The Year 2012

A year ago today, I had a Facebook status that said, "last year I had no idea where I would be but knew what changes were coming..this year know where I'll be but no idea what changes will come!" (please excuse the corniness, I am slightly ashamed of my 2011 self)

While the mere fact that I had a Facebook status says a lot about the changes of 2012, this status was actually very accurate.  I am still in the same physical place (ole South Mountain, also known as Lehigh University) but am by no means the same person I was at the end of 2011.  

2012 introduced me to new friends, difficult setbacks, lots of new experiences, and a realization of what I want to do for the rest of my life.  

Some highlights of the year...

Bid day-January 15

Sorority recruitment as a potential new member is extremely stressful, and I was anxious to get into a house that was a good fit and I would be happy in.  When I was handed my bid to Alpha Gamma Delta, I did get into such a house.  From celebrating with my friends in the morning about our respective bids to being picked up and meeting over 100 new sisters at the house, bid day was an exciting and overwhelming day.  

Lehigh beats Duke-March 16

When the NCAA brackets were released and we found out that Lehigh would be facing the powerhouse Duke in the first round of the tournament, many people saw it as a death wish.   I only basic knowledge about basketball but had a gut feeling that Lehigh was going to win. We watched the game at a fraternity and it was mass chaos when the clock ran out-people were screaming, hugging, and the fire alarm was going off.  We all ran out of the house and there was a mob of people on the hill, which ended up sprinting down to the front lawn.  Some of the chairs that are on the lawn were set on fire, and it was easily one of the best nights of my life.  

If you want to see what it was like, this YouTube video has a mob shouting "Levels", and this is a video I took after we won.  There is also an official Lehigh beat Duke rap, and this blog post by local Lehigh valley blogger "Lehigh Valley with Love" actually pretty well described what the campus was like after the win  (he was predicting what it would be like if we won).  

Visiting my friend Julia at Lehigh-June

One of my best friends lived at Lehigh over the summer and took classes, so I visited her one weekend.  We explored all parts of campus and found the way onto the roof at Linderman.  We went up to the sculpture garden and I spontaneously decided to walk through the fountain in front of Alumni Memorial.  

 



















Alpha Gamma Delta Convention-July
I was lucky enough to be one of three members of my chapter to attend Alpha Gam International Convention this July.  It was amazing to meet women that I had an instant connection with because we knew and lived by the same purpose and ideals of the fraternity.  There were also lots of great workshops that helped me understand the workings of Alpha Gam and there were lots of great ideas that we have brought back to our chapter.  Plus, we got to explore St. Louis a little bit, and went to the top of the arch!

The view from the top of the arch

An unplanned week in Pittsburgh-October

I previously blogged about adventures in Pittsburgh during Sandy, and this unexpected week away with three of my best friends was one of the most memorable parts of the year.  

It was difficult to come up with a few concise, precise moments that "defined" 2012-it was a year of changes, but so many were gradual and so many of the moments that made this year great were tiny ones that added up.  There is no way to describe how I became best friends with thirty girls, almost all of whom I did not know at this point last year.  Or how a hobby became a major and potential career, or how the many decisions that I made, whether good ones or bad ones, affected the person I am today.  

So what's in store for 2013?

• getting a new member class of Alpha Gam, and a little!
• my 20th birthday (also the first birthday that I am in denial for, two decades is old)
• Paris summer program (fingers crossed!)
• starting my junior year of college...
• my brother's high school graduation and college move-in

2012 in tweets

I am obsessed with Twitter, so I sorted through this my tweets this past year to find a few funny ones that sum up 2012.  

January 15-The last time I was this excited was when I decided to come to lehigh! #beyondhappy #ΑΓΔ

January 22-Sunday brunches at bone are probably my favorite part of the week

March 16th-Breathing is difficult #LEHIGH #UpsetCity (tweeted with about five minutes left in the Lehigh Duke game)

April 13-officially have downloaded call me maybe, the remix with levels, and the acoustic version. #toomuch? #ithinknot

May 8-"how lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard" Winnie the Pooh. Thanks for an amazing year Lehigh

July 18-"After 7 hours, a confrontation with a Russian woman, and begging, pleading, and tears at the gate, I have finally landed in St Louis"

