Search results matching tag 'Schwitzer'

Hogwarts: we kind of already go there

BUOlivia — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:09:00 GMT

You might have read Steph's blog called "Sorry Butler, I want to go to Hogwarts now." Well, Butler's campus isn't too far off the Hogwarts mark, and several places in particular remind me of Harry Potter's domain.

I mean, things besides the gorgeous vegetation. The trees are fairly bald at this point, but I have a load of beautiful fall Butler pictures that I took one day that I keep in reserve, so I'll keep posting them. Because I can.

The science library

Ha, I know I talk a lot about the science library. That's because it's a great place to study. Or to check out books like The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works or A Brain Wider Than the Sky.

But the science library reminds me of Hogwarts because it has a huge skylight on the second story in the middle of the room. The skylight is raised so you get a sense of space, and since you can see the sky, it reminds me of the Great Hall's ceiling, which reflects the weather outside.

Plus there are two long wooden tables with loads of wooden chairs under the skylight, which reminds me both of the Great Hall again and of some sort of castle library. Silly, I know. But there you have it.

The skywalk

When the weather gets chilly (it's actually been gorgeous, and I'm going outside as soon as I finish writing this), I like to cut through the buildings instead of walk out in the chill. Now, these cut-throughs are really, really out of the way. The important thing to understand is that I'm from Richmond, Virginia, and that "chill" refers to the lovely day last year when the wind chill made it feel like -25 degrees. Chilly.

But I digress.

Some of the academic buildings are connected via skywalk, and this for some reason reminds me Hogwarts. I don't know why. I don't remember Harry ever taking a stroll through one. Maybe it's because you get a pretty good view of the grounds from there. I'll just put up two pictures and let you decide.

Jordan Hall

Now, I know I'm not the only who thinks Jordan Hall looks like it should belong in Hogwarts. When my parents were moving me in, they said, "Olivia! You're at Hogwarts."

They were referring to a door. I don't have a picture of that door to Jordan, and one I do have is not as imposing, but you get the idea.

Sometimes the inside looks like Hogwarts, and sometimes it doesn't.

And now you know Butler University is actually a lot like Hogwarts. My roommate suggested that the Greek Houses were like the houses in Harry Potter (Hufflepuff and so on), and that the freshman dorms Ross and Schwitzer looked like they belonged in Harry Potter. They do. I just don't feel like writing anymore, so you can go decide that for yourself.

Hmm. Maybe I expand on this topic in a later post. Whaddya think?

My obsession with...MAIL.

BUTaylorM — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:56:00 GMT

SNAIL MAIL!

It's official. I am addicted. I find myself checking my mailbox every day in Schwitzer's lobby. So far I have gotten:

School books :(
Letters from Sororities
Cards from my Nana :) (I LOVE YOU!)
Birthday Cards
A Necklace

However, this has just spurred on my obsession. The one thing I am looking for in my tiny, little Schwitzer mailbox is the... yellow slip. The yellow slips will forever live in infamy. Why? Well, when you get a yellow slip, you have a package; said package is often far too large to fit into the little, tiny mailbox. When you a slip, you typically have a... CARE PACKAGE. Best gift ever. Especially when they are unexpected.

The moral to this tale is... send college students letters, packages, a hershey's kiss... anything. Some suggestions are:

FOOD-- especially things like homemade cookies!
Clothing-- winter clothes are pretty useful, right about now
A random inside joke gift--- like fruit rollups or a ringpop
A Handwritten letter-- colored OR
A colored picture
Photos-- there is always room for another photo

My friend Laura reminded me of the Holy Grail of all care packages, the HIP KIT! A hip kit is a care package without any of the handy work, already assembled, where you just purchase and send to your loved one going through the throngs of higher education. Hip Kits can be for any occasion, type of kid, or need. My personal favorite is the Freshmen Survival Kit.

What I am trying to get at is... Parents, send your kids stuff. They will come home more often, I swear... it works. Students, talk to your parents, coax them into sending lovely little gifts (perhaps even send them something in the mail). Share the love... via post.

<3 Dawgs,

Tay

Homecoming 2K9!!!!!

