Sunday, December 21, 2008

Oh joy...Christmas

I'm really glad the semester is done with (though slightly annoyed final grades aren't posted for a certain class. =/ )

Now I get to put 100x more effort into dealing with family events and all the festivities associated with the holidays than I did all semester. I love the fact that everything is finished up for school, but I find family events to be very stressful. Plus I'm still working on packing everything up making sure I have essentials and such.

Meeting up with a friend for lunch tomorrow that I haven't seen in ages since she's about 6 hours away from here at school. I have no idea how I can get along with an Art/Art Therapy major so well yet still completely bomb my art history final. My artist and musical talent is...well never mind that I have no artist or musical talent.

I've been up until 2 or 3 am lately, so I'm going to crash now since I have to get up fairly early tomorrow.

Night all,

Stephen

Friday, December 12, 2008

Thank You! Goodnight!

I'm going to try to write this without crying. Heh. I've had hair trigger tearducts for the last few weeks. It's been hard to talk about my good memories, or say goodbye to someone, or tell my friends how proud I am without getting all choked up. It seems to be expected now that I'll begin blubbering for no reason. I'm glad everyone laughs it off though. It's embarrassing enough as is.
Now is my time to start slowly withdrawing from everything I've had a finger in for the last three years. I know SGA will be alright (I've endorsed my pick for an heir :D ). I know my friends will be alright - heck I only live 6 minutes away. I guess my biggest fear is that all these wonderful people I've met and become attached to will just *poof* disappear, or maybe I'll just disappear from their minds. Friendships are situational. I know that. And while I know that I'll make friends at Shippensburg, I also know that they won't be as half as wonderful as the friends I've made here.
My interview with Shippensburg is February 3rd. Which means I won't be starting grad school until the summer. Which means I have about 5 months off. Which means I have a lot of cleaning to do....and trashy romance novels to read. I think that's what I'm going to enjoy most (once I get used to it). The Quiet. The Peace. Knowing that I can let my brain - that has been working overtime for the last 4 years - just relax into a smooshy pool of video games and 4th grade reading level books.
Sigh.
Oh who am I kidding? I'll be calling every day for the first two weeks to come hang out. I'll be counting down the days til Paw Search and THON. I'll be on the mailing list for all my clubs and come to all the events. I guess I'll always bleed blue and white. :)

I'll try to get in at least one more after graduation. I want to tell you all about it. And Matt, you're so right. One day you're a sophomore, next day you're a graduate. The horizon is deceptively close. I'll miss you guys. My experiences here will live in my heart for all my life. I couldn't have made it without you. I've never felt so loved and appreciated in all my life. Thank you.

All My Love,
Jess Olan
Alum

Monday, December 8, 2008

Thank goodness it's the last week!

So what I have been up to you ask?

Well, I am now a brand new member of Delta Gamma and I love it! I just filled out my Schreyers Honors College application and we'll see how that goes!! I'm so happy that its the last week before finals, I just want to get everything over with! I'm moving into Eastview terrace next semester and I'm super excited! I've also just found out that I will be living with some of my besties next year in Eastview again!! Whoot! Now I have to go through the process of moving all my stuff out of my room and into my new room, I suppose that's why we have boyfriends lol I still have so much left to do before break, and to think that Christmas is only weeks away!! AHHH! I haven't even begun shopping. I have so much to update on but I can't even focus.

Until later...

Abbie

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Final Stretch...

It happens every semester and it never seems to fail on me... I once again feel like I just walked into my acting class or my communications course just last week and then right before my eyes, we are in the last full week of classes. It's exciting I suppose. I am kind of happy to see the semester come to an end and receive a break but sometimes, I'm just not sure I want it all to end. It's a perfect replica of the conflict in change. I feel as if I just got comfortable with what I'm doing and that my schedule finally was hitting a steady routine only to be thrown into the fire and start new again. But that's life...

Seeing a semester end actually makes me dread a what-is-coming-to-be-near-future-change.
And as you may guess, it's graduation.
I know, I know I still have another two years but it is like running a race and seeing the finish line on the horizon as I begin to crest over the hill...

To Be Continued...

Friday, December 5, 2008

Sorry it's been a while

Yikes! It's been over a month since I last popped on here. Sorry everyone, my computer died on me and the bookmark on my toolbar was the sole thing reminding me to come visit here.

Hmm now to catch up on a month worth of updates in the 20 minutes I have to write this...

YES WE DID! Barack Obama won the election! And...I managed to get thrown out of our victory celebration...The party was held at Cobblestones (A local sports bar) and apparently those under 21 aren't allowed in past 10:00 pm without a parent. Because college students never drink, right? Getting up on Nov 5th for my 7:30 am class was pretty rough though. I am never scheduling another class that insanely early if at all possible. 9:00 is great.

Few weeks in between weren't really eventful, but we had family get together for Thanksgiving. Then I got teeth cut out the day afterwords...yuck! Ah well surgery went better than expected - goodbye to any shred of wisdom I had left. On a more uplifting note, I did get to spend time with a girlfriend of mine who's going to school about 6 hours away and I rarely get to hang out with. She dragged a friend back from Roanoke and the three of us went ice skating.

