It's been a while since I've written in here. I've either been lazy or too busy. Let's say it's a little combination of both.

On May 7, I graduated. I am now officially an alumni of SRU. My mom, her husband, my brother, aunt, uncle and cousin came to my graduation. I was more emotional before rather than during. I got a hug from President Smith, which was the best thing ever! I had cords for this graduation, boo yaa! White for Magna Cum Laude. It's crazy that I'm finally done.

So right now I'm working at the Alumni Engagement Office and Old Navy at the outlets. I'm contracted at SRU to complete 180 hours. The only thing that stinks is that I get half when I start and then the rest when I finish the hours. So the only income I have right now is from Old Navy and I have been being scheduled only once a week.

The month of June, my best friend, Liz, is staying with me in Slippery Rock. She just got a job in Pittsburgh and her lease for her apartment doesn't start until July 1. It's been fantastic so far. I feel like the universe is making up for not allowing us to see each other much the past four years we've been in college, especially since we've moved from Altoona to Johnstown.

Well, right now I'm watching Say Yes to the Dress. I'm excited for my cousin, Sarah, to actually start planning and looking for a dress for her wedding!

I will also work to keep this blog updated a little better. A month is way too long.

The transition from college to the real world is going to be hard.

It's weird to think that I won't be going back to Slippery Rock University next year. I won't be working at the call center over the summer. It's crazy.

I've been applying to different higher education positions lately. Just trying to keep some options open.

All I have to do yet is turn in a paper and take a cumulative Spanish final. On Thursday night, the Communication Department is paying for everyone to go to the Brewery. It'll be nice to see everyone one last time before graduation. It's going to be so hard to say goodbye to all of the friends I've made and the professors that have helped shape me into the professional I've become.

Hopefully it stops raining, it should actually be nice for graduation.

Last Thursday was the Presidential Luncheon and the Spring 2011 Phonathon Banquet. I had to leave the banquet early to attend the etiquette dinner and senior presentations. It's such a relief they are over, but also sad! I feel as if I've been waiting for it forever and it's over!

I received my graduation present this weekend! My mom and my brother got me a "class ring." By class ring, I mean it isn't the official ring of SRU or anything. I just told my mom that I wanted a ring with an emerald that signify's SRU. It's a huge emerald and is really shiny. Now when I look at it I can think about all the great memories I have from Slippery Rock.

This week has been emotional and I haven't even graduated yet. First, it's the last week of class! These past four years have gone so fast. Everyone tells you they will, but it's hard to believe when you're only a freshman or sophomore.

I had my last Green and White Society meeting which I didn't think was going to be that emotional, but turned out to be. They had someone talk about each of the seniors and had the seniors give a little speech. All the seniors were asked to go to the front of the room. We were given little gifts and were hugged by our advisors. I've never seen them get so emotional! It's already hard not to cry when so many other people are, especially me, miss emotional. So first, our one advisor, Brad, spoke about us. We've all been in the group for two or more years so we've worked with our advisors a lot! Brad just said how connected me feels to us because we were the group to really work hard to bring the organization to what it is today. That the seven of us graduating are the people who the younger members should look up to as leaders. He got choked up a couple times, which makes it harder not to cry! After he gave his little speech, the president of SRU, President Smith, gave us a standing ovation which was precious. He also gave a little speech and he's retiring in January so he was getting choked up. Geeze, I love this university.

I held back the tears until after we ended the meeting because everyone got to mingle before leaving. My one mentee, Mark, came up to me and thanked me for showing him the ropes when he first entered the group and to keep in touch. For some reason, he opened the flood gates! Then this past year's treasurer, who I've worked with a lot with the tuition raffle, came up to me and said what she was going to say wasn't going to help my tears stop! So she preceeded to tell me how me and another member, who I'm really good friends with, were the first ones who accepted her in the organization. When she started she didn't really know what the organization was about and how she was going to like it and I was one of the reasons why she continued being a part of it. It just touched me so much to be told that I helped her stay involved and I made her feel welcome. Also that I provided a great atmosphere, where people wanted to be around and have fun. Tears were litterally rolling down and dripping off my face.

