Last week has had to be the best week of my life! Not only were classes a piece of cake, I got a little down time to finish some of my exam papers and actually get feedback on them which made me really happy.  The only horrible thing that happened last week was exam care packages. Exam care packages are packages that parents send to students for exam week, if were only that simple. This process is supposed to start at the beginning of the semester but we got a late start at it. We sent the information out on time and all of the money started rolling in. when the packages we all had to count the boxes and count all of the care packages. This is when I thought I was going to lose my mind, the company accidentally sent us to many of the fruit care packages and way too less of the, basically, junk food care packages. So we had to call the company and they sent us the right stuff last Friday so we were able to get everything to everyone.

What made last week the best week of my life was my niece being born! My family called me at 3 o’clock in the morning on Saturday saying that she was really coming this time, because we have had a couple of false alarms in the past couple of months. So I drove really slow because of the slick streets and as soon as I got there I started taking pics. And, we waited for seven hours and my niece was born, I was so excited that I started cry because I felt that seeing her come into this world was the most beautiful thing that I will ever experience. So, while I was have a crappy week I feel that it ended on a great note and I am so excited that I get a chance to go home to her over break!!!

As everyone knows Obama won the election and made history as the first African American President. Everyone knows that in order to get change it takes time as well as a united nation. I just hope that President Obama can prove to everyone in our country that he is in office for all of us and that the change he talks about will help us all as a nation!

                Speaking in terms of change this Saturday was the Human Relations Youth Program Debate at City Hall in Downtown Cincinnati. I truly feel that it was a huge success, I was a judge and it was so hard to pick the winners for the Debate because these high school students really impressed me I just could not believe how astounding it was. There were three debates; the first one was about banning the N-word from media and radio, the second one was about high schools receiving the same funding and the last one was asking should the government  allow gay marriage. I loved how these were topics that we all have had to deal with at some point in our life, I also loved that there were high schools from the urban areas as well as suburban areas. I also really liked the fact that our school funded this event it really shows that our school does not just think about themselves and that we really do try to reach out to the community, and this one was particularly for the youth of Cincinnati! This event had a wonderful turnout and I would love to be a part of it again, hopefully in the near future!

This past week was a struggle for me; I visited the wellness center, which is basically our schools doctor office. There is a doctor that comes every so often and the nurse is always there to help. You can also see a psychiatrist if you need help in that area, I believe we have four that are always at the Mount and whom are a great help to the students. I was feeling really sick, my throat was really sore, and it was just really hard for me to talk let alone sing for choir. The doctor told me that I had a respitory infection and that I had to take antibiotics and just to get some rest. Rest, all I thought about was all the papers I had to get done since the semester is almost over; it’s crunch time for me. But, when I contacted my professors they were very understanding. Since the Mount is a small community you aren’t just a number to your professor, like at other universities, you really get to know your professors and they understand that people get sick and need rest to get over their colds.

                This week was also exciting for me because it was my very first time voting so on Tuesday November 4^th I got up at 6a.m., which is really different for a college student, and went to the polls with my friends and my boyfriend to vote. It was such an honorable experience for me to know that I helped pick our president! All Tuesday night my friends and I followed the updated news about the candidates. It was the most that I have ever watch CNN or Fox News ever in my life, which made me think about how much I do not know about our society and how I really need to start watching the news and reading the news paper  to stay connected with the events that are going on in the world. These resources are here at our fingertips for a reason and I feel that everyone should utilize them.

                Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I usually work at the Phonathon for school which is doing awesome. The Phonathon is basically like the telethons that you see on TV but the Mounts is not televised. It is our job to call alumni to update their information and ask them if they would like to pledge to help out incoming students with scholarships or the money they pledge can go to a certain department or organization of their choice.  I have been working with the Phonathon for about a month and it has been so much fun working with my friends and meeting new ones.

 Instead of working on Tuesday night I helped out with the school Community Trick or Treat night. All most all of the clubs and organizations were there to help out, the way that had it set up is each club/organization had a table and mass amounts of candy to give to the kids. There were so many cool little activities for the kids to do there was a table where the kids could bob for apples. And there was a table where they could feel bones, fur, gut and eyeballs, which was spaghetti and grapes. There psychology mad up a neat game of mummy bowling for the kids. We, BSU, did face painting and cookie decorating; which was so much fun, I think I enjoyed it more than the kids did! We all really got into the Halloween mood because there were a lot of students, including myself, who wore costumes. I love when we have events like this because it is so much fun to get involved with the community and hearing the alumni’s input on all of the things that we are doing here at the mount!

Well, this week I finally got the break I have been asking for, sort of. Instead of, like normal colleges, having Monday off the Mount got Friday off! So Thursday night I went out with a bunch of friends to a club/bar called The Holy Grail and it was so much fun.  I haven’t been able to go out since school has been in so it was way over due. The only bummer about my weekend was that I worked all Friday, at both jobs, and I also worked both jobs on Saturday too. But Saturday was a really good day for me because I had enough time, in between shifts, to see three quarters of the lions game. Even though they lost I still had a great time hanging out with my friends and seeing, for the first time, my boyfriend play! I also enjoyed seeing the cheerleaders because I really do miss it and I am thinking about trying out for next school years squad!

Saturday night was when the real fun happened; some of my friends from high school called me and invited me to their movie night. So when I got off of work I went to her house and she had prepared all of this food and had tons of movies for us to watch. That really made me feel special because they knew I was having sort of a yucky week. It really helps, if you still have them, to keep some type of interaction with friends from high school  because that will give you a person who can look at both sides when you need advice on certain issues.