Quintessential college....

This has been a pretty average week, with a few exceptions. It was pretty exciting, we made bran muffins on tuesday night at like 1 am, it was a nice little adventure. I have a few big research projects that I have been putting off....but I'm going to get a really good start on them tomorrow :) no worries. My roommates and I had a series of random adventures last night. I was going to go to a dance party at my friend's house but we decided to get food and then go to first dam to eat it. But of course, Amy had to go the ATM at good ol' wally world. While we waited in the car we had a dance party in the parking lot. And then we had another dance party in the Wendy's drive thru while we waited for our order. Then we went to First Dam and went on the dock to eat it and saw some crazy awesome people canoeing in the middle of the night!

Saturday I woke up early to go to an Turbo Kick work shop at the Logan Rec Center. It was super fun, you can watch the video!

I went to a scholarship dinner for the College of Natural Resources and I got to meet my scholarship donors and have my mom and grandma come to see it. It's really nice to be in a smaller college because there is a lot of scholarship money. I got one scholarship, the Timothy Leary Memorial Scholarship for $450 and another, called the Quinney Undergraduate Scholarship for $3,600 for 3 years and there is an opportunity to apply for $2,000 in support of an academically meaningful  experience in my junior or senior year. It is so so wonderful now that my original scholarship that runs out this year, I can still pay for school. Yay! :D

LUAU!

Aloha my friends! This weekend was the PSU (Polynesian Student Union) Luau. It was so much fun preparing and practicing in order to put on such a great event we started practicing in February for the luau in March. I was in the Hawaii implement, Fiji, New Zealand Poi, and New Zealand stick dances. There were dances from the islands of Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Tahiti, Tonga, and Samoa. Before the show there was delicious food It was so much fun to learn the dances and learn about Polynesian culturre. Something really fun about luaus is when people in the audience (usually family members or family friends) come up while you are dancing and give you money :) it's pretty awesome! Some people make paper necklaces out of dollar bills and give them to the dancers or just throw money or tuck it into their costume. I love the multicultural student services at Utah State. It is so great to be able to have a great education academically, but also be able to experience other cultures and have a good time while you're at it! Cheeeehoo!!!!
check it out on youtube! search for PSU LUAU 2009 :D (or username pahscuzeme)

Final Elections traditions week and midterms :/

Wow so the final elections finished up right before Spring Break! And a well deserved and needed break it was. The week right up to spring break and elections was indeed crazy. Traditions week had a bunch of fun events tied to the elections. Monday through Friday there was always something exciting like the presidential debate with free Aggie Ice Cream (YUM!), two free showings of Twilight, a sweatshirt swap, free Scotsman dogs while meeting the ASUSU candidates, the elections announcement, a comedian, free candy on the Hello Walk, and of course Founders Day. There was a SWEET (and free :D we like free things in college...) Love You Long Time concert in the TSC Sunburst Lounge where people could also meet the candidates.
This same week I had two mid terms to study for, which luckily went well. And finally Spring Break came! woo hoo!

Primary Elections

Hi friends! ASUSU Elections were last week and it was pretty exciting. All of the candidates campaign and have a fun time with that. I live in Honors House in the LLC (Living Learning Center) and it is really nice there. I planned a study abroad program to let people know about the great opportunities available through the USU Study Abroad Office. My friend who has studied abroad in Chile, Uganda, and Nicaragua came and told us about her experience and answered some questions for us. (This picture is of a little town called Annecy in France where I will be for 2 months this summer before my semester at the University of Saint-Etienne in France.) After studying in France for 7 months, I'm going to study for a semester at the University of Ghana :) I can't wait!
(this is from the study abroad photo contest)

We're still practicing for the luau and it's going to be great!!! Multicultural student services is sponsoring a Polynesian showcase of music and dance featuring the cultures of Samoa, Tonga, Hawaii, New Zealand, Fiji, and Tahiti. We're going to have amazing food catered by the Pauni Family. I'm dancing in Hawaii, New Zealand, and Fiji! It's going to be on March 20th and it is going to be so great!

Mardi Gras! Africa Night! RecycleMania!

(I did my Mardi Gras glitter mask all by myself)

Hey hey friends! Time flies by so fast when you're busy, working hard and having fun. I got quite a bit of studying done this week, as well as some fun extra adventures. Last night was Mardi Gras, and I am on the Student Traditions and Activities Board (STAB) so I was volunteering to help make the event happen. It was so much fun and we had a really good turn out. On Bourbon Street there were dancers, contortionists, psychics, musicians, and face painting, there were bands from LA and Phoenix on the next floor, a DJ and dance, and an illusionist. On the third floor in the Skyroom we had a casino with chips and everything. Our highest roller got 121,650 in chips and won an ipod touch, the second and third place winners got an ipod nano and a digital camera.

         The Aggie Recyclers and the USU Sustainability council kicked off Recyclemania this week. We are competing with 5 other colleges around to see who can recycle the most. We had information tables set up, and documentary going, fun recycling games, and free Aggie Ice Cream in exchange for a recycling pledge. We had a good turn out and got the word out to encourage people to engage in the competition and recycle.

        But my favorite event this week was definitely Africa Night! The African Students Association put on a really great night of traditional food, dancing, clothing, and music. It was so great and I met so many new friends. I met a friend from Ghana and told him how I was going to Ghana for a study abroad and he told me all about it and taught me some useful phrases in Twi, like εtε sεn? (how are you). It was great and I really enjoyed it!

Long weekend baby!

The week of love has passed and gone, and I spent Valentine's Day babysitting (which I am totally fine with...) I live in Salt Lake, so for this long weekend (President's Day) I decided to catch a ride home with one of my friends to spend some time with my family. This week was also BSU (Black Student Union) week and some of the events included a Gumbo Cookout, Black Out Loud, and a the Black Student Union also hosted its annual “Black and White Affair” soul food dinner Friday. The dinner included a variety of soul food and entertainment. The New York-based slam poetry group Words with a Pulse was SO amazing! Two guys kind of rapped/sang poetry and it was really powerful and moving. Wow!

Black Student Union is an organization established to promote a higher level of Black consciousness, advancement and mutual understanding among all cultures and people. BSU serves to provide information to its members and raise cultural awareness within the community at large.

'In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. - Martin Luther King, Jr.'

Aggies 23-0 woo!

Hey friends! Can you believe it? Yet another week has passed and the Aggies are still 23-0 in basketball. Phenomenal! But last night after the game, there was an after party at the Fun Park. There was a free dance, laser tagging, bowling and fun all over the place! After we got our groove on, my friends and I went to Village Inn for some sustenance. This week went by really quickly, from test to quiz to papers, dance practices, eating, and maybe even a little bit of sleeping ;) but it was great.

It was also really cool this week academically. In my college, the college of natural resources, when we are looking to hire a new professor the students are invited to meet the candidates, hear about their research, and even have lunch or dinner with them along with some other faculty or grad students. This week there were two candidates that came and presented their research. I had to opportunity to meet and have lunch with Dr. Brian Fisher and attend both of his presentations about climate change and social justice issues in Tuvalu. It was really awesome! I think it is great how the students are able to be a part of that and that the college cares what we think of the people that will be our professors. I love Utah State! :)