Great news: I am a new PSST mentor! I received the email today during my math lecture! Upon opening the email, I was grinning ear to ear, and after internally rejoicing for a good thirty seconds – I looked up to see my professor staring at me, confused. Whoops! Regardless of that, I am a new LHC (Lee Honors College) mentor! WOO-HOO! Now I have two jobs for the 2013-14 school year, including the Student Ambassador’s office, of course!

Even before my wonderful news this afternoon, I was already having a splendid day! My internship at the Portage Community Center is going well. I was able to sit in on a professional meeting this morning, making comments on how we are running our big event: The Cinderella Project. I am in the process of finding organizations and businesses to donate coupons and other items for our girls to pick up at the end of their spa day. I have quickly realized how difficult that can be, since most businesses take a good two or three calls before you are actually finalized with them. This has definitely been a learning experience for me on time management, and how much energy it actually takes to run events like these. And let me tell you: a LOT is needed.

Just two more days until my personal Spring Break begins, as I decided to duck out a couple of days early! On Wednesday night, I will be on a plane to the South! This break is being welcomed with my open arms: I am so excited for good food and sleep!

With Bronco Love,

Jazz

A little story about me: when I was a little tike, I was sick all of the time. It was normal for me to have a cold/flu even five or six in a year. This past summer I underwent a tonsillectomy, and hadn’t been sick since. Due to this victory, I thought I had escaped any sickness at all this cold and flu season! Alas, I had confidence a bit too soon and here we are: sick as a dog. So sick, in fact, that I actually had to cancel my entire day today.

Ah well, it is alright – everybody has to have their turn! It is starting to come down to the wire of midterms and many projects with looming due dates. I cannot wait for Spring Break next week! It is well deserved for many of my friends and classmates. Before I am able to relax though, I have quite a few hurdles to get through.

Tomorrow, I have an interview for a position in the Lee Honors College as a Peer Student Success Team Mentor. As a mentor, I would get to help first year honors students with getting acquainted with campus and helping them to learn balancing their first collegiate experience! I think it would be such a great opportunity, not only as a leader, but to become more involved in the Honors College! In addition, as a Student Ambassador, I have been able to be heavily involved in prospective students’ lives – but not so much once they are on campus. I think being involved in both arenas would really help me to be better rounded in each job! So tomorrow, there is both an individual and group interview: I am excited!

I am very lucky that I go to a school with so many opportunities to get involved with anything I want to explore. Going to a school like Western is great for me, because we have numerous opportunities that make our campus diverse and interesting while still feeling like a smaller community.

Well, I will report back on what happens with my interview! Until then!

With Bronco Love,

Jazz

P.S.: 6 days until Spring Break!

As of late, I have been constantly caught up in trying to get things done, and –as per usual – my to do list keeps growing when I am not looking. With my internship, fraternity, and job in full swing – it is a crazy time of year, not to mention classes. It tends to be right before midterms when you truly realize the amount of tasks piling on your desk. To combat that too, my motivation to do anything has seriously been lacking. “Why can’t I just stay home and watch ‘Once Upon A Time’?”, has been the perpetual question for weeks.  However, this past weekend was exactly what I needed.

Friday night, I was able to see one of my best friends in her show ‘Communicating Doors’ at the Gilmore Theatre Complex. The show was about time travel, and she was the main character. I am so proud of her; she did such a great job! Her name is Talia, and she was my roommate last year in the residence halls. The plot itself is pretty confusing, so I am just going to post a link to the stellar review she received: click here!

After the show, my friends Zach, Allie, Sarah, and I went to the Crow’s Next and Fourth Coast Café. If you don’t know those restaurants yet – you soon will. They are locally based companies that are located on Westnedge in Kalamazoo. The Crow’s Nest is known for their scrumptious breakfast menu, and Fourth Coast for their coffee and baked goods. The four of us were able to have a nice and relaxing night together talking and catching up – definitely well deserved, in my opinion.

On Saturday, I went to see the Gold Company Miller Show. Western is widely known for their jazz choirs, because of the Gold Company Program. Founded by Steve Zegree, GC and Gold Company II (think of it as a junior choir to the main one) have been around for thirty-five years. The groups have put on the “Miller Show” every year in our Miller Auditorium on campus, which is typically reserved for traveling artists and shows. The performance was amazing, I was so proud of my many friends that I have in the program!

After that, I had a nice night in and a meeting on Sunday for the fraternity. It is easy to become bogged down in the things I have to get done and not take a break on the weekends. It was refreshing to leave my work for a little while and spend time in good company. That balance can be challenging to implement, either you get someone like myself who never gives themselves a break or someone who has become a bit too comfortable in the social scene. Good luck to any incoming freshmen, I hope that you are able to find your healthy balance soon!

With Bronco Love,

Jasmine

One of my favorite things about being a student ambassador at Western is working our big events throughout the year. Some of the things that we host include: Open Houses, Spotlights, the Medallion Scholarship Competition, and the Multicultural Leadership Scholarship Competition. We work the events on Fridays and Saturdays, and are, of course, paid to do so! It is a lot of fun. These events usually are from about 7am to 4pm, so as a side effect of being together all day long, you get to know your coworkers very well!

The large event we worked this past Saturday was the last of the two Medallion Scholarship Competition days. The Medallion Scholarship Program offers students who: apply to WMU by December of their senior year, have a 3.7 GPA or higher, and received a 27 on their ACT or higher, to come and compete for a $50,000 scholarship to Western. The students do an essay and a group problem solving activity.

Student ambassadors do everything from greeting and check in, to giving tours and student panels, to assisting with departmental workshops! I started off my day bright and early at 7:00 am (which is really early for college students) and checked in competitors. Then, I walked students to different buildings for them to complete their essay-writing portion. Lastly, I served on a panel for parents of the competitors, and they asked questions about what it is like to be a student in the Lee Honors College. It is such an enjoyable experience for me because I was in the students’ shoes just a few years ago, competing for the Medallion too!

I took a few photos while I was working to put up on here, just for fun. Having a blast!

With Bronco Love,

Jazz

They were so nice and cheery, smiling for the camera at 7am!

These are our office graduate assistants, aren't they wonderful?

We figured out how to make a W, Bronco pride!