And They Said It Couldn’t Be Done..

That’s Right I’m Talkin’ ‘Bout GRADUATION…

Not to say, that people are saying it’s impossible to actually graduate.. but I’m sure as you make your way through college presentations and talk to people you know, the idea that it is taking more and more students a bit longer than four years to graduate is becoming familiar to you. There are many reasons for this delay. Some students add double majors, some choose to study abroad more than once, and others pursue higher degrees in accelerated programs. While this is all fine and great for those people, it has always been a personal goal of mine to graduate in FOUR years please : ) Well, I’m here to tell you all today that I WILL be GRADUATING in May 2012.. exactly four years from when I started my incredible experience here at Temple. I went to my advisor yesterday and found out that I am goood to go for graduation in Spring 2012.  However, as excited as I was- this did come as bittersweet news to me. I can’t believe that this coming year will be my final year here at Temple. Roughly translated the coming year will be my….

…SENIOR YEAR…

So as an official rising senior I would like to offer the following words of advise prospective students..

Meet with your advisors here at Temple frequently. They will not only keep you on track for graduation but they will help you pack every bit of awesome that Temple has into your time here.

Congratulate everyone you know who is graduating this year because it is an amazing accomplishment.

And finally….

Enjoy every single up all-nighter, nail-biting exam, snow-covered trudge to class, pound of your Freshman Fifteen, and every single other thing that will happen to you because college ( ESPECIALLY a TEMPLE) is the best four years you can never do again <3

Oh You Fancy, Huh?

 Formal Season Is My Favorite Time of Year!

           Although Formal Season has come and gone.. it should not be punished for my tardiness in posting and given its proper recognition. One of my absolute favorite things about being involved with Greek Life is Formal Season. Every sorority and fraternity for the most part has a “formal” where everyone gets dressed up, and goes to a fancy venue for a night of dancing and eating : ) This year I went to two formals, mine and my boyfriend’s. Mine was held at the Liberty Ballroom at the Courtyard Marriott which is a gorgeous ballroom right across the street from City Hall. My boyfriend’s fraternity held their formal at an artsy bar/restaurant venue in Center City called Moriarty’s.

        Personally, I think that formals are one of the best parts about Greek life in general. I love getting to basically re-do prom every year over and over. I love the pictures, the dresses, the memories. Call me a princess, but going to formal is the closest I think one can get to being Cinderella and going to the ball. Being quite the sentimental person I really cherish the opportunity to close out the year with such a formal affair. I think that being in Philadelphia makes our formals that much cooler than Greek Life other places because we have such a cool array of venues to choose from. For example in my freshman year my formal was in the historic and beautiful Union League building right on Broad St. Last year formal was right on the water .. on a boat!!.. at the Moshulu restaurant, an upscale boat restaurant right by Penn’s landing. ( Also, please note how being in Philadelphia provides for some interesting formal wardrobe opportunities.. note my boyfriend’s outfit ((right)) of Flyer’s orange & black, complete with a Flyer’s tie.)  The pictures and moments I take away from formal will definitely help me to never forget how lucky I was to have such an amazing college experience. I know, I’m sappy… but you all will be too when you are (gasp) rising seniors : ) More posts to come.. Happy Summertimeee!!

<3 Natalie

Spring Fling 2011:

I Came, I Flang, I Flung

So, one of the most highly anticipated days of the year here on Temple’s campus has come and gone.. that’s right.. you guessed it.. SPRING FLING!!!  Spring Fling is basically a huge carnival- style event set up on campus. There are A MILLION things to do and A MILLION free things to pick up!! Different student organizations will hold tables and raise money for their organization or different charitable causes. My sorority’s event was a dunk tank ( pictured at right, obviously). We called it Dunk -A-DZ and girls took turns signing up to actually sit in the dunk tank and get dunked.. This picture isn’t the greatest because it looks like the weather was bad but the weather was actually GORGEOUS.. which is just perfect for SpringFling. That’s not me in the picture, but another one of my sisters. We all had a blast!! I definitely took advantage of the other free, fun events on campus as well, like the giant rock climbing wall, moon bounce, sumo wrestling pit ( complete with full sumo wrestler fat suits), and of course .. a TON of free food. All in all, Spring Fling was a SUCCESS. I definitely flung like a champ.. and the fact that I only have one left, is the saddest thing in the entire world. Savor EVERY SINGLE MINUTE OF COLLEGE!!!.. it goes all toooo fastt : (

Surprise Birthday Concert!

