Search results matching tag 'college'

Thanks Vets!

butlerblue2 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:22:00 GMT

First of all, I already know, I've become terrible at this blog thing. You don't have to tell me. My only excuse is, Butler is becoming so successful at everything which makes me in higher demand and thus, I just don't have as much time to sit down and write. (That's sort of true.)

But lets be honest, if you're not following me on Twitter, then you're lost anyway, so do yourself a favor and make sure you're checking my "tweets" on a daily basis: www.twitter/com/butlerblue2.

So today, Nov. 11, 2009 is Veteran's Day. After reading the title of this blog you probably thought I was thanking my veterinarians and while they are great people (Thanks Drs. Phillips, Galore and Rowley), today I'm aiming my sincere appreciation to those military veterans who serve and have served our great nation.

A friend of mine sent me a link to a blog called Mental Floss which hosted several videos of soldiers coming home to their "best friends" after their tour of duty. It was moving and something I couldn't help but share with my readership.

Here it is: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40324

So on behalf of the entire dog population, let me just say that we too appreciate our veterans' efforts to keep us safe and to serve the land in which we live.

Coincidentally enough, earlier this week I had the opportunity to meet some of Butler University's cadets from the ROTC program. We met up for a photoshoot in preparation for my 2010 Calendar (on sale in the bookstore soon) as I wanted to feature them for the ever-patriotic month of July spread.

We had a good time and I applaud them for their work to not just earn a great education, but to support their country at the same time. It's my honor to feature them in my calendar.

Well, that's about all I have time for at the moment. I've got to get back to my busy schedule of athletic events, guest appearances, and whatever other requests come my way. Make sure you follow along via my Twitter updates!

Otherwise, I hope to see many of you on Saturday as our men's basketball team starts their regular season by hosting Davidson at Hinkle Fieldhouse at 2 p.m.

Go Dawgs, Go USA!

Blue II

What I miss most

BUTaylorM — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:40:00 GMT

College is great. You'll hear that from everyone, even me, but I would be lying if I said there weren't things I missed about high school and life before college. What I miss most is:

-Books. Not school books but novels and stories. Sure, I read them for class and such but I rarely find the time to sneak in a good novel in between working and school and such. It's really heartbreaking, especially for me- the english major. I long for a hot cup of tea, a warm bed, a good novel, and time to enjoy the three. I long for breaks and weekends where I can find that lovely moment.

-Pets: I miss my cats and my dog, more than I realized I would. Pets are always so happy to have you around. That is one of the greatest feelings, hands down.

-Fireplaces: I know this is going to sound strange but, at my house, during the fall we always have a fire going. I miss the smell of crackling wood and homemade bread. I miss the smell of home, the familiarity of what fall used to be.

-Baking/Cooking: My mother will say I am a terrible cook but... I try. I really miss making my own sandwiches, salads, veggies, and cupcakes (which I am notorious for). There is something I find so gratifying in making my own food... it makes it that much tastier! Sure, there are ways to cook here on campus but... it's not the same. Here it is for sustenance rather than enjoyment.

Most of all, I miss my friends. I have the greatest friends and being away from them makes me realize that even more. The hardest part is trying to keep up with what is going on in their lives. It's hard to stay connected when my friends and I are on such very different paths. My closest friends are still in high school, enjoying the fun and everlasting senior moments. Some times, I think I am supposed to be in high school with all of them (I did skip a grade so... technically, I should be). Luckily, I live close enough that I can drive home and go to our Starbucks, our place and get a great big hug from Ashley, a good story from Katie, and a smile from Kevin.

When I first came to college, I sort of had this mentality that I needed to make new friends. Sure, you do and you should if you want to have fun in college and make it worthwhile but... whoever said you had to get rid of the old ones? Maybe they are some of the best friends you'll find. Who ever said those people, the people who shape you, need replacing?

When Hunger Strikes: HCSA

BUSeitu — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:37:00 GMT

The undeniable truth is that most kids in uni are members of the HCSA or Hungry College Students of America lol. When hunger strikes action must be taken, what will fill the hole in your stomach? Will it be (a) cafeteria food, (b) Star-bucks or (c) C-club? My answer is (d) none of the above . However to each his own so I guess any of the options previously mentioned can work. For me, I no longer have a meal plan so I'm usually left with no other option but to cook or buy out. Seeing that engineering is so time demanding, like most other college majors I often don't find the time to prepare my meals meaning that the only real choice left would be eating out. If your a Butler student a visit to B-rip is inevitable. Here are a list of food joints that have been approved for consumption by the HCSA.