Now I'm pretty busy and stressed with final projects coming due. I turned in the final copies of my honors projects today, so I'm hoping to get those back Monday. I know Dr. Latzko will but am unsure about Professor Neahaus. I'm exempt from her final though since I maintained an A average. I can sleep in that Thursday, Sweet! (It was an 8am final). I managed to bomb the first part of my art history final which was held today today. :(

Studying is definitely detrimental to one's academic performance - I did much better on the tests I didn't study for than this one. Save your sanity and use that time to relax. Ah well think I'll do alright overall in the course with some of the extra credit assignments.

Not sure where this fits chronologically, but I was officially offered on campus housing for next semester and have accepted. Have started shopping and packing some essentials for living on campus next semester, but it'll be really crazy later this month.

I promise I'll update you guys again soon. (Hopefully before December 18th - the last day of final) definitely by then though. Yuck...a 6pm final on the last day...how aweful. Ah well glad the semester is coming to an end.


Stephen

Thursday, November 6, 2008

So so sorry...

Hey everyone...

So yeah, I am incredibly sorry for basically falling off the face of the earth for the last month... I have gotten a little busy and well quite frankly, I am lacking on some basic things I am supposed to be doing...For instance, I had a talk with my parents concluding in them saying I can't just use our home as a sleeping quarters anymore. So I get a little wrapped up in some things and don't come home until 1 in the morning...once a week... Okay, that is a lie, more like every night of the week lol

But on the other hand, I actually like life this way. Busy 24/7 and always rushing. It keeps you on your toes, keeps you busy lol

Okay well, if it were not for me having work and then an exam tomorrow morning, I would stay and type more but hey, you have to stay busy! I promise to be on again very soon and update about the many crazy things going on in life. I'll just leave with the fact that I declared my major in CAS and I will be staying at PSU York all four years!

Until later and as always, God bless!

Matt

Monday, November 3, 2008

Donkey Kong

The past week has been insane. I've felt like Mario in Donkey Kong, constantly jumping over barrels and busting through obstacles just to make it to the Princess. For me, last week's princess was Friday night. I just wanted to make it through the week so that I could crash hard and sleep my way through Saturday.
Tuesday and Wednesday the Drama Club put on their production of "Talk Radio". It was a great show. I was so honored to work with so many talented actors and the show couldn't have gone better. We were all amped about it because it felt like our first real show with a set and everything. We knew our lines, we worked on blocking, we got to run tech for 4 days....it wasn't just some amateur play. We really owned it, and it felt great when I took my bow on stage. I wish we could have done 2 more shows. The staff at the Pullo center rocked (Thanks April and Washy and Sheldon). I couldn't believe the standing ovation we received Wednesday night. The crowd absolutely screamed when Todd took his bow.
Thursday and Friday were a whirlwind of activity. I shopped for supplies for the Halloween Party and spent most of the day on Friday setting up. What a great party! We had some crazy costumes (Hugh Heffner and bunnies, The US Military, Ninja Turtles) and I loved my costume. I went in my wedding dress and added a tiara and went as a Queen. It was so much fun and I was really happy with the turnout. We raised almost $400 for charity.
I'll be honest with you all, though. All these events passing by are lots of fun, but in truth they are all bittersweet. This was my last play performance....my last Halloween party...all pointing to my last semester here. The last few weeks have been filled with "We don't know what we're going to do without you Jess", and "Things are going to be so different with you gone Jess." Quite honestly, I don't know what I'm going to do when I'm gone. I'm going to miss all of my friends. I'm going to miss being in a place I (mostly) understand. I just don't want to see all of my friendships wash away because I'm out of sight out of mind.
Ugh...I'm gettin bummed just thinking about it.

Here's to a less stressful week.

~Jess

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

My head is about to explode!

I feel like wacking myself on the head! I have been like a ghost from this blog and I am so ashamed!
Life has been so hectic I can't think straight at times! I am so busy with classes and I'm also working, but that's not that bad because I am a "CA" which is kind of like a "RA"(resident's assistant) in my apartment building. It's nice to not have to spend gas money or to find transportation to get to work. Not only do you save money, but you are normally around people that you hang out with or your friends. But don't get me wrong, we do work! We have to clean and monitor the building and deal with any necessary complaints or problems that may arise. It can get boring at times, but we are allowed to do our homework or read during our shifts.
Just juggling all the school workload and my working hours and all my extracurriculars such as Lion Ambassadors can get frustrating at times.
The open house was this past weekend and it just brought back memories of my first time of visiting Penn State York. I actually ran into an old friend from high school! I didn't expect to see anybody from my area but she just popped out of nowhere! And it made me feel so much better to see a friendly face from home. I talked to her after the open house and apparently she loved the campus and she really wants to go here, so job well done PSY!
The whole apartment situation can get a little too much at times. Six girls living together is not a good combination. And to add to the problems, we are all SO different that we never see eye to eye. Problems can occur and sides will be taken and tension will be created. That is the last thing I want for this apartment because we all have to live together. I've learned that if I'm having a bad day or I'm in not so good of a mood, I just go to my room or separate myself by leaving. It helps to have friends outside of your apartment, even the building. But you have to learn to suck it up and to not sweat the small stuff.
well I'll be back soon! Hope all of you are doing well!
We Are Penn State!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

One More Week

Wow time has gone by quickly, only have 7 days left until election day. I can't believe I've been out campaigning since August.

