Week 1
Wow! Week one of classes is already over, it's hard to believe how fast time flies when you're having fun! I had a really good week, although it was busy I had time for work and play. Wednesday I volunteered with BLOC's after school program and we made friendship bracelets! On Thursday Semi, Pavel and I met on campus with Josh to talk about our responsibilities as Student Ambassadors in charge of IM sports. We snagged a picture with the bearcat during welcome week activities on Blue Ash's campus and Semi and I stayed to help. I came after class at 12:20 and engaged students by playing frisbee and played some Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift over the speaker. Thursday evening I met with my H20 life group and we had an awesome bible study together in the lobby of French Hall on Clifton's campus. Friday evening our life group got together for a scavenger hunt at Jungle Jim's in Fairfield! My team ended up winning, we found 33 of the 39 items/landmarks on the list. We each could choose a prize under seven dollars so I chose apple cider donut flavored Oreo's to share with everyone. Overall it was a great week and I'm glad I could spend it with great people!
Week 2
Week 2 came and went by so quickly, I can't believe we're already in September. This week I had class, volunteered on Wednesday, and IM sports started on Monday. It was a lot of fun! I was genuinely impressed by the skill our players have and I was so proud of Semi and I for scoring goals, I promise no one went easy on us haha. Oh and I'd like to add my team won 7-3 which was very exciting considering I helped score and had never played soccer! I'm also proud of myself for sending out my first "professional" mass email as a student ambassador to remind everyone of IM soccer last Sunday and today I plan to send one out to remind everyone we don't have soccer on Labor day. The Bearcats also had their first home game of the season! They beat Miami by a LOT! It was definitely a great day to be a Bearcat and I'm so excited to watch them the rest of this season!
Week 3
It's unbelievable to think we just wrapped up week 3. This was absolutely one of my busiest weeks balancing school, student ambassador responsibilities as well as family responsibilities. I was a little worried about my hours this week since Labor Day was on Monday and we didn't have IM soccer, however, I was able to pick up extra hours by accepting a unique opportunity given by Sarah to pick up football tickets from Clifton and I was able to pick up hours working the sister circle event with Semi. Semi and I always have such a good time working together and this experience was no different! The event was hosted by Tracy Davis and she did an amazing job, she even had pizza and salad delivered! There was so much food leftover even after sending everyone home with some, so Semi and I took the opportunity to pass out what was leftover in Clifton to the homeless, we were glad Tracy loved the idea and let us! Semi and I both value taking care of and giving back to the Clifton community so I was stoked we had the chance! I did experience my first real clash of responsibilities this week, I had to move some things around with BLOC, the organization I volunteer with every Wednesday, to be able to pick up a shift at the Welcome desk that needed coverage. It all worked out in the end, I truly work with amazing people on both sides and I truly am happy to help where I can! I did go to the football game Saturday versus Murray State, which we won, go cats! My cousin Taylor and Friend Cassie came down to watch the game with me and we had lots of fun, we even got free hotdogs at the end of the game! I won't lie, to balance everything I had to work a lot harder during the week to get my school work finished to ensure I would be able to be present Saturday and not rushing to play catch-up before the game, after the game, or on Sunday. I am genuinely blessed to have all of the AMAZING opportunities that I do and I am hoping to be able to have more opportunities as a student ambassador to help with events, the main conflict I've experienced is with my class schedule but school comes first! I was given my leadership role at our first meeting on Friday, I am excited to work with Stephen Amundson as the CPAS liaison for the semester! As always, go bearcats!
