With the start of the holiday season, I’ve begun thinking about all the things I have to be thankful for. If you don’t mind, I’d like to share some.

I’m thankful to be a Cleveland sports fan: Alright, I know what you’re thinking.  At this point it is really depressing to emotionally invest in any of the sports in this town. After attending the Browns vs. Jacksonville game this past weekend, I am remembering why I’m a fan in the first place. Though it was horribly windy and freezing cold, the 14-10 win in the last few minutes of the game made me realize; If you remain loyal to something, even in the worst of times, your patience will be rewarded eventually. You may be laughing at me for this reasoning, especially after the intense game vs. Cincinnati yesterday that resulted in yet another loss, but I don’t care!! I remain assured that there are others like me left on this campus. After I returned home from the game last weekend I sat in the computer lab finishing up some homework, still wearing my Josh Cribbs jersey (YEAH #16!!!). Within the hour that I was in there, I shared about 15 high fives with other Walsh students who were celebrating the victory just as I was. It makes my heart happy to still see everyone walking around on game days wearing their brown and orange. To all the Browns fans left out there; you are accepted at Walsh!!

I’m thankful to have a Grandma that bakes ridiculously delicious cakes: If you’ve ever had the chance to taste one of my Goggy’s cakes, you can understand why one should be so thankful. Over the years, it has become somewhat of a tradition that every time my family comes up for a game, my Grandma brings us one of her famous cakes. They have become notorious amongst our friends and neighbors for being able to cure any sort of affliction. Most times, a plate is not even necessary as it has become the norm to simply take a fork and dig right into the pan… it tastes even better that way. In a way, I look at these cakes as a metaphor for how lucky I am to have such a caring family behind me. Going to a school as nice as Walsh, I know my family has had to make sacrifices for me to be enrolled in such a prestigious curriculum, and to hopefully one day soon be advancing on into higher education in a Physical Therapy school. It means so much to me that my family has been so supportive over the years, and I give thanks that we have such a close knit relationship. They have made me who I am today!

I’m thankful for the rivalry that is Walsh vs. Malone: The Alumni Arena where our teams play basketball is geared to seat a few thousand people. It’s not every day that you get to witness every single one of those seats filled up. This situation can only mean one thing; the Walsh vs. Malone game. Every basketball season comes a game which brings the student body together in ways that no other competition ever could. If you’ve ever tuned into the cable channel Sports Time Ohio (which also serves as the home of Walsh Cavalier sports coverage… shameless plug, I know,) there is a commercial out currently about rivalry. It’s a bunch of different athletes from area high schools describing their rivalry games in one word. My favorite word used in the commercial is “tradition.” For as long as anyone can remember, the Walsh/Malone game has been a true example of the traditions of school spirit that embodies the Walsh community. The students and faculty of Walsh bleed maroon and gold, and you truly get to see that dedication surface at this game. I believe that in addition to the immense talent our basketball teams have, it is the spirit and support that the fans provide that allows our men’s and women’s teams to keep their ownership of the Mayor’s Cup year after year. I’m thankful to be part of the pride and spirit that backs our athletes to victory.

On that note, I hope to see you all out at the Walsh vs. Malone game tomorrow night. Women tip off at 6pm and the men follow at 8pm. We’re doing our best to make sure that every one of those seats are filled, so come out and show your support!!

I’m thankful that you all have stuck around and read this novel of a blog I have written you. I hope that you all had a great start to the holiday. With Christmas just around the corner, I feel so fortunate that I can look forward to another joy-filled holiday with my friends and family. I wish you all many blessings this joyful season! What are you all thankful for?

Hey friends,

Is it seriously November already? Where in the world did this semester go??? With the arrival of this new month my professors are already throwing around the most sacrilegious word that would have even the most non-filtered college student running for the hills crying with their hands over their ears – “finals.” You know how department stores/malls put up their Christmas decorations the second it hits October 1^st, and you feel like you’re being thrown head first into the Christmas season without any sort of warning? That’s how I feel about finals… still a whole month to go and I’m having a heart attack over nothing!! Nothing like inducing a state of panic when it is totally not necessary…. Yikes.

Cavalier football season came to an end at our home Fawcett Stadium yesterday with an explosive 60-0 victory over Concordia. These past few weeks have been a turn for the better for the last half of our season- winning three out of the past four games!!! Of course let’s not forget to mention the most important victory of all- the shut out of our archrival Malone in a 35-10 victory. Way to show them who runs the town Cavaliers!! This game (as well as last weekend’s game versus Taylor University) was a night game; I can’t begin to explain to you how good it felt to cheer under the lights again… I can only imagine how the players felt! I’m going to guess though, that if you asked any of us we would give anything to be back under those Friday night lights. Nevertheless, we still have an amazing time out there on Saturday mornings, and I’m sad to see another football season come to a close. It’s so crazy to think that I only have one more year left as a college cheerleader; again I ask, where has the heck has time gone??

