Alpha Xi Delta

Since I've been at Iowa, I have been looking to make new friends and get involved. So my friend Andrea and I have been going to check out sororities. I found a few that I was interested and I was offered a bid to my favorite... Alpha Xi Delta! I pledged on Monday night so I am now official! We have our first event tonight, a black and orange party.

I never thought I would have the opportunity to get into a sorority as a junior transfer student, but all of the sororities were so nice and really thought it was cool I was looking to pledge as a junior.

So the moral of the story is... transfer students can join any group at anytime, you just have to put yourself out there and go for it!

Here is a photo of me and the others who pledged with me!

Homecoming weekend approaches...

With all of the festivities going on this week/weekend for Homecoming I am feeling a bit stressed! I have a HUGE test in a "critical for my major" class next week. I will have to make sure I sit down and get some studying done this weekend because it will be easy to get carried away in all of the festivities!

That's a major adjustment I had to make from Kirkwood to Iowa. There are so many things going on here that it would be easy to just be out and about all of the time and not take sufficient time to study. Luckily for me, I have yet to experience many problems with this.

If any of you Eagles aren't busy this weekend you should come down to the UofI for the parade (5:45 on Friday evening) followed by the announcement of King and Queen, then a concert! Rooney will be performing, which I am totally excited about. I changed one of my ringtones to them in order to get psyched for the show!

Here is a link with all of the week's festivities on it... enjoy and GO HAWKS!

Natalie

the best thing about being a HAWKEYE!

Hey everyone! For those of you who didn't know... this past weekend was the Iowa vs. Iowa State football game! It was amazing. I've lived in Cedar Rapids all my life, so I've been in Iowa City many times during my 21 years. I have NEVER seen Iowa City in the state it was in after we won! If you didn't catch the game, here's what you missed...

My first week at Iowa... many lessons learned.

I had a whirlwind week at Iowa. After I finally figued out the bus routes, I was able to find all of my classes without any problems. My classes are all really close together. I guess that was a misconception that I had about the U of I. I thought that I would be walking MILES inbetween classes and that's not so. It's not as close as all of Kirkwood's classes were, but for a big university, it's not bad at all! Just make a note to buy a good pair of tennies when you transfer! :)

I had some trouble the first week with my schedule. I was sent about three different places to get help and it seemed like no one wanted to help. I learned this week that if you don't look out for yourself at a big school like Iowa, you WILL slip through the cracks. Don't let it happen. If you need help, persist because that's the only way you will be able to get out in a decent ammount of time. I did get really frustrated because at Kirkwood I could just go to advising and here it seems like there are about a million places you have to go.

BUT aside from all of the craziness... there was a football game this weekend! My first time in the student section and it was awesome! Make sure you buy season tickets at least one year at Iowa, because Iowa fans are like none-other!

Okay, enough ranting... here are some pics!


Lauren, Me and Megan...current Hawkeyes and former Eagles!


GO HAWKS!

Just the beginning...

So, I've been getting everything situated to start at Iowa next week! I bought my books, my season football tickets (important to do as a transfer from Kwood because we had no football team!) and I have completely moved into my apartment.

My roommate Ashley and I had a bunch of our Kirkwood friends to our new apartment in Iowa City. I'll share those pictures at the end!

I have a few concerns entering my first day at the U of I. I am pretty concerned about riding the Cambus! I hope I can figure it out and I don't end up at the complete other side of town! I am also a little concerned about finding my classes. Iowa's classes are so spread out, unlike Kirkwood's, which are all in one general location.

I will keep you all posted on how it goes! Wish me luck!

Now for the photos...


A shot of the new apartment!


Ashley (my roomate and current Kirkwood Iowa City student) and I


Current and former members of the Communique (Kirkwood's student newspaper)


Sean and I. Sean was the A and E and Feature editor of the Communique last semester.

the move...

I moved into my apartment on Sunday, Aug. 2. It was very stressful! I got things pretty well set up, but I am still living at home until my friends go back to their respective colleges. I will post some photos of the apartment when I get some, but for now I just have a picture of my best friend and I assembling a TV stand for my room. Projects like that are not exactly our thing... so we felt pretty proud!

One of those moments...