Q-doba: breakfast burito

Buffalo Wild Wings: Tuesday's 60c wings

Yats: Chile cheese etoufee with crawfish (on college close to B-rip)

Jimmy Johns: For late night delivery after inebriation

Noodles and Company: Too many choices

Marco's: Butler dog pound special

And of course the list goes on. The down side is that without a car a trip to ripple is sorta, kinda painful but procuring food is absolutely necessary and an integral part of the college experience. Where will you go?

Dean of Admission at Butler, Scott Ham, Shares Application Tips

BUGuestBlogger — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:28:00 GMT

As I begin my fourth week on the road traveling to high schools and college fairs, I am reminded of what an insanely busy time of year this is for everyone, especially high school seniors applying to colleges and universities. In addition to trying to find the right school for you, you’ve got homework, tests, practices, rehearsals, Homecoming…the list goes on and on. In order to best enjoy everything that happens during your senior year, you really should focus on getting your applications for admission completed as soon as possible. At Butler, our Early Action 1 deadline is November 15th. I encourage you to get your application in sooner rather than later. We accept both our Butler University application and the Common Application. I encourage you to apply online…not only is it easier, it will also save you the $35 application fee. Getting your application done early will not only allow you to enjoy more of your senior year, but it will give you maximum consideration for all of our merit-based scholarships. Basically, it will make your life so much easier in the end.

The most important part of our application review is your academic preparation and performance. We look at the number of academic courses (English, math, social science, science, and foreign language) you’ve taken through four years of high school, the level of those academic courses (AP, IB, honors, accelerated, etc.) and the grades you receive in these courses. Your senior year schedule is important because it’s your last preparatory year before college, so it’s critical to prepare yourself with the best schedule possible. It’s also crucial that you keep the senior year schedule you submit in your application for the full year. The best advice I can give is to use your senior year to prepare for your next four years at the college or university of your choice.

One of the key components of your application is the writing sample. At Butler, you can submit either an original essay based on one of the question prompts on the application, or submit a graded paper you’ve completed for a class (with your teacher’s comments and grade). In either case, you’ll want to submit a paper that allows us to hear from you in your own words. In fact, the writing sample you submit is the only time we get to hear from you in your own words during the application review. Make sure you are answering the “why” part of the question (why this specific story is important to you), not just telling a story about “what” happened. Don't forget to proof your writing sample carefully. Make sure that if you are submitting the same writing sample to more than one institution that you change the name of the first institution to the name of the next. And finally, remember that spell check only finds words that are truly misspelled, not misused…typing “candy stripper” as one of your volunteering accomplishments instead of “candy striper” puts a whole new spin on what you are trying to convey.

Your activities resume is important as well. It allows us to see how you balance what you do in the classroom with what you do in your free time. We are looking to see what’s important to you and what you might bring to the Butler campus. Your activities resume can show us your leadership, your passion, your experience, or all of these. We don’t need to know every single thing you’ve done since you were 4 years old, but if you have been doing something for a long time (playing soccer since you could walk, playing piano since second grade, writing for a community blog or publication since seventh grade, etc.), let us know that. The bottom line is…you’re going to be taking a great deal away from Butler University. We want to make sure you’re adding something to the community along the way.

While test scores (ACT or SAT) are only one piece of a much larger admission review, it is important that you have taken either the ACT with writing or the SAT (which includes writing automatically). We do not have a preference for either ACT with writing or SAT, but your application will not be complete until you have submitted an ACT or SAT score. If you have taken either test more than once, we will take the highest individual subscores on each section of the test and create a new composite/combined score. While test scores are a required part of the application process, they are typically neither the sole reason to admit or deny a student’s application for admission.

I'm so glad that I go to Butler...and a new addition to my farm!!

StephF — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:13:00 GMT

This past weekend was Labor Day weekend, so I went home to enjoy my extra day off from school. I was really excited to get to go home and to get to see my family, even though it seems like school just started! Looking back on all of my trips home in the past year, I now realize that most of the things I enjoy while I am home involve food in some way, shape, or form. For instance, I really enjoyed my first night home because I went to one of my favorite restaurants with my parents, and I had a great last day at home because I got to pick the menu for lunch on Labor Day. (I chose hamburgers, cheesy potatoes, and baked beans...its an odd combo, but I love it!) And during the rest of the weekend I got to have my Dad's special Sunday lunch (he makes a roast or steak of some sort every Sunday.....basically, my mom, sister, and I are spoiled!) and I got to go to a new little diner in my hometown, which was delicious as well! So I definitely ate well this weekend, and I am kind of missing it now!

