and the competition was intense! The competitive vibe continued into the second night when we went to the bowling alley!
The third night we decorated Valentine's Day cookies and distributed plates of decorated cookies to all of the other Greek houses on campus. The last night, we relaxed and curled up at the Sigma house for a movie night.That weekend I continued all things Greek by going to Greek Conference in Omaha, Nebraska! Each spring, Campus Crusade for Christ holds a conference for Greek students only. There were students from Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. It was fun to meet other Greeks and find out what is going on in their houses and on their campuses. AJ, Kaylee and I had a blast meeting everyone and getting to know each other better. We definitely came back with all sorts of inside jokes, and new ideas for our sorority!
Last week was Gamma Epsilon Tau initiation. GET is an honor society for people in the Graphics and Imaging Technologies department. My friend Michelle and I got initiated along with about 20 other students. The organization is currently working on planning the annual department banquet that is coming up this weekend, and recruiting more students to come to Pittsburg State.

Why Fighting Like a Girl Can Be a Good Thing!

Ali Kemp was a lifeguard at a neighborhood pool in Kansas City. While life guarding one day, she was brutally murdered in the pool house. As a result of this tragedy, her family vowed to do everything in their power to make sure that would never happen to another woman. The solution: The Ali Kemp Educational Foundation (TAKE). The foundation teaches self-defense to women and girls so that they will be aware of how to protect themselves in violent situations.

Ali's father and brother were both members of Sigma Phi Epsilon while attending college. In 2007, Sigma Phi Epsilon adopted TAKE foundation as a national philanthropy. Since then, the Sig Ep chapter at Pitt State has teamed up with my Tri Sigma chapter to raise money for the foundation.

Because Ali was buried in her prom dress, we host a prom fashion show in honor of her and offer a free self defense class for all of the girls and women in attendance immediately following the show. This year we doubled our attendance and money raised for the foundation and look forward to seeing continued growth.

My job each year is to help with promoting the event, and I also take on the male side of the fashion show. Each year, several Sig Eps volunteer to escort the models on the runway and show off the latest fashion in tuxes. I am in charge of getting them fitted and helping them during the show. I had the pleasure of working with these gentelmen this year. Lucky for me, they are some of my best friends, which made it even more fun!
Sigmas volunteer to model the dresses. This year over 60 different dresses and styles were modeled. The ladies looked so beautiful!
Ali's father, Roger Kemp, joined us the day of the fashion show and was able to share his story along with some words of encouragement. It was empowering to meet him and hear the things he had to say and the heart he has for helping others.
Then the girls strutted their stuff! They did such an awesome job! We even made the school paper!

Winter Wonderland!

The end of fall semester kept me super busy and I am just now calming down to update everyone on my crazy life! During the last week of school, University Student Ambassadors held our last meeting of the semester with a tacky Christmas sweater theme! It was fun to see everyone out of their ambassador polos and in some funky outfits for a change. We feasted on cookies and hot cocoa, and finished our semester business before heading out on our winter break.
I got to spend some time with friends and family at home but then headed back to Pittsburg on New Years day to load up in a carpool, destination Denver, Colorado! Campus Crusade for Christ hosts an annual event called the Denver Christmas Conference. Crusade students from Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico all join together for a week of fun and fellowship! This year Pitt State made up 10 of the 2,000 students in attendance. One of the days we were there, we had an opportunity to go out and serve the community. My group got to paint a stairwell and hallway for an elderly woman that could not do it for herself. Below is a picture of us with our finished masterpiece!
This year's theme for the conference was Glory. We were also lucky enough to catch a little winter wonderland glory on one of the last days of the conference. It snowed all day the last two days which made for some fun snowball fights in the courtyards outside of our hotel.
On the last night of the conference is a $5 prom. That means everything you wear must come out of your suitcase, or cost you less than $5. Lauren and I managed to make some semi tacky outfits to fit in with the crazy costumes everyone created. I think our hair was the best part of the whole ensemble!
As soon as I returned from Denver, I was back in action in Pittsburg. As Vice President of Student Activities Council, I am in charge of recruitment and training. Each semester I host a large training event for the executive council. I host smaller training events each month for all members. Our executive council can be pretty crazy at times, but our retreat to kick off the spring reassured me that we have a fun-filled semester ahead of us!

Laughter is a Smile That Bursts

While planning my senior photography show I came across Mary H. Waldrip's quote "Laughter is a smile that bursts." It was this quote that became my inspiration. In my project I wanted to showcase portrait photography and I took pictures of people being serious, smiling and laughing. I then printed the serious photos in black and white, the smiling photos had faded color, and the laughing photos were rich in saturation. The project faded from black and white to color and from serious faces to laughter. I did this to emphasize that laughter really does burst. I mounted the images together and raised some off of the flat surface for a continued bursting effect. The project was very time consuming, but as I collected each image, my excitement for the project grew! i had so much fun building an image collection and designing a display for them. Now I just cross my fingers and hope for a good grade!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

It is true, Christmas is just around the corner! I love this time of year. I can't get enough of the lights, music, and fun events, and I have been taking advantage of as many of them as possible! Last week some friends and I went to the local Christmas parade! We strategically placed ourselves near lots of children so we would have a chance at grabbing some candy, but we ended up sharing all of our candy with the kids around us. We did run into Buddy the elf while we were there!A few days later I decided to host a lighting ceremony at my house! I am originally form Kansas City, and my family and friends look forward to the Plaza lighting ceremony every year. The lighting ceremony in Kansas City usually consists of thousands of people waiting outside in the dark with live entertainment. After a ten second countdown all of the lights come on and everyone cheers, then rushes to the warmest place they can find!
I thought it would be appropriate to create my very own lighting ceremony this year! With the help of my roommates and friends, we decorated my house with Christmas lights and prepared for the ceremony. About 20 of my friends showed up. Our live entertainment consisted of a few tambourines and recorders, followed by an impromptu ribbon dance. Then, Santa Clause came marching over the roof and began the ten second countdown!
My construction major friend had hooked a large plastic candy cane to the light switch to create a lever for turning on the lights! The lights came on, everyone cheered, and we all ran inside for hot chocolate, apple cider, and freshly baked cookies!
It turned out to be quite the event, and a total blast for everyone involved!
During the week, Pitt State hosted a gingerbread house competition. I did not enter the competition, but it did inspire some friends and I to build one of our own! On Friday, I was recruited for the construction of a gingerbread house. The task is a lot harder than it looks! We ended up making a huge mess of frosting and sprinkles, but it was delicious to break apart and eat after pictures!
After decorating the gingerbread house we set up my Christmas tree! Every year a group of my friends all get together for a gag gift exchange! I never fail to laugh at the gifts that come out of the exchange!
Even with the holiday season in full swing, all of my final projects have been assigned, and work is well underway to get them all done!