Big events coming up: Thursday the 30th Ed Rendell will be joining us at the York office for some phone calls and canvassing at 1:00 sounds like it will be loads of fun and meeting important people is always good since I'll be in Harrisburg next semester.

Saturday - Tuesday is Get Out The Vote (GOTV). That effort is going to be pretty amazing, the goal is to attempt to talk to all the Obama supporters four times over the course of those four days. We won't leave anyone alone until they can show us the "I voted" sticker Tuesday.

If you're going to do anything during the campaign, now is the time to get involved. If nothing else be sure to go vote on November 4th. Polls are open from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm (although if you're in line by 8:00 you will get to vote.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Doing My To-Do List

Sometimes, I add things to my to-do list that I'm actually in the middle of doing. Sometimes, I add things that I've just completed, just so I can have the satisfaction of crossing them off. I'll put these recently completed items in strategic places like the top and middle to amp myself up about "all" that I've accomplished.

Dear God, I'm weird aren't I?

I get this nagging feeling when I'm making a to-do list. The feeling comes from all the things that I said I was going to do, but never did and now have forgotten so I CAN'T ADD THEM TO MY LIST! Inevitably, someone comes to me and asks, "Did you get to finish project XYZ? It's due in a nanosecond," and I say, "Oh well, it's on my to-d --- oh, um, actually I forgot that one." How embarrassing. I can't even organize my organization.

Here's two things to add to YOUR to-do lists this week, dear readers:
1. Come to our production of "Talk Radio", a rated R stage play starring yours truly and ...you know some other fantastic people. It's October 28 & 29 at 7 pm at Penn State York's Pullo Theatre. It's free for Penn State students and only $5 for general admission!
2. Come check out our 2nd annual Halloween Party, October 31st, 7-11 pm. We're asking $3 for students and $5 for general admission at the door, all of which goes to help kids with cancer. (Yeah THON) Free pizza, candy, drinks and snacks, plus a brain vibrating sound system.

See? I give you fun things to do so you can happily cross them off once you complete them. If you're going to come to the party though, you may want to add "Find Halloween Costume"to your list. Well! Stop reading blogs! You have work to do!!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Classes Next Semester

I can schedule classes in a few days, so I've worked out what I hope to take - just wanted to let you all take a look. Hopefully everything is still available if I schedule at midnight on the 16th. All Political Science/Public policy classes compared to none this semester. It's going to be a lot of fun - albeit a lot of work. I still haven't done my foreign language requirement, so I'm hoping to schedule Spanish over the summer at a community college...I have no interest what so ever in learning a foreign language and am putting it off as long as possible. *Sigh* I hate general education credits. Ah well supposedly going to make me a more well rounded better person. I can't wait for law school!

22 Credits most being upper level courses, we'll see how that goes I might have to drop something to devote extra time to other things, but I'm going to try it. Only have class Monday-Thursday though. Three day weekends!

Public Policy Analysis
Writing in the Social Sciences
Public Administration
The Role of Knowledge in Society (Honors Seminar)
Financial and Managerial Accounting
Engineering – energy and environment
Civil Liberties and Due Process

Stephen

Monday, October 6, 2008

Voter Registration

Today is the last day to register to vote in PA, so the campaign was out doing registration on campus. I saw one of our field organizers out and decided to jump in and help out. I personally got 7 registrations in about an hour and I know the other two people out doing it got quite a few. Even registered a professor I had last semester (he or she had moved since the last election)!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

I have no life until November

Yes, I'm still alive - Barely have been insanely busy lately.

I just lost my only free day during the week so here's a more accurate copy of my schedule:
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=sxk444%40gmail.com&ctz=America/New_York

I'm really getting into my honors project though. Have started preparing ideas for my bail reduction motion. Defending a murder case with no legal background to speak of isn't easy. Hopefully knowing how to do legal research will provide a step up on other law school applicants though and it's a lot of fun.

I'll try to get something more elaborate up soon.

Stephen

Monday, September 29, 2008

Recruitment!

So this past weekend I've been rushing all the sororities and I'm exhausted! I'm going through formal recruitment so I get to meet all 20 sororities and throughout the week I make a list of my favourites and I eventually join one of my top 3. It's a complicated process but I'm loving it so far! Besides that the white out game this weekend was AMAZING lol I was in the student section with Dan, Mandy, and Zach and it was the best ever! I'm so happy that we're ranked number 6...number 1 would be better but hey, it's still early in the season =p I had a lot of fun tailgating before the game, especially since I got to see some friends from home!! It's was great. I still feel pretty overloaded with work but I'm learning how to find time to study. No lie, study groups are the only way I get things done lol It's fun though, it makes the time fly by lol You know what I realized today? I wont be home for a month and a half because of games, recruitment and shows...bummer lol I'm not gonna lie, I miss having my own room. You really take it for granted lol I think it's mainly because my room mate and I don't really see eye-to-eye, that's why I'm really excited to join a sorority lol Hopefully this week will get less hectic!

