Top 50 Liberal Arts Colleges

Shrill as a choir of children
Urgent like the first day of May
False and inflatable feeling
Tugs at my senses, big as the Macy's Parade

Coat Check Dream Song
From: Cassadaga (2007)


The first week of classes at our Small Liberal Arts College has already come and gone! This semester I am taking Spanish Literature, Art History, Intro to Philosophy, and my Honor Scholar class where we are going to be combining literature (the classics) and history.  I can already tell that my social life is going to suffer greatly, but thats how it goes at one of the Top Private Universities in the country... everyone gets his/her turn at having a really hard semester.  I guess for me it is not so much that it is a hard semester, more that it is going to be very time consuming (being in multiple Lit classes).
I have found myself a regular at the Percy L Julian Math and Science Center (Julian) where I will spend hours just reading for classes. This in my opinion is the most comfortable place to study on campus because there is always a bustle in the background and you don't get nasty looks for talking! (My kind of place.)

This week also marks rush week! The first round of rush was last Sunday, and tonight is Round Two. Tomorrow is Round three, and Bid Day for girls is on Sunday! This week is always very stressful for everyone because of the anticipation of what's to come, so it's great that it is almost over!! And I know that all of the sororities and fraternities are so excited to be able to welcome new members into the houses! Just one more thing to make this Liberal Arts College even more exciting!!!

After a long and restful break and Winter Term, I must say that it's nice to be back on campus.  I arrived a few days early to try and catch up on a few things.  Today was the first day of classes, so that means that yesterday was the last day of the break.  It was about 25 degrees out, but the sun was shining, so my friend Phil and I decided that we needed to just take a quick break from campus to clear our minds and get focused for the beginning of the second semester.  So, we rode our bikes to the Nature Park!  It was absolutely marvelous, definitely one of the most adventurous/peaceful days I've had at DePauw to date.  Seriously, in my opinion, DePauw is definitely one of the best liberal arts colleges and is definitely one of the top private universities.  The Nature Park was simply beautiful.  The rivers and the lake were mostly frozen, and there were HUGE icicles hanging off of the cliff.  It was amazing.  We forgot to bring a camera; otherwise I would post some pictures.  Next time.

Anyway.  I have three goals for this semester. 
1) To practice at LEAST  two hours a day. 
2) To get an A (or an A-) in Spanish. 
3)  To be good at Jazz.
I think these are pretty realistic goals.  As long as I stick to a schedule, everything should get accomplished.

I'm honestly really excited about this semester.  I'm turning a new leaf, so to say.  My schedule is far less crazy than last semester, thank goodness.  I'm only taking four "real" classes (Into to Hispanic Lit., Modern Latin America, Theory IV and Musicianship IV), plus bass and piano lessons and orchestra three days a week.  Today (Monday)  I had Hispanic Lit, Theory, my bass lesson, and orchestra.  Everything went well!  In orchestra right now we're working on a piano concerto by Joan Tower for the Composers of the 21st century festival  that DePauw hosts every year.  Joan Tower is the composer of honor.  I must say, the concerto seems kind of strange and arbitrary.  But then, I've never really understood mid-late 20th/21st century music.  It's not my cup of tea.  Regarless, it's always healthy to be exposed to new compositional styles.  So, at DePauw, guest composers visit every year.  How many small literal arts colleges can say that?

It's going to be great!  I'm really looking forward to what this semester has in store.

It's been a little while since my last post. I spent the Christmas holiday at home in Chicago with my family and friends. It's time now that I return to the business of my dear old liberal arts college. It's been fun, but I know that it's not all fun and games at DePauw, one of the top 50 liberal arts colleges in the country.

I only spent a few days at home, about 2 weeks because I set sail for El Salvador for my first ever Winter Term in Service, a unique experience for adventure seeking students of private liberal arts colleges. I spent one month in Las Marias, El Salvador. I will devote a few separate posts for that purpose.