Next week marks the beginning of yet another basketball season at the Alumni Arena!!! YEAH!!! Our men’s team will remain on the road until November 29^th, which doubles as both our home opener as well as the Walsh versus Malone game. Talk about coming out with a bang! The Walsh Cheerleaders will also be performing a half-time routine, so make sure to stay tuned for that . While our boys are on the road, we are staying super busy with women’s basketball games. Their home season kicks off this Friday, so I better see you all there!! As usual, we are expecting awesome things from both teams this year; both have been polled number one in the AMC pre-season coach’s poll as to who is predicted to win the entire conference. Pretty impressive isn’t it? We sure think so.

On a sad note, on Wednesday, October 19^th, the Walsh community experienced a great loss in our family. Brother Joseph Power, one of the Brothers of Christian Instruction here on campus, passed into the loving arms of the Lord after his long battle with cancer. It is truly impossible to put into words what an amazing person Brother Power was. If you ever had the great pleasure of meeting him, you’d know what I mean. He was a great scholar, teacher, and storyteller. With so many life experiences (how many people can say that they studied under C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien??), he was always full of advice and had so much wisdom to share. I, as well as many of the other students here on campus, always made it a point to take the back way to our 8 a.m. classes just so we could have our morning chats with Brother Power as he sat on the porch of La Mennais Hall. As a beautiful memorial, there now remains a picture of Brother Power in that favorite chair of his, so that the students and faculty can still get to see his bright smiling face in the morning on their way to classes. I know that my summers will never be the same, as I always enjoyed stopping by La Mennais as I was running around doing my errands. Enjoying a few minutes in the company of Brother Power was a great way to get through a hectic day in the office, and I will forever cherish those moments spent with him. One thing is for certain, heaven is in the company of a remarkable new angel. Rest in Peace Brother Power, your Walsh family will never forget you!

“We are all different but we are all made in the image of God, each of us a unique note in that divine symphony. I turn to the great C.S. Lewis who reminds us that there is no insignificant life and there are no ordinary men and women. We are all made in the image of God and destined for an eternity of joy – I believe that.” –Brother Joseph Power

Hello everyone, Currently writing you from the comforts of my home back in Elyria- what a strange feeling! It has been a crazy long time since I’ve been back here, and I gotta admit it’s pretty refreshing. Though I love my home away from home at Walsh, it will be so nice to kick back for the next couple of days with the family and to enjoy some of my mom’s home cooking (right when I was getting sick of peanut butter and jelly every night for dinner.) If there’s one thing I’ve learned being in a Catholic school for 15 years of my life, it’s that every once in awhile you get a day off here or there without ever really knowing why. I can only assume this is because they are rewarding us students for weeks of hard work under a rigorous curriculum, but who’s complaining?? We’ll go ahead and assume that is the reason I am currently enjoying said days off for our Fall Break, even though it will be spent cramming for my tests next week. Isn’t the point of a break to relax you ask? Probably…. But not in my time!

I’ve had a pretty busy couple of weekends as far as athletics are concerned. Last weekend myself and six other upperclassmen cheerleaders hit the road to Indianapolis to Marian College, to root on our Cavalier football team. Since the trip was 5 and a half hours one way, we left a day early and stayed the night at a hotel. The name of the hotel was “Caribbean Cove,” and I think you can assume from the name what our stay entailed… WATER PARK!!!!  For college age cheerleaders, I think we reacted to a water park the same way that the 7 year old boys’ birthday party that was there did. After about a hundred trips down the water slide and through the lazy river we called it a night by having a nice dinner in one of the three restaurants in the hotel- it was such a nice place! A few of the girls even left the water park with a proposition to be taken out on a date by a cute boy; he just turned 9 last month. Hilarious… too cute. :) I always love going on away trips with the squad. It’s kind of like the ultimate bonding experience when you have to ride in the same van a total of 12 hours; it’s a good thing we all love each other!  The game itself was a pretty great one. Marian has been notorious this season for mercilessly beating every team it plays… they beat Malone 55-0! Wow!! Though we lost, we ended the game with a 20-13 score, losing by a mere touchdown. This was pretty impressive considering the Cavs are the first team to score on Marian ALL SEASON, let alone keep pace with them throughout the entire game. Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. All in all, the trip was tons of fun…. except for the fact that it gave me a nasty case of bronchitis with which I am now infecting the rest of the team. Oh well, a little bit of mom’s nursing this weekend will fix me right up!