StephF — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:22:00 GMT

So I have decided to do my homecoming blog in three parts.....the first was about Yell Like Hell, this one is about the parade/game, and my next one will be about what I did before the game, and anything else that I left out. :) So on Friday afternoon, we started coming up with ideas and such about our float, and some genius thought that we should make a 20 ft tall robot. Naturally, we loved that idea. Our theme was techno, so we just carried on the theme of intensity and raving and such from our lawn decs to the float....plus the robot of course. We used boxes that we painted silver to make him.....and then he was suspended on the trailer with strings and such. Basically, he was awesome! At first, I didn't think that he would last for 10 minutes once we got in line, but he stayed standing up for more than 3/4 of the parade....so I am pretty proud of him. haha.....so mad props to the boys of delt and the schwitz and phi girls who helped put together this fabulous robot.....it looked great! Here is a photo of our trailer....with the robot of course...

Now during the parade, the best part wasn't just the awesome robot. I was walking/cheering/dancing alongside the float......which was SO much fun!!! I loved it because we were just loving life and having the best time ever.....which was really exhausting! I have only worked out once since I've been at Butler.....and I could totally tell that I'm out of shape as I ran/danced alongside the float. But, I had tons of fun nonetheless, which is what is important. We kept doing cheers, and doing a little dance from Yell Like Hell, and singing, and handing out glow sticks, and just being awesome. :) So here is a photo of all the girls from Phi and Schwitz who were in the parade...

After the parade, it was finally time to go to the game!!! We all went and sat on the hill at the Butler Bowl, and basically just continued to love life. :) I couldn't stay for the entire game because I was going to go babysit for my cousin's kids, but I still was there for a pretty long time, and I basically had my fill of football for the year. (I'm not the biggest sports fan....) I had to leave before they announced all the winners of everything, but I was there for long enough to watch the game for a little bit and to show off my Butler spirit!!!! Here is a photo of the Butler Bowl before the game.....it was basically a happenin place..... :)

Yell Like Hell...aka...my favorite part about homecoming... :)

StephF — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:59:00 GMT

So last week was homecoming.....which was absolutely fabulous! :) There was some sort of event every night, and my favorite night was Thursday, when we had Yell Like Hell, the campus-wide cheerleading competition. During homecoming all of the residence halls were paired with sororities and fraternities, and Alpha Phi was paired with both Schwitzer and Delta Tau Delta. This was basically an awesome pairing, especially since so many people from Schwitz, Delt, and Phi all wanted to help out! We had tons of people to do Yell Like Hell, which just made it so much more fun!!! We would practice every night altogether, which was the perfect way to get to know girls from Schwitzer and guys from Delt, and even Alpha Phis!!!! Since it was a cheerleading routine...we did a lot of builds....and I was a flyer, which was terrifying at first because I haven't done that since I was a freshman in high school, but I had a great build group of Delts who never ever dropped me! And all of our music was pretty awesome since it was techno.... (that was our pairing's theme for all the events and such...) So I absolutely loved it!!! Here is a video.....my build group is always the one on the far right....so look out for us!!! And enjoy how awesome it all is... :)

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Another one of my favorite parts of homecoming is lawn decs....which I didn't get to help with as much as I would have liked because I had a test the day that they had to be done, but it was still really cool to help a little bit and just see how they made it all happen! Since our theme was techno, our lawn decs included a HUGE dog house that had a rave going on inside.....complete with techno music and a strobe light, a DJ booth with Blue as the DJ, and tons of really big boards with outlines of people dancing on them....like on the iPod commercials and all! Now I wish I would have taken a picture, but by the time I had a second to spare, they had started to take apart the lawn decs to make our float for the parade. Thats the sad thing, we take so long to put it all together, and then we have to take it down a day later. But the best part is definitely having everyone come together to make it happen. I love it!!! In my next blog I will talk more about homecoming....but this time, the actual day of homecoming instead of what led up to it!! So check back soon for that!

Tuesdays...

BUTaylorM — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:33:00 GMT

are the worst day of the week. It is that simple. However, let me explain in further detail why Tuesdays stink...

7:00-8:50 AM: Wake up to shower and do homework that I couldn't get to the night before. Carefully tip-toe around my room so I don't wake my roommate. Leave to find it pouring rain and run back to my room to grab an umbrella. :( But, seriously, what is with this rainy weather? Fall, I thought you were all about changing leaves and football games... not rainy days and cloudy skies.