Wish me luck! =)
Abbie

Friday, September 26, 2008

Busy Is The Theme of The Week

Seems we've all been busy. And thanks to all of you who have been busy reading our blogs. Keep the comments coming!

So goes the life of the college student. One week you're on top of everything on your to-do list. The next week you're drowning under the weight of your own procrastination. During the summer, I let myself get out of the habit of using my student planner. I lived by that thing last year, and I'm going to have to relearn how to live by it again. The life of the SGA President isn't pretty. I've got meetings out the wazoo, committees, luncheons, plus I *do* occasionally like to just hang out with friends on campus. I've been doing my best to show some love to the night programming crew. (Awesome job Todd and Cliff!!) Not to mention my 13.5 credits (by far the lightest academic load I've taken to date). I keep finding myself saying at 11:30 on a Sunday night, "Oh yeah, THAT homework." I've got to budget my time better. Nothing is more embarrassing than having to apologize for missing a meeting or having to admit in class that you have no idea how to answer that question because you forgot to do the reading that day.

Speaking of meetings, this upcoming week is chock full o'them. I'm meeting with all of the student government senators as well as the Presidents of all our extracurricular clubs and organizations. It gives everyone a chance to get familiar with their responsibilities and it gives me a chance to get to know everyone. Which reminds me loyal readers - Have YOU joined a club yet? Huh? Have ya? You should get on that if you haven't. Go to this website for a complete list of our clubs.

If you want to join any of them, just pop by the Student Affairs office and they can get you contact info for that group and let you know when they meet. Or just email me. I'll be here... working on my annotated bibliography...forever...
With Pride,
Jess

Monday, September 22, 2008

Hectic doesn't even begin to explain it...

So it's been a while since I last blogged. I've been so busy with everything!! I feel so busy all the time! I have 3 tests this week and they're all in my core classes....bummer. All my time is spent reading and looking over notes lol It sucks. On top of that I have my sorority recruitment session, my THON morale interview and I have 2 meetings I need to go to....talk about stress. Thank goodness for my friends and family...I don't know what I would do without them! I can't wait til the game this weekend, pep rally and a white out under the lights!! Whoot! I'm especially excited for this week to be over!!

Until next week,

Abbie

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Changing Campus

For those of you who don't know - I'm majoring in Political Science and Public Policy at Capital College (Harrisburg), so I'm actually going up there in January for the spring semester. I've been looking into the process of switching campuses recently and all the details associated with that. It's really pretty simple - one short half a page form to fill out and Boom campus change was approved.

Now for the difficult part...making connection up there. I either have or am working on contacting the following people: the head of the political science department, the honors program director, and the director of the learning center.

I really wanted to find an internship somewhere in the state capital working in a legal field, but I'm having trouble networking from here for now. I'm hoping I'll find something through my campaign work or contacts here that will open up...we'll see. Dr. Dzubak from our Nittany has been great. She has former students or members of the tutoring staff that now work up there and she's been trying to find opportunities for me to explore further.

I'm hoping that the Harrisburg Learning Center will waive their one semester at Harrisburg requirement in light of the fact that I have previous tutoring experience and certification from another Penn State Campus. I can definitely understand the necessity of such a requirement for transfer students but don't think it's too relevant in my case.

I'm hoping that I don't have to go through the process of applying to the Harrisburg honors program and that they're reciprocal with York's system, but I haven't gotten that far yet. Bureaucracy annoys me to no end - so far not too bad though.

I'll be living in on campus housing up there hopefully - actually have to work on that soon - next month is when I was told they'd know about availabilities.

The ability to schedule classes opens up in October as well, so I'm keeping that in mind as well. I can actually take political science or public policy classes considering I'm majoring in the field, Yay! I'll try to have a *VERY* tentative schedule up sometime soon for you guys.

This came off as a to do list for me rather than a legitimate blog post but this is what has been on my mind most of the week while I have time to deal with it.

Stephen

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Just curious...

You know, I am just slightly curious if anyone else in our nation notices how bad the media is downright cruel to Sarah Palin (and by publishing this blog, I by no means intend to pursue and state my political ideologies through this post, unless otherwise asked). Personally though, I have noticed a lot of media sources from newspapers, television and even magazine articles that are just hammering Sarah Palin about things that have almost no relevancy to her. Between her daughter's pregnancy and her husbands DUI from 20 years ago; where does any of this have anything to do with her abilities to be able to lead our country? In almost every media source I see speaking of her, all I see is people slamming her with things that don't even pertain to her.

I don't know; I won't rant further but I am just curious to see if anyone else was able to pick up on these things.

God bless,
Matt

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

I'm in! Finally!

Hey Guys
I'm so sorry I haven't been on the blog in a really long time. It has been MAJORLY busy trying to get everything sorted out!
I have moved into the 550 lofts, which I think most everyone has heard about!
The problem is we don't have any internet yet, so it's been impossible trying to get on here and to do all my work for my classes! The ISTC Lab is my new hangout spot!
The lofts are really fun though! It has it's ups and downs, but overall I love the setting and all the people. I never feel alone cause most everyone are in my apartment all the time!
I have been accepted into the Lion Ambassador's program! I was really excited because it's an organization that is greatly talked about and it gets rave reviews! So we shall see how that will go!
More to come on the home front!
We are Penn State!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Obama visit Lancaster

Sorry for not posting this sooner, I've been really busy.