Something else that I love doing when I'm at home is visit my friends and family. Yeah you are probably thinking that everyone likes to do that.....but I really do! I basically jam-packed my weekend with visits to my Grandparents, my friends at other schools that are close to home, and visiting my boyfriend and his family. It was kind of a strange feeling when I went to visit a few of my friends at a school that will remain unnamed, because it was my 2nd choice school during my senior year, and I believe that exactly 2 years ago (during my senior year) was the night that I decided it just wasn't for me. (Before that, it was my #1 choice and Butler was #2.) So it felt kind of strange to me to be walking through the same part of campus that I did when I was a senior and I just knew that I didn't want to go to school there when I was down for a visit with my sister and some friends from high school. So you might be wondering if I felt like I made the right choice or not...and I totally do! As I was walking through campus I just kept thinking, "This is nice, but I'm SO glad that I go to Butler instead." haha....so if you are a senior or a junior, I hope that you have a feeling like that someday!

One of the most exciting parts of my weekend besides the food and the visiting was definitely meeting one of our newborn calves. I live on a farm, and we raise cattle. I showed cattle for 10 years in 4-H, and one of my last show heifers (Jan) finally had her calf. :) Whenever one of my show heifers has a calf, I usually name it too, since its Mom has a name and all...so he is a little bull, so I named him Hunter. Why Hunter? you might ask...well I chose Hunter because I named his Mom, Jan, after Jan on The Office, and when she used to work for Dunder Mifflin, her assistant was named Hunter. Yes, I am obsessed with The Office, and I cannot wait until September 17 when the new season starts!!! :) Then my Thursday nights will be complete once more! If you missed the last few episodes, or you would like to possibly review (as I will be doing for the next week) then check out their website, and be sure to thoroughly look at everything on there, they have some hidden gems on their site that are hilarious. :) (ex: a link to Princess Unicorn's website) So back to the cows....here is a photo of Jan and Hunter...

Here is Hunter peeking through the fence at me...

And here he is again...I think he looks angry in this picture...haha.

The Off-campus Life

ChristinaL — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:13:00 GMT

Well, August is here and that means I have less than a month left in my off-campus house before I pack up and head back to Pi Phi for the school year!

After a very very busy week at work for IndyFringe, I had quite a relaxing weekend, enjoying my house and some of my friends' places off-campus. August 1st meant moving weekend for lots of friends and it is fun to watch everyone settle into their new homes and have house warming parties. I really enjoying having my own off-campus house, because as much as I love living on-campus, I don't have much control over those places.

Here, for example, I can host my friends when I want to. One of my best friends Betsy is in town for a wedding this weekend, and it was so great to be able to say "Yes, you can stay at our house!" and have a place for her to sleep other than the floor.

I also like being able to cook sometimes! Today, Betsy and my housemate Meg and I all took advantage of having a kitchen and made dinner together. We are all big fans of Yats, the popular and cheap Cajun restaurant in the neighborhood, so we decided to try out making soul food on our own! We cooked jambalaya and spicy pasta and even had the big slices of buttery bread like they do at Yats! mmmmmm. Cooking a complete meal is always such a gratifying experience for a college student, and being able to share it with friends makes things even better. It's moments like these that I love being off-campus and having my own house.

I also appreciate the imperfection of off-campus life. Living in my sorority house really is being spoiled, because it is a huge, gorgeous house with beautiful furniture, and the first floor is always clean and tidy. Our lawn is always mowed and the landscaping is great.

My off-campus house, on the other hand, is off of an alley. Since alleys are tiny with no curbs, cars are parked in all sorts of assorted positions. There are trash cans and debris behind many of the houses. The road is bumpy with big potholes. Students enjoying the summer leave lawn chairs out in the yards and on their porches. The grass grows long and landscaping? What's that? The Knoll is certainly not as pretty or clean to live in as Sorority Row, but it is so obviously lived in by a bunch of college kids that haven't quite figured out being grown-ups yet... and that always makes me smile and think, hmm. Maybe I'm not a totally boring grown-up yet.

A Question for You

LizM — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:35:00 GMT

Okay so I'm not supposed to blog but I just have a quick question for all you incoming babies and high schoolers considering colleges:

What are you looking for in a college?