July 22-"Boarding group 7 basically sentences me to being "that girl" who can't find a spot to shove her huge Vera duffel #apologies"

July 28-"6 hour car ride home with my dad, aunt, uncle, two cousins, and two of my brothers. In the same car. #thiswillbefun"

August 2-"Crying from happiness, so happy for Gabby Douglas!!#lovedherfromtrials #TeamUSA #3allaroundsinarow"

August 21-"Lehigh bound tomorrow am! #unreal #finallyhere"

December 20-"if the world ends tom., I spent my last night blogging, eating banana bread, & reading art of war #iregretnothing #jokesseeyousaturdaymorning"

2012 was a great year, and I hope everyone has a happy new year and 2013!

Looking back-Fall 2012 Semester

I declared my majors (Political Science and Journalism), moved into my sorority's house, and learned a lot about who I am.  Fall semester sophomore year was a whirlwind, but I wouldn't have changed one moment of it.  

Some highlights of this semester: 

Move in
I was anxious to move back to Lehigh last August, as I missed South Mountain and all of my friends so much over the summer.  Moving in is a blur of excited reunions with friends.  The first few days also involved eating lots of cheese sticks and kale chips, which were some of the only things in the kitchen in the beginning.  There was no rain and I remembered my pillows, so this year's move in went a lot smoother than last year's.  

Hanging out in the quad (common area between 4 of the rooms on our side of the house) during move in

Greek week

The purple team in the stands during the lip synch dance

As I mentioned in a previous post, Alpha Gam was on the purple team for Greek week with DU and Sig Ep.  Attending and participating in the week's events was a lot of fun, and my biggest contribution was helping win the trivia competition with my friend Caroline (giving her the recognition she does not get, but deserves!) by knowing 9 of Lehigh's 14 presidents.  Besides the dance (also previously mentioned) my other favorite memory of Greek week is blasting "We are the Champions" and driving around the hill after winning.  

PC '12 watching chariot races during Greek week

Date parties and formals

Some pictures from date parties and formals of the semester

Senate
Senate was the first organization I joined at Lehigh and I have made so many great friends and gotten so much from being a member.  I was elected Club Affairs chair for this school year, and I loved leading my committee and working with clubs and administrators.  

Sisterhood event at Dorney Park
About 30 girls in my sorority went to Dorney Park in October for a sisterhood trip.  I've been there before during Senior Week in high school, but did not go on as many roller coasters as we did this time.  It was a great afternoon out of the "Lehigh bubble" and laughing at the weird faces we made when the roller coaster cameras took the picture.  Plus, amusement parks always have Dippin' Dots, and who doesn't love Dippin Dots? (especially the banana split flavor)

Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy was not only a defining time of the semester but of 2012 and probably the decade.  I am still stunned and lose the feeling in my stomach whenever I see photos of the shore or towns elsewhere devastated by Sandy.  

Lehigh Lafayette week
I wrote about Lehigh Lafayette week in a previous post, but it is such a huge part of every fall that it requires repeating.  Between the Timeflies concert, winning (again) or wandering into a Lafayette party before the game (they were surprisingly welcoming), it was definitely a great week.  

Taking advantage of different opportunities at Lehigh
It is a commonly heard complaint that there "is nothing to do at Lehigh."  While I have never found this to be true, I took advantage of different opportunities and attended events this semester that I may not have if I stayed within my typical daily schedule.  

The first of these opportunities was GEM, or the Greek Emerging Leaders Program.  I learned a lot about confronting the variety of problems that can emerge within your chapter or between chapters at our meetings, as well as what it means to be a leader.  I also learned about my personality type and met some great friends.  

One assignment I had in my journalism class was to attend a speech and write an article about it.  I chose a talk titled "Are Citizens Silenced In Bethlehem’s New Town Square?: Labor’s Struggle For Free Speech -- From Company Towns To Casinos."  I chose to attend this talk because the subject was something we were studying in my other journalism class, Media Ethics and Law.  Also, I have always been interested in Bethlehem Steel and the redevelopment of the Sands Casino and ArtsQuest center.  This talk focused on an issue that I had no idea existed-the Sands tries to restrict how people can use the park near the casino, which they technically gave to the town.  It was an interesting talk and I learned a great deal about the history of free speech in public forums and the progression of labor and free speech revolving around Bethlehem Steel and now the Sands and ArtsQuest.  