9:30-11:00 AM: Leave to go to Traders Point Creamery. It was really neat (pictures soon) but it was freezing and raining and stinky. :(

11:30-12:50 PM: Grab some mac and cheese and finish an essay due. the homework goes away.

1-2:15 PM: Economics class. The one thing I have learned... I do not care about economics.

2:20 PM: BATHROOM BREAK.

3-4:15 PM: Sociology... chock full of debates and outrageous theories.

4:20-4:50 PM: Run back to Schwitzer and grab my wallet. Buy 2 awesome fleece pullovers from the bookstore for $40. You CAN'T beat that. Quickly print off papers in A-town and thank god that Jordan is nearby.

5:00-6:15 PM: FYS. We turn in our essays and watch a very strange movie. Grey Gardens, ever heard of it? Yeah, neither had I.

6:20-6:30 PM: Go through the madness that is C-Club but... it is worth it. A chicken, cheese, and black bean quesadilla makes the madness worthwhile.

So, today was crazy. However, looking back on it, a lot of good came out of it. Such as:

1) I played Chubby Bunny (stuffing your mouth with as many marshmallows as you can). Roommate: 50 small marshmallows. Jeff: 54 small marshmallows. Me: 60 small marshmallows. I pride myself in my big mouth ;).

2) I sang Party in the U.S.A. with Bethany, Bethany, and Laura.

3) I got 2 awesome fleece pullovers.

I guess... the little moments really do make our lives, huh?

What does every girl need at college? A toolbox of course!

StephF — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 02:29:00 GMT

So I am dedicating this blog to my Dad, because his birthday was yesterday....HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! :) So when my sister and I both went off to college, the one thing that my Dad made sure that we had was a toolbox. He decided that it would come in handy throughout our college years, because you never know when you might need a wrench or a hammer, or any of the numerous other tools that he equipped them with. Last year as I was making sure that I had all of the towels, storage bins, appliances, and everything else for my dorm room, my dad was busy putting together my toolbox. Now I'll admit, last year in Schwitzer I barely used the thing. I couldn't use my hammer to put nails in the walls, and nobody else really ever needed anything either. The only time that I remember using it last year was to try to fix a pair of shoes during recruitment. I was standing outside of Delta Gamma waiting to go in, when my heel snapped off. So I had to run in and change my shoes, and later that night I tried to fix them. (Needless to say, that didn't work out....so I ended up trying to snap off the other heel, also with the help of the toolbox...what a great way to get rid of any stress after a long day of visiting houses and making life-changing decisions! haha.) So anyway, in my first month of living in Alpha Phi (yes...we have been at school already for a month...ah!!!) I have used my toolbox more than ever. First of all, my Dad used it to put together a shelf for my desk when I moved in, and then I have used it to put up some nails and thumbtacks to hang things on the walls. Then a few weeks ago, when we had Bounce for Beats, we bought a new trampoline, and they needed some tools to put it together....so who came to the rescue??? Me and my toolbox! Now I didn't help put it together, but I left my tools out there for them to use...so thats one more time that they have been used! And since then, everyone in the house now knows that I have a pretty awesome toolbox....so they all come to me when they need to put something together or fix something. Basically, my toolbox rocks now. :) I really enjoy trying to be handy and tough.....since you know, I own a hammer and some other things that I don't know how to use.

Here I am with my massive handy-dandy toolbox... :)

So girls, if your Dad wants to send you off to college with a toolbox and you think you will never use it....think again. Who knows? It could help put together a trampoline, help someone rotate the wheels on their rollerblades (yeah....it's happened...haha), or it could even provide a night of fun in the hallway of your dorm trying to break a pair of boots that you can't wear anymore. Thank you, Dad, for making all of those things possible. Hahaha....thank you.

Livin' the Dream....or Trying to at Least!

