So the last of midterms were at the beginning of last week! ::Collective Cheer::  The only downfall to the end of midterms is that there are only four to five weeks until finals, which means each of your classes has time to squeeze in one last major exam before those finals start! This also means that ALL of my time will be confined to the basement of the library and the boiler house to study.   That’s actually alright by me considering that it is currently raining cats and dogs outside! The only thing I’d rather be doing would be playing in the mud…

Alright, confession time! The other night when it was raining super hard, a few friends and I decided to go and find some mud to play around it. We kind of regressed back to the pastimes of our youth which included many memories of dancing in the rain, and playing in the mud! I mean, honestly, I think we all needed it; it was a great release from the stresses of studying for exams. 

Moral of the story, if you’re feeling stressed, or just in a playful mood, go find some rain and mud and play! Make a mud-slip-n-slide, have a mud fight, or just dance in the rain and feel the mud in between your toes!

Hello all!

I think it just might be an understatement that I have been distracted by the BEAUTIFUL weather we have been experiencing!  I kid you not friends, it has been sunny and 75 degrees for DAYS, and I’m loving every minute of it!  The campus is absolutely amazing this time of year as well. All of the trees are in bloom and the grass is so green! Everywhere you turn there a students sprawled out on the lawn doing homework, taking naps, throwing around the Frisbee, and even blowing bubbles!

So what’s my favorite sunny day activity? TIEDYING! Of course!!!  A group of my friends and I took an afternoon and tie dyed a bunch of old shirts. It was pretty much amazing. Here are some photos of the aftermath! Amazing.

Man seriously though, the campus has really come alive this spring! I think I can officially say that spring at North Central is my favorite time of year!  I mean, LOOK at this place! And this is on a rainy day!

 My room mate and I took one afternoon and climbed a tree on campus and just sat there having “roomie bonding time” for about an hour and a half this past week.  It was hilarious, I can’t even count the number of students and professors that saw us and laughed! Ahh! Okay, everyone, right now, go out and enjoy the weather!!! And get ready for an amazing blog next week, I’m headed to Lincoln Zoo in downtown Chicago this weekend!!!

Okay, suggestion time! If you are wondering what one of the BEST classes here at North Central is, I have your answer English 125, Utopia and Dystopia with Dr. Navakas and Dr. Fisher!  I took this course fall term this year and it was AMAZING.  Now you might be wondering why it is I am telling you this, it’s because when you take amazing classes, with amazing professors, sometimes you get to do special things….like have REUNIONS!!!

That’s right folks, we had a reunion last night! The Professors took a bunch of the class out to Moshi Moshi, which is this delicious sushi restaurant in downtown Naperville.  It was SO much fun! Since many of us (students) have extremely different majors we don’t get to see each other as often as we would like, so it was great to just be able to catch up and chat for a while.  We shared tons of sushi, green tea ice cream, these strawberry ice cream nuggets, and funny memories from the class.

 Afterwards five of us decided to carry on the party and went to Le Chocolate Bar, also located in downtown Naperville, and proceeded to converse about the beauty that IS dark chocolate! It was hilarious, we were almost like the breakfast club, there was the runner, the musician, the writer, the artist, and the scientist. But that’s the amazing thing about great classes like ours was, topics such as utopia and dystopia can really bring people from every avenue together. 

Moral of the story? When you get into a class, especially one that is discussion based, CONTRIBUTE, let your views be known, because you never know who is going to share those views, or not share them.  Classes have the ability to create long lasting friendships between people, even when they are extremely different! And who knows, if you make the class interesting enough, your professors just might love you enough to take you out to dinner!

Hey all! 

 We are once again in week ten, so my schedule is jam packed with studying! But next I will be cast-free and on my way home for spring break!  So be looking for a blog around mid-next week!

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, yours truly got to go see RENT in Chicago, and let me tell you, IT WAS FANTASTIC!!!!! 

But I can’t start there, because of course, RENT happened at the end of the night, and we must begin at the beginning.