Yesterday, we met with another one of our rivals, St. Francis. This game finally brought us home to Fawcett Stadium after being on the road for the whole month of September. This was a particularly huge game for the fact that we have lost to St. Francis 14 years in a row… ouch! This game would be the last time we would ever play this school, due to the fact that we made the transition to the NCAA and they did not. I’d say we left a mark on them with the double OT game that resulted. We lost by a mere extra point and ended with a score of 41-42. We are nothing but proud of our boys, they have been working so hard despite so many injuries this season. The maroon and gold will keep fighting! Next weekend, we meet with our archrivals Malone during a 7pm game for Fall Family Weekend. Say it with me everyone- CROSS TOWN THROWDOWN!!! I hope the Pioneers are ready for us! Here’s where the Walsh fans come in- we need everyone to attend in full Cavalier spirit… you can be sure Malone fans will be representing in full force. It is our duty as Walsh U to outdue them. It’s the biggest game of the season, and our guys need and deserve our full support! 

Well friends, I must leave you to go study the Microanatomy of the tissues of the human body. I know, it sounds terribly exciting. I sent my dad off to get me the particular neon note cards that I simply MUST have in order to study properly, so we’ll see if he found the right ones (yes, I am spoiled). See you all next week at the Malone game. :) Until next time, Go Cavs!!!!

Hello my Walsh friends,

I apologize for neglecting you the past week and a half… it seems as though this semester has opened up and swallowed me whole…totally not exaggerating. I’m not sure what possessed me to take five science classes, but I assure you that I won’t be doing THAT again!! I love all of them so far, but these past couple of weeks I’ve found myself in the library more than I have been in my own room. As far as I’m concerned, I’m about one Microanatomy test away from dragging an air mattress in there and calling it a day.

While I have been busy studying, I’ve of course taken some time off to relax. My friends and I have a tradition that we created our Freshman year where we dress up and go to a nice restaurant whenever it is one of our birthdays. My roommate and close friend Monica’s birthday was in August, so we decided for the heck of it to celebrate a few weeks late (we’re always looking for a good reason to dress up and put on a good pair of heels). There is a vineyard called Gervasi right down the street from Walsh, and we’ve heard so many great things about it that we decided it was as good a time as ever to go and check it out. What a great choice it was! The weather was so nice we decided to eat outside on the patio. Not only is it set in the middle of the beautiful vineyard, but they had live music as well! We definitely will be going back soon!

My roommates Kayleigh, Monica, and I at Gervasi... such a gorgeous place!

Group shot of the 4 of us in front of the water

The month of September has been pretty quiet for me as far as football games. Our first game was the first week of the month, and the team has been on the road ever since. We had a pretty great showing the first weekend; it was one of the biggest home opening crowds since I’ve been a cheerleader here at Walsh. Unfortunately, we lost in overtime to Notre Dame College. We haven’t been having the best luck this season, but today we got out first victory on the road against Urbana- WAY TO GO BOYS!  I did not travel this game due to the fact that I am going next weekend to the game at Marian in Indiana. It’s a far drive, so we’re leaving Friday morning and staying in a hotel connected to a water park… SWEEETTT!!!! I am so, so, SO excited! Naturally in me deciding not to travel today, Jim Tressel was in attendance at the Walsh-Urbana game rooting on the Cavs. Word on the street is that he’s good friends with our very own Coach Dennison… our Freshmen cheerleaders even got a picture with him! He must be a good luck charm-maybe we can get him to come to a few more of our games!! Our home games kick back up the weekend after next. We even have a few night games this October. I cannot explain how great it’s going to feel to be cheering under the lights again! Just like the old days of Friday night football!

Group shot!

Lisa and I!

Myself, Ally, and Lisa

Last weekend my BFF Lisa and I, along with our two cheerleading coaches, went to the Jason Aldean concert at Blossom Music Center. Pretty much ¾ of Walsh’s student body was in the sold out crowd of 20,000 concert goers. I have been to a TON of concerts in my life; it’s definitely one of my favorite Summer/Fall activities. I can easily say that this was one of the BEST concerts I have ever seen (next to Rascal Flatts, of course!) It was too funny how many of my peers I saw there… apparently the Walsh campus is full of country music fans!!  You can bet that I will be going to a Jason Aldean concert again sometime soon… so much fun!

At the concert! (Please excuse my color combination, I was a little chilly and a coat was necessary!)

Pretty close for lawn seats!!!

This is my attempt at taking a picture of the crowd of 20,000 people... wow!

Well everyone, I’m sorry this blog was a little short and sweet. I promise that this next week I will engage in some activities that are a bit more exciting. I only have one test on Monday so I should be able to emerge from my home at the library (though I have to admit the cappuccinos I get out of the vending machine there are bomb. I know what you’re thinking… coffee in a vending machine? Yup. Best 75 cents I’ve ever spent.) Take care everyone. I’ll let you know how the waterpark turns out.

Until next time, Let’s Go Cavs!!!