Senator Obama came to visit Lancaster last Thursday, and I got VIP seating because of my involvement in the campaign! I was literally around 10 feet from the podium it was incredible!


Around 15,000 people came many students at Franklin and Marshal and Millersville University. I met one interesting student from Millersville though I shan't talk too much about her without permission.

I haven't gotten around to uploading photos and videos yet but one of our team members has hosted pictures of the event.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=43127686&albumId=1983284

Senator Obama touched largely on the economy and war in Iraq. Focusing on Iraqi responsibility and their 72 billion dollar surplus! Our country is trillions of dollars in debt and the Iraqi's have that kind of surplus! Madness! They really ought to be moving towards self governance which doesn't seem to be happening at the moment. He also addressed a few of the attacks from the Republican convention that was going on that week.

I was really disgusted by their convention. The whole thing was devoted to personal stories - both Palin's as mayor and McCain's experience in Vietnam. Unfortunately, I didn't learn anything new about the party platform or what they're going to do to solve substantial issues facing the country. Although I suppose that's consistent with McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis's view that, "This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."

Not about issues?!? We're going to be 10 trillion dollars in debt (roughly $32,000 a person http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/), the economy is tanking, and we're militarily involved in 130+ countries throughout the world. How can we afford to have an election not decided on issues?

Alright, I'm jumping down from my soapbox for now because I've got to run for dinner.

Talk to you all later(i.e I'll continue my rant at some point),

Stephen

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Sometimes, A Girl Just Changes Her Mind

I've always admired people that had a set path, a predetermined goal in mind when they came to college. I had a goal in mind pretty soon after I started, but I was also six years older than the rest of the incoming freshmen. It was all layed out: Get a bacchelor's degree in Letters, Arts, and Sciences, then go on to grad school for physical therapy. Simple.

So I've taken all but a few prerequisites, maintained over a 3.50 GPA, and started shopping around for grad programs. Then it hit me...

I don't know if I want to do this.
I don't like any of these subjects: Chemistry, Physics, Trig...I have the highest respect for people that are good at it and passionate about those subjects. But not me. I struggle with them, even with extra help. I started thinking, if I'm having trouble with these classes, how in the world am I going to survive a graduate program that is based on these subjects? Do I really want to spend the next three years away from my family to pursue something that I may not love? Then I started thinking about the stuff I really love to do. I love being on campus and helping students. I love being president and planning events. I love being able to offer guidance to anyone that asks me. I think I really want to be in higher ed.
Leave it to me to be a SENIOR only SIX credits away from graduation before I decide to make a change. Quite frankly, I freaked. Everything I've done so far has been towards the goal of P.T., and now I'm taking a 180 and headed in a totally different direction. But it turns out I can still use my degree to get into a grad program for Student Affairs. And there are no prerequisite classes for this degree. PLUS, one of the programs has a rolling admission so I can start in January.
Moral of the story is, it's never too late to change your mind. I know I'll be happy with this career.
~Jess

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

First week

Well we're into the second week of the semester (sorry I got caught up in Labor day festivities - i.e. the week of action for the Obama campaign, Lol!) The first week was a whole lot of fun - all kinds of great activities such as the intro picnic. Mostly it was great to meet all kinds of new people and make a few new friends.

Classes aren't too intense so far - a lot of reading of course but it's still only the beginning.

Most interesting for myself is an honors project I'm working on for my business law class because I want to go onto law school myself. My professor for that course has agreed to let me work on a project with her and we're meeting this Friday to get down more specific details so I'll keep you posted.

The roughest classes for me, as expected, will be world music and art history. I've never really been good with or enjoyed more creative abstract concepts like that. The art history should be tolerable because I do find the evolution of society and its influence on the art of the time interesting. Various theories about the hunting rituals of primitive painters etc. Music, I'm definitely going to be suffering through. We have a great professor, but I've always had a slight disdain for music that I have to work past.

Details of my internship have been finalized now. I submitted the completed application to the faculty supervisor. I'll still be working with the Southern York County (or SO YO as we affectionately have dubbed it) team on Wednesday nights for team meetings/phone banking and Saturday voter contact activities (canvassing, voter registration, etc). However, I'll also be spending most of Thursday and possibly some Tuesdays in the campaign office working on voter registration and voter protection activities.

Saturday I get to host my first canvass event on my own. Our team coordinator will be working at another event, so I'll be running everybody through the training. Our field organizer is supposed to stop by and help knock on a few doors but has a lot of events to work with and probably can't stay too long. I guarantee that I will defiantly post about this later because it'll be my first attempt at organizing my own event.

Be sure to check out www.mybarackobama.com for campaign updates in your area. We need all the help we can get.

Talk to you guys later,

Stephen

P.S. I love hearing from you guys. Be sure to leave a comment or send me an e-mail. The feedback I've gotten so far is awesome!

Monday, September 1, 2008

First Week!!

