Exciting Senior Year

So, in between my summer adventures I have been figuring out just what to do with my life *AHH!* Senior year is approaching at an astonishing rate. I am gearing up for my new courses which include classes like health , aging and public policy, international politics, microbiology (a prerequisite for nursing school), and a course I never thought I'd take: rhetoric and discourse. Mix these classes in with a hefty dose of nursing school applications, dance rehearsals, club meetings, sorority events, and my job as a head RA and you really start to feel like a liberal artist.

I visited a good friend this past weekend who I haven't seen in about 7 months due to her adventures abroad. It was great to reminisce about past Beloit experiences - first year mistakes, exploring ourselves, and finding an academic field we love - and to talk about how wonderful our senior year will be. We've finally made it. As my last year approaches I have made many goals for myself, and thought it would be nice to see them written down (and that way it may keep me in check):
1) Take the GRE and apply to nursing school (and decide which school to attend)
2) Get involved with Spanish Club, Black Students United, and continue my involvement in the Beloit International Film Festival
3) Go to Puerto Rico (fall break 2008 baby! Here I come!)
4) Attend the American Public Health Association's annual exhibition and meeting in San Diego (this depends on funding... but an excellent goal none the less)
5) Start training again and join the track team in the spring - I ran freshman year, and would love to finish off running as well
6) Go back home to see my parents one more time before I move on to nursing school
and 7) GRADUATE. *whew.*

Putting it all down on, well, this blog gives me some motivation to stay on course. I have a lot of things I want to accomplish, and at the same time I want to enjoy my last Beloit adventures - my last Folk and Blues Festival, homecoming and alumni weekend, Rocky Horror Pictures Show in the Wilson Theater, International Symposium day, my sorority's semi-formal and formal celebrations, Vagina Monologues, Dick Talk, Chelonia dance performance, Spring Day, Bizarro-Beloit, and my last ultimate frisbee championship game experience at Strong Stadium. I suppose it is a little premature to be so nostalgic.

Until next blog, appreciate the experiences you've had and look forward to the good times to come.

A Day In The Life Of...

ME! I've told you all about my adventurous weekends, so here is a little bit about what I do during the weeek...

A typical day for me is work at admissions (like, now) until late afternoon. Then I tend to procrastinate any projects or work I have for an hour or so - watching The Sopranos, Sex and The City, or reading my current book "Mountains Beyond Mountains" - until I decide I'm hungry. I make myself a meal which recently has consisted of crackers, cheese, an orange and milk - but, I just got paid so SPINACH SALAD, pasta, nectarines and wine here I come! Then, I park myself in my desk chair to begin work on my Beloit International Film Festival internship.

I scored this BIFF internship through my advisor Marion (biology professor, head of the Health Care and Society department). My official title is: Intern for the Selection Committee Chair - the chair happens to be Marion's husband. This internship has taught me a lot! I do most of the work from my room - internet research on film festivals from around the world, watching movie trailers, and e-mailing distributors and filmmakers. I have also found some fun animated shorts that are worth checking out:
Sebastian's Voodoo: a story about true sacrifice for one's friends, and
Ken's New Specs: what a vegetable goes through for fashion.

The festival itself is going into its fourth year, and I am very excited. BIFF is the first film event I have been involved with - and I have been going to film festivals and watching independent, foreign films since I was young. It will be taking place this upcoming winter - I know, a little crazy to expect people to wander throughout Beloit, WI in February to go see various movies... but it happens! And people love it! Beloit College hosts a few of the venues used for the festival, along with restaurants, pubs, etc. in the city of Beloit. All very exciting, usually over 125 films come to our border town to be celebrated by the community.

Lastly, I've recently started writing in my journal again. It gives me a chance to reflect on my life, and put together my thoughts for the future - I'll be a senior afterall *AHHH!* and need to get my life (i.e. GRE, applications, location, etc.) together. SOOO... for a pretty typical work week I can be seen working, BIFF-ing, watching TV, reading or writing. Life can't be better than this :)

Fireworks, Large Crowds and Good Music

July has started off wonderfully! As part of my goal to experience the Midwest and all that it offers I have been to Milwaukee twice (SUMMERFEST!), Madison twice (Rhythm and Booms), and survived yet another thunderstorm all in the past two weeks *whew*.

Madison is an incredible city full of young people, fun things to do and great shopping. I ventured there at the end of June for the annual Rhythm and Booms fireworks show (huge show set to music)! I visited my Beloit friends who are living in Madison for the summer and we trucked over to Warner Park before sundown to get ourselves a spot on the grass. There was a carnival, food and lots of excited people decked out in red-white-and-blue. The show itself was amazing; the music was a little hard to hear because of the booms but worth the trip:
Photo 1: Entering Warmer Park in Madison: Nelson, CaitlinBeloit, Jenna, and Nathaniel.

Photo 2: opening of Rhythm & Boom Fireworks show

My next adventure was: Summerfest (finally)! My first attempt to go to this festival failed, and we ended up going Go-Cart racing and Mini-Golfing (see JulieBeloit's blog for pictures) Summerfest is a festival located right along Lake Michigan in Milwaukee. It is 11 days long, with 11 stages of music, and thousands of people - the largest music festival in the world (as advertised) and I believe it! JulieBeloit and I gave in last minute and bought tickets to the main stage (Marcus Amphitheater) and went to see John Mayer on a very stormy day:Photo 3: Me in my uber-cool rain coat in between downpours... we were lucky enough to have brought them, some poor die hard fans were only equipped with shorts and tank tops.

I was also lucky enough to see The Roots play on fourth of July with a group of friends. This time Milwaukee's weather was much more cooperative and we had sunny skies and 75 degree weather. We were also able to wander the grounds, eat dinner, get lost, find our stage, and take the skyglider across the park:

Photo 4: People enjoying the skyglider while hundreds below get pumped for The Roots performance at one of the many free stages (with Growing Nation opening - local hip hop group).

So, needless to say I am a little tired - my only planned adventures this week are to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday tonight (Happy Birthday!) and to hopefully go see a Brewer's game this weekend. Summertime in Beloit has proven to be a wonderful adventure with plenty more to come!