Walsh Friends,

 The first week of school has come and gone so quickly. The other day someone asked me what year I am in college, and my own response surprised me- Junior??? When did I get so OLD???!!! I cannot begin to describe how crazy fast my undergraduate years have been flying by; kind of bittersweet if you ask me! With the arrival of the largest Freshman class in history to the Walsh campus, I find myself reflecting on the past two years. Believe it or not, I’ve learned a thing or two while here. Watching all of the newbies try and find their way the first week, I began to think of all the things that I wish I could tell them. Then it hit me, I have this wonderful blog… why not share my wisdom with the world??? So without further delay, I present you;

Top 4 Things That I Have Learned in College:

1.       It’s okay to ask for directions if you’re lost; the upperclassmen won’t throw you in a trash can… yet. Totally kidding… we won’t throw you in a trash can. I will never forget my first day of class at Walsh; I was so completely lost it was embarrassing. The first person I saw was Marc Malleske, a then Sophomore and now good friend of mine. Clearly I was in panic mode and without thinking twice he asked me what I was looking for. It was so nice of him to help my scared Freshman self, and to this day I remember how good it felt to know that someone was looking out for us new students. Because of him, I try to pay it forward every now and then. To all of the lost Freshmen out there- I will gladly be your guiding light if you need me.

2.       There are more opportunities to set off the fire alarm than one could ever imagine. Word to the wise; if you can’t make Easy Mac, you should probably learn before you get to campus. Myself, and pretty much any other upperclassmen can attest to the 2 a.m. fire alarms in the winter that Easy Mac DOES burn if you don’t put enough water in. And it will set off every alarm in the building. And it will take the fire department 20 minutes to respond because you might say they are rather used to these kinds of calls from us. We must not forget to mention curling irons left on towels in the bathroom, grease from grilling chicken on a George Foreman, burnt popcorn because you forgot the Walsh microwaves operate at hydro-speed, or a dehumidifier because your room affects your “asthma” (if I’m being honest, you should probably leave that at home. Your dorm mates will find you and hurt you after the third time. True story.) I have had enough experiences of running burnt popcorn bags to the window to tell you that this is one of the most important things to remember as a college student. 

3.       Caffeine is your friend, but not at 11 p.m. I’ve been there- procrastination got the best of you and now you have to pull a late night cram sesh for a test tomorrow. Your first thought? Down the largest can of energy drink known to man. Wrongggg. Though many of my flex dollars have been succumbed to the Bucket for a late night of studying in Lemmon Hall, I will be the first to tell you that Redbull works great the first four hours, but when you’re ready to get the three hours of sleep left before your gigantic exam it doesn’t know when to quit. You will then be suffering from a lack of sleep on top of your unpreparedness. Step away from the Redbull, and study a day earlier. You won’t fail from lack of sleep and you won’t have to put up with the massive crash after your 2 liter Redbull wears off. 

4.       Studying is good; too much of it may be harmful to your sanity. If there’s one piece of advice I will never forget, it came from my Resident Assistant Freshman year. A fellow science major, she was a veteran at late night Biology studying and could tell I was on my last will to live. (Not really, but it sure feels like it after staring at lab slides for 4 hours.) She told me that I needed to put down the books and live a little. Weekends are for relaxation, not cramming. You owe it to your brain to take some time off and chill out with your friends. It took me a long time to tell myself this, but I now know that it is necessary every now and then to step back and blow off some steam! 

There you have it. My little tidbit of advice for all of you fresh faces here on campus. I have a lot more wisdom (ha, ha) to share, so if any of you ever need some guidance I’ll be more than happy to share it with you! If I could tell you one thing about surviving your first year here, it’d be to enjoy every single second of it! Time passes so quickly, and you would be crazy not to cherish every second of it because these are the best days of our lives!!! And now, a recap on my week:

 This semester is going to be ROUGH! Five science classes and not an “easy A class” to spare! The good news is that I am enjoying all my professors and am looking forward to a great semester. This past week, UPB was busy planning all sorts of events to welcome the students of Walsh into another fantastic year. Always a favorite, my BFF Lisa, and my BRF (best roomies forever) Monica and Kayleigh all went to the movie on the lawn. All inclusive with a giant screen and walking tacos, we settled in on the grassy knoll to watch “Fast Five.” It was so much fun! Wednesday night we started our school year cheer practices, and welcomed it with two new additions; a stunting Cavalier and two male cheerleaders. Our awesome Walsh U mascot, Jordan Tucker, has been coming to our practices to learn some basic stunts and band dances so that he can perform with us more this season. Talk about an awesome mascot right??? We’re hoping as the season continues we can teach him more things. The only problem is that the mascot head gets in the way because it’s so massive. I’ll keep you updated on that one, it’s probably going to get interesting. Our second addition is two male cheerleaders. Unfortunately, they’re not permanent members of the Walsh cheerleaders, but they are coming from the gym Cheer 11 in New Philadelphia, OH. One was a cheerleader at Akron, and the other is the owner of the gym. They have started coming in to help us learn some crazy stunts! We’re always up for trying daring stunts, and it makes it A LOT more comfortable to attempt when you have two 300 pound guys to catch you when you fall.