In the meantime, I want to remind all seniors to apply for the Servicio en las Americas program through DePauw. It's a service-learning based immersion program for incoming freshmen. Students will spend 3 weeks on campus taking language classes, doing service, and getting to know Greencastle and campus and 2.5 weeks or so in Costa Rica doing service and putting into practice all that they learned before. I really support it. Only at DePauw, a small liberal arts college, can such experiences come about.

That is all for now. Signing out future tigers! Good luck with the application process.

I dreamt of a fever,
one that would cure me of this cold, winter set heart.
with heat to melt these frozen tears
burned with reasons as to carry on.

 If Winter Ends
From: Letting off the Happiness (1998)


Winter term has come and gone already! My last Meditation class was on Tuesday.  Usually we only meditate for an hour each day, but for the last day we had a two hour long meditation session.  The two hours were optional, and since I was having a really off day I decided to jump out after the normal one hour session! 
Tons of people are starting to get back from their DePauw UNiversity  off-campus winter terms. It's so great to see all of my friends again!!

I've been living this winter term in one of the dorms that are usually just for the first-year students of our small liberal arts college campus, but I get to move back into Kappa Kappa Gamma tomorrow!  Tonight I will be spending the night at the luxurious Walden Inn.  The Walden Inn is a lovely little Inn located right on campus.  It's not too expensive, and so it is a great option for parents to stay at while visiting their children.  The beds are so fluffy that it's impossible not to have a great nights sleep.  ALSO (it gets better) in the shower the shampoo is no low-quality stuff..  the conditioner, shampoo, and soap are all from bath and body works!  Coconut Lime: my favorite!!!  I would expect nothing less from the Inn on the campus of this Top Private Liberal Arts College.

Hello Everybody!!

I have been in hibernation since finals and I have not done any updates... I apologize!

Well it looks like many many updates are needed. First and foremost - as you can tell I survived finals AND senior seminar. I had a love/hate relationship with Senior Seminar, but in the end it turned into an all love relationship.
Senior Seminar highlights  something very unique about a small liberal arts school like DePauw University. You want to do well and excel and give 110% because you know your professors on a personal level and you don't want to let them down. I worked so hard on my 50 page thesis- but in the end I was very proud of the result and I think my professor also thought it was very interesting.

After Finals and Seminar - I went home to St. Louis, Missouri for Christmas Break.  My two brothers and their significant others came to St. Louis for Christmas. It was a very low key Christmas but very family-filled, which is always a success. My family s a true believer of a liberal arts education. Both of my older brothers went to Hanover College in southern Indiana which is also a small liberal art school - BUT it is not one of the top 50 liberal arts colleges like DePauw University!!

After Christmas, I came back to Indiana and took advantage of one of the coolest things about DePauw - WINTER TERM!!! I was chosen to be a Floating "winter term" intern for the Indiana Republican State Senate for the whole month of January. It has been an amazing opportunity. I work for the 3 majority leaders of the Senate and get to write letters to constituents, write committee reports, and make sure the Senators are always happy. The internship was intense and had many long hours - but I have met many great people and had many networking opportunties. This Friday is my last day, and I am quite sad - I like this real world working life I have lived for the month.
The DePauw alumni are amazing. I lived with an old sorority sister who graduated 2 years ago and has an awesome apartment downtown. It was perfect for the internship.

I am gearing up for my LAST semester at DePauw. I truly can't believe it! I have already made a "To Do List" of things that I really hope to do this semester. I will share a few of the things as I check them off the list.

Well - I need to get back to work, but Sorority Rush is this weekend, so I will tell you more about that soon.

CHEERS!
Julie Southworth

Merry Christmas!! 

Yes, you read that correctly.  I said CHRISTMAS.  It seems like this year more than ever it has become taboo to specifically state what holiday is being celebrated.  Honestly, I think American society has become too sensitive.  There is a time and place for political correctness, but when it comes to one's own personal belief system, there shouldn't be a need to worry about stepping on anyone's toes.  I'm a Christian and am going to wish you a merry Christmas, but if you're Jewish and want to wish me a happy Hanukkah or are agnostic and want to wish me a happy nothing, I promise I won't be offended.  Really.  It's like we're all so worried about offending our neighbors that we fail to be fully involved in what we originally believed the season to be about.  In the direction we're headed, pretty soon we're going to be saying "Season's Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" through the first few weeks of winter out of tradition and with no recollection of what the season's greetings actually were or what holidays were once upon a time celebrated.  The concept of having any firmly rooted belief system is quickly becoming archaic and null.

