The Last Post

A graduation hug from                                           President Tori Haring-Smith

A great philosopher once said:  ”Wherever you go, go with all your heart.”  As I walked across the platform at Commencement, and turned to look at all the smiling faces looking back at me, I thought “Wow, this is really it.  You are a college graduate.”  And the moment I stepped off the platform, I thought “Now what?  I haven’t got something lined up.  I have no idea what’s next.  And that’s kind of terrifying.”  And it is terrifying.  But in a really good way.  We are college graduates.  We are  21 and 22 years old, and we have the entire world in front of our feet.  It’s a lot to take in.  But at the end of the day, it’s not so much about the end destination.  It’s all about the journey.  And the fact that you took that first step.  And second step.  And third step.  And all the steps after that.  Because standing still won’t get you anywhere.  But if you take a step, you’re going somewhere.  And if you’re like me, you’re going there with all your heart.  Don’t be afraid to take the step.

Senior Week…Here at Last!

This morning, I took my very last final.  Surreal.  I still don’t think it’s hit me quite yet…..I feel like I should be working on something!  After two weeks of projects, papers, presentations and exams…plus two (almost) all nighters, I am finally done with undergrad!  Hard to believe…they tell you your very first day of freshman year that “these four years go by so fast, enjoy them.”  But you don’t realize it until you reach the very end how quickly it really does go by!!  This evening, we kicked off our Senior Week activities with a Senior Picnic hosted by the President in her backyard.  Tomorrow, I’m heading downtown to catch a play at City Theatre and then Thursday we are heading to the Hard Rock Cafe in Pittsburgh to celebrate graduation and the end of Senior Year!  It’s going to be a great week!

Staff vs. Seniors Kickball Game!

A Few of the W&J Admission Senior Workers

Last weekend, the W&J Admission House held its First Annual W&J Admission Staff vs. Seniors Kickball game!  We played down at Cameron Stadium, which is where our football team plays and is also where our track is located.  I can honestly say that the Admission Staff brought their A-game.  They not only beat the Seniors (I believe the score was upwards of 8-1) but we decided to play a second game (just to give the Seniors a chance to re-gain some dignity) and we were yet again…annihilated.  Clearly, all of the members of the Admission Staff were all picked first in gym class growing up. haha.  It was a great game though, the weather was beautiful, and there were lots of memorable moments, despite our epic defeat.  Hopefully, the Seniors next year can become “the comeback kids!”

 

A college graduation!

This weekend I made a special trip to Pittsburgh to see one of  my best friends graduate from Duquesne University!

The college grad & me!

Marissa and I met in high school and have been friends for 8 years!   I was so happy to be able to spend the day with her and her family, who I like to call the “Caps” (short for “Capasso”).  After the ceremony concluded, Duquesne hosted a reception for families and friends of the graduates in the Ballroom of their Power Center, and you can bet I took every opportunity presented to take candids with the recent biology grad while she was still in her robe and decked out in all of her honors cords!  Later, we headed to De’Lallo’s (a local Italian restaurant) for dinner reservations and then back to the Cap household for cake!  It was a beautiful day, and it makes me look forward to my own graduation in two short weeks!!

PAC Track & Field Championships

My teammate, Kristen, and I at PACS - all smiles after the 10K!

This weekend, the W&J Track & Field team headed to Geneva College for our Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship meet!  The meet was held over two days, from April 27th – 28th at the Merriman Athletic Complex at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA.  We ended the season on a strong note, with our men’s team taking second and our women’s team finishing third in the Conference out of a total of about nine teams who competed.  Our W&J athletes also swept the individual honors – junior distance runner Scott Ryan was awarded the men’s PAC Track MVP and Track & Field MVP awards; senior jumper Taylor Hockman was awarded the men’s  PAC Field MVP;  and freshman distance runner Kristen Galligan, who finished first in the 10K, 5K and 1500m races, took home the women’s Track MVP award.  Below, you can check out a picture of Scott, Taylor, and Kristen with our head Coach Shawn Marek, just after receiving their individual laurels.  Overall, it was a great weekend of competing, even with the brief snow storm that we faced Saturday afternoon, which definitely made it into the record books as our coldest PAC meet in recent years.  I’m looking forward to seeing how our qualifying athletes compete at the upcoming Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) meet in about two weeks.  Let’s go Presidents!

 

PAC MVPS Taylor Hockman, Kristen Galligan & Scott Ryan with Coach Shawn Marek

 

 

 

Extreme Couponers on Campus!