StephF — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:59:00 GMT

One of the things that I am most excited about for this year is living in my sorority house. Last year I went through rush, and at the end I received a bid from Alpha Phi!! :) So now that I am a sophomore, I get to live in the house!!!! :) I was so excited to be done with Schwitzer, because even though I loved my time there, it just got a little bit old after awhile, and I was ready for some air conditioning. (If you want to know more about living in Schwitzer or any of our other residence halls, check out this site about life at Butler, or any of these blogs about Schwitzer!) So ever since I pledged I have been psyched about living in this year and getting to know all of my sisters even more. Then on move-in day, we come back to Butler to find both our room infested with bees, and the kitchen completely torn apart! Now not every room had bees in it.....it was just mine, of course. Our house mom had been here all summer, and she knew that there were a few bees up here, but she thought they were completely gone. Turns out, there was a hive on our roof right by our window. So the Orkin man came over on a Sunday afternoon and took care of everything, so now...crisis averted. But then there is still the case of the unfinished kitchen. I didn't even know that we were getting a new kitchen until we got a letter this summer, and then we figured that it would be done by the time we got here. But of course, the company we ordered equipment from sent our stuff to another "more important" client, and we are just now getting it in. And then of course like any project that someone does on their house, everything is taking longer than we all expected, so they are still working on it....so we have the priviledge of eating in Atherton and Resco. I will admit, I kind of like eating in Atherton and Resco, because I get to see my friends who didn't rush all the time! But at the same time, I don't have the luxury of running downstairs and grabbing food really fast when I'm in a hurry. So that kind of stinks. Either way, our kitchen should be done REALLY soon....because they are painting things now, and there is less equipment in the dining room, so I'm taking that as a good sign. :) And the best part is, once we get our kitchen finished, we are going to love that kitchen more than anything!

Since we have been here for a few weeks now, our room is pretty much altogether now! I am rooming with two of my best friends from last year, Em and Nicole....and I think that our room is pretty great. :) We figured out how to put together a futon all by ourselves....which I think speaks volumes about our amazing abilities. :) So the other day before I went home for Labor Day, everything was neat and in its place, so I took some pictures!

This is my fabulous desk area....

This is where we sleep....

And this is the futon that I am oh-so proud of!!

Move-In Day is SO Close!

StephF — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:22:00 GMT

So, in about a week and a half I'll be back at Butler. I can't believe how this summer has flown by, although at the same time, I feel like it has been forever since I moved out. It is one of those crazy feelings that you don't know exactly what to think about it. Ever since I got home from Florida, I have been making tons and tons of lists of what I need to do before I go back to school, and what I need to take to school.....and everything else possible. (I am a big fan of lists.) And on top of all of that, my sister and I have been cleaning out everything at our house, all to have a yard sale tomorrow. So the garage is all decked out in tables that have our stuff all laid out on them, ready for people to come and purchase.....which I really really hope they do!!! Other than pricing the clothing that doesn't fit me anymore, my week has been spent hanging out with my friends here at home, my family, and my boyfriend. I want to spend as much quality time with all of them before I go back to school as possible....and I think I am doing pretty well. :) Today we even went to our city park to go play on the splash park, which is usually completely full with little kids, but since school just started, there were only two little kids there, which was good because it was kinda awkward that we were playing in water toys that are meant for little kids. haha. But, we all agreed that it was one of the highlights of our summers, because it was just so much fun! :) I will probably go every day next week until I have to leave.

So to all of you incoming freshmen who are getting all excited to move into your new dorms....prepare yourselves for the fun that awaits you at Butler (or wherever)!! There are different things about moving in that I thought I would give you tips on.....since it is a pretty intense day, and you want to start out your college career the right way....right? :) Ok, so I love Butler with all of my heart.....but, in the middle of August, Schwitzer and Ross are pretty unbearable places. I'm not gonna lie. When you are getting ready to go to school and you see "No A/C", you think that you're tough and you can handle it.....yeah....not exactly. It is pretty unbearable sometimes. But, it is a bonding experience....so enjoy and embrace it. :) Now here are my tips.....#1: Bring cold drinks with you. On our way to Butler, I was trying to get my family to hurry, because I just couldn't stand not being at Butler for another second....I couldn't wait for anything. So we hurried, and we didn't stop to get cold drinks. Bad idea. By the time we were moving everything upstairs, it got pretty hot and all we wanted were cold drinks, which we didn't have because there weren't any in the fridge yet. So, stop by McDonalds or wherever and get yourself an iced tea or whatever floats your boat. You will be glad that you did. #2: Fans are your friend. If you are the second person to move in the room, you're set. If you are the first....then be ready to open those windows and get the fans going......I highly recommend a couple box fans and maybe an oscillating tower fan to stick in a corner. I thought that one box fan and my tower fan would be fine for both my roommate and I.....but we really appreciated that second box fan for the first month or so. :) #3: If there are people outside helping people move in.....use them! When I moved in, there were a bunch of Phi Psi boys standing in Schwitzer parking lot, and by the time I got upstairs to get my key to my room, they had helped my dad unload one of our cars, and then they helped us get all of my stuff upstairs in 2 trips. It was wonderful!! My dad was forever grateful to them.....it made the whole day much less stressful to us. That is basically it for the tips I have for you all for move-in day......except to enjoy every minute of it....and to meet as many people as you can! Although by Tuesday of Welcome Week you will be ready to never meet someone new ever again. But it isn't every day that you move away from home and start college is it? So love every minute. :)