On Sunday night my boyfriend surprised me with an AMAZING live concert by Graham Colton. Graham Colton is an awesome singer and I am a huge fan of his band, the Graham Colton Band, so needless to say getting to hear him play accoustic, live, was a completely awesome surprise. The concert was at World Cafe Live, an intimate restaurant-type setting, where performers literally serenade you while you eat.  I took this picture on my phone. We were probably like 40 feet away from him.. so cool.The artists even hang around in the lobby area afterward so that you can get pictures and autographs.  World Cafe Live is an artsy, super cool venue on Chestnut near Penn’s campus- only about a ten minute drive. I DEFINITELY want to go back here. They have an amazing list of performers come through each month. Below is a video of one of his songs that you are most likely to have heard. It’s one of my all-time favorites- and we learned at the concert that he actually wrote this in high school, which is beyond impressive.  Anyway, enjoy!!

Happy Birthday to NatalieOwl!

It’s my 21st Birthday!!! And you know what?? There is no other place in the entire world that I would rather celebrate it than right here in Philadelphia on Temple’s campus with my best friends in the universe. So it’s a quick post but I leave you with this happy little diddy above that’s defining my day.. and it just so happens that Hall and Oates, singers of this song, are TEMPLE ALUM!! <3

I Want it OWL

So, One of the best things about being a Temple student is that we have such a trendy mascot; the owl. Not to be superficial, but having such a fantastic mascot opens so many possibilities for home decor <3 Here are some treasures I discovered today that if quite frankly they don’t make you want to be a Temple Owl.. I don’t know what will .

.. Owl Teapot?! zomg sooo cute.

You’ll soar around campus in these owl earrings..

Night Owl?? No need to stay in the dark if you have this ADORABLE owl lamp..

 

Not gonna lie.. These are a personal favorite : ) Wise Owls never lose thir keys with these owl shaped “Quirkeys” key covers!

 

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

On Friday the weather here in Philadelphia was absolutely lovely!!! There are so many good things about spring in Philadelphia, but going to one of Philadelphia’s gorgeous parks has to be one of the best. I, like many others, took advantage of the fantastic weather by heading down to Rittenhouse Square, a gorgeous park located just South of City Hall at Walnut St. Rittenhouse Square was one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn for Philadelphia in the late 17th century.  Today, Rittenhouse is, for lack of a better word, “POPPIN!” This is a Philadelphia Cultural hot spot. People from all walks of life hang out here to eat their lunches, jog, play trumpets, hula-hoop, salsa-dance, and show off their dogs and their babies. In one short afternoon at Rittenhouse I saw it all. There are huge grassy areas where people set up blankets and hang out . We brought a couple of sodas and some speakers ans just lied on our blanket in the grass people-watching. As relaxing as it was for us, it was a frenzy of life for others, small children rode scooters in circles on the paved areas of the parks and people chased down their dogs.

Rittenhouse has to be one of THE BEST places in the entire world to people watch. There are also a variety of small businesses and restaurants in the surrounding area- so if you’re looking to do some dining or shopping Rittenhouse is a good place to be ! It’s easy to get to from Temple’s campus . You can just hop on the subway at Cecil B Moore and take it down to the Walnut/Locust stop; it’s only about a 10 minute ride tops. Most of all, it is the perfect to take in the true essence of Philadelphia <3 Get out there and enjoy the sunshine y’all!

The Big Debate

GMOs: Friends or Foes?