I continued mingling and giving everyone hugs. I ended up not leaving until around 7:15.

It's almost midnight, so I should either sleep or do some homework.

We'll be true to thee oh S.R. true for aye and aye! Love you, Slippery Rock University.

Today, after an hour of utter confusion, I registered for graduate school courses! I asked my advisor what classes he would recommend me take and when I tried to schedule them I ended up only being able to register one. One wasn't even offered and the other was closed. So I'm taking Communication Research Methods, Communication/Conflict Resolution and Culture and Media.

Today was also my last day at my internship! I wrote two articles for the next Rock Alumni Cafe newsletter. Deb, the secretary, told me that I'll be able to work there over the summer! I'm so excited! It'll look really great on my resume and give me even more experience!

I had a Green and White Society meeting today. We talked about stuff for next year, which is sad because I won't be there! Since you've invested to much time in building up the organization, starting events and fundraisers and making great friendships.

I'm now going to work on my senior presentation. If I get that done, I'll work on finishing my internship journals and starting my internship paper.

Tomorrow and Thursday are going to be stressful with the presidential luncheon and the phonathon banquet followed by senior presentations. I will be so happy when this week is over with!

Now to watch some America's Funniest Home Videos and do homework!

Yesterday I finished my self-assessment! Wooo! What a weight off my shoulders!

For my internship, I worked the Alumni Association  Scholarship and Awards Banquet. I love going to events like that, it really shows the dedication alumni and donors have to the university. I love listening to President Smith speak, he's so passionate about SRU. You can't help but burst with pride.

Today I worked at Old Navy from 10-5 then the call center from 5:30-9; what a long day!

Below are some pictures of more callers for our direct mailing!

Well, I've definitely been busy, that's for sure.

I've been working, going to class, going to meetings and trying to get homework done.

At the call center, we are going to be sending a direct mailing to those alumni who haven't given yet. We are actually sending a postcard type document that opens up. We are going to put pictures of students in it with information about them and why they like the university/call center/talking with alumni/giving back to the university. I've been taking pictures of students all day today. They are the one's located at the bottom of the entry.

This weekend is Relay for Life and the Young Alumni Awards Banquet. After working the banquet, my internship is pretty much done, since I will have gotten all of my hours. I'll probably go in one or two days next week to finish up some loose ties.

Next week I'll be stressing out about finishing my self-assessment for senior presentations on Thursday night! We also have the Presidential Luncheon and the Call Center Banquet on Thursday. Then I want to have the campaign book for my Campaigns class done by Saturday so I can have it finished for presentations in two weeks.

I need to make sure I update the internship section of my digital portfolio before presentations so it's up-to-date.

I also bought my cap and gown and ordered my announcements today. I can't believe I'm graduating!

March 2011 has been a crazy, weird month.

But, it's Comm Week!

I had my mock interview yesterday, it went great! I worried for no reason! Of course she asked what I believed my weakness was, I hate that question!

I went to the call center where we had supervisor interviews since the GA, Laura Disantis, and I will be leaving and Amanda Sirak, another supervisor, is there for only the fall semester.

I went to my internship and to Green and White Society, where we presented big fake checks, like publishers clearing house, to the two winners. They were so excited, it's nice to know that you influenced someone's education so much and changed their lives.

I worked on my campaigns class proposals also with two members of my group and got them done.

Today, Lambda Pi Eta had a bake sale in spirit of Comm Week! It went really well, we sold all of our cookies! My Spanish

Tomorrow I have two more interviews for the supervisor positions, my internship and my campaigns night class.

Friday is the Comm Week Gala, so exciting! I'm going to go to bed since I have an 8 a.m. tomorrow morning! Good night!