I have officially completed my first week at Penn State and I love it!! Getting around classes can be confusing but I've pretty much got most of them down. I'm not gonna lie, the first couple days I had the worst shin splintz of my life!! So I got a bike lol I still don't get how it works though, but I'm sure I'll figure it out lol Besides the walking, my classes seem pretty cool this semester. My latin prof. is hilarious! haha My nursing classes seem pretty cool too! I just ordered scrubs and I'm super excited to wear them to class!! I finally met my adviser the other day and she seems really nice, and really honest, which I like. I thought I wanted to take a minor in a language, but she explained to me how labels aren't everything. I'm really glad I set up an appointment with her! I didn't realize how many people were at SC until I stopped for lunch in the HUB and had to wait 20 mins to get lunch! It was insane!! I've now since learned to pack a mini lunch lol I guess I should mention something about football weekend lol It was amazing! I had a lot of fun! My friends Dan and Mandy came to visit and we had a blast! My mom came up yesterday and helped me out and I really missed her!! I can't wait til next weekend! Thank goodness next week will be an afternoon game lol I really should go and study because I have a ton of reading to do!!

Peace out!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

The hardest part is walking out the door...

So it all started with one run. One run which had the ability to change his life. One run which would take a young man to be able to race with the rest of the world's greatest runners. This man I speak of is Ryan Hall, a man of pure inspiration and unbelievable dedication to running. But the thing is that he doesn't do it for himself, he does it for God.

Now to me, that is a man with a passion and a drive like nothing else. He resembles exactly what happens when you set yourself to something more than your own ambitions. It resembles a man who knows that life is not all about him.

So simply stating, where does this have any connection to my life? I have started to really study hard in all my classes, get more involved in college, work to get myself onto a respectable financial platform where I don't rely on my parents for everything I need, and last, but surely not least, I have begun to run again. But as I was finishing my run today, I thought to myself what someone asked me the other day, "Why are you running again?". And in that moment of my last few strides, I asked myself, "What am I running for? Why am I doing the things that I do at college? What is my goal right now in life?" But even at this moment the answer hides from me.

So after my run I laid in the pool and relaxed, still thinking about my current goals and aspirations when I came to a basic realization. Ryan Hall knew the answer clear as day. He didn't worry about what the next day brought along. He prayed for guidance and a clear path to follow. He knew there would be walls in his path but he would be granted with the ability to overcome them.

So in the wake of this, I have come to realize that all you have to do is go on that one run. That one daring run can hold the ability to change your life in ways you may have never imagined. If you just set your mind off of yourself, you can have the ability to go far.

God Bless
Matt

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

PARTY!

Yes, that's right not done with the first week of school and I'm enjoying MASSIVE parties - over 500 people!

The York Obama campaign threw a massive party at the Yorktowne Hotel Ballroom to watch Senator Obama's acceptance speech. It was AMAZING! Obama said everything that needed to be mentioned. I won't bore everyone with a detail analysis (yet) but be sure to watch it for yourself if you haven't already.

Check it out here: http://www.barackobama.com/tv/

I'll get exact numbers a little later but I know we made thousands of phone calls telling everyone to watch the speech - did anyone get the message? More importantly, we got a HUGE number of volunteers and will likely get tons more over the weekend.

If you want to get involved check out the website: http://www.barackobama.com or send me an e-mail and I'll get you set up with a team in your area.

Love it? Hate it? Let me know! I love to talk and debate.

I'm looking forward to celebrating Senator McCain's 72nd Birthday (August 29th) by helping make 72,000 phone calls across PA for the Obama campaign. McCain will get a little more press, but we're working hard to make our presence known out in the field.

Now that it's past midnight I think I shall go to bed since I have to get up at 6. G'night all.

Stephen


P.S. I promise I'll eventually stop plugging something every post (although every other post is still likely to be about the campaign until November 4th)

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Already?

Wow that week went fast! Here it is, less than 10 hours away from my first class. I gotta stop writing these things at midnight...

I was an orientation leader this past week and had the opportunity to meet some of the incoming students. I hope we sparked some interest in campus activities, but more importantly, I hope we gave them some of the tools they will need to survive their first semester. I didn't last a year the first time I went to college. Too much drama, not enough support system.

Speaking of support system, my awesome friend Todd just left. We were working on some posters for the Luau tomorrow. I really hope that people get more involved this semester. I know student apathy is a huge problem at every university, but it doesn't stop us from trying to fight it. The old saying about "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink" is true. We'll keep leading anyway. I honestly regret spending the first two years in the background. I've met so many fantastic people and I don't know what I'd do without them. They keep me sane when I think I'm losing it, and they keep me smiling even when I don't want to.

Well, guys, I officially announced my intent to graduate in December. My hands were shaking when I hit the button. :) My husband is so proud of me. It's hard to believe that this crazy ride is almost over. What am I going to do when I don't have a billion things on my plate? What's the next leg of my educational journey going to be like? Do I have what it takes?

