What a month!

So it's been a while since I posted last...I was looking forward to July being a relaxing month, but no such luck. Of course, it's not always a bad thing to be busy...and when you have two jobs that you like, it's actually kind of a nice thing.

All of the sudden Rockhurst's campus is shaping up and getting ready for students again. Case in point--the Rock Room. Last week, this is what it looked like---->

Then, suddenly, we come back in and now we have this...

Definitely an upgrade! I was a little nervous when I saw how much BLUE was going in there...but someone in the planning definitely had an eye for color, and it's turned out lovely. And definitely better than the random red carpet wall we had.

We just ended the summer conference season with my favorite conference from last year--Kfest. (Oddly enough, the name of the conference is still KansasFest though they've been holding it in Missouri for years now). Kfest is advertised as "summer camp for geeks," which is a name it lives up to...but in addition to not having nearly as many lock-outs and boo-boos as the other camps (this one is all adults) they're also some of the most interesting people Rockhurst houses, ever. I remembered most of the campers from last year and a few remembered me, so it was like seeing old friends.

Alas, since conferences are finished, it is quickly approaching time to move out of the townhouses. I like the townhouses well enough, and I've lived in three since last May, but I'm definitely ready to get into my new and insanely awesome house. Rockhurst just bought it, and my roommates and I will be the first people to live there. It seems like two weeks ago that I moved into summer housing (and I won't lie and say that moving is fun), but the idea of settling into somewhere for a solid 9 months is very appealing. And I'm trying mightily to not panic about not knowing where the heck I'll be after those 9 months.

Well, hopefully my next update will be within the month...as soon as things have settled down and I'm implanted in my new place.

Ta!

This'll be a long one...

So CHANGE has been the name of the game for me the past couple of weeks! To start off with, the Office of Admission has officially moved back from its temporary location to our permanent home on the north side of Massman. Physical Plant did a good amount of remodeling while we were gone--new ceilings, new carpet, new lighting! Go Physical Plant!

Cool as that is, I'm more excited about the fact that I now have an office in Admission!

I'm using the term "my office" rather loosely--to sum it up, one of the awesome people in Admission (Pat, who works with MBA students) was asked to move her office to Conway with the rest of the Business school. It's kind of sad not seeing her every day, but long story short, we're using that office space for all the student workers/workstudys that are employed by Admissions. It just so happens that I'm the only student worker for Admissions this summer--ergo, "my" office. Isn't it cute? I haven't had time to do any decorating yet, but that'll come ;-) My boss is seriously sweet and is letting me work on rearranging my new space and putting up a new bulletin board when she doesn't have any other projects for me to do.

On a very different topic, my graduate school search has taken a dramatic turn. After talking to a few professors and thinking about it A LOT, I've decided to look at graduate programs in Theology and Religious Studies. I just picked up my Theology double-major this past semester, but I've never taken a Theology class at Rockhurst that I didn't love...all in all, it's seemed like this move is making a lot of sense for me in a lot of ways. I will still apply to English grad programs, but probably not quite as many as I originally planned. Basically, I feel like I'll keep my options fairly open and see what opportunities present themselves as I go. I'm just so thankful that we have such amazing professors at Rockhurst, especially my Theology advisor who agreed to meet with me over the summer and was so encouraging in answering all of my questions.

From the friends I've talked to, it seems like it's mandatory to have a major crisis before going into your last year of undergrad--but the great thing is I'm experiencing this with all my friends! I've had some amazing companions this summer to talk to, and we're all sort of helping each other through our final realization that yes, despite our doubts, we are slowly becoming adults.

It's a scary time, but especially after making the decision to move forward in researching Theological schools, everything is feeling a lot better in my life. Though this has never happened to me before, I guess sometimes paths just open for you and you can tell that they feel right.

Oops...I didn't mean to wax philosophical there! I suppose I'm getting in the habit of being more introspective!

Anyway, until next time :-D

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!

Waxing Eloquent--1st Post!

Hello all!

I'm Emily Kahm (hint: pronounced 'Cam' like in 'camera'), and as soon as this week ends I will officially have finished my junior year at Rockhurst. I'm an English Writing and Theology double major and I like to do more activities than I have time for. But here's an overview of the clubs and projects that have been occupying my busy life over the past semester:

Rockhurst Review: The national fine arts journal of Rockhurst! We recieve submissions from all over the country of poetry, fiction, and visual art, and publish a new journal every year in the spring. I have been an assistant editor since my freshman year, and next year I'm going to be the student managing editor--which means I'm going to need to find a great editorial staff!

English Club: As (you may have guessed) a group of English geeks, we have a couple of events per semester--including the marathon reading (where we eat pizza and take turns reading a novel out loud from beginning to end) and our poetry jam (celebration of poetry! Also involving pizza...)

Sigma Tau Delta: The national English honors fraternity! I presented two of my pieces at the national conference in Louisville this year, and shortly after the spring induction ceremony, I was elected President of our chapter. The picture is of me presenting my paper "Frankenstein as a Feministic Novel." Not the greatest quality, but at least you can't see how nervous I am ;-)

There seems to be a bit of a theme in most of my activities...but hey! I'm an English major, and I like what I do!

I'll be at Rockhurst on campus all summer long, since I work as a summer Conference Assistant, so I'll be updating regularly and probably with stories about the goings on of Rockhurst while most of the students are at home.