Perhaps my education at one of the top 50 liberal arts colleges has had some influence, but I quite strongly believe that we all should know exactly what we're celebrating and why.  If you celebrate Hanukah, know what Hanukkah is about.  If you celebrate Kwanzaa, then understand the meaning behind it. 

That being said, I've had a wonderful break so far!  My brother, Scott, got his private pilot license last week, so last Saturday he took me and his friend to Sedona, AZ (it was about a 45 minute flight and is about 2 hours by ground transportation).  I had actually never been to Sedona before, even though it is actually quite popular as an escape from the Valley.  Many Western movies were filmed there-- I'm sure you can see why!  Scott even let me pretend to have the controls once!  It was fun.  We had a delicious breakfast at the airport restaurant and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and then came home.  It was a great start to my break! 

 

Do you know the main motif from of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5?  (if not, go here--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4IRMYuE1hI&feature=related  and listen to the first 5 seconds).  Well, I feel like if my life were a movie/cheesy, over-played commercial, that motif would be following me around this week.  Today was my music history final.  At DePauw, we have three hours to take a final.  Most finals only last about one and a half to two hours, but today I used all three hours and still didn't even finish.  Can you believe that?  Three hours of non-stop writing and listening to musical examples, and I still didn't finish.  I wasn't the only one not done, either.  There were listening examples, where we had to identify the title of the piece, composer, date of composition, and characteristics and then some other writing-intensive components as well.  It was really, really rough.  After taking that final, I was completely exhausted and needed a nap.  But that means one final down, four more to go!  Tomorrow is econ (which I'm definitely not looking forward to) and then I have music theory, Spanish, and musicianship. 

Yay!!  A week from today I will be home!  I can't wait.  I've found that the weather fluctuates a lot here, and I think it's actually the same for other Indiana colleges and universities.  Last Thursday it was about -17 with the wind-chill, but today it's in the 40s and 50s!  Unbelievable.  I'm just ready to go back to Arizona where the weather is pretty consistent.  However, there are some things that I'll miss about school while I'm at home for the break and winter term.  I'll definitely miss the liberal arts college environment.  It seems like the general environment at DePauw could be described at intensely focused, yet relaxed at the same time.  We definitely know how to study and meet the high standards that the professors have for us, but we also know how to just take things as they come and not really stress out (most of the time).  I'm sure at first while I'm at home I'll enjoy the emptiness of my schedule, but after a while I'll probably just want to be busy with something again.  I decided to take this winter term off because the proficiency exam is coming up in April, and I want to spend the break practicing so that I'll be as prepared as possible.  

So, I guess that's it for now!  It's time to get back to studying for econ!!

I'll have a blue HOLIDAY* without you
I'll be so blue thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green HOLIDAY* tree
Won't mean a thing dear, if you're not here with me


It's that time of year again.  FINALS.  This week was the last week of classes. NOW starts the 24 hour quiet hours  until finals end here at this Private Liberal Arts College.  Most liberal arts schools have difficult finals.. but I would say that here at DePauw one must really work hard in order to succeed on the finals.  This past week for some has been worse than the actual finals week!  While all of my friends were busy writing papers and taking exams, I have really had nothing to do.  Although I have been studying here and there to get a jump start on preparing for next week, I have actually been somewhat bored.  That is why I have been working quite a lot of hours over at the admission office.

Those who regularly follow my blog will recall my employment in the DePauw University admission office from the summer.  This week I have been reliving my time spent there putting stickers on things, stuffing letters, and gluing things together.  I personally love to glue. Along with that I have been babysitting for the children of a couple of my professors. 

