End of Fall Semester 2010

Hello all,

This was the last week of classes for Fall semester and I only have two finals next week ::HUGE SIGH!:: It has been a stressful semester...4 intense groups projects, 5 presentations, 7 ad copy assignments and 5 tests later, I am almost free! I can't really complain since I like to constantly be busy, but sometimes it is nice to have a little time off.

After this semester, I only have two semesters left! I am graduating early in Fall 2011, but still want to walk in May with the rest of my classmates. I have be contemplating different ideas of what I want to do with my 4-5 months that I would have been in school.

Idea #1 Take time and backpack through Europe.
I know that this sounds crazy, but that's why I like it. I take risks sometimes when it comes to school and things in life, but I always stay inside my comfort zone. I am a little hesitant to go alone, but I really want to explore another side of the world and get lost in new adventures and cultures....I guess we'll have to see.

Idea #2 Volunteer with a non-profit across the world
I was thinking about going to Fiji or someplace in Africa to work with an organization or non-profit. Sometimes we get wrapped up in technology, and material items, and we don't appreciate the basic things in life. I want to let go of it all- take a step back and just live simply. I will never have the time to do something like this again, so what better than now?....right?...I guess we'll have to see.

Idea #3 Go to Pastry School.
Ever since I was a little girl I have always loved to bake and cook. I come from an Italian family where everything is homemade. During the holidays and for special occasions, my grandmother, mom, sister and I were always in the kitchen. Now that I am away at school, I cook and bake for my friends and myself all the time. For next year, I was looking at enrolling in pastry school. I'm not sure if I want to go full time, or if I want to just take a few courses. Down the road, I plan on opening my own bakery. I guess we'll have to see.

Idea #4 Work hard, play later
Last idea, is to apply for jobs and go right into the working world. I have already completed 3 internships so far, so I feel that I am very qualified and prepared to work in the "real world." I know I want to stay in the Boston area, so I plan on applying to companies and organizations who are located in Greater Boston. I guess we'll have to see.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE DURING FINALS WEEK!

Cheers,

Inch by inch, row by row

What a couple of weeks it has been; only 4 more days and then finals are here! Luckily, this semester I only have one final, but I still have that 15 page paper calling my name. I feel as if everything was due at once. I have been preparing for presentation after presentation. I had my Mgt 101 Board of Executives presentation on Saturday, I have my advertising presentation today, my Alternative Spring Break presentation tomorrow, my oral history presentation this Thursday, and not to mention my two tours this week.

I spent the whole day at the library yesterday. For some reason, being in that atmosphere really encourages me to get a lot of work done. I met a couple friends and we all sat together and worked on some homework. Well as we speak, I should be reading my Women in the 19th century history novel!


Work hard, play later!
Cheers,

Am I reading this right?....

I am looking at the calender but I do not believe it, is it really April 21st? Where did this year go? I know I have been busy, but did I really not realize how fast this semester was flying by. I guess my eyes are not lying, it is really April 21st, which means a little over a week left of classes. This is crazy! I can not believe how fast time flies when you are having....well having fun / doing work yeah know got to have a little bit of fun in this amazing city!

Even though summer is just a jump and a skip away, I can not get to ahead of myself. I still have a couple history papers, a management board presetation, an advertising presentation, an ASB presentation, an advertising exam, and an internship portfolio to get through. A lot of time will be spent in the library this weekend!

Congratulations to all of those who ran the Boston Marathon this past Monday. It was a great race!

Well information sessions are starting and I am needed downstairs!

Cheers to all,

4 weeks to go and still so much to do!

I apologize for the delay, but I have been busy with tours and work in the office! Our second, and last, showcase was yesterday. It went very smoothly and I enjoyed speaking to the groups of parents. I find it easy to discuss my experience at Suffolk because I have done so much in my last two years here. I have taken advantage of the opportunities the university and city have to offer and have achieved great success. Not to mention yesterday was a beautiful day, tours went smoothly and families seemed to really enjoy there time here at Suffolk.

