Studying Hard or Hardly Studying?

Well, it's finals week here and I have been studying so hard the last few days! I actually only slept for 2 hours between Sunday and Monday... you know, just a little catnap on my couch in between finishing a research presentation and cramming for my gender psych exam! But, Monday went well and now I only have one final and a paper left.

Before you get totally intimidated by the Butler workload, I must admit that I really wouldn't have had to stay up all night on Sunday if I hadn't had such a good weekend.

I spent the weekend enjoying Christmas in Chicago with some of the BU Student Foundation (BUSF) exec members. It was me, Forrest (our President), Jacqui (our Director of Operations) and Laura (former BUSF VP, and current student government president).  Our advisor Nikki is the Director of the Office of Alumni and Parent Programs, and she was presenting at a conference about student engagement in university advancement (lots of jargon, I know).  Basically, this meant that she brought us along to talk with other university professionals about how we interact with alumni and why we like it! It was lots of fun because we were probably the youngest people at the conference and so all the adults were so excited to have students in the room to liven things up.  We were a big hit : )

 It's a good thing the presentation was a success so that we could justify "Uncle Butler" paying for us to go to Chicago! (and stay at the Sheraton downtown... business trips = sweet deal.)

 As thanks for helping out with the conference, Nikki also gave us some explore time to explore the city, and we packed in as much as we possibly could.  I'm actually from the Chicago area, but after getting recommendations from some of my friends who live in the city, even I discovered some really cool new places.

Some of our thrilling adventures:

• taking the Megabus! It's like the Greyhound, but way nicer and cheaper... tickets are as low as $1.  Basically a college student's best friend.
• Michigan Avenue for shopping and food.  We tried this place next to Water Tower Place called Flat Sammies that I highly recommend!
• window shopping at American Girl Place, Ralph Lauren and Macy's (It was Jacqui's childhood dream to see AG Place, but Forrest wasn't too happy about being dragged into a doll store...)
• taking pictures in front of approximately every Christmas tree in Chicago (we got pics at our hotel, the Hancock Tower, the Sears Tower, and the massive tree at the German Christmas market near Macy's)
• becoming masters of the CTA (I heart cheap public transportation).
• Dinner at Pegasus in Greektown (great Greek food but the band played Frank Sinatra covers! haha)
• Checking out this ridiculous avant-garde theatre production called Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.  If you are in Chicago, GO! It's this crazy show where they do 30 "plays" in 60 minutes and it's absolutely hilarious.  Just how out of control it is: The price is $7 plus whatever you roll on a dice when you get there (I rolled a 1...score!) and they make up a new name for you when you go in.  Jacqui was Dip It Low! hahahaa.  It's now offically her new nickname.
• Breakfast at Lou Mitchell's... it's basically a Chicago legend.  You must go there, but be prepared to be stuffed!
• running through the neighborhoods of Chicago and taking the L at 1 am when we were absolutely slap happy

Here's our "BUSF family photo" in our signature rugbies:

This pretty much sums up the trip: Laura and Forrest being crazy and me trying to figure out where we were going!

The President & Vice President hard at work on the bus ride...

Of course, just because we were having a blast in Chi-town doesn't mean we'd forget about our Butler Bulldogs...

 no, we were determined to watch that Wright State game! We ended up hanging out in this Irish pub, drinking hot chocolate, and watching the game on our laptops because they had free wireless internet.  Let's just say that everyone in the pub started looking at us funny when we started screaming at our computers in the last five minutes of the game.  We were kind of sad after the ONE POINT loss, but it's okay... Pete Campbell will return soon!

Overall, we had a great time in the city and representing Butler at the conference... but it did put a little dent in our studying time. (We tired to study on the bus, but the picture shows how well that worked! ha) Oh well... what would college be without caffeine and procrastination??

Speaking of which, there's a Jane Austen take-home essay calling my name...

wish me luck!