Something that I really like about this Top Private University is that there are a plethora of jobs both on campus and off.  Students are close enough with professors that one may actually go to a professors house to watch their kids! It's nice to be making a bit of $$ before the Holiday Season!

ON another note! It seems as though everything is Holiday-ed out lately! Almost all of the Greek houses are covered in lights, and Kappa Kappa Gamma is decorated inside as well! 

 
I know it's somewhat huge and hard to see, but this is a picture of SAE (fraternity next door to KKG) As you can see, it is all decked out in lights!! SO much fun,















In this picture, I am hanging out with some friends at Phi Delta Theta.  All of the people in this picture besides myself are Freshmen.  Freshmen weren't allowed on Greek property before Fall Break, but now they are so it's really nice to get to meet all of them!  Because this is a Small Liberal Arts School, there really is no division between the different years in school. 
It's awesome when everyone is able to be friends no matter of age.  This is in Jon and Carlos' room, and as you can see they have a lot of pride for their country!!

 Do not fret, I will write next week to inform all of you on how I do on my finals

Hello Everyone:

I just want to say good luck when applying for school, since it;s definitely that time of the year.

This has been a pretty busy week and this college of Indiana is back in full swing. I want to take this blog to promote a new program that DePauw has, that's very close to my heart. The DePauw in Ecuador program started in 2007 and it was the deciding factor in my college decision process. I knew I wanted to go to a liberal arts college, perhaps even a top 50 liberal arts college, so this was just icing on the cake. This year the program is moving to Costa Rica and I suggest that any student who is interested in DePauw, a private liberal arts college, and who has at least 2 years of Spanish, to apply for the program.

There are some opportunities that only come about through the support of DPU alumni and as a private liberal arts college, we are a tight-nit community interested in giving back to the students and the global community. That is what this program is all about. Look it up on the website or contact me if you have any questions, I am the student leader.

Peace and Love Future Tigers,

Danni

The heat comes in distant shifts
To fill up my room
It spills out of these ancient vents
To meet the new cold
And I lay in my twisted sheets
And stare out at the snow
Thinking of the next few months
Only 2 weeks left to the semester as of today... and one of them is finals! It is insane how quickly the cold came on... It is now FREEZING out.  I sleep in the Kappa cold dorm, and Not only do I have  heated blanket turned on full blast, but I also have 4 other blankets (and it's not rare for me to still be cold!) The first snow happened... I wasn't pleased, but I guess the fact that it's December and has only snowed once (a very small amount) makes us pretty lucky!
Right now I'm getting ready to head over to the DePauw University Lilly Center in order to do some working out.  Although the workout facility on our Small Liberal Arts Campus is not the largest, it's never hard to find a good time to workout where it's not busy.  I didn't work out at all over thanksgiving break, so now that I'm back at our Top Private Liberal Arts College I have to make a point to get back in there and work off the Thanksgiving feast of last year. 

On another note, this weekend is going to be pretty fun! There are a bunch of registered happenings.  Here's a lovely photo from a sweet registered event that happened earlier this year. These events are always full to the brim with dancing and good times!


Along with that, the KKG informal is tonight! The theme is "freak what you feel" so there should be some interesting outfits going on.. We're heading over to Alex's Alleys Which is a bowling alley right near our Private Liberal Arts College.  Because it's within walking distance, one PE class that we have the option to take is "Bowling." So that's pretty fun...if you like bowling I guess.

It's hard to believe that the semester is almost over!  We only have two weeks of classes then finals, and then it's time for winter break!  It really seems like the semester just started a couple of weeks ago.  I guess it's easy for time to slip away as a DePauw student, because we're all busy liberal arts college students.  I had a great Thanksgiving break, but now it's full speed ahead for these next few weeks.  The work is not going to let up.  On some level I'm ok with that fact because it means that I'm learning, but the sleeping in during break will be missed.  When it comes down to it, education is more important than sleep, anyway.