The End of the Fair and the Beginning of a REAL Vacation :)

StephF — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:18:00 GMT

In my last two blogs I have talked about my county's 4-H fair and what all I have been up to as Miss Pike County. To wrap it all up, I made a video of some of my favorite parts....so check it out.. :)

(Please visit the site to view this media)

One of the best parts of the fair in my mind is the 4-H Livestock Auction, where each showman has the opportunity to "sell" 2 of their animals. Not every county has an auction that is as successful as ours is, as the businesses in our area really show their support of the program and the kids. We cannot thank them enough for what they have done to help all of the kids in our county, and the others in our area. It is always encouraging to the kids when they see all of the people who come out to watch the shows or to support 4-H at the Auction, which is great because it makes them want to continue with the 4-H program! I loved my years in 4-H, and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to kind of be a part of 4-H as Miss Pike County this year. I was definitely not ready to let go of all the good times I had in 4-H, it would be fine with me if it never ended! :)

I am currently getting ready to go on vacation with my boyfriend's family, and I am SOOO excited! I haven't been on a real vacation in years....because every year my family's "vacations" would be to Disney World for dance competitions and to the State Fair to show cattle. The last time I was on a beach I was in the 4th grade, so I am pumped! I'm all packed and we are heading out in the morning...we're driving, which is the best part. Even though it is long and sometimes uncomfortable, the memories you make in a packed car when you are with the same people all day long are sometimes the best! :)

Here's a little shoutout to any incoming Freshmen who recently found out that they are living in Schwitzer, and unit 3NE, and even more specifically.....room 380. :) 3NE is the best unit ever basically, and you MUST, I repeat, MUST make it as fun as we did last year. :) And to the ladies in 380, its a wonderful room. Enjoy it. We tried to leave it just as awesome as it was when we first got there.

My Schwitzer Dorm Room: Before and After....

StephF — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:24:00 GMT

So some of you will be official college students in about a month and a half....and I bet that you are getting really excited! (or at least you should be...) You might already know what your dorm room will look like, but a completely empty room is very different from one with tons of stuff in it! Before I moved in to Schwitzer last year, I took pictures of my empty room....so I am going to show you all the before and after of a Schwitzer dorm room....and some little hints/more info possibly!

Here is one side of the room.....and the other side looks basically the same....

This is one of the closets....they're rather large for a dorm....and you can fit the dresser inside, or put it outside...

Everything you see in those pictures will be in each room for each person in the room (ex: each person gets a dresser, desk, etc.). And each room in Schwitzer is basically set up the same....there are windows on the opposite wall from the door (unless you have a corner room, then you have two windows), and the closets are on the same side as the door. The only thing that differs from room to room is what order your closets and door are in. For instance, in my room, the closets were side by side on the left, and the door was on the right, but other rooms have the door in the middle of the closets, or maybe on the left with the closets on the right. I hope that I haven't confused you all too much...haha... :)

So that was the before...and I guess that I never took pictures of the after of my room....but I do have a video that I posted on one of my blogs wayy back then....but here it is again so you can see what a Schwitz dorm room looks like when there is stuff in it...haha.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

I hope this helps some of you out as you are buying things for your room and such....but if you have any other questions, then feel free to ask us on the forums, comment on our blogs, or just contact us! You all either already know who you are rooming with, or you will find out very soon....so I hope that you all love your future roommates and that you are really excited for college! :)