On Thursday I went to take pictures and get a tour of the Storm Harbor Equestrian Center. They have so many great parts to their facility. I really wish I would have known more about it before I was a senior so I could have volunteered. They have a state-of-the-art ramp lift that actually raises wheelchairs to a platform. The wall behind the platform is actually a door that opens into the arena. The horse can pull up right to the platform, which is the exact height of the horses, and volunteers, who are trained, can lift the rider onto the horse.

The Storm Harbor Equestrian Center is named after Dr. Carolyn Rizza's horse named Storm Harbor. They are accredited by NARHA, North American Riding for the Handicapped Association. The facility has one classroom in which two equine classes are held. There are two windows in the classroom, so when riders are on the horses, their parents can watch through the classroom.

Next, I was taken to the Tack Room. They have many different european and western saddles that have all been donated, except the picture of the black saddle in my pictures below. A rider's family had a saddle custom made for him because he has quadriplegia. The Storm Harbor Equestrian Center is equipped with many different types of reins. They have rainbow reins, which incorporate yellow, red, blue and green colors. It's used for riders so they understand whether they should lengthen or shorten the reins. They also have handle reins, which are the big blue reins in the picture beside the saddles picture. When riders have poor motor skills, it helps for them to better grip the reins, control the horse and be more independent when riding the horses.

I then got to see all the horses. They have 12 horses, all of which have been donated. They said that it actually is very easy for them to get horses donated. Right now, they have a waiting list of donors who want to help by providing horses. They have four separate fields that stretch back to the edge of the trees. Lastly, they showed me the indoor arena where riders and the Equestrian Team ride and practice.

After leaving the SHEC, I took pictures of the Fairfield Inn Marriott being built in Slippery Rock. I also took pictures of the new Butler Health System building and the new entrance into campus, which is off of Route 108.

I went to my Campaigns class and got a rude awakening. I have to write four pitch letters, two campaign proposals, write my senior assessment and attend my mock interview all within the next three to four weeks.

I guess I should get to work!

This month has been the most ridiculous month of my life. Also, the first week back from sprinig break has never been so intense!

Wednesday: I had Spanish II, which I am actually really getting the hang of. I took up to Spanish III in high school, but never really did that well in it. At noon I went to meet with Professor Strahler to discuss my digital portfolio, which you are looking at! He gave me some suggestions on the organization of the material within my pages.

I had a meeting with my campaigns group at 1 p.m. in the library to discuss our presentation to Conneaut Lake Park's Board of Trustees on Thursday. We realized we didn't have a lot of information that we were supposed to have for our campaign, such as: timelines for our three events, timeline for The Beach Club overall and focus group summary. Another girl in our group forgot she had the proposal that Dr. Quinn made corrections on, so we needed to make those changes as well. We needed to put the campaign on the letterhead and add the research graphs to the proposal. Finally, we had to have 20 copies of our proposal for each member of the Board of Trustees. All of this had to be done before 4 p.m. Thursday, which is when we had to leave Slippery Rock for Conneaut Lake. How stressful!

I went to work at the call center and we got 1,200 Senior Class Gift packets together. I then worked on typing everything up for the Conneaut Lake Park campaign. After supervising the day and night shift, I went to the library at 9 p.m. to meet with my group to put everything together and make sure we had all parts of the proposal we needed. We ended up using a lot of that time and didn't leave the library until 11 p.m. We decided to have our campaign printed at printing services since our proposal was 30 pages long and we all would chip in to pay for it. Our group leader, Kayla Mulligan, was going to get that done at 8 a.m. the next morning.

Thursday: I woke up at 6:30 a.m. to get everything ready for my long day I was about to have. I had my Senior Seminar course from 8 - 9:15 a.m., work at Old Navy at 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and we had to leave for the Conneaut Lake Park presentation by 4:15 p.m. A long day to start out with. While I was in my Senior Seminar class, I get a text message from Kayla saying that printing services can't get our copies done that day. So everyone needed to find some way to print four copies each and bring them to our presentations. So, I'm freaking out and going crazy because I only have 20 minutes to figure out how I'm going to print out our proposal for free before I have to leave for work at Old Navy. So I drive up to Old Main and go to the Call Center to print out the proposal.