Tonight was the second lecture in the Ubben lecture series.  Steven Levitt was here. He wrote Freakonomics.  In it he connects topics that seems rather obscure to economics and shows how econ really is a part of everyday life.  One of my favorite chapters is about one of the drug gangs in Chicago in the late '80s and early '90s.  He showed how it was set up exactly like a franchise, with a few people at the top making a lot of money and with many people at the bottom making minimum wage (or the equivalent).  No one would think to connect a drug gang to economics, but he did and made it interesting.  In his most recent book (I haven't read it yet), he talks about sumo wrestlers, global cooling, and why suicide bombers should buy life insurance.  It seems interesting.  That's one of the good things about attending one of the top 50 liberal arts colleges.  At DePauw, we often have exciting visitors.

 











Tomorrow is scheduled to be a busy day!  More classes, plus more homework and practicing!  My bass semester jury is scheduled for a week from today.  Wish me luck!!

Cheerio Everyone!!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Break! I always go to Ohio to celebrate the holidays with my Dad's side of the family. I ate tons and tons of food and watched lots of good football!!
Cool story about Thanksgiving - My best friend here at DePauw University has come with me and my family to Ohio for all 4 years. We became instant friends through cross country, and she is from Arizona - so she does not want to fly all the way home for the weekend, so she come to Ohio and celebrates with my family!! DePauw attracts amazing students from all over the United States!!
We joke that this could be her last year, but we are both a little unsure of our future, so who knows where we will all be next year (scary feeling as a senior!!!).


This is the time of the year when you are constantly reminded of DePauw's tough academic standards that make it a top 50 liberal arts college! This is crunch time. With finals right around the corner and Seminar papers needing to be finished --- this is the time of the year that I get a loot of bonding time with my good friend Roy (Roy O. West Library).

I just got exciting news! I got an internship for January - or Winter Term here at DePauw University. Winter Term happens in January and is one month available for AMAZING opportunities. You can travel around the world with DePauw faculty and class mates, you can get an internship, or you can take 1 class that is a little more carefree and fun here at DePauw. I have traveled to New Mexico for an outdoor adventure class my freshman year, and then went to Japan my sophomore year. This year, I will be doing an internship for Indiana Senate Leadership. It should be a a great opportunity to meet so many interesting people and learn about our state govenment!
Winter Term is one of the things that attracted me to DePauw!

Well I am off -- I am going to an Ubben Lecture tonight! I am going to hear the author of the book Freakeconomics talk for FREE! Only at DePauw!

Study hard --- it is the home stretch of the semester!

Cheers,
Julie

I am SO, SO, SO MAD AT MYSELF! I just wrote an extended post I was extremely proud of and accidentally deleted it by hitting a tab shut!

 

Gah!

 

Ah, well. Here’s take 2. So I haven’t updated in a while, and I’m very sorry for it! I’ve been working a lot and finally Thanksgiving break is here, and so a much needed resolution as to why work is worship has finally made itself available!

 

Lately, I’ve been absolutely obsessed with ideas relating to food, and have avidly been following food blogs. This past year has been very, very eventful for me, and my outlook on life has changed radically. In terms of diet, I must admit that I gave in to the freshman 15—or the freshman 50, actually, and with losing my grandmother I’ve realized just how important life really is, and so am doing my best to ensure I live a long, healthy life. In an effort for the same, I’ve switched to a vegetarian lifestyle, and lately I’ve been enjoying reading, writing, and learning about food—it is, after all, an art!

 

I’m at a friend’s for Thanksgiving and am grateful to be able to bring my Indianness to the place! J We spent most of Tuesday getting here, Wednesday relaxing and preparing for Turkey day, and today finally arrived in its grateful glory. I’ll share some of the exciting bits with you.

 

We started the evening off with some delicious appetizers. There was barbecue chicken dip, cinnamon rolls, a traditional Thanksgiving Cheeseball, banana bread with filling and shrimps with a dip. I helped myself to crackers with cheese, a few pieces of banana bread and diet coke:

 

The entire feast was so, so fancy! My friend’s family is extremely affluent, and they have the BEST house (they even have a huge pond with a fountain!) I wish I had taken pictures. Meanwhile, I’ll use Google images to the closest to display our filling feast.