Tonight, extreme couponers Chris and Ashley Duff from TLC’s popular show “Extreme Couponing” are coming to campus!  They’ll be teaching the best couponing methods, how to save money, budget, and where to find the best coupons, as well as how they got started, and why they give back to the community.   (Unlike other extreme couponers featured on the tv show who keep seemingly endless stockpiles of the groceries they bring home, Chris and Ashley donate  most of their goods to the Greater Washington County Food Bank).

If you’ve never watched “Extreme Couponing” before – beware!! It’s easy to get addicted watching these couponers as they go to extreme lengths to save a buck, including, my personal favorite, dumpster diving.

I’m looking forward to what promises to be a great event sponsored by our very own W&J Hunger Task Force, a group on campus who work to end hunger in the community.

April Easter Egg Hunt!

My residents after our Easter egg hunt!

Yesterday, I hid a total of 72 Easter eggs in Wade’s backyard, on the porch, under the front stairs, and even a few in trees (I was feeling adventurous) for my residents to find!  As I discovered yesterday, it’s NEVER too late to hold an Easter egg hunt for your residents, and as it turns out, mine are excellent egg hunters!  I think all of the eggs were found in under 5 minutes flat!  Needless to say, I was super impressed!   There were also two “special” eggs to be found – one had money inside (only a dollar…don’t get too excited!)  And the other one had a slip of paper which read “mystery prize!”   Now, I know only an RA would consider this a prize, but….the prize was picking our next program!!  Since my resident, Hope, is a huge fan of “The Big Bang Theory,” she chose a back to back episode marathon event for next Wednesday!  I can’t wait!  Any other “Big Bang Theory” fans out there?

W&J Film & Arts Festival

This weekend, we held our second annual W&J Film & Arts Festival!  Highlights of the day included a presentation by the Pittsburgh Filmmakers, a student artist reception, screenings of student-submitted short films, and a feature lecture by one of our art professors, Dr. Lambertson, entitled “Cinematography and Art History in Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.”  Matt McKnight ’14 and Erin Barno ’13 were chosen by a judges panel as the first and second place winners, respectively, of the student art contest for their pieces “Vanity” and “Hybrid #1″.  In the category of Best Short Film,  Briana Savage ’14 was awarded the first place prize for her film, “Fruit,” and Point Park University student, Roman Petrov, was awarded the 2nd place award for his film, “Turnaround.”  Overall, it was a great day, and, even though I’m graduating, I’m excited for next year’s festival!

Let’s Go Buccos!

Last week, W&J invited the first 50 seniors who registered for Senior Week to attend the season home opener for the Pittsburgh Pirates!  Since I was one of the lucky seniors to register first, I was psyched to be able to attend!  It was a beautiful day for baseball — sunny and in the 60s!  Before heading up to the bus that took us to the game, I decided to make a pit stop at my room to drop off my books and change.  Since the event was considered a Senior Event, I decided it would be perfect to wear a red, W&J track shirt and my red, zip up track  fleece.  I made it to the bus with a few minutes to spare, and grabbed  a seat next to my friend.  Just after the bus started to pull away from campus, they started to hand out the game tickets.  Well, I look down at my ticket, and I see that we are playing the PHILLIES! whose team colors are, of course, RED!! And I had on ALLLLL red clothes!  Even if I took off my fleece jacket – it didn’t matter, because my t-shirt underneath was STILL red!  I. was. mortified.  And it only got worse, because once we got to the game, EVERY Pirates fan looked at me like I was the ENEMY!  And I couldn’t very well say “No!  I’m really a Pirates fan!  This was a complete and total accident!  I didn’t realize we were playing the Phillies!”  I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever been so embarrassed in my life.  Life Lessons I learned from the game, Number One:  ALWAYS check who your team is playing BEFORE you go to the game, and Lesson Number Two:  ALWAYS wear your team colors, even if you don’t have a jersey that says your team’s name on it.

Love that Carolina Sunshine

During our spring break weekend, the W&J track team headed to Wake Forest University in North Carolina for our outdoor season opener.  There were about 40 total teams in attendance, including Duke, Wake Forest, University of North Carolina, High Point, Appalachian State and, representing some more Pittsburgh hometown pride, Robert Morris.  The meet was held over two days, and I was stoked to be able to compete again, after coming back from an IT band injury in January.  I ran the 10K, which is one of my favorite races.  At 25 laps around the track, your head plays just as much a role as your body, meaning you have to be both mentally tough and physically tough to finish strong.  The gun went off at about 7:20pm, and we literally raced against the sunset, running the last few laps of the race when the stadium lights were just beginning to be turned on.  I was thankful for the later start time though, because the Carolina sun had temperatures that hit in the low 80s during the day.  Great for tanning, but no so much for competing! haha But overall, the nicer weather was a great beginning to my last spring break as an undergrad!