Liv Laugh Love

After Thanksgiving is over, our society seems to make a straight shot to Christmas, although there is nearly a month in between the two holidays. I’m not complaining though, because as cliché as it sounds, this is my favorite time of year. The month of December has always enchanted me. Usually, December marks the first snowfall, the beginning of winter, and I can finally get excited for the holiday season. The sensations associated with the wintertime are so appealing…from cuddling up in blankets and sipping hot chocolate while you watch “Love Actually,” to decorating your room with twinkly lights and watching the snow fall outside. Celebrating the holiday season can be difficult when you’re away from home, but it’s definitely possible! To get into the spirit of the season, last week I went to the Enchanted Luminaria Walk in Minnetrista, a beautiful park right next to Ball State. I have found other little ways to celebrate, like going on a roomie date to IHOP to get se

In just a few days I will go home for Fall Break. Most days I feel like each passing week goes by quicker and quicker. I remember this time last year thinking that Fall Break came sooner than I expected. This year, I sometimes feel like the school year is dragging on. In some ways this break is a welcomed hiatus from my crazy academic schedule, many extracurricular activities, and stress which I have already experienced during my second year of college. People often refer to the second year of college as the “sophomore slump.” While I in no way feel like I am in a “slump,” I definitely have had a harder time adjusting to school this year than last year. As a freshman, I immediately embraced my quasi-independence, dorm life, and all the new people I met. As a sophomore, many of these things are to be expected. Since everything is not quite as shiny and new, sometimes it’s easy to get discouraged. With that being said, I have certainly found ways to try to make this year just as m

When I first came home for the summer, I was absolutely terrified to slip back into my home routine. Okay…maybe “terrified” is too strong of a word, but I was definitely very apprehensive. My first year at college was full of unforgettable experiences, and I was nervous that coming home would mean an end to that sense of adventure. But luckily for me, I could not have been more wrong. Here are a few things about summer that I've always known to be true, but really experienced this summer. Summer is for spending time with family. While I didn’t do as much traveling this summer as my sister, I did go on a few adventures! My mom, sister, and I traveled a couple of times to Cincinnati to visit family. The Cincinnati skyline. I have always loved visiting Cincy because of all the family we have there, and recently I have really fallen in love with the city itself! The downtown area is not an area I had ever really explored, but on one trip this summer I spent an entire

In the midst of school years ending across the country, the saying “it’s not goodbye, it’s see you later,” has sprinkled my timeline for the past week or so. Although it’s incredibly cliché, I can’t help but resonate with this saying. Although I was incredibly sad to leave my friends at school, I’ve realized that the friendships I’ve made this year are strong enough to last a short three months of summer. Mary, Sterling, and me on our last night at school. I’ve known for a while that for me, the hardest part about the end of the year would be leaving my friends. I  couldn't  have ever imagined that I would form the strongest friendships with people from Bloomington, Fishers, Fort Wayne, Geist, Kalamazoo, Louisville, South Bend, and Southport. Sterling, Noah, Mary, and me on our last night. Throughout the week, I met up with friends to say our goodbyes. It was very strange thinking that any time I saw someone it could be the last time I saw them until next year.

I’ve never quite experienced anything like looking at my calendar and realizing I have less than two short weeks left in my first year of college before I return home for a whole summer! Some days I feel like I’ve only been at college for a couple of weeks, and like I’m still adjusting to college life. My friends and I always joke that we are still at a summer camp, and now it’s time to go home! As I prepare to go home, I have to prepare for final exams, projects, and papers which will take place over the course of the next two weeks. While finals in high school meant taking a test for each class and blissful early release, finals week in college is any combination of group projects, speaking presentations, course papers, and yes, even a tedious multiple-choice test for my gym class. The end of the year brings about a lot of stress from everything that must be done in such a short amount of time. For me personally, the majority of my stress about the end of the year stems from