 

There was turkey and ham, but I chose not to eat any. Instead, I attacked the DELICIOUS sweet potato casserole topped with pecans:




 

 

And some lovely cornbread pudding to go with it:

 

Altogether with some warm mashed potatoes and a bite of green bean casserole:



 

 

Not to forget the soft rolls with honey butter:


 

 

There was also stuffing and gravy, macaroni and cheese topped with breadcrumbs and parmesan, and two more casseroles, but I didn’t try them.

 

I must convince I was absolutely stuffed, but I had to save some room for dessert! (Dessert is my most favourite part of the meal, for I have a crazy, crazy sweet tooth. As is evident, most of my main course meals really centered around dessert!)

 

There were 2 pumpkin pies, a pecan pie, a chocolate pudding pie, an apple cobbler and whipped cream. I helped myself to some of the chocolate pie, the apple cobbler and a bite of the pecan pie. Deliciousness.






 

 

All in all, I have to admit I’m more grateful today than I’ve been in a long time (and the meal does have tons to do with it!)

 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

 

 

This post doesn't have much to say...but there sure will be a lot to see.  These past two weeks have been so fun!  I have been so some informals, formals, the MONON BELL game and pep rally... If any of you are at all interested in knowing what goes on outside of class time, this may be a good post to look at. After all, a picture is worth 1000 words, right?  So not much explanation will be in this post. :)

In the beginning of November, I attended Sigma Chi Fraternity's "Country Club" informal.  The premise is that everyone finds the "preppiest" clothes they own and attends a "Country Club" style party at the fraternity house.  This is one of my favorite fraternity events of the season because we get picked up in golf carts (see image) and I get to use all of the clothes I bought when I worked at J.Crew! :)  Costumes range from preppy parents to golf caddys.  Needless to say, the night was a great success!

The next week was Monon Week 2009!  As you know the Monon Bell Football game is the highlight of the DePauw football season.  We literally play for the Monon Bell (at left).  The week is full of activities, all leading up to the pep rally and the game itself.  During the pep rally, each fraternity and sorority pair up and do a skit predicting the game (and always end with the Tigers winning...duh). This year, Alpha Phi did a skit with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Nu fraternities and did a skit based on the movie "Twilight" where we fought over "Bell-a" (get it...Monon BELL...Bella is the main character...we thought we were clever haha).  Check out this video to see our skit! (<-- hopefully the link works!) We didn't win, but we sure did have a lot of fun!

That weekend was the Monon Bell game!  Sadly, we didn't win this year, but the Tigers still managed to make it to the playoffs for THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY! nice.  The pictures below are from the tailgate, the game and the poms performance during halftime!
  











So.Much.Fun. To cap of the next week, I attended Alpha Phi's formal.  I took one of my best girl friends as my date, and we partied like we weren't graduating in May :)  This year we rented the 3rd floor of the Chase Building in Downtown Indianapolis.  It was a very classy, candlelit night with an awesome DJ to boot! As a little gift, each attendee received a pair of avaitors before the dance with "Alpha Phi" written on the top.  So of course, we had to take pictures wearing the glasses... (see pic of me and Jess on the right. sadly, we're not that cool).  The next day we participated in Dance Marathon, a fundraiser for pediatric AIDS and started mentally preparing for Thanksgiving break. :)

On Sunday, my cousin Michael came to visit DePauw as a prospective student.  He got the full DePauw overnight experience (with the exception of eating at Marvin's...it was closed by the time we got there Monday night).  So this is my official shout out to my cousin...hope you loved the school (and your visit)!

OK - so I ended up writing a lot (no surprise there). I am currently enjoying Thanksgiving break, but I am in the library preparing to write three final papers for after break.  I hope you all have a fun, family-oriented Thanksgiving! We all have so much to be thankful for :)

I'll see you after break!
Lizzy

This past Saturday was the annual International Bazaar. One of the things DePauw prides itself on is being a truly global campus. This means both having one of the highest study abroad participation rates among small liberal arts colleges and having an ever increasing number of international students. In order to engage in intellectual thought/discussion in today's world, you have to have a classroom made of diverse people with diverse backgrounds and life experiences.