In one short hour I will be doing the last graded assignment before my Spring Break begins!!! This assignment is a debate presentation for a GenEd class called Sustainable Environments. I will be arguing in favor of Genetically Modified Organisms ( hence the James and the Giant Peach pic to the right) from an Agricultural/ Environmental perspective. As a tour guide, I love to talk ( in case you couldn’t tell from reading my blog).  Thus I have the opposite problem of most people when giving presentations in that I talk too much! The presentation is only supposed to last five minutes and every time I’ve tried it I end up getting so into the information that it takes me closer to 10. Whoops!

I’ve learned all kinds of really cool stuff about GMOs since being given this assignment. Before, I had a totally negative perspective on people tampering with my food at all- but I’ve actually learned there are some really cool things that can be achieved with Genetically Modified Organisms, like more sustainable farming practices,  bioremediation capabilities, and more.  That’s one of the cool things about GenEd classes- they really do give you useful insight into real world issues that are affecting you.

Anyway, hope I didn’t bore you with my shpeel about Giant Peaches.. but that’s what I’m thinking about right now!! Expect some exciting Spring Break posts in the very near future!!

Ohhh Say Can you Seeeee???!!!!

 Last week I went to the Temple Basketball Double Header!!

 That’s ALOT of basketball : ) I went first to the Women’s game against St. Joe’s, which we won WOOO! However, the most exciting part of the game was getting to go see one of my lovely fellow Owl Ambassadors sing the National Anthem before the start of the game!! Owl Ambassador Alyssa ( featured in the photo on the left side of this post)  went in for an audition a couiple weeks before and scored the opportunity to sing before the game!! She sounded LOVELY!! I had no idea and thought it was pretyy cool that as a Temple student anyone can go in and audition to sing before one of the basketball games. Pretty cool, right? So, prospective students, if YOU decide to come to Temple, you could be the next Alyssa, enchanting us all with your delightful  musical stylings!!

Then I stayed for the Men’s basketball game against UPenn. We won, naturally : ) It was a pretty exciting game though!! Whenever Temple gets over a certain amount of points ( I think it’s 73? don’t quote me on it) everyone who attended the game gets a FREE taco from Qdoba.  Yeah, I mean it! Would I lie to you about something as important as free tacos?! No way. Just another big ol’ perk of bneing a Temple student : ) Another fun thing that happened during the basketball game was the Dunkin Donuts giveaway at half time. Dunkin Donuts selected two girls in the audience to put on giant coffee costumes ( one hot coffee, and one iced coffee) and dribble basketballs down the court and then shoot a basket at each end. Whoever completed the obstacle course first won free stuff from Dunkin Donuts. The ICed Coffee ended up being on eof the girls from my sorority’s Fall ’10 pledge class, and she WON!! WOOO I was so proud of my little iced coffee <3 So, all in all, two great wins by ATemple, some impressive and funny opportunities for my friends ,and good times had by all.;

GO OWLS!!

 

Back to School, Back to School to Prove to Dad I’m Not a…

FOOL.

So naturally, I decided to include in this post a picture of one of my friends and I pretending to be ninjas with scarves wrapped around our heads in my freshman residence hall room.  Because, in all honesty, college is all about being a fool.. it’s just knowing how to be a fool and getting ridiculous amounts of work done at the same time  : )

I have an incredibly busy and exciting semester ahead. I went to my tuesday classes today and am excited for both of them. At 9:30 am I had Chaucer. This fulfills one of the elective credits for my English major. I was a little worried about taking a class about a Medeival English writer but I think it’s actually going to be really interesting. My professor is even taking us on a excursion later in the semester to a museum to look at medeival paintings and manuscripts. ( This is enticing to nerdy English majors like myself) Then I had Statistics. As an English and Political Science major.. Math has NEVER been my strong point so I was TOTALLY dreading this class. However, I founf myself in an interesting variation of Statistics called Statistics in the News media. We will be learning how to critically analyze information that is presented to us more so than doing math ( at least that’s what my British professor with an insanely cool tie told us). He said it’s going to be mainly reading and writing which is right up my ally, so I’m pretty pumped for that. Happy first day of the semester everyone!!!!!