What happened to June?

I'm not entirely sure what happened to the month of June...but it seems to be pretty much over now. I suppose with 2-3 jobs and a wedding, I just missed a few days in there, but I think I'm ready for July!

Check out my picture of the storm we got last night...shot from the window of my townhouse, you can see Xavier-Loyola Hall on the left, and the lights from the soccer field. I had a great video...but it's too big to upload...grrr... It was pretty intense--this is right after the torrential downpour began. I'm happy to say, however, that my car stayed where I left it, despite the river that formed in the parking lot.

As far as the goings on of Rockhurst--today was the last day of having the Youth Leadership Institute on campus. They're a really awesome camp for high school age students. Luckily, I was doing a desk shift one day when they were doing an exercise in sexism and discrimination in XL hall--in my opinion, it was amazingly well done and I was totally impressed! Besides all that, their facilitators and campers were all extremely nice, which is so nice to experience as a conference staff member.

We don't have any conferences on campus for the next week, but the last three of the summer are some of the largest and most fun--so watch for news on NCA, Sister Cities, and K-Fest as they come through Rockhurst!

My graduate school search is still ongoing. I've had to rearrange a few of my plans as I've learned more about the application process--for one, I was planning on taking the GRE this summer, but not all the schools I'm looking at require that test and most others prefer that I actually have an application on file before sending my scores, so I have to add that to the list for the fall. I've managed to whittle down my long list of prospective schools to about 6 or 7 that I probably will apply to, but I'm trying to stay flexible. What I'm really looking for is a TA position or some other form of financial assistance, and I probably won't find out about any of that until after winter break. Lucky for me, I love Kansas City but I'm more than happy to move wherever I need to--especially if it has colder weather!

I'm also going to apply to the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) program, which would involve moving to Japan for a year to teach English if I were accepted. I've always been fascinated by Japanese culture and language, and this could be a marvelous opportunity...unfortunately, if I get a good grad school deal and get accepted into the JET program, I would have a very difficult choice to make!

True to my blog title, I do love to wax eloquent and make these posts entirely too long, so I'll leave it at this.

Ta!

Summer Update!

So here's the summer update so far!

I'm still on campus, working as a Conference Assistant (and a couple of other jobs here and there...can't get bored!) First picture is me and my awesome CA buddy and roommate, Chelsea. Check out the sweet Conference Services polos.

As you might expect, we've had some conferences! The first few were pretty small, but this week is the annual Huw Williams soccer camp--not the biggest conference we have this summer, but definitely the most lively! We have almost 300 kids, elementary and middle school age, attending this camp, and about a third of them are staying on campus in a dorm. They're very cute and enthusiastic...but they tend to lock themselves out quite a bit!

Check out the camper picture...it's taken from really far away, but you can see a group of them ready to head back to shower after a full day of drills and scrimmages.

In other news, my grad school search is officially off the ground now. I managed to compile a massive list of all the grad programs/schools I want to seriously consider applying to in the fall--my only stipulation is that I want to move north, where it's colder! So I'm looking at several schools in Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, and Alaska, among others. Luckily I found out that several of the other Jesuit universities in the United States have excellent MA in English programs. One of the great parts about Rockhurst is that Jesuit connection--first and foremost because other universities know Rockhurst and it's reputation! I'm also a member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit honors society, which means that I have sort of a special status as a product of Jesuit education. Anyway, I'll probably have applications headed to John Carroll, Xavier, and St. Joseph's in a few months!

Right now I'm trying to focus on picking my "short list" of schools, taking the GRE, and developing a personal statement and summary of my goals for applications. I'm not entirely sure I'm doing this right...but so far, it has been a surprisingly fun process!

The next couple of weeks are going to be the craziest of the summer for me, and I'm definitely looking forward to July and the conferences we have then.

Until next time!