I've been to Zoellner's art gallery to see the Andy Warhol exhibit in fall 2011, and I went again this fall to see the "African Visions of Barack Obama" exhibit.  It was bold, inspirational and surprisingly did not have an underlying political statement.  Many of the artists were Kenyan or lived elsewhere in Africa, and created their works after President Obama's inauguration in 2009. 






One of the philanthropy events that Alpha Gam does regularly is visit Donegan Elementary School every Thursday and play with the kids in the after school program along with Sig Ep.  I have gone many times and playing hockey or board games with the 3rd-5th graders is a refreshing break from the "Lehigh bubble."  Also, I babysat, tutored, taught CCD, and worked at a rec camp during high school, so it is nice to be able to volunteer with kids again.  They are so excited when we come, and it has been great to know that I am contributing to the community in a small way.  

A few of my good friends were in Lehigh's production of "The Crucible", so my friends Laura and Toby and I went to see it one Saturday evening.  "The Crucible" was one of my favorite plays that we read in high school, and Lehigh's production of it was absolutely amazing.  

Discovering what I love to do
I have changed what I want to do when I "grow-up" a dozen times over.  It started with first woman president at the age of 4 (that hasn't changed) and gone from writer to history teacher to curator to lawyer...and now journalist.  I always struggled with what to major in or potentially have a career in because my interests are so varied--while I am generally not good in math or science, I still like learning about specific topics within the fields.  Writing also always came easily to me, but I had never really considered a career in journalism until I joined the Brown and White freshman year and took Writing for the Media this semester.  While it was always difficult getting interviews for my articles, writing for the sports section came easily to me and I loved seeing my name in print.  This continued with Writing for the Media, where writing the articles for class were fun and came easily.  Plus, I got to go to art exhibits, speeches, and other events that I would have attended anyway because they were interesting, but now I got to write about them too.  When we received the blog assignment (yes, this blog was created as a class assignment--don't know if I ever mentioned that) blogging came easily and I was rarely at a shortage of ideas for posts.  With all of these realizations, I was able to declare my majors of Journalism and Political Science, and am so happy to not only be on a more specific academic path now, but to have discovered my niche.  


This was a hugely long post, but this semester was full of big changes and lots of memories (plus I am known for not really being succinct).  It is crazy to think of how much has changed this semester and I am excited for the new challenges and experiences that spring semester 2013 will bring. 

A Semester's Worth of Music

Music always brings back memories.  Levels will forever remind me of crowded parties first semester freshman year, with everyone jumping up and down to "da na na na na na nana nanananana" and Call Me Maybe reminds me of barbecues, Lehigh beating Duke, and hearing it through my dorm window from off-campus houses last spring.  

What songs will always remind me of fall semester sophomore year?  There weren't any songs that had quite the popularity or "staying power" of Levels or Call Me Maybe, but plenty will remind me of memories of this semester. 

1. F**king Best Song Everrr-Wallpaper
One of my best friends posted this song on Facebook a week before we moved back to Lehigh in August, and it quickly became a favorite song to get ready to in the quad.

2. We are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together-Taylor Swift

Yes, the music video is downright creepy and many say the lyrics are very "middle school-esque", but the first single off of TSwift's new album is bound to be popular.  Her trademark relatable lyrics and easy sing along-ability (there needs to be a better word for that) made it a very popular song for rides back up the Hill.  

3. Gangnam Style-Psy

When I first heard this song, I did not understand the hype.  But then the purple team (which Alpha Gam was a part of) choreographed an awesome dance for Greek week for it and we won Greek week, so it grew on me.  It has been unescapable ever since, and I too now attempt to the hands crossed-alternating foot dance move.  Also, it was really freaking cool when the entire Lehigh stands did the dance during the Lehigh Lafayette game this year.   

4. Lehigh freestyle-Timeflies

Unfortunately I could not get the video to upload to the blog, but the link above goes to my Facebook, where I originally uploaded the video.  Cal from Timeflies did this mashup of all Lehigh references during their concert in Lehigh Laf-apalooza.  I got to be right next to the stage because I was on the staff of the concert, and it was a lot of fun (and while Cal did not sing to me like he did some of my friends, I was able to touch his leg) 

5. Home-Phillip Phillips 

This song will always remind me of the Fab Five during the 2012 London Olympics, but it was also really popular this semester.  It was on my sleep playlist and was one of my favorite songs to listen to while studying. 