Usually, I am really calm and collected when a stressful situation arises, but I definitely wasn't when it came to this situation. I was trying to print out the proposal and two blue lines on our letterhead wouldn't print out. So by the time I fixed that problem and had it printing out, I had 25 minutes before I had to be at work at Old Navy. So I had Kayla stop by and pick it up for me before she left for Conneaut Lake Park. Problem solved!

So I went to work at Old Navy from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. I changed into different clothes at the end of my shift for the Conneaut Lake Park presentations. Lauren Hrvatin and Josh Smith picked me up from the outlets to journey together to Conneaut Lake.

We got there a couple minutes after 5 p.m. and watched all of the presentations, except the last one. Since our project is on the Beach Club, we thought it would be only appropriate to eat and have a drink at the Beach Club. But it was closed! That is why they can't make any money! Their website says they are opened Thursday-Sunday nights. Our group was really disappointed so we ended up just going into the restaurant area of Hotel Conneaut, where we gave our presentations. We all had a really fun time! It helped to bond our group by all of us hanging out outside of a school related setting.

I ended up not arriving back at my apartment until 10 p.m. I hadn't checked my e-mail all day because I didn't have time and had 17 e-mails.

Friday: I went to work in the morning and to class. I went to my internship and Dr. Quinn came for her site visit. At 6:15 p.m. I went to Miller Auditorium to work the Galway to Broadway event for Green and White Society.

I have been doing homework the entire weekend. The only things I need to do still are my adding details to my internship journals and Quia for my Spanish course. Hopefully I can at least get Quia done before I have to work the night session tonight. Oh, and I had to read three chapters for my Organization Communication course, but there is absolutely no way that I will even fashion the idea of getting that done.

If anyone read throught that, I congratulate you. It was basically a long entry of me complaining about my busy week.

Necesito la tarea de espanol, adios!

Surprisingly, I finished all of my homework that I had over spring break.

Today, I had one interview for Green and White Society. We are in the middle of our recruitment process, which is pretty rigorous for being a student organization.

During Phase I, students have to fill out an application and attach a response to two questions we ask, it cannot be longer than one page. Then the Recruitment Committee scores them and depending on how many applicants we have, we usually make a cut there. Phase II is student interviews, which is where we are now. We also make some cuts here as well. Our final phase, Phase III, is called a social critique. We invite all the students who have made it to the last round and divide them into groups. We have them interact with current GW ambassadors and then do team building exercises. This helps us get to know what type of leader and person they are through activities. We also have them go through scenarios, which are my specialty and favorite part of Phase III. As ambassadors, interacting with alumni who may be upset with the university is always something we have to be aware of. So that is one of our scenarios. Current ambassadors act out scenes and the students have to act as ambassadors. It's also a great way to see how they interact under pressure and how well they think on their toes.

After that, I went to the eye doctor, which is always a treat. I went to a place in Grove City, because it was going to be a hassel to go home. The guy did a glaucoma test, but instead of being a puff of air, he put drops in that numbed my eyes, more drops to dilate my eyes and then put this orange dye in my eyes. It felt so weird, and since I forgot my glasses and couldn't have my contacts in, I couldn't see anything. So then he had me put new contacts in which felt weird, but only because my eyes were numb and dilated. He said I could drive home, but I definitely shouldn't have driven. The sun was way too bright for my dilated pupils and I didn't bring any sunglasses.

I was almost late for my Lambda Pi Eta meeting, but fortunately I wasn't. We talked about Comm Week and promoting it to students are undecided. We set a date to decorate the Comm floor and when we wanted our bake sale to be during Comm week. Organizations were asked to set up little games for people to play the Thursday during Comm Week, so we think we are going to have darts with balloons and give out small prizes. I'm not sure what they could even be yet.

Now I'm getting ready to go to Organizational Communication. It's always an interesting class.

Tomorrow I have to work at Old Navy all day, but afterward I get to go to dinner with my friend, Katie!

Hopefully the weather starts looking up!