Lisa, Kayleigh, myself, and Monica enjoying the movie on the lawn

Check out Lisa, Gina, Ali, any myself stunting with our AWESOME mascot Jordan!

On that note, our Walsh Cavalier football team took their season opener on the road to Cumberlands in Kentucky this weekend. Unfortunately they lost 34-14, but FEAR NOT! Our home opener kicks off this Saturday at noon against Notre Dame, and we WILL get a victory! Since our team was on the road this weekend, I got to make a rare trip home for Labor Day to see my family. For even more of a treat, I got to catch my boyfriend Nick’s football game at Oberlin College. Nick plays free safety for the Kenyon College Lords. Though I’m always the Walsh Cavaliers’ biggest fan, I took time out to be a proud girlfriend and rooted for the purple and black J I had never been able to catch one of his college games because of my hectic schedule, so it was extra special that I got to go to this one!!

Nick and I

Well friends, I’d say I talked (well, wrote) your ears off for long enough. For all of you Freshmen out there- fear not. Your transition into college will become easier as the weeks roll on. As I said before, I’d be more than happy to help any of you find your way! Secondly, all of you reading this have no excuse not to come to the game this weekend because Giant Eagle across the street is sponsoring it- go get your free tickets today! See you then!!!

Until next time, go Cavs!!!!!

Hello Walsh friends!!

It’s hard to believe that school has officially started!!! Where did the summer go??? I am currently writing you from my new apartment in Oliveri Towers. I think I’ve finally gotten everything put in its place. So happy my roommates are finally here! As always I am so excited to have all my friends moved back and am getting into the swing of things as another school year rolls around. I can’t believe I’m a JUNIOR! I swear it seems like yesterday I was moving into my freshman dorm in Alexis. Oh how time flies when you’re having fun. Speaking of fun, my summer has been amazing! Buckle your seat belts everyone, and get ready for a long blog (I’ve been a busy lady this summer and have so much to tell you).

As soon as class let out from spring semester, I began taking a Microbiology lab and lecture. I was convinced that it would be terrible to go to school in the summer but it turns out that it wasn’t at all! Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the class (my favorite professor Dr. Underwood taught it), but one of my cheer teammates and good buddy, Ally, took the class as well! We lived together as summer roommates in Lemmon Hall and shared many laughs during our frequent late night study sessions. Not to mention our late night trips to Dunkin Doughnuts to get Munchknins (small doughnut holes of heaven) and iced coffee . All in all, I’m glad I took the class!

The rest of my summer consisted of work and cheer. As I mentioned in my previous blogs, I took a job for Student Activities as a summer Orientation Coordinator. Let me just say… I LOVE my job!!! Not only do I work with an amazing group of people, but everyone genuinely enjoys what they do. We have been working all summer on planning the Freshmen Orientation weekends down to the last detail. On four separate weekends throughout the summer months, our freshmen and their parents attend various meetings, sessions, and placement testing in order to prepare for their entrance into the University. Throughout the day, we are helped by a staff of current Walsh students. Our Orientation Leaders are dedicated and energetic individuals who volunteer to help out purely for the sake of loving what they do! Without them, our vision for the weekend would not be possible; you would be hard-pressed to find a greater group of students than our staff! These weekends are very long and extremely busy. Though I love every second of Orientation, my favorite part of the weekend, as well as everyone else’s, is hands down the Freshmen Social! It is fun for both freshmen and staff alike, and even more fun to plan! It is a chance for the new students to take time away from their parents and get acquainted with their classmates. The “Beach Party” is filled with countless activities: Dancing, Food, an Inflatable Obstacle Course, Henna Tattoos by the wonderful Missy Moore, a caricature artist, bingo, and much much more! The best memory by far would be playing Silent Library (courtesy of MTV.) As my boss Michael puts it, “nothing like watching your teammates embarrass themselves to break the ice!” It is so awesome to watch everyone unwind from the busy day, and is so rewarding to see your hard work play out before you! As the summer comes to a close, I am sad to see my time as a Coordinator come to a halt. I eagerly await next summer’s arrival so that we can start the entire process over again!

The four Orientation Coordinators

Orientation Leaders and Coordinators on the first Orientation of the summer... smiling and ready for a great weekend!

OLs/OCs on the last Orientation weekend... we love our staff!!

Mallory and I on the "Cyclone" at the Freshman Social. Clearly freaking out.