This week, I experienced several events from the “other side.” First, my sorority had a depinning ceremony for our new members to prepare them for initiation. Then, I traveled home to watch my high school’s showchoirs compete in the State Showchoir competition. Finally, we had initiation for our new members. In all three events, I felt like I experienced them from an entirely new (and unfamiliar) perspective. Depinning is a ceremony we do for our new members on the Thursday night before initiation. At most of our ceremonies, we wear all white. Depinning is the one ceremony where we wear all black. It was so fun to watch my new friends during depinning, especially since I was on the other side of depinning just last semester and knew how excited they must have felt. With my friends Sam and Maddie at depinning! Initiation is an extremely special ceremony for any sorority. Following initiation, we can welcome our new members as official sisters of our sorority. This spring,

After a very stressful first week back at school after break, I had the chance this weekend to just relax with my friends and family! On Saturday, some of my sorority sisters and I played in a dodgeball tournament! The tournament was put on as a philanthropy event for another sorority, and some of my sisters made a team to play! The Spring philanthropy season has begun, and there are events almost every weekend for the next couple of months. The dodgeball tournament raised money for arthritis, and we love to participate in other sorority and fraternity philanthropy events! After winning our first game, we lost in the second round. We still had a great time, and raised money for a great cause! We are getting ready for our own Spring philanthropy called Battle of the Sexes, which will take place in April and raise money for our three of our philanthropies: Alzheimer’s disease research, Inherit the Earth, and Maine Sea Coast Mission. On Sunday, Sigma Kappa celebrated

After leaving high school and beginning college, I think that many people are hesitant to return to places from their past. Since college is so different from any experience I ever had in high school, I too initially was hesitant to return to my high school or other places which I used to frequent. I understand how important independence is in college, and I think that in order to maintain that independence, it’s important to get involved on campus and avoid returning home too often. For that reason, I almost never come home on weekends, unless it’s for a break or for a family event. However, throughout this semester I have realized that sometimes, it’s good to be home. And yes, sometimes it’s even good to visit places from your past. My Spring Break started February 28, which made Spring Break more like a second Winter Break. Instead of flocking to Florida or Mexico, I stayed home the entire break to spend time with my sister and the rest of my family! My mom and I traveled and s

I am proud to announce that I’ve been elected to serve on the executive board of my sorority as the Panhellenic Delegate. I am grateful and excited for the opportunity to represent my chapter and my wonderful sisters at Panhellenic meetings every Thursday! Last week I completed my first delegation, and I have another one tomorrow night. Two weekends ago, Sigma Kappa welcomed our 6 new members at our Spring Bid Day. Our theme was "Sweet Home Sigma Kappa" and we had candy and ice cream! I’ve met a few of the new members and they are all really sweet! I’m excited for their journey to initiation and to get to know everyone a little bit better! This past weekend, our entire exec board traveled to Rosemont, Illinois for the Sigma Kappa Regional Leadership Conference. We spent some time together as a group working on general leadership skills and ways to improve our chapter. We also spent some time separated by our positions, so I got to meet the other Panhellenic de

Three weeks into my second semester of freshman year, I'm finding that I'm a lot busier than last semester! I continue to become more and more involved with my sorority, Sigma Kappa. Along with becoming more involved, I continue to fall farther and farther in love with my sisters and our organization! I’m spending a lot more time with my sisters since last semester I was elected to serve on the programming board as historian. While historian is definitely a small position, it’s a good starting position and gives me a good platform to maybe serve on the executive board one day! Right now I’m responsible for making a scrapbook that covers events from this term. I also work closely with our PR chair to take pictures at events and get them out on social media! I also am taking a 17 credit hour schedule. Last semester, I only took 15 hours, and so I definitely spend more time in class and working on homework. I am even in two classes for my English major! I can already

The inevitable worst part of vacationing to a tropical destination is the day you have to go home. Not only are you trading bikinis and shorts for parkas and scarves, but forced to return to the reality of your Midwestern life. While in Cancun with my family, none of us used our phones for the entire week, with the exception of using them for music and pictures. The international rates kept us from texting and social media, and so we enjoyed a blissful week disconnected from the rest of the world. The first time my sister and I had been to Cancun was last March during Spring Break. We were so excited to find out that we would be returning over our winter break! Since our schools are now on different schedules for the first time since…ever, winter break is the only time out of the year we both have time to travel! After a rough start (the day we arrived was “cold” at 67 degrees, and rainy), our trip quickly became the best week of our lives. Our routine started every da