What do you want your favorite experience of college to be?

What is your greatest fear about college or just life in general? greatest dream?

I love the 4th of July!!

StephF — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:57:00 GMT

So I totally can't believe that this week is already over! It has basically flown by. When I got home from HGS, I had just over two weeks before Miss Pike County, the pageant I am going to be in. So this week I have been getting my outfits all together, making signs, keeping up on the news, and figuring out everything else! Before Girls State I was in this rut where I was never productive whatsoever, but since every day last week I was up around 6:30 and doing things every day...now I feel like sleeping in till 9 is crazy, and I am just in this mood to get lots of things done! It has been a pretty successful week for me! :)

The beginning of school is getting close....it's only a month and a half away, which is so hard for me to believe! So if you are an incoming freshman....I sure hope that you are getting excited....because college is wonderful! And if you still in high school....enjoy your time there, but remember to look forward to college too!!!! :) But back to the incoming freshmen, as you are getting excited to get to college and as you get all of your stuff together.....also prep yourselves for the massive amounts of icebreakers that you will have to do when you get to school. That is the one thing that I remember being tired of after my welcome week, doing ice breakers. By the time classes start, there is no longer any ice to break....and you will be soo glad.

So I am getting rather excited for the 4th of July. :) It is basically the best holiday ever, besides Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving....I just love holidays basically! But I love the 4th so much because a nearby town has a huge festival for the 4th every year....so I go there and have the best homemade ice cream and fair food and I get to see all of my friends....and my Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Stu always have a 4th of July get-together...and I love going there too! So basically it is lots of amazing food and company....all at the same time! They even have tractor pulls and a demo derby at the festival.....which are so "Southern Indiana" but still tons of fun. So the next few days for me will be spent celebrating the 4th of July.... :)

Farewell sweet BU

LizM — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:41:00 GMT

This will be my last blog post of the year! Wow. Time flies. I can't believe that this year is actually coming to a close. I am having such a hard time staying focused to study for exams...I just want to play with my friends before we all have to leave to go home! I had two finals yesterday, journalism and biology. Both went pretty smoothly except my biology one was given in a different room than we are usually in. The room felt like a sauna. It was so hot I thought I was going to have a heatstroke. Also it was right after I ate lunch so I was really sleepy. But it wasn't that awful, I survived.

We also had room picks on Tuesday night for Theta. I am rooming with one of my good friends and another girl who I absolutely LOVE and will hopefully get to know better. We were able to get one of our favorite rooms in the house so that was definitely exciting. I also was able to sign up for a bottom bunk in the cold dorm which is awesome. The way our house is set up, we have desks, dressers, and closets in our rooms but we all sleep in a big room on the third floor. It's kind of like summer camp. There is a big room full of bunk beds and that's where all of us sleep. Its called the cold dorm because it is always cool (with the windows open) and dark, so even if you want to take a nap in the middle of the day you can go up there and find some peace and quiet. I'm really looking forward to moving into the house and getting to know the other girls on a deeper leve.

Today I had the day off which was nice. I had one of my big bros over for lunch at the Theta house because he is leaving to go home tomorrow. I'm not going home until next Tuesday so I have a few more days left to savor. I have a mass communications exam tomorrow and then I have my music final on Saturday morning. My roommate isn't leaving until Tuesday either because she has a final on Monday so I just decided to stick around and hang with her for a day or two more. I have SO much stuff to pack up so I will need the time. Also our RA just informed us that our room will be used as a tour room for students during the summer...wonderful. That means we actually have to clean. We are two of the messiest people in existence and never clean our room, so this should be interesting. I'm just not ready to leave yet. I'm scared of being a sophomore and growing up. Last weekend when I went home I was dreading coming back to school but now I don't want to leave :( I wish we could stay and hang out and just not do the whole schoolwork part of it :)

This summer I will be nannying for two little girls who are our neighbors. They don't get out of school for another month by the time I get home so I will have some time to relax and get my ducks in a row before work starts. My clothes are all over our house - in tupperwares in the garage and the basement and thrown in my closet - so I need to go through them and get rid of stuff I never wear and try to get that organized! Also it will give me some time to maybe find a night job at a restaurant or something and to hang out with my friends that are about to graduate from High school and those that are home from college. My dad and I are taking a week to go fishing in lakes and ponds around the area and enjoy the hopefully beautiful weather. I really like fishing and I haven't been all year so that will be a lot of fun to get to spend time with my dad. I'm sure my mom and I will take some shopping trips and do some movie nights together too :) I've missed her a lot.