Though work has taken up a whole bunch of time, the Walsh U cheerleaders have been in full swing since May! All summer we have been practicing diligently. We have been especially busy doing various fundraisers and cheer camps, but our favorite event is always the Pro Football Hall of Fame parade. If you are from the Canton area, you know what a big deal the parade and Enshrinement are! This year Walsh did not have a float, so we carried banners in front of the various parade participants. Karleigh and I walked with OSU Mansfield, and had tons of fun cheering O-H-I-O! the entire route! They even had an eight-person bicycle that spun in a circle… pretty awesome!!  Those people had to be suffering with serious motion sickness. The HOF parade is always something we enjoy doing… I sure hope they continue to invite us back! Our next activity was putting on a cheer camp for a local school here in Canton; St. Michaels. We worked with a 7^th grade squad and an 8^th grade squad, teaching them dances and a few cheers for the year! It was tons of fun, and the girls made such an improvement from the first day. We will continue helping them out during the year, and even plan on making up competition routines for them! Just a few days ago, we did a carwash in collaboration with Keenan Advantage, a very prominent local company. We were raising money in honor of Juvenile Diabetes. In order to attract customers to our cause, we threw up stunts on the grass every hour… so much fun!!! We ended up raising over $600 dollars for the cause, and were so happy that we were able to help them out!

A few of us cheerleaders at camp

 Don’t you just love the feeling in the air as summer transitions into fall? I don’t know about you, but it is my absolute favorite time of year. And you know why else I love fall? WALSH FOOTBALL!!!! Football season is nearly upon us; our home opener is September 10^th at Fawcett Stadium against Notre Dame College. The game starts at 12 pm sharp, and our local Giant Eagle across the street at Washington Square is sponsoring the game so go get your free tickets while you can!!!

Well, I hope I haven’t overwhelmed you with my jam packed summer. Let me just say, it was a pretty great one. I had a great job, got to spend some much needed time with my friends, family, and boyfriend, got to see Rascal Flatts in concert (all time favorite band; best concert I’ve EVER been to!), and got back into the swing of cheer. Though I can’t believe it’s here already, I’m ready to embrace this year with open arms. For those of you who just moved in this weekend, can’t wait to see you all soon! Let Fall semester 2011 begin!!!

Until next time, let’s go cavs!!!

Greetings Walsh U!!

How’s everyone doing?? As usual, I’m neck deep in work, but the end of the semester is in sight!! I can’t believe it, time has seriously flown! Though I’m excited for Summer to finally get here, (no more snow, please ), it’s looking like I’m going to be just as busy as ever. That’s quite alright though, because I’d rather be busy than have nothing to do at all!!

As I have mentioned to you in the past, I became an Orientation Leader last summer, and helped with the incoming freshman Orientation weekends. I enjoyed it so much, that a few weeks ago I decided to apply for a position as an Orientation Coordinator. The Orientation Coordinators are responsible for planning and executing all 4 Orientations during the summer. After a process of interviewing and a lot of praying, I received the good news that I got the position!! Working alongside 3 returning Coordinators, I get to reside on campus all summer and plan the Orientation weekends. Words cannot express how excited I am to work with so many great people, and to be part of such an awesome weekend. These events are where the freshman meet all their classmates for the first time, and I feel very privileged that I get to be a part of the planning process.

Since returning from Branson, our cheer season came to an end. I have about a month off and then tryouts start back up again. The entire first week of May we have tryouts, and then it’s off to the races once again! We practice twice a week, three hours a practice all throughout summer just so we’re ready for football season, which always approaches incredibly fast! With Walsh’s official induction into NCAA Division II this year, I cannot WAIT for our seasons to start back up and to see all the changes! Until then, we’ve started tumbling again at NEO Gymnastics right down the road to prepare for tryouts. Ahh, the familiar feeling of muscle agony after not tumbling for a few months…

This past week was Student Appreciation Week here at Walsh. Nice, right?? A very popular activity included a steak dinner complete with shrimp. (You know, since college students are always hungry.) The line gets so long, they have to hand out tickets! My favorite thing about this week, however, was the make-your-own-plant event they had set up in the Atrium of the David Center. My roommate Kayleigh and I planted wildflowers, and decorated our very own flower pots! I hope we keep them alive, since this past year we’ve managed to neglect roses we were growing. (and by “we” I mean me. That’s the last time Kayleigh leaves me to babysit her plants… ) Check out how cute our plants are

our creations plus a little view out of our window. note that my plant isn't dead yet, so proud.

The past couple of days, all of the students here have been busy scheduling their classes. I did mine today, and I feel pretty awesome because I managed to get into Microanatomy, a class that only had 24 seats in it, and 23 were filled up right before my scheduling time came up! I was determined to get into it. Amid the jokes my friends threw my way about my obsessive-compulsive need to get into the class, I feel pretty great! It’s gunna be a hard semester, but I’m totally up for the challenge.