Til Tomorrow,
Jess

State College

Hey guys!
So I've finally moved into my dorm and I can't wait until tomorrow. I'm staying in Pollock and I really like it so far. My room mate and I both moved in on Friday and we're finally all settled in. Classes start tomorrow and I'm definitely nervous!! I don't know how to get to any of them lol I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to ask some one every 20ft to tell me where I need go lol So this weekend has been crazy! Pep rallies, blue band and Joe Pa and it's only been 2 day!! There's always something going on around here and no matter where you go, you get a free t-shirt, my count so far is 6 haha It's pretty cool though. State college is amazing...no lie. Everyone is really friendly and the area is gorgeous, I've already run into three people from my high school...40,000 people and I run into 3 of the 12 people I know from my high school already lol weird. I hate walking everywhere though, I'm pretty sure my ankles are hating my right now and I've finally realized that flip flops were a bad choice haha It's not too bad though, I'll finally be getting some kind of exercise. I will say that I miss my family, Friday night when they left was the worst, I'm pretty sure I wanted to go home that night, but Zach and my mom reassured me that everything was gonna be ok and they were right. I can't wait til football weekend!! We're gonna own!! Ok well I should get some sleep I have a ton of stuff to do tomorrow.

Abbie

Friday, August 22, 2008

Tutoring Staff Meeting

The staff of the Nittany Success Center (I'm still going to end up referring to it as the Learning Center since that was the name last semester.) met for the first time this Wednesday. We had a lot of fun getting to know each other since there's quite a few new tutors this semester.

Mike returned with his signature yellow hair which he'd dyed for an anime convention. He was nutty as ever so Donna and Dr. Dzubak did their best to keep him in line. He's the craziest most flamboyant person you'll ever meet. Playfully picking on him is lots of fun since he never lets things take too serious a turn.

The actual training itself was a lot of fun too. Returning tutors such as myself took on the role of the student in a mock first tutoring session to work on new tutors skills. It actually gave me an interesting new perspective on some of the things I typically do. Plus we got to frustrate new staff to no end!

Actually two of our staff members had come in previously for tutoring in subjects they had difficulty with, so it was great to hear their insights as well.

Alright, I'll admit it the policies and paperwork section was boring because I knew 99% of the stuff, but it's important to note.

School starts in a few days, Yikes!

Enjoy the last few days of Summer,

Stephen



Any current students can apply for a tutor at no cost. All Services are confidential. Anyone who thinks they might be interested in joining the staff and becoming a tutor can apply at the website or in person by stopping by room 107 in the main classroom building.

http://www2.yk.psu.edu/learncenter/

Another great service directed by Ann Fetterman, a member of the English department faculty, is the online writing lab. You can submit a paper and have a critique back within a couple days. The great thing is you can choose what areas you believe to be weak and receive advice on how to correct them.

http://www2.yk.psu.edu/learncenter/owl.php

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Back in action...

Hey everyone!

So I just got back a couple days ago from an amazing trip to University Park and I feel like I haven't had much of a break since I got home! I have yet to go through all my bags still! But besides life being busy as usual, I am extremely pleased with how much I got out of the Leadership Conference. There was just so much to learn about taking a leadership position! It just keeps me thinking about this semester thats coming up in a week. My goal is just be as prepared as possible and be ready for anything that comes along. Alright, well the hour is long and the night is short so I must bid adieu. Enjoy your last week of "freedom"!

God Bless!
Matt

R.I.P
LeRoi Moore
8/19/2008

Packing....all over again!

Hey Everyone!
You're probably wondering, "who in the world is this person?!" Well, my name is Parisa, I'm going to be a freshman at PSU York, obviously, and I have been out of the country for the past 6 weeks! I just got back from a long visit to Iran(which is where I'm from,) and eastern Europe.
I don't really have much to say yet, because the whole process of joining the PSU family hasn't started yet.
I'm from McLean, VA, which is about a 2-hour drive from York, so it's not that bad. I'm going to be living at the APEX apartments, so I won't be commuting!
It's funny how I immediately get back from one trip, have to unpack everything from my suitcases, and then immediately pack again into boxes for York! It's so exhausting! I love it!
I'm beyond excited to get to college! I've been ready since my freshman year of high school!
More to come! Hope you all are getting pumped, too!
We are Penn State!
-Parisa

Friday, August 15, 2008

Bleeding Blue and White

I'm typing this at 1:30 in the morning after our second full day at the aforementioned Summer Leadership Conference. Today was great: our groups participated in a variety of volunteer projects, we had a great guest speaker, I learned what color best represented my personality, and of course the Penn State Pride Dinner was phenomenal. This is my third conference, and my last as I'm graduating in December. It's a little bittersweet. I had a great time with new friends and old, but it's been in the back of my mind that this is my LAST conference and I'll never experience this again.
If you, dear reader, ever get the opportunity to go to this conference, do it. I've learned about so much over the past three summers. I've learned how to be a better leader, how to deal with conflict, how to push myself outside of my comfort zone and how to let go of (most of) my insecurities and just be a proud Penn Stater for the weekend. I've come to realize that the Commonwealth is filled with amazing, motivated, creative, and brilliant people. I've also been honored by the company of the wonderful people that attend York. I now have six other people that I know I can always count on to say hello in the halls. 8^) I wish I could bottle this experience and bring it back to share with all of you. I wish you could feel the incredible amount of love and acceptance and pride that fill these halls. If only we could all find something to be this proud to be a part of....we could change the world.
Get ready guys! School's only a week away and it's going to be a great year. I'm ready to Luau on the 25th!