Last night something happened that restored my faith in fairytales.

My team has been playing in the state softball tournament this week. We played our first round game last night because of rain on Wednesday night. We fell behind early, and in the top of the seventh inning, we were down 2-1. We ended up tieing it up at 2-2. But with two outs, our third baseman Alex came up to bat with the bases loaded. She lauched the first pitch over the centerfield fence. A grandslam. Softball players are lucky enough to hit grandslams in the regular season, but in the post season- it's almost unheard of. The shot put us up for good, 6-2.

The girls went crazy, it was such a great moment. I wish I could re-live it over and over again. To see the look on the girls' faces, to watch the fans, to watch the opposing team.

This photo does not do the moment any justice, but it's all i've got! :)

Summer update...

It's been a while since I've updated... mostly because I've been busy with softball. I am an assistant coach for Jefferson High School. My girls qualified for the state tournament last night, resulting in me getting a day off! :)

I was out at Kirkwood today, having lunch with some friends at the Coffee Talk Cafe... so delish! I then was able to head to the Kirkwood Continuing Education Center to fill out my application for utilities in my apartment for next year... no, seriously! Kirkwood is housing Mid-American Energy now, as well as many other former downtown businesses. I feel very proud that my alma-mater is doing so much to help the community. Kirkwood really stepped up to the plate in a time of crisis in Cedar Rapids. Kirkwood even hosted the 4th of July fireworks. It was really nice having them at Kirkwood. There was plenty of parking and plenty of places to sit.

Ok enough writing... now I present, my summer in pictures! Enjoy!


This was my sandbagging crew on the Westside of CR during the floods.


This is first avenue in Cedar Rapids. Rescue boats were launching near 11th street. The water got up that high.


This was taken before the water got too high. I took this next to the CR police department.


One of my friends Kate and I went to see John Mayer at Summerfest in Milwaukee on the 2nd of July.


Kate, Molly and I at the fireworks at Kirkwood!


Lauren and I "livin' the dream" in the pool!


The J-Hawks are headed to state... again. 7 straight years!

Starting the transition

So, a few weeks ago I attended my orientation at the U of I. It was a little overwhelming... with all of the different bulidings and all of the classes I need to take. It's a big transition to make from Kirkwood. Luckilly, I had an amazing adviser. She was able to help me figure out all of my credits.

I am majoring in English Education. So this means that I basically have two majors. My first will be English. My second will be Education. I am also looking at a third major of Journalism... my passion! I just can't give it up!

One other thing I am working on is my portfolio so I can apply to the Daily Iowan, Iowa's student newspaper. I hope I get a chance to work there!

Here is a photo of me at orientation! GO HAWKS!

Putting things in perspective...

So... here I am in my last week in Kirkwood Marketing Services. My job here is pretty much helping Steve, the PR guru here at Kirkwood, with anything that needs to be done. I write many press releases and do feature stories for the website. I am a journalist at heart so writing is definitely my favorite part of the job.

I have been on countless interviews since I started working here. I have met so many interesting people who have really enlightened my 20-year old brain. But this one really opened my eyes.

I got to go to an interview at Kirkwood's Vinton Center a few weeks ago. I interviewed Kathleen Pettengill, a non-traditional student who came to Kirkwood because she had to. Her husband was killed by a drunk driver and she was left with four children to support and a mortgage to pay. She came to Kirkwood to take classes to become a teacher, because she knew having a degree would be the only way she could make the money she needed to support her family. Kathleen had been a stay at home mom ever since she married right out of high school.

Talking with Kathleen made me realize the importance of my education. She was right when she said your education steers you for the rest of your life. She also made me realize that I should take obstacles that come my way in stride. She has been through so much in the last three years and she still wears a smile. Everytime something happens to me that makes me think my world is crumbling, I should step back and realize that nothing is thrown your way that you can't handle.

Here is a photo of Kathleen after our interview. She is standing next to the quilt that she made in honor of her husband. The quilt is hanging at the Vinton Center. Kathleen will be taking classes at UNI next fall.