The other night, I got a great opportunity to take a little break from studying and go to the “Coffehouse artist” that was playing tonight in the game room. His name is Chinua Hawk, and he was absolutely phenomenal! I love going to see live performances, and he definitely knew how to put on an awesome show. He had the crowd involved the entire time, and you could tell that everyone was having a great time. He even played a little Bruno Mars, which in my book is the best you can get The real treat though in my opinion was the opening act. Whenever the University Programming Board brings in a musical artist, a Walsh student (or students) opens the act singing and playing an instrument. Tonight we had the pleasure of hearing Allie St. George, a good friend of mine ever since freshman year when she lived across the hall from me in Alexis! It was her first-ever Walsh performance, and none of us had ever heard her sing before. She did absolutely AMAZING as we knew she would, and sounded fantastic. It takes a lot of nerve to get up in front of your peers like that, and she did great! We’re all so proud of her!! Congrats Allie!

Allie doing her thing kind of dark, appologies. the game room was mood-lighted and coffehouse-esque

Chinua Hawk!!

Well folks, I think that pretty much sums up my week until now. This weekend we have LOTS going on here on campus. For one thing, Walsh Fest is on Saturday which means tons of activities all over campus! This weekend also marks my roommate Kayleighs 20^th birthday (woohoo!!), the Physical Therapy 5k run, (Time out, small advertisement: come out and join us if you’re a runner or a walker… we want all the support we can get!!! ), and finally closing out Sunday with Orientation Leader training. This is my first official task as a new Orientation Coordinator, and I’m soooo excited!

Hope all of you have a great rest of the week, and an even greater weekend. Stay tuned for an update on Walsh Fest and the 5k!

Let’s Go Cavs!!!

Happy St. Patty’s Day everyone! Hope you’re enjoying this fantastic weather… praying it sticks around for a little while. I’m finishing off our first week back from Spring Break… I had a pretty exciting break myself. My cheer squad and I spent the week in Branson, Missouri with the men’s basketball team. Although we lost 66-71 in the second round we spent 4 awesome days exploring all over Branson! I feel very fortunate that our team made it this far, and leave the season with an overall record of 30-2. I’d say that’s pretty impressive! The end of the 2010-2011 season marks the last year of Walsh being in the NAIA, and next year we will enter into NCAA Division II.  We all look forward to a lot of changes in the coming years around here, and it will be so exciting to meet with new teams and to travel to new Universities!  In the meantime, I wanna share with you all the cool stuff we did in Missouri…

The first day there we had our first round game against Union College from Kentucky.  Since we were the #1 seed in our bracket as well as the overall #1 team, there was a huge crowd that came out and watched the game. We ended up winning 81-59, securing a spot in the second round as the tourney continued. The tournament itself is played at the College of the Ozarks. It’s been played there for the last 8 years, since the NAIA headquarters is out of Missouri. This college is super different than what you’d expect. Their nickname for it is “Hard-Work U,” for the main reason that the students there do not pay tuition. They all have a job on campus, and they work many hours a week to pay for their schooling instead of paying a full tuition. They even have a fully functional farm and hotel on campus for the students to work in. Just a little fun fact for ya, I thought it was pretty interesting.

The 11 of us on the first day... Go Cavs!

Ozarks.. where the whole tourney is played at!

Lisa and I, my roommate for the week

Anyways I can pretty confidently speak for my squad when I say day two spent in Branson was everyone’s favorite day. We had a day off between our games, and we definitely spent it wisely. Two words: Tanger Outlets;  a gigantic strip of store after store of discounted awesomeness. A cheerleading squad’s heaven, right? Ohhhhhh yeah! It’s safe to say we all left Branson significantly poorer than when we arrived. Some popular stores for us were Nike, Underarmour, and Coach. (I bought something at all three, in case you were wondering.) We spent about four hours rummaging through all the stores, but the most fun was yet to come…

Later that night, we all went to Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede. We had the BEST time. The whole concept of the show is Civil War themed, and you are divided into the North and South based on where you’re seated in the arena. The whole show is done by performers, also representing the North and South, on horses. They did tons of tricks and competed with one another on their horses all while singing and acting. They also incorporated other animals into the show like buffalo and tiny baby pigs that raced each other (yeah, I’m serious. SO cute, definitely my favorite.) The other main aspect of the show is the dinner that you are served. The whole catch is that you are not given any silverware, so you have to eat the entire thing with your hands! They give you SO much food, including an entire rotisserie chicken PER PERSON. Safe to say I’ve never been more stuffed with food in my life. Totally worth it, though! I’m so glad we went, and I hope someday I get to go again! We ended the night by taking a late night swim in the awesome indoor pool in our hotel. We got to throw up some stunts in the water, so we were all happy!

Arena for the Dixie Stampede... so cool.