I am really looking forward to coming back to school next year though. The past month or so has been rough with so much schoolwork and just trying to make it to the end of the year. This year has been very eye-opening. College is an experience unlike anything else in life. Living on your own, making your own rules and trying to decide who you want to be is probably the hardest thing you will ever have to deal with. You just have to take it one day at a time and learn from your mistakes. Everyone is here to learn and to grow and sometimes its nice to know that you're not all on your own. We're all in the same boat. You'll have days where you just don't want to get out of bed and face the world and days where you can't help but tell everyone about that awesome grade you got on your paper or that you finally declared your major. You just have to milk it for all its worth and stop worrying about what other people think. These four years are your life and what you make of it. If you constantly worry about what other people think or waste your time trying to be someone you aren't you won't be happy. Its only until you discover who you are and the person that you want to be, regardless of what your parents or friends or professors may think that you will have so much happiness and fun that you never even knew existed. College is so much more than just classes and finals and parties and a degree.

"It takes courage to grow up and become who we really are. All our dreams can come true...if we have the courage to pursue them."
-- Walt Disney

No more phases... It's official.

AllisonB — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:20:00 GMT

Okay. I'm not sure if you all are aware of it, but this upcoming week happens to be my last week EVER as a student. Oh.My.Goodness!! Now perhaps I will someday go back and get my MBA... I just don't think things will be quite the same!! There really is nothing like college. It is the only time in life where you get to be on your own, living with hundreds of your best friends. Pretty amazing, let me tell you that much!! I'm not going to get all sentimental just quite yet, but watch for a post like that soon. Needless to say, it's coming... Right now I still like to tell myself that this whole thing isn't really going to come to an end! AHHH!! Okay, well let me just back up a minute and tell you what my past week consisted of.

First off -- I just realized that I started to write a post about it during a break in one of my classes, didn't finish it in time and never got around to actually publishing it. That should give you an idea of what my week was like. 4 out of 5 nights I went to bed past 3:30am and woke up before 8am. That's right, less than 4ish hours of sleep every night. I think I got around 16 total... Which is approximately what you're supposed to get in two nights, not four. Oops. BUT on an up note, it's all DONE!! I wound up with a grand total for the week of: One 14-page Sales profile, one Sales exam, two Marketing quizzes, one Marketing group assessment, one 3-page Cases outline, and my baby for the week -- a 28-page Cases in PR paper. You did read that right. 28 pages. One cover page and two Works Cited pages and 25 pages of just straight type. Yikes!! Don't worry, this doesn't happen all that much. It's the second or third paper this large I've written in college. Still though it was NOT FUN!! I feel so good that is it done with! This upcoming week I still have a sales group presentation, a Marketing case assignment, a Marketing "super heros" project and a Cases quiz. Needless to say I'm not thrilled about any of this, but it's still better than writing a 28-page paper!! Just gotta get through this week though... Phew!

I guess to make up for all of the busy work that I did, I managed to have a great weekend. On Saturday, I participated in the Susan G. Komen "Race for the Cure." It was amazing!! The final count was 42,000 people. I participated in the 5k competitive run. My time wasn't really all that great because I was so busy reading everyone's shirts and all of the signs. It's so amazing how many women have been affected by *** cancer.

It was a beautiful day and finally warm, so I somehow got the urge to plant flowers and clean up the outside of my house! It was a great time -- something I really enjoy but never really get to do.

Today (Sunday) my sorority hosted a "Walk Against Domestic Violence". We had over 300 people walk around campus with us in support of the cause. It was great! The rest of the afternoon I went to the WFMS (a local radio station) Country Music Expo. I had picked up free tickets a couple of weeks ago. The final act was Darius Rucker and he even some some of his "Hootie and the Blowfish" songs!

After reading back over this post, I'd like to end with two thoughts.

#1 - College is tough. Don't let anyone ever tell you it's not. But also know that with some hard work and guidance it is absolutely, 100% all of that hard work!! It's by far the best time of your life thus far...

#2 - Indianapolis is a cool city to be. Not only is Butler an amazing school, but there is nothing like living in a major city. Where else can you participate in a benefit run/walk with 42,000 people and attend a free all-day country concert all less than 10 minutes from your house?? Pretty amazing...

All right, well on that note, it's time for me to get some sleep finally!! My body is still not caught up at all...