Haley and I went for a run this morning, talk about a great stress reliever. Even though I am a little overwhelmed with the tasks I need to accomplish, running seems to let me forget about my busy schedule and I am able to enjoy the beautiful view from the Charles River. It hit me this morning how lucky I am to be able to live in a beautiful city with such great friends. Haley is training for the marathon and she really encourages me to run farther and faster each time. Great motivation and an awesome and positive way to start off the rest of my day and week!

With the end of the semester just around the corner, I am trying to get everything done. With an advertising campaign, a 15-20 final paper, design lab campaign project, a community service presentation, a board presentation and my internship portfolio things keep adding up. I am taking it one day at a time and took some time off from work this weekend. Basically I'm going to hibernate :) and get my work done. It is better to commit and get accomplished and not wait until the last minute. I am a planner and if I wait until the last minute to do projects I freak out haha...so I will be working diligently this week and weekend to get those big projects out of the way. TIME IS GOING TO FLY!

It is official, I will be working at State Street Co. this summer as an intern with the marketing and communication departments. I am going to work Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays but still also work a couple days a week at the restaurant. I really do enjoy working at Mooo and have made some great connections there. I am not going to overbook myself though, I am going to leave my weekends open for relaxation, but for me it is so hard to stay at home and not do anything! I must keep myself busy haha.

One last thing before I go...a couple dates to look forward to
1) Kenny Chesney 3D Summer Concert is coming to theaters April 21st
2) Spring Ball April 29th
3) May 22nd Kiss concert with friends :)

Cheers to all and enjoy this wonderful Monday!

Have you floated away yet?

With all of this rain, I'm surprised that we aren't all floating around in inflatable boats! Thankfully I live on Beacon Hill so I don't have to worry about flooding. My heart goes out to those families who are dealing with the aftermaths of the storm. Water damage is awful to deal with; where do you put the water, you have to carry, drain, or pump the water out, and it can become moldy if the area is not cleaned well.

On a positive note, I went running with my fellow Ambassador Haley the other day! What an amazing morning, despite the rain! She has been training for the Boston Marathon and helped me push myself to a total of 5 miles. I love to run, but lately I have been finding it hard to run outside. I enjoy working out in the morning because I start my day off in a good mood and that means I don't have to go to the gym later haha. Lately, I have also been eating really healthy. I was very health conscious when I was in high school, but you know what they say about college, sometimes you don't make the best food choices. I have been trying to prepare my meals ahead of time; taking lunch and planning for times when I know I want a snack. This helps me save money too because I am going food shopping rather than spending money on lunch and dinner everyday.

HOME THIS WEEKEND...ahh doesn't that sound wonderful. I am so excited to see my family and enjoy the beautiful weather they are predicting. Even though I do have a lot of work to do, I will be able to read/work outside in the nice weather.

Easter is this Sunday and you know what that means....Chocolate bunnies, decorating eggs with my little cousins, Spring time, and a BIG FEAST. Well I can't say too much about a feast because it doesn't have to be a holiday and my family members eat like kings haha. It is an extra treat because my Mom is having a big brunch for all of our family :)

Keep smiling, sunshine is on the way !

Cheers to all,

Best time of my life....

I have to say, Spring Break 2010 was one of the best experiences of my life. I returned to Mississippi to tackle the issues of hurricane Katrina and poverty in the town of Meridian. Jeff (the other leader) and I had the best group of students with us; they were fun, hard working, intelligent, risk takers, and interacted with the community. AND COUNTRY MUSIC WAS PLAYING EVERYWHERE I WENT!

Everyday was a different adventure......
The first three days (Monday-Wednesday) we worked on some finishing touches of a home that was being built for a hurricane Katrina victim. We did the white trim around the home and then painted it a light gray. It really made the house stand out! Another project that students were working on was cutting the wood to build the front fence on the porch. It was very tedious and we had to make sure that every board was the exact same height and in perfect position before we screwed it in.