This is what our place setting looked like, complete with mason jar to drink out of... awesomeness

Napkin/menu

The third day we were blessed with 70+ degree weather. In comparison to the snow storm back home, we welcomed it with open arms! With weather like that, we celebrated by spending the afternoon at The Branson Landings, which resembles somewhat of an outdoor mall. I know what you’re thinking, more shopping… yes, we are crazy. There are a ton of candy shops and specialty stores, consequently causing us to spend more money (not complaining.) It is also at the Landings we discovered one of the best creations known to man- Orange Leaf, a self serve frozen yogurt bar! You could put whatever you wanted on your frozen yogurt and at the end they weigh your creation, and however many ounces it weighs that’s how much you pay! Clearly this was a day of eating, and my coaches next hit the chocolate store next door. Our coach Kristi even purchased chocolate covered bacon and made us all try it. Just FYI- I don’t recommend it.

Us at The Landings, amazing weather!

Fire and water show in the middle of The Landings!

@ Orange Leaf

$5 of goodness

Unfortunately that night was the night that our tournament appearance ended and Walsh fell to College of the Ozarks. In front of a crowd of nearly 3,500 people, it was the biggest game that I have ever witnessed as a student at Walsh. We lost by a mere six points, but by no means was this a disappointing season! The few days we spent in Branson were fantastic, and I’m so glad I got to go back a second year!

I can’t leave you without mentioning our fantastic women’s basketball team. They made it all the way to the Final Four at Nationals in Sioux City, Iowa. The Walsh family is so proud of them, just as we are our boys. Our basketball teams rock!!

Well, I hope all you Irish folk are enjoying your holiday.  My family is somewhat Irish, but unfortunately I won’t be doing much celebrating since I have a lot of studying to do and I want to get it done before my boyfriend visits tomorrow. I hope this doesn’t require caffeine, since I gave up Starbucks for Lent! Hopefully, I can survive. What did you guys give up? Hope it’s not as painful as my choice… what in the world was I thinking!?

Have a good night everyone!

Go Cavs!

Alright guys, time for a cliché, spirit-filled cheerleader-ish blog. I cannot hold back any longer

Let’s rewind about a week to President’s Day weekend: while the rest of campus was enjoying a nice long 4-day break, the men’s and women’s basketball teams (and the cheerleaders ) were hard at work. Both teams have been busy working toward their AMC division championships… and as usual we came out numero uno! Whoooopp! Last Saturday Walsh held a pep rally before the double header, and our Spirit King and Queen of the year were elected based on votes from the student body.  After the crowning we played some Walsh University spirit trivia, and some pretty sweet prizes were given away. Yours truly was the recipient of one of those prizes. I answered the question about what our three senior men’s basketball players have in common. The answer was that all their last names start with “S”.  What did I win, you ask? I don’t even need to tell you what the prize was, I think this pretty much speaks for itself…

Pom-pom gloves!!! Available at our Cavalier Spirit Shop for you to purchase, since I know you all want your own pair

… Talk about a unique yet perfect prize for a cheerleader! Our assistant coach Kristi borrowed them for the night and wore them for the entire game. Too hysterical, gotta love it!

After the festivities, the men and women both clinched another victory to close out the regular season in the Alumni Arena. However that’s not the only reason why Saturdays game was so exciting… it was a big night for the cheerleaders too! All season, we have been choreographing a dance routine to perform at half time, and this was our big debut! We came dressed for the occasion, as one of the men’s basketball coaches graciously gave us some old-school yet authentic Walsh basketball jerseys to wear for the performance. It was such a great feeling to finally perform what we have been working so hard on all season. The long weekend practices definitely paid off because the performance went awesome! We nailed every stunt and the huge cheer we got from the crowd at the end felt amazing!! We had a blast!

Action shot from the dance!

The squad wearing our awesome jerseys

 As we speak, AMC tournament play has begun and is being hosted right here at Walsh U. Both teams are the top seeds for the tournament so we get to play all games here! The guys were limited on opponents, so we advanced straight to the finals, while the women’s team had to beat Roberts Wesleyan (which they did ) to advance to their finals. Both finals will be played here on Tuesday, and as always I know we will rise to the challenge. Everybody come out and support our Cavs, because they pretty much rock and it’s always a great time

A week from today, I will be boarding a plane to Branson, Missouri with the rest of my squad. I’m not sure how Nationals crept up on us so fast, but I can tell you that this week will be hard to get through because we are all anxious and excited beyond belief! For the rest of the school, it means Spring Break has officially arrived! I do get to go home for the weekend before we’re Branson bound, and I’m so excited to see my boyfriend and my family. It’ll be nice and relaxing before all the excitement ensues! It sounds as if a lot of students are making the 13 hour drive down as well, which means our boys will have plenty of support behind them! Here’s to winning it all

 Well that’s all for now. Sorry this is such a short post… lots of tests and projects before I leave town! Regardless, I just wanted to touch base and let you know what’s been happening on the basketball front. I’ll update you next week from Branson on how awesome our team is doing (as well as giving you updates from Iowa on the women’s team. I trust my roommate Cici will keep us all posted on how great they are doing as well)

Until next week, Happy Spring Break everyone!

Let's Go Cavs!!