XC Seniors – 4 years in the Running

W&J XC Seniors!

Last night, we held our end of season Cross Country Banquet!  It’s crazy to think that I’ve been running Cross Country for 8 years!!  Looking back, continuing Cross Country and Track has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and I don’t regret it for a single second.  Running Cross Country has led to so many friendships and wonderful memories — from our attempted run through “Snowpocalypse” in winter 2010, to our team trip to Kennywood’s Fright Night, to our team bonding dinners on the weekends – they’re memories that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the season and my college career.   And before I sign off for the day, I’ll leave you with something XC has taught me over the years – no matter what happens…Always Keep Running!!  W&J XC Presidents 2012!

W&J XC team and alumni

 

 

 

 

the girls - all smiles after a race!

V is for VDay

The Cast

VDay is a global movement to end violence against women and girls everywhere.  It all began with playwright Eve Ensler, who had the idea of turning interviews with real women into real pieces of theatre.  After interviewing over 200 women, Eve used her interviews as inspiration to start writing the piece that would become The Vagina Monologues.  Today, The Vagina Monologues has been translated into over 48 languages and performed in over 140 countries, including sold-out runs at both Off-Broadway’s Westside Theatre and on London’s West End.  Each year, college campuses like W&J produce annual benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues, raising awareness and funds for anti-violence groups in our own communities.  This year marks the seventh annual year that The Vagina Monologues have been performed on W&J’s campus, and all proceeds from the show go towards a local Washington women’s shelter.   Above,  you can see a picture of our VDay cast.  By the way…that IS President Tori Haring-Smith on the right– she performed this year’s spotlight monologue and also knows playwright Eve Ensler personally; she actually published Eve’s very first vagina monologue when Eve was still a graduate student!

The VDay movement is now stronger than ever.  And in case you were wondering, the “V” in “VDay” stands for “Victory,” “Valentine,” and “Vagina.”

 

Where’s Kate?

Snow Days at W&J

This weekend,  I helped out with our Scholarship Weekend event for high school seniors who are applying to W&J.  On Friday, I hosted two students for an overnight.  We kicked off the evening by playing “Family Feud” in the Alley, where we were up against the boy’s basketball team.  Victory was within our reach, and we were on the final question – “Top 6 Comic Book Superheros.”  We had gotten “Superman,” “Batman, “The Flash,” and then…victory was stolen from our grasp when, in a surprise turn, our incorrect guess of “WonderWoman” turned the tides and gave the boy’s basketball team the chance to steal the game winning points.   Just as we thought all hope was lost, the question came back to us, but we picked the wrong superhero — Green Lantern didn’t make the cut!!  Going back to the basketball team one last time, their correct guess of “Aqua Man” ended the game for the win.  What a game, folks.  What a game.

Above, you can see a picture of me in my W&J snow gear, ready to give a campus tour and take on the 7 inches of snow that fell on Saturday.  I like to say  that campus tour guides are like the mailman – rain or shine, we give tours all the time!

Why you should always read your class schedule closely…

Spring has sprung at W&J!  The Spring Semester officially started on Wednesday, February 1st, and I had an interesting start to the day – to say the least.  I’m taking a Yoga class to fulfill the last of my physical education requirement, and I woke up bright and early Wednesday in order to make it to the gym in time for class.  I was excited to see that I have a few friends in the class (including my Vira Heinz mentee!).  After class ended, I had to rush off because I was giving a tour to a visiting college representative from Lillehammer University in Norway!  At about 1pm, I stopped in to the library to check my email, and lo and behold, I had an email from my yoga instructor!  I opened my email, only to find out that she was emailing me to let me know that I had sat in on the wrong Yoga class, and not even realized it!  I had enrolled for “Intermediate Yoga” but had actually attended the Introductory course by mistake…turns out Intermediate Yoga doesn’t start until March!  Reasons to read your class schedule very closely – number one! haha.  I can’t say I’ve done that before, but there’s always a first time for everything, right?  Luckily, my instructor gave me the option of staying in the class, since a spot actually opened up, and as of today, I’m officially enrolled.  I guess you can say that’s one way to get into a class you really want! haha