Yo! It’s been exactly one week since my last post, so this entry will fill you in with all of the significant events that occurred in my life in the past seven days… here is goes!

Monday was a relatively busy day. I got back my Interpersonal Communication midterm, and got 100! I was sooo super excited because I studied for HOURS for that exam, and it was worth it! Woo The rest of the day was comprised of more classes, until Monday night, when the Associate Council voted in the new RHSA constitution. This is something that is very exciting to me, and many other members of our community, because our old constitution did not accurately reflect all that we do. Since August, the Executive Board has been working on amending our constitution, and we finally presented it and voted it in! Of course it is a living document, and is still far from perfect, but certain elements, such as voting procedures and position outlines, are more detailed now, which should enhance the status of our organization!

Tuesday was RAINY! I LOVE rain!! The one disappointment on Tuesday was that my rain boots, which are my FAVORITE pair of shoes I own, ripped! I still wore them, and my feeties got all wet.. whatever, it was worth it! I had a lovely lunch with my Resident Director, V.T., and then headed to the library to work on a presentation that I had later that afternoon. For my Storytelling & Culture class, we had to present a story from our own culture. When I was home for the Jewish holidays, my grandma lent me a book entitled “A Treasury of Jewish Folklore,” edited by Nathan Ausubel. In this fine collection of Jewish folklore, my dad found a story called “Napoleon and the Jewish Tailor,” which is a cute story with a strong message at the end, so I decided to use it for my presentation. Everything went well, and I was glad to share the story with my class. Then, I went to Zumba, which is a class offered at the gym. It is a combination of dance and other exercise moves, and it is so much fun! On Tuesday night, I had an online meeting with several representatives from other colleges throughout the Northeast Region about how to make our campuses more sustainable. We are working on creating a guidebook to distribute to all of the institutions affiliated with our organization. I find this committee extremely interesting and am looking forward to the final outcome of the guidebook because it will be beneficial to the green-ifying of our future.

On Wednesday I woke up early to study for a bit, and then I had work as an Office Assistant for the Office of Student Activities and Union Services. For the first hour, I went with Lauren, another Office Assistant, to advertise for the “Pumpkin Carving Contest,” which was held on Halloween. We had fun walking around campus and handing out fliers. The rest of the afternoon was spent doing paper work and other office-related tasks. Work was followed by two classes, and then on Wednesday night, I was on duty in Deyo Hall.

On Thursday, I met with Corinna Caracci, the Director of Residence Life. As the president of RHSA, I do my best to help mend conflicts that are going on around campus, so I went to her to discuss some issues that residents have brought up to me lately. She is amazing and I recommend that every individual on this campus get to know her before they graduate, because she is the most energetic and caring person! She would do ANYTHING to help a student feel more comfortable here at New Paltz!! After our meeting, I had classes all day. At night, I worked on my November bulletin board, which I will post pictures of sometime in the near future (along with the Frost Valley video, it’s coming!). Thursday night was also the “Pumpkin Carving Program” in Deyo Hall, which had a fantastic turnout!

And, during the program, we also had an EXTREME game of Extreme Volleyball.. please excuse the pumpkin residue on my camera lens!

Then, we took a trip to Esopus Hall, to watch the Halloween Performance of the two on-campus A Capella groups, Sexy Pitches and Absolut A Capella perform, and they were amazing, as always

Friday was HALLOWEEN!! After classes, I went with some of my suite mates and our friends into town to see the Halloween parade! It is really nice to see so many people in town, celebrating together.. students, faculty, kids and parents from the New Paltz community…

We ended up at the Bakery, which was insanely busy, as you can see below, to view the annual pumpkin carving contest!

After, I headed back to Deyo for the Hall Government Halloween party! Check out some of the nifty costumes that our residents wore!

And finally, Saturday! My parents and brother came to visit on Saturday, and it was the perfect day! First, we got lunch at Wrapsoody Grill, which was delicious! Then, we went apple and pumpkin picking! Although there were not many apples left, it was still SO MUCH FUN!

Then, we went for a walk on the Rail Trail, which was beautiful!

After, I introduced my mom to Pumpkin Spice Tea (yummmmmmmm) at the Muddy Cup. We walked around town for a while and went to dinner at Rock da’ Pasta. It was such a great visit   At night, I was on duty, and my next door neighbor from home, who also goes to New Paltz, came over.  It was nice to catch up with her   We had a good time talking about old times!

HAPPY NOVEMBER!!! Until next time, ENJOY! -Jessie