Week 4
I genuinely don't have many good things to say about my experience fulfilling the Student Ambassador position this week. I want to be transparent in these blog posts and that's the reality of life, things aren't always perfect or easy. It is important to recognize that vulnerability isn't a sign of weakness but rather a strength; it takes a secure person to be able to speak up and stand up for themselves and others in their lives many adversities, especially when standing up to someone of authority. However, I can't stress enough the importance of recognizing when change is needed and taking action to cultivate that change. That being said, change is a good thing, and one upcoming change I'm excited for is the change Stephen and I are pushing for the CPAS program. Along with all my responsibilities this week I added my new leadership role as CPAS liaison into my schedule and instantly got to work with Stephen. So far we have already talked about transforming the program from passive to active, I recruited one of my professors to help, we met and presented to some of the CPAS students, and we talked to Chris and successfully got funding reestablished for the CPAS program. We are trying to come up with and plan effective workshops that cater to the CPAS students but that's all I can share for now since it is still in the works. I didn't have too much going on hour-wise as a SA but my classes have slowly become more demanding of my time and attention as time marches on, I have less free time and work on homework/assignments any and every chance I get. Thankfully I am passionate about what I'm studying and I genuinely love learning about public health so it's not a problem doing the work just finding the time to squeeze it all in as projects, tests, and papers are added to the normal workload. I know work is important but I believe play is just as, so Kyla, Semi, and I spent Thursday night at Ortoberfest in downtown Cincinnati and had a lot of fun together! It was nice spending quality time with them and getting a break from staring at my computer screen. I also went home this weekend since there was no home football game and it has been great seeing my family and pets. I haven't seen them in about a month, one of the longest timeframes I've gone. It is always good coming home and just being surrounded by loved ones, especially after a long week. I can't express enough how thankful I am to have such a great support system.
Week 5
This week was okay, I didn't have too many ambassador responsibilities other than the normal welcome desk and IM sports. I have been doing more each week with Stephen for the CPAS program and I'm excited to see the fruit of our labor soon. I had a rough last 2 weeks with classes because I had a bunch of tests, projects, and papers all due at what felt like the same time. I have another course starting in October so that will be one more thing to add to my busy schedule. We have our second IT committee meeting coming up Tuesday too. I went home this weekend to get my CCW certificate and to see my friends and family. I'm a little sad because this is the last time I'll be home until at least Thanksgiving but hopefully they miss me enough by then that they're willing to take me out to dinner haha.
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Week 6
This week was very busy, I had a lot of events and meetings however a lot of experiences. I was very tired Friday and actually slept in for the first time in about 3 weeks! I worked the open house event Saturday which was very hectic since it was a first-time thing for all of us (including interns) and we didn't have the entire team with us. However we were successful, there weren't as many guests as we expected (we assume it was due to the football game UC vs. Notre Dame). I am going to a soccer game tonight with some of the staff I volunteer with at BLOC's afterschool program. I am considering getting a job at one of the extension offices to get some experience and hopefully transfer to the OSU extension office in my hometown. I wish wix was a more accessible website and easy to use because I do have pictures I would like to upload and include in my blog but I have trouble using wix. All of my classes are going well, I start an accelerated course on the 13th of October so I'm a little nervous to throw that into the mix. All will be well though, everything always works out :)
Week 7
This week was very slow for me which has been a nice change of pace! I worked the welcome desk Tuesday morning from 8-11 and worked on CPAS stuff for my leadership role. We didn't have IM soccer this week because it stormed on Monday. Classes have been going well. They have been very busy though.
Week 8
This week seemingly was slow with fall break, I didn't have IM soccer or a welcome desk shift since I was home for break. I also made sure to truly rest on the two days off we had and get stuff around my house done since I switched rooms with my sister back home. I have been paying for it however because all of my assignments seemingly piled up and I had a new course start this week too. I also had a lot of commitments to work on with the CPAS students, and I am looking into starting my own research project too. We are a little over halfway through the semester though so I feel like things are only going to get more intense from here on out. I'm not too worried in regards to ambassador responsibility because I have been collecting hours at the beginning of the semester when things were slower so now I don't have to scramble to get things done which is nice. I also worked my first campus visit and Brad Tate asked me specifically to join the transfer orientation next week, last year I volunteered to help out since I am a transfer student and thought it would be a good way to start establishing connections (and apparently I was right!) He said the students and their families really enjoyed my personality and my opinions on UCBA so that was super awesome. This is why I always encourage everyone to try and take advantage of every opportunity because even a year later I am seeing fruitation of stepping out and putting myself out there.