With Pride,
Jess

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Good News: Awesome memories! - Bad News: Summer is ending...

Hey everyone!

I must say it is pretty sad to see that the summer is slowly but surely coming to an end. I was surely blessed with a wonderful summer thus far and I can be sure to say I did not waste a minute of it. I was fortunate enough to go on a missions trip just a few weeks back to the Gulf Coast where I was able to meet different families who had to live through Hurricane Katrina. It was quite sad to think that it is closing in on it's 3 year anniversary and there is still about 80% of work that still needs to be done. The one families home we got to work on was a rehab project where the father and his two sons have been living in a FEMA trailer for over 2 and half years! It just really makes you think how fortunate we have it up here where storms like that are a very rare occurrence.

Well, to turn to a fortunate note, there is a lot of progress being done and despite the damages, the locals seem to hold a pretty optimistic opinion about when everything will be completed. Some range between another 5-20 years, which is still quite a bit don't get me wrong, but it is better than people thinking it will never get done.

Well I suppose I will leave it at that for now. I still have to pack and get ready for our Leadership Conference at University Park tomorrow!

I hope everyone enjoys the last leg of their summer and I will speak to you all later!

God Bless!
Matt

McCain Town Hall Meeting

I went to the "Straight Talk" Town Hall meeting at the York Expo center hosted by Senator McCain. It certainly reaffirmed my stance on the upcoming election.

McCain spoke primarily on energy policy (offshore drilling and nuclear power were a big focus) and the recent events in Georgia.

I really had an incredibly fun debate with two pastors from a local church (I won't mention who or which church without their permission) about abortion rights and gay marriage while handing out a couple dozen Obama Pamphlets to people waiting in line - also met a few interesting supporters also outside hold signs/handing out literature etc. I met a couple people on the fence who were coming to get a better idea of McCain's stance on various issues. It's pretty amazing to hear everyone's story and see where they're coming from.

I might write up a longer critique later but this will have to do for now.

Stephen

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Canvassing for Obama

Well today was exhausting but it was a lot of fun. Went out all day canvassing for the Barack Obama campaign. It's amazing to go meet people and hear there stories. I personally knocked at around 100 doors across Shrewsbury over the course of the day. I'm not sure what the total was, but it definitely shows one person active can make a difference.

I'm looking forward to the Wednesday meeting to share the experience with the rest of the team that couldn't make it and those that I didn't see throughout the day.

You can get involved by finding a local group here: http://my.barackobama.com or send me an e-mail and I'd be happy to find out details about your local group meetings.

Hopefully Sara doesn't lynch me for shamelessly promoting my candidate on the blog. Welcome to college - all kinds of opinions held by all kinds of nuts like me.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know

Stephen

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

It's HOW much?

Despite the fact that I am on the last leg of my undergraduate degree journey, it never ceases to amaze me just how much my books cost every semester. According to one of the graduate schools I'm applying to, I need to take trigonometry. So not only have I just increased my credit load to 18.5 credits, but I now need to buy a $125 book. Blah. I'm taking Trig, Physics II, and I have to take Chem II up at Harrisburg because it's not offered here in the fall. Math and science books are by far the most expensive to buy, so needless to say it's going to be a pricey semester.

I think I'm crazy to take so much my last semester. But PSY is offering a new 400 level theatre class and I really hate to pass that up. But if I get too overloaded, I still have a ton of drop credits. So no worries. From what I'm hearing from all these graduate programs, I might as well get used to this type of work load. This is exactly what grad school is going to be like. I don't know if I'm more scared or excited to be graduating. There's still a lot of schooling ahead of me, so graduation is less of a finale for me and more of a midway point. :) I just have to keep my eyes on the prize and think of what my paychecks are going to look like when I'm done with all of this. No more Ramen noodles!! LOL

Til Next Week,
Jess

Friday, August 1, 2008

(Insert Witty Title here...or be lazy like me and don't)

Hey everybody,

I got my drivers license yesterday, so I can actually commute to campus - it's a little weird being one of the few students still having your parents drive you. I attended classes last year full time while enrolled at Susquehannock high school through the dual enrollment program. When classes began I was only 15, so I didn't even have my permit. The fall semester I took evening classes because it was simpler to coordinate scheduling that way. I wanted to take a lot of courses only offered during the day for the spring semester, so dad dropped me off before he went to work which left me stuck there from around 8-7 every day. It'll certainly be nice to be able to leave after my last class for a change.

Haven't given much of a thought to school besides this blog - I still have no clue what I'm going to write for the three weeks leading up to school. I always try to tell people life story just isn't that exciting but somehow get dragged into these things anyways. (^.^)

I guess I'm supposed to pretend that I'm thinking about school starting soon (August 25th) and not the fact that I can drive! Well, I did get the tuition bill taken care of recently and am working on getting books ordered.

I shall leave you with that terribly exciting factoid for now and go enjoy my license for now (did I mention I was excited?). I promise this will get better when I have something to write about - have no clue what I'm going to tell you for three weeks.

Stephen