Thursday and Friday were my favorite two days of the week. The contractor for the Habitat for Humanity homes, Mike Stewart, had been working 6 day weeks in order to finish homes for families. Now it was his turn to get something big in return. We started building his home on Thursday morning. I had never seen how a home was built and we literally started with a pile of wood and some how by the end of the day Friday, we had built the frame for his home. As we were working on his house, we got attached to him and his family. He had a young son Jeb and a wife Phyllis. Him and his family were the highlights of our trip. To know that we were building a home for such a deserving family encouraged us to work harder.

To know that I was apart of a project that would give someone a safe place to live really makes me appreciate what I have. This family had lived in a trailer their whole life and now they would be able to live in a 3 bedroom home with a kitchen, living room and two bathrooms. The smile on that young boy's face affected me in a way that I never expected. This innocent, young boy was happy even though he did not have the best place to live or the most toys. He used his imagination to play army and solider.

I can really say that I experienced that Southern Hospitality! I even got to meet the mayor! She just came up to me right on the street and thanked me for the work I was doing. The church we stayed in was so accommodating and cooked us breakfast every morning. Lunch was either provided for us by Habitat or was donated by a local church or business.

One last thing before I let y'all go, something hit me this break, what am I going to do with my Public Relations degree when I graduate. Do I want to go into business PR, or magazine, or event planning? Sooo I made a decision to go into non-profits with my PR degree when I graduate. I am working on looking for an internship and getting some experience in the Boston area.

Cheers to y'all <3

MIDTERM IN AN HOUR!

Midterm time has come and it is in full swing. I have my first midterm in Advertising today at 1:00. It is very straight forward but a lot of material to cover. I feel as if all of my professors have piled on the work this week because Spring Break is next week. I have a 7 page paper due tomorrow in History, a Management Accounting packet/essay due tomorrow and my website project due for Design Lab tonight! I also have been sick this week which has not made it very easy for concentrating on writing or reading.

Sleeping at night has also become a little bit of an issue, just because I have so much stuff on my mind. There are so many things I have on my TO DO list but none seem to be getting accomplished. I ultimately am working on writing my own book about college experiences and the different things that we have to do deal with such as academics, relationships, friendships, work, jobs, internships, etc.

I have advising tomorrow too, to start picking my classes for next Fall. I can not believe that after this semester I only have 1 year (3 semesters) left!!! This is crazy.Saturday will be a relaxing day; packing, movies,dinner....sounds like a good day! I really want to see Alice in Wonderland or maybe something else?...suggestions?Teatro tomorrow night for dinner YEAH


Cheers to all,

One Week Until Mississippi!

Yesterday was offically one week until we take off for Meridian, Mississippi. Tomorrow is our last meeting before my group and I head down to the south to work with Habitat for Hummanity. We will be down there for a week, helping to build a home for a family who is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

What has really affected me during our meetings is our discussions about the meaning of privledge. Did you know that if you have a roof over your head you are considered privledged? If you have some of these small basic necessities such as food, shelter, water, and money for transportation, you are far ahead of many people in the world. This has made me reflect upon my own life and how lucky I am that my Dad can afford to send me to school and take care of my sister and I. Although my sister and I both work, we are far more privledged than those who have to pay for their own shelter and food. My Dad has taught my sister and I the responsibility of paying bills and what life will be like once we are on our own, but we know that if were ever really needed anything, our Dad would be there to help us out. Many children do not have the advantage of going to any school they want to, mind you, many students are required to take our loans in order to pay for an education. This is why getting work experience is so important because it teaches you the value of a dollar and what things cost.

Meridian is also an area with a 60% high school graduation rate; this is similar to the Boston Public School system. It will be interesting to see what education is like down there compared to the Boston area. I hope that we will get a chance to visit a school while we are down there and talk to young students about what their education is like. When I reflect upon my elementary, middle school and high school years, I always had the best books, school materials, and activities in my town. Are these kids accessable to these after school activities? Do they have enough books for every student in the classroom?