Week 9
This week was pretty busy, I worked the welcome desk, helped out Peter by participating in a promotional recording for our open houses, participated in the photoshoot for ambassadors, and worked with CPAS. I also scheduled my classes for the spring semester! I will be taking 18 credit hours total, only 2 classes are in person. I need to get my religious exemption form notarized and submitted so I don't get unenrolled. It is crazy to me that we are stripped of our ability to make a health choice for our own bodies. Hopefully, it all gets sorted out and figured out though!
Week 10
This week was pretty crazy, I had so much going on! I had not only my normal ambassador responsibilities but also we had our open house. It was awesome because out of the 500 some students that signed up, we had over 300 attend which was amazing numbers compared to the last open house. I was very proud of our team of ambassadors and I think we did a great job. We had bonding afterward and Pavel paid for all of our dinners which was incredibly sweet of him! I enjoy everyone I get to work with and appreciate how hard each one of them works and the different skill sets everyone brings to the table. We also had the amazing Halloween Bash that Naveah planned and put together which was super fun, Ruthie and I dressed up as news reporters and got a lot of students engaged as many of them wanted to participate in our "interviews".
Week 11
This week started off busy, I had welcome desk Tuesday morning, I helped out with homecoming festivities at UCBA's campus, and gave a tour with Kyla on Thursday. I was supposed to work the UC smiles event however I got a call around 8:46 that my COVID test came back positive. Sadly that means I'll be in isolation until the 15th of November. I had to miss out on fulfilling ambassador responsibilities and the college game day and homecoming game at UC. how sad! I'm going to focus on resting and getting healthy as I recover from COVID. I am excited to see everyone again, we are planning on going to the final game of the season together!
Week 12
I spent this week at home in Washington Court House as I recovered from Covid. I did a lot of school work and feel pretty good about the semester coming to an end. I met with Hariph for a 1:1 Thursday morning and met with Stephen yesterday to talk about CPAS. I'm a little sad that the CPAS program might not exist after this year because Stephen was passionate about transforming it for the kids involved. We're still hoping to have a workshop for the students before finals to help them prepare to be successful. I look forward to being back this coming week.
Week 13
This week I came back from my covid isolation! Tuesday was my first "official" day back and it was super busy. I was scheduled the welcome desk from 8-11am but I was also scheduled to help with a school visit from one of the biggest contributors to UC and UCBA. I was only supposed to work from 9-10:15 but one of our ambassadors skipped so it was up to Jamie and I to hold the fort down. It was bittersweet talking to kids in highschool and hearing their thoughts/opinions like when you ask them what they're looking forward to most they all said "getting away from their parents", which I'm sure I said the same thing at that age but now that I'm older I'm always looking for a reason to go home and see my family. I also helped out with tabling after that day. I attended a student gov meeting on Wednesday which was interesting... I did win the grand prize from the Halloween bash which was a basketball jersey so that was cool, I never win anything. I also started a new job this week at Carhartt and so far it has been pretty fun, I really like this company. I also found out all of my classes are online (as of now) so I'm trying to decide if I want to continue living in Clifton for spring semester and keep both my school job and my job at Carhartt or if I want to move back home and commute for my ambassador responsibilities and either work at my Aunts salon or look into getting a substitute teacher job since the laws have changed for Ohio. As of now I'm not sure what I want to do, I'll have to pray about it and hopefully make a decision soon.
Week 14
This week was a slow one because of Thanksgiving break. However, I did meet with Stephen and Chris to plan the CPAS event. Other than that I don't think I had any other ambassador responsibilities. I had a good week though and was happy to spend thanksgiving with my family. Since I work retail it was nice that stores were closed on Thanksgiving night and didn't open until actual black Friday.