6. Thrift Shop-Macklemore
This was absolutely the "Call Me Maybe" of this semester.  It didn't have quite the same "you can't escape it" feeling that Carly Rae Jepsen's hit had, but could be heard blasting from various off-campus houses every weekend.  


Other popular songs that didn't have the same sentimental attachment (also known as runners up)--Pursuit of Happiness Steve Aoki remix, Alive-Krewella, One More Night-Maroon 5, I Knew You Were Trouble-Taylor Swift

Finals week

Finals- the most dreaded part of the semester and arguably the most stressful.  

(Personally, I found the first round of 4 o'clocks [Lehigh's two sets of midterms a semester] more stressful because they still have class, other assignments, and extracurriculars during them.)

The days tend to drag on, and are filled with a rotation of caffeine (or your personal study aid of choice), food, complaining about finals, fighting for a seat in the library, wondering why you are putting yourself through this, sleeping, Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Stumble upon/Pinterest, and yes, actually studying.  

This semester I got lucky with my schedule of exams.  I had my first Wednesday afternoon my second last night and my last is Monday morning, so they have been spread out pretty well.  Also, unlike last year, when I had to pull out a great grade in Calc or learn 500 pages of Roman history, none of my exams are too hard or have a ton of information on them.  

With everyone having completely different study habits and schedules, it is an odd week on campus.  You may not see your roommate for days because they are fiercely guarding their cubicle in FML and you might be just leaving for the library when your best friend is just returning after pulling an all-nighter. 

It is also probably the most unhealthy week of the year.  I spent all day Monday in our downstairs living room, which is conveniently right next to our kitchen. Having lots of leftovers, peppermint bark, vanilla lattes, and cookie dough to your disposal all day is not a good thing.  By contrast, on Tuesday I didn't grab food from the house before heading to Lindy, so all I ate until 7 p.m. was a banana and granola bar.  

I am glad to only have one exam left, and having all day tomorrow and Sunday to study makes me feel less nervous for it.  While I absolutely love Lehigh, it is going to be nice to leave Monday afternoon and have two and a half weeks of break. (More specifically, this is how I'm going to feel) 

It is also going to be great to have a fresh start-this semester has been the most rewarding and most fun, but also the busiest.  Coming back to campus on January 5 with new goals and ideas for my Senate position and Alpha Gam positions plus personal and academic new year's resolutions will be the boost and refresher I need.  

But for now, I must concentrate on Bioscience.  For a comedic relief from finals, here are some great memes I found.  

Because what is better motivation than Ryan Gosling seemingly gazing into your eyes?

Being in "Arts and Crafts"

There's a look.  It's less obvious than a smirk, maybe it's more of a knowing smile. 

If you are in Lehigh's College of Arts and Sciences, and especially if you are a liberal arts major, you know this look well.  It usually comes after telling an engineer or business student that yes, you are a Journalism and Political Science major and might be minoring in Art History.  

While Lehigh is technically split pretty evenly between the three undergraduate colleges, we are known as an engineering school.  Our most notable alumni were engineers, like Jesse Reno, who invented the escalator, or Howard McClintic and Charles Marshall, who built the Golden Gate Bridge and Panama Canal. Our business school is also well known and was ranked 31st in the nation in Businessweek last year.  

So where does that leave us Arts and Sciences students?  Continually justifying that even with our significantly less busy class schedules and lighter course work, we are still smart and going to get jobs after graduation.  

This is partly due to the difference in credits for classes across colleges.  The majority of Arts and Sciences classes are 4 credits and meet twice a week for an hour and fifteen minutes.  Business and engineering classes are generally 3 credits and often have lecture 3 times a week plus a recitation.  This, plus three hour 1 credit labs, fills up a schedule pretty fast.  I have friends that are also taking 18 credits next semester, but they have 6 classes whereas I have 4 plus two credits for writing for and having an editor position on the Brown and White, our newspaper.  

My schedule next semester.