Good times with good friends

All of the "Communique kids" as I affectionately call the newspaper editors and Sarah Baker, our adviser, are getting their best stories/photos/layouts ready to send in to a competition. Thinking of this, I then remembered I hadn't posted any photos from our end of the semester lunch meeting! We ate a ton of food and played Madlibs (fun game!) It was a great end to a GREAT year with a GREAT group of people!

PS... The Communique is hiring for next year! Stop by the office (113 F Linn Hall) in August on the first day of school if you are interested! You won't regret it... believe me! :) We need everything! Writers, photographers, editors, fans :)

Peace out, Kirkwood!

Well, my two years at Kirkwood are over. I found myself aimlessly wandering around the bookstore last week with my book buy back money looking for Kirkwood clearance apparel (by the way: they have the best sales... EVER!) before I realized that I wouldn't be coming back next year. I then decided to save some money for Iowa apparel... of course after buying one more Kirkwood shirt :)

I have about a week left working in the marketing department. It's kind of surreal to think that I will be in the work force in a few years. It's scary. No one really thinks it's ever going to happen to them, ya know?

I have to admit that at first I didn't like it here. I quickly found that the more you get involved, the more you will love Kirkwood. I talked to my good friend Lindsey Aldrich about this. She didn't like it here either until she got involved in student ambassadors... and this year she was the head of the whole ambassador organization. Kirkwood is a wonderful place. The people care about you, it's like a family.

The moral of the story is:
Get involved! My years on the Communique Student Newspaper Staff have been the best of my life.
Love every last second of Kirkwood, it's an experience you will have NO where else!
Get to know faculty and staff, they are some of the coolest people I have ever met!
Lastly, eat at Coffee Talk Cafe, Susan (the owner) is amazing. She makes the best sandwiches! Plus, Kwood students get a 5% discount!

Here are some photos of Ashley Waller and I at our "going away" party in Marketing. We will miss it very much. We love you guys!

A Night on the Red Carpet....

Last weekend was the annual Kirkwood Awards Banquet. It was held at the Clarion hotel here in Cedar Rapids. The theme was Hollywood Red Carpet and it was amazing! Kudos to Lindsey Aldrich, head of student ambassadors, and a good friend of mine, for putting it all together! Kirkwood Student Media won for "Most Active Orginization" and the Communique won an educational service award for our self defense seminar we held at the Rec Center last Sept. I guess you could say we swept?! :) Okay, enough already! Here are the photos...

*Spring Break '08*

You can NOT go through college without going on a Spring Break trip that you can't afford! :) My friends and I spent a week in Panama City Beach, FL. It was a lot of fun, but I am glad to be home and back to school/work. ALSO-- Congrats to the women's basketball team for winning the NJCAA DII National Tournament and to the men for placing third! GO EAGLES!

Here are a few pics from the trip!

K-Wood is goin' to the 'ship!

Something very exciting happened the other night... the Eagle men's basketball team quailified for the NJCAA Division II National Tournament! They beat Ellsworth 91-80. I have never seen Johnson Hall so packed! I was doing sideline reporting for Kirkwood Student Productions (interviewing coaches, boosters, ect. during the game and at half-time). It was a lot of fun, but I wanted so badly to be in the student section! :) They all had 3's signs to hold up... it was really cool. Here is a photo that I stole from Ali Carlson, the Ad Manager at the Communique. I was unable to take photos at the game because I was so busy, but here one is! Congrats guys and good luck to the women who play to go next Tuesday!

OBAMA '08!

I was thinking the other day about how different (hopefully) our country will be at this time next year.

Barack Obama came to campus before winter break. If I had to describe him in a few words they would be: enthuiastic, proud and youthful. I feel like he would be a great President because he has so much to put into it. I just feel like the nation is ready for someone who is down to earth and upbeat instead of so stuffy and un-releatable.

We got to cover the event for the Communique... here is a photo of the Managing Editor, Maggie, and I at the Obama rally.

Enjoy!

-Natalie

First blog post...

This is my first blog! I just thought i'd post some photos from things that I've been doing lately because unfortunately, I haven't been doing anything too exciting to write about this week! I'm SO sick of the snow though! :( Snow day tomorrow?! We'll see!

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Lo and I in Chi-Town... GiRl PoWeR! ;-)

Lo and I at the Spice Girls concert <3