My morning began by getting on a train at 8:32am headed into Chicago in order to go to the Field Museum with my Cultural Anthropology class.  This adventure was twice as fun as it normally would be due to the simple fact that I was still on crutches at the time! (thankfully I’m in a weight baring cast right now, so I can walk!!!)  Anyway, from the train station we took two busses to get the Museum where we met our professor and some of the other students. When I reference “we” by the way, I’m talking about my friend Grant, who is also from Omaha, and is in the class with me.  Now let me tell you, if you ever get the chance to take the cultural anthropology course here at NCC, get ready for a good time. Now it’s not easy by any means, but you DO get to go into the archives that are located under the Field Museum when you go on the field trip. All I can say is it was an amazing experience! We were able to see giant Chinese dragons, ancient Egyptian tablets, Tibetan temple art, and so much more! I know it sounds a little cheesy, but no kidding, it was SO COOL!

Moving on, we took the train back to campus after our tour of the Museum was over, and four hours later I was on a bus back into the city to see RENT! The show was AMAZING. I was so impressed with all the actors, honestly—it was hands down one of the coolest things EVER! And the best part? Tickets only cost 5 DOLLARS! That’s right ladies and gentlemen, five dollars to go and see RENT.  This was because of some of the lovely on campus clubs who have access to tickets like these as well as tickets to events like cubs games, and medieval times!

Moral of the story—find out what opportunities the campus is offering and take advantage of them!!!

Next week, I’ll tell you all about how I sold merchandise at the Newsboys concert and got a free t-shirt out of it!!!  I know you are all excited! And don’t forget to LEAVE COMMENTS!!!

So 7th week is one of the most painful weeks in a term. But, in order to keep my spirits high…I have come up with a list of amazing things that happen during 7th week!

 -Whole oranges start to make and appearance at K-mann, not to mention strawberries at the Cage!

-The sun comes out for more than one hour at a time!

-If you are lucky–it’s Valentines Day! Which means fun boxes from your parents filled exciting surprises.

-Also if you are lucky–you get to go see RENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I’m going tomorrow–and you’ll get LOTS of fun photos next week!)

-You can start to think about putting that heavy winter jacket away to replace it with a lighter one!

-The band Sleeping at Last comes to The UNION! (one of my favorite bands of ALL TIME! You should check it out, doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7pm, free for all NCC students, $8.00 for everyone else!)

-And best of all, IT’S WEEK SEVEN! Which means there are only three weeks plus finals left! It’s the home stretch!

Until next week!

P.S. PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS! I’d love to hear what you think of the campus if you have visited, or answer any questions you might have!!!

This weekend was BEYONED amazing. It included human pyramids, intense games of capture the flag, and snow angels.  The Christian Life Council put on a Saturday to Sunday retreat held at Riverwoods Christian Center, and let me say—it was the most fun I’ve had in a while!

Here’s a photo of the center we stayed at.  The cabin was brand new—so we got to “break it in” for the center! This was a great chance to get away from the stress of midterms and homework, and just be able to play!  I had forgotten how much fun it is to run around (as much as you can in a cast and crutches!) and play in the snow! We played some super intense capture the flag in a good 6 to 8 inches of snow in the woods.  The two teams ended up tying, each of us winning one round.  After capture the flag we made some pretty amazing snow angels—I’m proud to say that a friend gave mine crutch imprints for me—so it was completely realistic!  Once we were all finished in the snow, activity moved on to human pyramids and synchronized back flips! This was one failed attempt—can I just say that this was HILLARIOUS to watch???!!

Some of the boys decided to try and do synchronized back flips—we all were worried a little for their sanity…and their safety!

I think in conclusion, this was a much needed get away, and I’m now ready to take on the rest of the term!

Calc tests and Chem quizzes, stressful midterms and freezing weather; this has been an amazing week.  I’m not kidding you; there is NO sarcasm in this blog.  I would usually complain about the load of work I have left, and about how it’s only Wednesday, or the fact that it’s snowing buckets outside and I’m on crutches for the next 6 weeks, but I can’t. I just complain.  I have realized this week that I have been beyond blessed.  I had an epiphany of sorts, including the amazing realization of how easy my life has been. Sure, there have been hard times, struggles, as well as amazing experiences, but the reality is that it’s all up to me now.  I guess you could classify this as one of those crossroads you stumble upon in college. When you finally realize that up until now, to an extent, life has been handed to you on a metaphorical silver platter.  Choices have been presented, and you have been able to carefully pick and choose the option that best suits you.  Up until now is the key phrase—now you have to fight for it. You have a dream, a passion, a desire, and it will NOT be handed to you; it needs to be fought for. 