This was a phenomenon I was not ready or used to when I came to college.  I grew up in a small town (my graduating class of my public high school had 90 kids) and was known as the smart girl.  I was used to trying to convince people that I was dumber than they thought, but now I find myself convincing classmates that I'm smarter than they think. 

While I definitely could not do the complex calculus or lab work that is required by my classmates (just looking at their web assign homework or lab notebooks makes me anxious), I don't think they could interview someone and be able to write an article about it or write an essay on the changing dynamics in the Roman Senate and how they affected the demise of the empire, as my classes have required of me.  

I've learned to accept the teasing, but it is frustrating when people insinuate that your major is meaningless.  The other day, a friend of mine asked "What are you going to do with that?" when I told her my major.  I think the variety of careers you can have with a liberal arts degree is an asset, not something that undermines its value.  Also, it's not like I'm studying something pointless and twiddling my thumbs all day long.  Just like an accounting major is preparing for their career in accounting, my majors will prepare me to work at a newspaper, at a PR firm, for a government agency, or go to law school. 

I told two of my friends who are also liberal arts majors about my idea for this post earlier today and they had similar feelings.  One of them is a Women's Studies minor and said it's really frustrating when people act like it is pointless to have it as a minor.  

So how should someone respond when given "the look?" My new response is going to be to smile and say "Well someday I am going to be writing about your company's acquisition or your new scientific development so that the world can know about it, so I would say my major is important too."


*to any Lehigh kids reading this (and others too!) have a comment? (or rebuttal?) Comment below! :)

Art Inspiration Mondays-Rosie the Riveter

Rosie the Riveter, the fictional character portrayed during World War II in America to empower women to join the workforce, is most commonly pictured in the propaganda picture published by the US Government.  

However, there were more personifications of Rosie during WWII, as the term became ubiquitous with the women who were able to leave their homes and join the workforce.  

Young woman working in a factory during WWII.
Photo from the National Parks Service

There was a popular song and picture of Rosie by Norman Rockwell that appeared on the Saturday Evening post.  This depiction is this week's "Art Inspiration Monday."

I did not know that this depiction existed until my art history class, and while I have the "We Can Do It!" sign hanging in my room, I like this picture of Rosie even more.  

She is not idealized, and with muscular arms, dirt all over her face, and jeans, she is a picture of a real woman working for her country.  Even better, her facial expression has a bit of attitude and shows that she doesn't care what she looks like, nor does she care what you think of her.  

While last week I picked a more serene picture because I felt really hectic, this week I wanted to pick a strong and empowering picture because it is the last week of classes and I could use a  boost to get through the last two weeks of the semester.  

Happy Monday! 

Lehigh history and buildings-Linderman Library

All of my friends joke that I know everything about Lehigh history, and  I do enjoy reading old Brown and Whites (you can search every issue since 1894 here) and like competing in the occasional Lehigh trivia contest (including a clutch win for the purple team during Greek week by knowing ten of Lehigh's fourteen presidents).  

My parents used to call me Cliffie (the character from Cheers) growing up because I always would come out with random, and sometimes useless, trivia.  This has not changed, and now my love for Lehigh and knack for remembering details has made me into a Lehigh trivia buff of sorts.  

So I am going to be doing a recurring feature on one of Lehigh's buildings, traditions, or lesser known facts.  

I decided to start with Linderman Library.  Affectionally known as Lindy (and joked about as Club Lindy during finals), it is one of Lehigh's two libraries, and much prettier and aesthetically pleasing than Fairchild-Martindale Library, or the appropriately abbreviated FML.  

An instagrammed picture of Lindy I took last spring. 

My first time visiting Lindy was during a tour of Lehigh my junior year of high school.  Like all other prospective students, I fell in love with the stained glass ceiling in the rotunda and imagined myself studying at the long tables underneath the gold plated ceiling in the Reading room.  

It's sometimes distracting to study
 under something so beautiful. 

The reading room, which always hums with students
quietly studying together or the flipping of papers.
[Note: I did not take this picture]

When I was looking at colleges, one of my requirements was that my college of choice have a gorgeous, old library.  I always associated college life with studying in an old library with creaky wooden floors and dusty books, and this is quintessentially Linderman library.  

While the third floor Bayer Galleria is my favorite place to study because it usually is not crowded and is a designated "quiet room", I like to hide out in many different corners of Lindy to do my work.  One of the best parts of the library is the ability to keep exploring and finding new places to study.  

