A bittersweet farewell

So its been a while since the Flunk Day post, and even though its summer, I find myself incredibly busy.

Since Flunk Day we finished our last couple weeks of classes, took our finals, said goodbye to our seniors and transitioned into summer life at Coe. For the first time at Coe I got to go to the commencement ceremony this Spring, which was awesome. Our United States Senator, Tom Harkin (a favorite of mine if you look at old posts), was the speaker and we had a beautiful day for the ceremony. Every year commencement is held outside on the quad in front of the library, and it always ends up being a beautiful day (knock on wood... I graduate next year!) and this was no exception. Sen. Harkin gave the graduates a top ten list to live by, they got their diplomas and we all said goodbye.

I still have a year left, but it was a strange feeling saying goodbye to these people who I've grown so close to in the past three years. I know I've written about the community of Coe before, but this just reminded me one more instance of how close we are with each other. As Robin, my friend who sat next to me in History class and played racquetball with me left for North Carolina, I realized how good of a friend I had gained at Coe. When Katie, my Admissions co-worker and student government mentor left for D.C., I realized how exceptional students at Coe are, and how many world-changing people Coe just graduated.

To beat the dead horse just a little bit more, we are close, and we have worldly aspirations. I can't wait to hear from my friends who are going to law school, who have taken teaching jobs, who are going to pursue graduate degrees in economics, student affairs and biology. And I know that as we spread across the globe, the bond that we had here will always remain.

Flunk Day 2008. FD Lifeguards

Last week we celebrated the end of the year with Flunk Day, my favorite tradition at Coe. One day a year every spring we, the students, cancel class and hang out on the quad all day. I was on the committee that got to help plan all the activities this year, which made it so much more fun. For the whole semester we would meet once or twice a week to work on planing this day, I was so happy the day it finally came. My day started with Katie waking my up at 5:00 AM to get get our outfits. Our theme was lifeguards, as you can see. We then went and ate breakfast and came back and ran through all the dorms at 7:00 to tell campus the great news: "Its Flunk Day!"
We then set up for all the day's activities. I went to baseball practice and came back and everything was in full swing. The grill was smoking, the inflatables we up and running, the band was playing and everyone was having a great time. Later that night we had a foam dance party on the quad with a DJ. You can kind of see it in the picture, but I was so intense in enjoying every minute of Flunk Day that I didn't even think about putting on sunscreen (I'm almost done peeling).
I can't wait for next year, when everyone starts the guessing game of when Flunk Day is going to be and I hear the most uttered words on Coe's campus during the spring, "I hope Flunk Day is tomorrow."

NACAttack

This weekend I got to attend the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) conference in St. Paul, Minnesota. Coe's programing board, the Student Activities Committee (SAC) goes to this conference every year to find entertainment for the next school year. We had a very productive weekend of work and fun. Every morning we went to an educational sessions desisgned to cater to our interests as people involved in campus programming. One of my educational sessions was on how Family Guy and Southpark teach lessons of diversity (yes, it was as funny as you would think). I also attended a session about how to plan events for the upcoming election. I got some great ideas for speakers and events so when October and November of next year roll around, Coe will be crawling with political activity. I also got to two sessions on leadership, which were very informative as well. As you can see from the pictures, we also had a little bit of fun. Every day on top of the educational sessions, we got to see a bunch of showcases -- where various entertainers would show us their act and try to get us to book them. We had musicians, magicians, jugglers, sword swallowers, comedians, slam poets and lecturers. Every day when the entertainers had finished showing off their acts, we went to CAMP, where they all had booths set up for students to meet them (and hopefully book them). CAMP was also where some companies used to show off such attractions as bull riding and a giant trampoline.
While we did have a ton of fun, we also booked some really cool acts for next year.

I'm probably most excited abou Ari Herstand, a musician who loops his music and plays a one man show with three instruments. Although, we also booked two comedians who made me laugh for fifteen straight minutes. But the mentalist who told me my birthday from my ID card without ever seeing it before freaked me out too. I guess its hard to pick one, but we have some great entertainment lined up for next year and I'm excited.

Coe has one of the largest programming budgets in the area and we use it to its fullest extent. Students chose where most of that money goes, so the entertainment represents what the students want. NACA was fun, SAC is cool, and Coe has sweet entertainment.

Admitted Student Weekend April 4th and 5th

This weekend is an exciting weekend on Coe’s campus. The admissions office is hosting all students who have applied and been admitted for a weekend visit. If you aren’t signed up for this event yet, I strongly encourage you to do so. When people ask me why I chose Coe, I always tell them that when I visited campus and spent the night I felt so welcome and at home, I knew I was in the right place. This is a great opportunity for you do find out if Coe is a place you can call home.

Visit our website to learn more and sign up on the admissions home page: http://www.coe.edu/admission/

Some highlights of the weekend include the traditional campus tours and informational sessions with representatives ranging from student life to professors. The highlight, however, will be the fun activities planned for the weekend. There is a baseball game, a tennis match, a student art exhibition and student music performances. And to top the day off, we have an improv comedy show in Charlie’s, our coffee shop.