If you have a passion, an idea of what your life is meant to look like, you can’t let anything, or anyone tell you it can’t be done.  But you also have to realize that it will not be done for you.  I’ve realized my passions, at least what they are at this point in my life, and I now know what my next steps in fighting for those passions must be.

I have been blessed by being able to come to North Central, by having been placed in challenging courses, and by having the opportunity to interact with so many incredible professors who have encouraged and stimulated me to such a great extent. I never knew the depth of what my abilities could develop into, and the only way I could have ever been able to truly discover the possibilities of these abilities is through the opportunities given to me by North Central.

Moral of the story tonight: there will always be obstacles, tough choices, undesirable circumstances, and metaphorical broken ankles, but you have to fight to get in the position where you will be able to realize your passions and unique abilities.  It will not always be an easy road, but I can guarantee you that it will be more than worth it in the long run.

I know this blog was on a more serious note, but next week I promise I’ll tell you about all the amazing fun I will have had on the retreat I’m going on this weekend! Have fun in the snow everyone!

This week has been filled with fun happenings. 

 Let’s get a quick re-cap

 I sprained/possibly broke my ankle playing intramural soccer.  That was a good time let me tell you!!! Okay, so I lied, this week has NOT been filled with fun things. It’s been slightly stressful, and pretty hectic. I think I’m going to leave it at that for right now.  Hopefully next week’s blog will be longer and actually fun to read!  Have a splendid week 4 everyone!!!!

 Megan

Hello all!  So you might be curious, what are these two beautiful girls doing taking a random pouty face photo in the middle of a Barns and Noble?  Well, I’m about to tell you.  This is a story about two girls, and their Friday night off campus…or as far as two girls can get without cars.  Now don’t let your imaginations go to crazy! My wonderful roomie, Abbey and I got all dolled up and went with her splendid cousin (also named Meaghan, and obviously spelt differently),  out  to dinner and a movie.  I know, you are all jealous! And  I can’t blame you, who wouldn’t be,  right?

So we met Meaghan and a few of her friends at the Barns and Noble down the street from campus. Now this is where Daniel Craig comes into play.  I don’t know how many of you have seen Casino Royale, I for one have not, but apparently, Mr. Craig has the SAME expression throughout the entire film. This is not  cool in my book, but that’s besides the point.  So Abbey and I, were waiting for Meaghan and her friends to check out, and we found this fascinating book; it contained a top ten list of ANYTHING YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE!  Anyway, this is totally relevant because we found a photo of Mr. Craig doing his infamous pouty face while playing James Bond.  So naturally, we HAD to take a photo of our own trying to emulate his amazing expression.  Let’s just say that this took way to many tries to be successful, and we received a plethora of odd stares…but it was SO worth it!

Now I bet you are wondering, but Megan, what did you do next? What movie did you see? Well hold your horses friends! I’m getting there!  We proceeded to dine at Max and Erma’s, a restaurant  I have never eaten at before.  Let me just say, it was delicious, and as for desert, we ordered some of their chocolate chip cookies…they were divine. Following dinner we headed across the street to the movie theatre and saw The Bucket List. Just a warning, this is not a funny movie, it’s quite sad actually. You will probably leave with the urge to travel the world and go sky diving…unless you are like me and constantly battle the urge to travel the world and go sky diving.

After the film, Abbey and I headed over to The Union to see the final band, Company of Thieves.  If you have never heard of them, I highly encourage you to find their myspace and check them out, seriously, this is a talented band. Upon conclusion of The Union, we rounded off the night by going over to Naperplace Appartments and watching Empire Records.  Now let me just say, this is an incredibly poorly done 90’s film. If you have not seen it, DO NOT waste your time with it!

So I guess that’s it! Soon after getting back to our dorm, we collapsed into our lofts…not waking until about 11:30 the following morning.