The International Bazaar is event that celebrates DePauw's cultural diversity though food, dance, music, story telling and more. This year more than 30 countries, from which DePauw students hail were represented through over 50 food dishes and dozens of cultural performances.

I had been looking forward to this event all week and let me tell you, it was totally worth it. I tried all sorts of great ethnic foods and saw some great performances by our students from all over the world. Below is a picture of my girlfriend, Meredith, and I, taken just outside the International Bazaar while we were standing in line. I decided to wear a sherwani I got while completing an internship in India last fall. More pictures from the International Bazaar are available by clicking here.




~BB

Near a sea of pianos, there were waves of chords
that crashed against the shore in one huge and useless roar.
And there were girls bringing water,
like a dream they came to cure the fever of my brain,
and soothe my burning throat.
And they made me a necklace, hanging beads of sweat on a string of my regrets,
and placed it round my neck


It's almost scary.  It appears to me that almost every person I encounter has an illness of some sort.  Ranging from colds to the swine, everyone is coughing and sneezing. I think this is an important blog for me to write. As illness runs like wildfire in any of the top 50 liberal arts colleges because of the close proximity, it's great to know that we have somewhere to turn.  I've talked to some of my friends recently about the illness at their schools (most of them at huge state schools in Illinois), and the answers for the most part seem to be the same.  There are a lot of people ill, and the waiting list to see a university doctor is seemingly endless. 

At DePauw University we are in luck! Here we are blessed to have the Wellness Center (just a mere 5 minute walk (or less) from basically every point on campus) where it is easy as pie to make an appointment (or counselor if needed) and be able to see a doctor either the day of the phone call, or the next day!  Here's a picture of our M.D....Dr. Scott Ripple.  He is a certified M.D, and got his medical degree from IU.  Very nice.





The wellness center constantly has vaccinations available as well... recently there was a limited supply of H1N1 vaccines, which is awesome! It's great that some people on campus are protected! I was not lucky enough to receive one of these vaccinations, so I'm constantly carrying germ-x in my purse, and forcing all of my friends to "de-germ" before touching me or my things.
 It's awesome how many different types of Germ-X there are.. I have the normal one, but there are actually different scents!! All around campus one is able to find germ-x bottles for student use.  This Small liberal arts college is staying protected and healthy!!

Hello Everyone,

Two top private universities.
Two colleges of Indiana.
Two small liberal arts colleges.

Fighting for the beloved Monon bell. Who will win?

Well, as ya'll may know, I spent 4 weeks of my summer living with Wabash students for a program. I also took a 6-week class there last semester on teaching EFL and ESL--- needless to say, I'm torn!

I'm having a few of my Wallie friends stay with me for the weekend. They know that I am a tiger a heart though, always. I'm also sitting on the Wabash side... shhh, you won't tell will you? I reallllly reeeeeaaaalllly wanted to see the game and our tickets sold out in two days! Awful, right? The things I do!

:-)

Well, here is a picture of my summer Wabash group. I guess I'll have to cheer for both sides. I will keep you posted as to how my divided house will be this weekend. 


Over and Out--

Monon 2009, let's go Tigers!

Recap

 Woo! It's been a little while, but i'm back. Things got really hectic around here for a while, but that's just life at DePauw. What else can you expect from one of the top 50 liberal arts colleges in america? Oh well...

Since I've been gone a lot of things have happened on campus. We recently had our ArtsFest and this years theme was Arts & Power.
 

I must say that this was by far one of our better years for the week! We had world renowned artist and DePauw Alumni, William "Bing" Davis, come to campus and talk to young artists about his experience at DePauw as well as how to expand upon their own art. There was another symposium with Sonja Hinrichsen, an installation artist, a film screening of V for Vendetta, and HUGE inflatable sculptures all around campus!