Admitted Students weekend is a ton of fun. I have hosted students in the past and really enjoy meeting people who may be at Coe next year. You will get to experience the life of a Coe student for the weekend, staying in a dorm, eating in the cafeteria and attending campus activities. I hope to see you there!

My not-so-relaxed-but-still-awesome Spring Break

So I haven't been posted for a while. Half the reason is because I'm lazy, but a legitimate reason was because I went to New Orleans, LA with a group from school to help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. I didn't have a chance to post while I was building so I'll share some pictures now!

We left on Saturday morning and drove all day to Memphis to spend the night. We arrived in New Orleans the next evening and began work on Monday. There were 21 of us, led by the college chaplain and an alum who is now a general contractor. My group of 10 worked at Laura's house, which had been flooded by about six feet of water. The structure of the home remained, but needed completely redone: enter volunteers like us. We worked on siding and flooring at my site, and some of the pictures are below.

Yes, we drove... 16 hours. I spent the whole time in the backseat with two people that I kind of knew before the trip, but not surprisingly know a lot better now!

One day after we got done working we drove to the lower ninth ward, where the hurricane did the most damage. Seeing the devastation really hit home when we were in this area. This picture is of Jenny and Gunnar sitting on what used to be the front porch of somebody's home.
This is me cutting some concrete board that we needed to put down on the floor. I didn't have any experience or knowledge about flooring, but I feel like I'm an expert now. I guess thats why they call it a liberal arts education.
In the morning before getting to work on our last day. We met with Christiana (in the white), our construction manager every morning to get our assignment for the day. In addition to directing our work, Christina was full of insight and inspiration.

On Thursday night it was our turn to cook dinner at camp. Rob bought some crayfish and we ate like true Cajun-lovers!
A trip to New Orleans isn't complete without a trip to Bourbon Street. We got to go out one night and I made the most of it, eating authentic Jambalaya on a balcony, and of course doing a little dancing.This is out of chronological order, but this is us in Memphis at a jazz restaurant. There was a live band playing the entire time we were eating dinner. We then went to a different club where there was a blues band who had been playing on Beale Street for over 40 years!

Ballin'

This picture is my intramural basketball team from my First Year at Coe. I was looking for it today because our season ended last week, and I remembered how much fun I had my freshman year. My team consisted of a couple offensive linemen, four guys that had never played competitive basketball, and me. At the time I was trying to gain weight for the upcoming football season, and weighed in as the point guard at about 230 pounds. We were a pretty rag tag group, but we probably had the more fun than anyone else on the court.

The IM team is just one example of ways I bonded and got to know people my first year. I was on the football team, which is where I met most of my friends. A lot of my friends also came from the first-year only floor that I lived on in Greene Hall, or my First Year Seminar Class.

The intermurals offered by Coe are a great time. I lost to my economics professor in doubles tennis my sophomore year. My freshman year I made it to the quarterfinals in singles racquetball. When I tore my ACL before my sophomore year I was forced to sit out the basketball season, which was almost harder for me than missing my football season. The event I'm looking forward to most this year is water polo! The events change year to year, sometimes there is indoor soccer or wrestling or rock climbing. Whatever the students want, if there are enough interested it happens! Athletics have always been an important part of my life and this has been a great way to continue that passion!

And by the way, we came in second place in the “recreational” division: the B league of IM basketball. I have since moved up onto the A league with a new team, but I’ve never had as much fun as I did with the “Harlem Street Ballers” my first year.

The languages of Coe.

I was reading in the library last night, trying my hardest to concentrate on The Second Treatise of Government by John Locke. Locke is no easy read and it takes every ounce of concentration to stay focused with the task at hand. Needless to say, I was more than slightly annoyed by a couple pairs of students who were working on projects around me, talking away. While I was trying my hardest to focus on Locke’s views regarding the state of nature, there was an incessant buzz of conversation distracting my thoughts.
Then I just gave up and started listening. Two students behind me were studying for an upcoming macroeconomics test. I recognized the familiar terms about supply and demand and was a little interested. The other two pairs of students, however, I could not understand. It wasn’t because they were taking an advanced course, but rather, they were speaking different languages. I recognized two of them were speaking Japanese and the other two were speaking Nepali. As my thoughts drifted from Locke, I started thinking about how cool it was to sit in a room where three different languages were being spoken.
Coincidentally that night when I went to dinner, I came in to see a couple of my friends sitting at a table with a couple Japanese students. I joined them and introduced myself and ate in their company, speaking to them about Coe, myself, English and our culture. It was a great learning experience for me, and definitely not something I would have ever learned sitting in a classroom.
I checked with the admissions office today and discovered that we have 16 countries represented this year at Coe. I have met a number of these students. I am intrigued by all of them, their backgrounds and their different vantage points on my country and culture. There is so much to be learned here, and once again I find myself learning from my fellow students.