Bayer galleria

Lucy's is also a popular place in Linderman, since you are able to get coffee and a snack without leaving the library.  It retains the nice atmosphere of Lindy and is a great spot to have meetings, work on group projects, and of course chat with Chris, who works in the evenings.  

For the adventurous, it is also possible to get onto the roof and have an amazing view of Lehigh, South Bethlehem, and the greater Lehigh valley.  I won't say how to get on the roof though, because where's the fun in that? 

Linderman was built in 1873 after his daughter Lucy Packer Linderman's premature death from pneumonia.  The rotunda was the first part of the library built and the reading room was added in 1929.  Renovations from 2005-2007 added study spaces upstairs and Lucy's cafe.  

The original shape and design of Linderman

Some other facts about Linderman:

• Lucy's daughter and Asa's granddaughter Sallie Linderman checked out the first book, which was a Bible
• The stained glass window was covered during World War II to keep from potentially attracting fighter jets
• the reputation of Linderman to be noisy and FML to be crowded are not new ones, a 1977 article in the Brown and White read, "Linderman library is hindered by congestion, noise, and visual pollution.  To study in Mart, the alternative, often requires a prepaid reservation."

Finally, some drawings of Linderman through the years-

Art Inspiration Mondays-Monet's La Cathédrale de Rouen

Mondays are typically the worst day of the week.  Besides having to get up early and be reminded of all the commitments you have during the week, it often seems like the whole world has Mondayitis, which results in a collective funk.  

I usually try to combat Mondayitis with a detailed to-do list and plan for the week, plus a long afternoon spent in Lindy or in our Scholarship room doing work while waiting for my laundry to finish

As an extra tactic to combat the dreariness, I am going to start doing "Art Inspiration Mondays."  Every Monday, I will post a new work of art and explain some of the background and importance of it.  

For some personal background on my art history knowledge, I took AP Art History in high school and it was absolutely my favorite course.  I applied to college as an Art History major, but have since decided that it is more of an interest rather than a career.  I am taking my first college art history class next semester ("Art History: Renaissance to Present") and hope to add an art history minor.  

Today's piece is Claude Monet's "LA CATHÉDRALE DE ROUEN: PLEIN SOLEIL, HARMONIE BLEUE ET" (ROUEN CATHEDRAL, FULL SUN, BLUE HARMONY AND GOLD)

It is an impressionist piece and one of my favorite works of art.  Monet created over thirty paintings of the Rouen Cathedral, all with different perspectives and at different times of day. (Geographically, the city of Rouen is northwest of Paris)

Impressionism emphasizes the importance of light and it's effect on the subject.  It is also not overly realistic, so it allows for more philosophical meaning than the concurrent Realism period, which featured artists like Millet.

I think my favorite aspect of this piece is the ethereal quality  and placement of the cathedral in the foreground, allowing the viewer to feel as if they are standing right beside the cathedral.  

Happy Monday!

Crayon Art [Pinterest]

Crayon art, or melting crayons over a canvas to create patterns and cool designs, is one of the more popular crafts repinned on Pinterest.  Two of my friends did heart designs for display in their room and it's been something I have wanted to try for awhile.  


I saw this pin on Pinterest right before Thanksgiving break, so I decided to try an Alpha Gam version while I was home.  

I used red, yellow, and green crayons instead of rainbow because those are Alpha Gam's colors (the yellow is really buff, but it was close enough).  I bought two packs of Crayola 24 pack crayons and a small canvas and was set.  

The directions online did not offer any suggestions for anticipated problems, and I had a few.  I did not want to glue the crayons to the canvas because of space, so I taped them together and held them over the canvas as I held the hair dryer over them.  The coordination wasn't too hard, but the wax spurted out rather than dripped down the canvas.  

I used electrical tape because I liked the thickness, but it did not stick well to the canvas and the melted wax dripped where it wasn't intended to.  Also, the plastic from the electrical tape partially melted onto the canvas, so I was left with black letters instead of white.  I filled in the space that didn't have the electrical tape residue with black marker to make it neater.  

Here's the finished product!

It was a fun project that didn't require much artistic skill, but if I did it again I would use a different kind of tape and glue the crayons down.