First, before you can become an RA, you have to take a class called EDHI 200, which is all about developing the skills and techniques you’ll need to be an effective RA (i.e. active listening, conflict mediation, exploring values, etc.).  It’s taught by two hall directors and one or two current RAs.  I was lucky enough to be chosen to help teach this semester and I’ve really loved it!  It’s a lot of fun to see how people’s opinions change and how they grow during the course of a class.

If after you apply and go through the first- and second-round interviews you get a job, hold on tight; you’re in for the ride of your life!

We come back two to three weeks before school starts for a thing called SSO (Student Staff Orientation).  During that time we learn all sorts of things, including different trainings, bonding with your staff and the highly-dreaded Behind Closed Doors (BCDs).  During BCDs, new RAs go in groups to different rooms in one of the residence halls and have to (one at a time) respond to different situations which are acted-out by returning RAs.  It’s a lot of fun…if you’re the one who’s acting!

Once training is over, the real fun begins.  You meet your residents and the year begins!

It is such an awesome job!  I have grown so much and met so many awesome people!

So there’s the skinny!  Hope you have a great week!

On Friday, my roommate from freshman year, Ben, and I went to see The Drowsy Chaperone at the University Theatre.  IT…. WAS…. AWESOME!!!!  If you have any time at all this weekend, you MUST go see it!!  After that, we went back to my room to watch a movie.  However, when we got back to DeHo, we saw that our Goodwill Prom, a combo dance and cold weather drive, was happening.  To my surprise, when they announced who won Prom King, they called my name!!  That’s right:  I am the reigning DeHo Goodwill Prom King!  Impressive, right?

Well, on Saturday, some friends and I got together and made pizza and then I went over to Ben’s to hang out.

Finally, my co-RA, Hannah, and I got to make dinner for our staff members on Sunday, which was a lot of fun!  We made mushroom risotto and homemade rosemary and cheese focaccia!  Yum!

How was your weekend?  Did you do anything exciting?

Have a great week!

First, I have resolved to become more physically fit this semester.  As you can imagine, exercising is a big part of that.  Today, I got up early, did a little stretching, and headed downstairs to my building’s workout room, which is so wonderfully close!!  I’ll be doing 20 minutes on the elliptical machine on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’ll be doing strength training, including weight lifting and abdominal exercises.

I think it’s really important to both plan and be realistic with your goals and to plan rewards for yourself along the way.  For example, along with my exercising, I’m going to try and be conscientious of what I’m eating.  So, every month I’m going to completely cut out one unhealthy food from my diet.  This month, especially after watching this video, I have decided to obliterate soda!

So what are your New Year’s Resolutions?  How are they going so far?

Anyway, have a great first week of classes and enjoy the new theme!!

What follows is kinda like a Christmas list, but instead of what I want this year, it’s a list of what I got this year!

1.     A brand new set of beautiful residents who are so kind and supportive and who help me feel like I make a difference in the lives of my fellow man.

2.     A strengthened bond with some of my best friends, Juli and Amberly.

3.     A job where I feel appreciated with bosses who understand and recognize my strengths and abilities.

4.     Time at home with my family and my dog.

5.     Time to do things that I love, including playing the piano and baking peanut butter brownies.

So that’s just some of the great things that happened to me this year.  What are you thankful for this year?

I think that with all the freedom you get when you come to college comes a little bit of a challenge.  At least in my experience, high school kinda forced you to be involved.  I was in choir, which led naturally to being in the musicals, which led naturally to being in theatre.  I was in Student Council, which led to NHS…they cycle continues!!

However, in college, you have to pave your own way.  A lot of my friends and residents over the years have told me they’re not happy and that they want to get involved in some way, but don’t really know how.  The answer to this is really simple:  just do it!

If you’re not happy, it’s time to make a change.  Surprisingly enough, this is actually pretty easy to do in college.  There are literally hundreds of people around you who share your major, your interests and your passions.  All you have to do is find them!!

So, the moral of the story is if you’re unhappy, find a way to change your reality to something better.  Join a club, find somewhere to volunteer, get involved in Hall Council, do research with a professor.  Whatever it is, be happy!

One thing that I really love about Ball State is that they bring popular Broadway shows to Muncie and then present them free-of-charge to students.  As a poor college student, I know that if Ball State didn’t provide this service to us, I would never get to see a show!!  And what’s more, they don’t just bring no-names or uninteresting plays.  This year, in addition to Beauty and the Beast, they’re bringing “In the Heights” and “Young Frankenstein,” both of which I’m really excited to see!!

Additionally, the BSU theatre department always has some pretty awesome shows going on.  They even wrote and performed a show earlier this semester.  I’m not studying theatre, but I imagine that if I were, Ball State would be an awesome place to come!  Between the acting opportunities and the clinicians they bring in, there’s a lot of ways opportunities to learn!

As you may or may not remember, GLACURH was this past weekend and it was a huge success!!  With that out of the way, my stress level has dropped tremendously!  As the volunteer chair, I got to meet a ton of new people from Ball State and also from across our region, including some highly-spirited Canadians from the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario.  They were giving out posters, t-shits, and even socks to people.  (They also really liked giving attack-style group hugs that, truth be told, kinda made me feel uncomfortable!)

Anyway, as of 30 minutes ago, I’m also finally finished with midterms!!  I can’t tell you how great it feels to know you’re done with tests for a little while.

As a whole, I cannot believe how fast this semester’s gone!  We’re now only two weeks away from Thanksgiving and once we get back from that, there’s only two weeks left of classes, finals week, and then the semester’s over!  I’m really looking forward to a break and a little change-of-pace!

Have a great week!

Just when things were at their worst, Fall Break arrived!!  I got to go home, spend time with family and friends, and have an overall wonderful time!  I even got to do an observation for my teaching class and I applied to be a substitute teacher this winter and next summer.  I came back to Muncie refreshed and ready to face school again.

So here’s the bottom line, even if you can’t get the university to give you a few days off, it’s really important to find time for yourself, even if that means locking yourself in your room, turning off your phone, and just watching some TV.

Have a great week and stay stress free!!

If you like shopping, there’s the Muncie Mall, Hamilton Town Center, and Indy’s only about an hour away.  If you like eating, there are nice restaurants here (like the Cammack Station) and all around the surrounding area (if you’re at all adventurous or have a taste for Mediterranean cuisine, you must try The Nile, an Egyptian restaurant in Anderson.  I recommend the Koshary Dinner!).

There are also a lot fun festivals around.  A really fun one is held at Cornerstone Center for the Arts and is a Christmas festival for children.  They can play games, see Santa Clause and, of course, consume their weight in sugar.  However, of all of them, my favorite is Mississinewa 1812.  It’s kinda like a Renaissance Faire, but rather than 16^th century England, the people here portray the year 1812.  With vendors, food shops, battles, and some awesome people watching, it makes for a really fun day!  My friends and I get up semi-early on Sunday (the last day of the festival and, therefore, the best day to find bargains!), go to breakfast, then hit the road.  It takes about an hour (or an hour and a half if I’m driving) to get there.  Once there we can pass the day shopping, eating, and just walking about, talking to the people in costume and learning about 19^th century life.  As you can imagine, since I work at a living history museum in the summer time, this sort of thing is right up my alley!

If you ever get a chance, you should check it out!  We’re heading there tomorrow, so look for pictures to come soon!