I will be back two weeks from today to give you all an update as to how my trip went!

Cheers to all

Half way though the week....

Happy Wednesday Everyone

Just to report, my Mom's Surprise 50th
Birthday was a success! I think she had a little bit of an idea that we were planning something because we avoided her all day haha. I had a very hard time keeping a secret haha. The food was great, CAKE WAS AMAZING and the band that performed after was awesome too. Overall we had a great night and she really enjoyed herself and got to see all of her life long friends!

On a personal note, life has been busy these past couple of days; between school work and homework, ambassador work, Mooo Restaurant work and Alternative Spring Break just right around the corner, my days are completely filled! Tonight I have to go home and finish reading and then write a report on it.

I am really looking forward to Spring Break and going down to Mississippi. It is nice to be able to take myself out of my life up here and put myself in somebody else's shoes. One learns that meaning of privilege and how lucky we are to be able to go home to food and shelter every night.

Cheers to all,

CUPCAKE

BECKEE IS MAKING ME WANT
A CUPCAKE RIGHT NOW
.....CHECK IT OUT PEOPLE.

My cute little friend Beckee has made a plan to bake a different cupcake every week for a year! She is up for the challenge and my stomach is ready for taste testing. She is going to blog about her experience baking the cupcake as well as other people's reactions to her creations. This sounds so exciting and mouth watering!

I have always been interested in baking and becoming a pastry chef. I think you can be so creative and experiment with many flavors and combinations of sugars/spices. I grew up in a household where everything was made from scratch. It's something that I cherish because I will be able to share that with my own family someday.

Sometimes we have different passions in our life that we do not pursue as careers. I'm not saying that I will never dip into the pastry industry, but it is definitely an option to keep in mind!

I do not know about you, but talking about dessert has made me hungry!

Cheers to you all,

Little late on the post, but welcome back Second Semester!

So the semester has begun and it is already busy. With two tours a week, I'm finding it hard to find time to blog, but I'll try to keep all you lovely people posted about my life.

Right now I have classes Monday through Thursday and my internship on Fridays. I am interning with the private events manager and Mooo.... Restaurant. It has been a blast so far. We are planning many events for the next few months and I have been learning a lot about networking and multitasking with clients.

Alternative Spring Break is a little more than a month away and we are already having our meetings. It seems like a great group of students, all eager to head down and help out in Mississippi. We had a great discussion yesterday about the difference between socialism and capitalism. It is very hard to debate because I am partial to both sides. Thinking about one of the big social problems in the world, housing, has gotten me thinking how hard it would be for me to not have the basic necessity of a home. I don't know if I could physically drop everything and sacrifice it all. I have been very fortunate for the things that I have and want to help out others who are not as fortunate.

To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.
-- Albert Schweitzer

Cheers to all,

Welcome Back All!

Happy 2010 Everyone! Hope you all had a great winter break and recharged for the next semester.

It was lovely to see all of my ambassador loves yesterday at our first meeting! Can't wait to get back into the coffee dates and entertaining dinner dates.

Skating on frog pond with Emily and seeing the Nutcracker with a bunch of my close friends were a few activities I did to get in the Christmas spirit back in December. I had a wonderful holiday with my family; delicious food and hours of laughter. Also, Santa brought me the new running sneakers I've had my eye on!

Over the break I tried to relax, but for me to sit in my house all day is an impossible task. I took advantage of having extra time and picked up some extra shifts at the restaurant. Also because I live in town mostly all year round, I went home for a couple of weekends in order to catch up with some of my friends who are home for the break. I miss that a lot of my friends are not in the city. I started personal training sessions at the local Ballys Fitness in Downtown Crossing, and I couldn't be more pleased. I feel so much better getting back into the shape I was in high school and working out is such a great stress reliever.

The semester is only at the beginning, I wonder what it is store for us this Spring....

Cheers,