There was a big Ice Cream cone, a rubber duck in Bowman Park, a giant blue squid in front of Peeler and at one point on top of Julian, a boxing glove at the Women's Center, a sea anenome by the Lily Center, a giant couch on top of Peeler, boobs (yes boobs) in front of Emison!







We also had our Old Gold football game, with DePauw winning of course! 

Keeping it moving.

We are getting close to one of the most anticipated weekends at DePauw. This is hands down, easily, the most exciting weekend to hit this campus. The weekend starts off with the Varsity Swim Team, who by the way recently beat Wabash 200 to 100 Wednesday, swimming against Centre College at the Lily center pool at 7:00pm. Immediately following is the Fabolous and Asher Roth concert held by Union Board in the Lily center starting at 9:00pm. For those who may not know, Fabolous is a hip-hop superstar with hit singles, Holla Back Youngin', Throw it in the Bag, Can't Deny It, Into you, Breathe, Make Me Better, and My Time (which was featured in the opening sequence of America's Best Dance Crew) 








There will be an official after party following the concert hosted by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

However, all of these things pale in comparison to the main event of the weekend. 

THE MONON BELL GAME! 
 
This si the time of the year when campus erupts with Tiger Pride! This year we will be hosting the game at Blackstock Stadium and our team is looking better than ever! We're playoff bound and are going to destroy those Wallies   (It's all friendly competition though) This year will be one of the largest crowds that DePauw has ever had! The tickets sold out in record time this year, both at DePauw and at Wabash!

I am so looking forward to this game! I went my freshman year, the year that we reclaimed the bell! I have never been so proud to be a DePauw student. We won that game with a 49 yard field goal kick by Jordan Havercamp with 4 seconds left on the clock! It was amazing! It made sports center highlights, which is a phenomenal feat for a school best known for it's academics and not necessarily it's sports team. I somehow managed to snag TWO tickets too! This is going to be a great game!

 Mascots shaking hands before the game


DePauw emerging victorious with the bell held high!











I'll be back soon with more updates and more things going on at DePauw. Until then, stay classy.

Yesterday was a fall preview day. Fall preview days are when prospective students and their families are invited to DePauw for a full day of activities designed to give them a comprehensive view of what DePauw has to offer. The day was kicked off by an address from our amazing President, Brian Casey. The rest of the day had a variety of activities including mock classes for prospective students, campus tours, Q&A sessions with current students and an activities fair. At the activities fair, families can learn more about the different aspects of DePauw by talking with representatives from every department (everything from career services and dining services to academic programs and financial aid).

I participated as a current student in the Q& A session for parents and helped at the Management Fellows table in the activities fair. I really enjoy talking with prospective students because it gives me the opportunity to brag about DePauw and all the wonderful opportunities at this top 50 liberal arts college. 

Next weekend is Monon. I am so excited. I have a lot of work to do though before then.

~BB

Well morning came
And it dressed the sky
In a lovely yellow gown
And the shops they are
All opening
In that narrow hallway of downtown
Filled with people who
Are shopping for
Their lovers and their friends
So they won't ever be lonely again

Martin's is found on the Greencastle square.  It's an awesome little boutique and a favorite shopping place of students who attend the Best Liberal Arts College, DePauw University! Here's a picture of Martins (it's the shop to the furthest left in this picture =D  )

Tonight is going to be wild!!






Oh yes, I mentioned the Kappa Formal that went down last weekend, here are a couple pictures from there.  Obviously I am no great photographer! Haha..





So here's myself and my date Jon gettin our groove on out on the dance floor.  Look how nicely his blue and silver tie matches my silver dress, and blue necklace. Excellent planning.














Here we have my good friend Kelly and myself, once again boogying down.
As you can see, I am even peaceful when bustin a move.















Here's a picture from the bus ride to the formal location. The theme was masquerade... so everyone got sweet masks!  Ours are rasta colors! How fun =)
Sadly, I appear to have missed one of my eyes. One would think that a student of one of the top private universities in the country would be able to properly hold a mask, but alas, we are merely human.