Hey everyone…The last few days have been so fun and eventful that I don’t even know where to start..I’m just going to ramble on about some things, probably in no particular order.

First! I applied for the NACURH 2009 national conference which is going to be held in Arizona and I found out that I was selected as a member of the delegation who will be attending. Words can not express how happy, excited, and ecstatic I am for being given this opportunity. I can’t wait!

What is NACURH you ask? Very good question. In a nutshell (and correct me if I’m wrong or need to add anything else NCC’s Tif and Christina), NACURH stands for the National Association of College and University Residence Halls. Essentially, they recognize living on campus as a major part of the college experience and put on regional and national conferences. At these conferences delegates get to meet other people from schools all over the country, share programming ideas and resources, and show their love and spirit for their school.

I’m so excited because I’m sure as you can tell I love New Paltz and I can’t wait to show my school spirit and go crazy for a few days. I’m also really looking forward to the programming aspect of the conference because I really want to learn new ideas and thoughts from other schools so that I can come back and use them at New Paltz and everyone here can enjoy them!

Okay, moving on for now! The last few days have been so productive and great. I’ve gotten all of my homework done on time, I’m getting good grades in all of my classes, I’m actually doing things for my internship, my tours have been excellent and I’ve been meeting some really nice people who are prospective New Paltz students. It’s so weird that all of these people I’m meeting are going to be First Year Students and I’m going to be a Senior. I never thought the day would come. Weird!

This past weekend I attended an Acapella invitational concert put on by our two groups on campus, Absolut Acapella and the Sexy Pitches. There were also three other groups that performed from other schools: Nazareth, and two different groups from SUNY Fredonia. Everyone did amazing. Unfortunately I didn’t have my video camera on me so I wasn’t able to take any videos and of course my camera died so pictures were a no go too! Npblogger Kristen, you got any???? Here are some that I stole from a friend and photographer Chris Thurston:

Call4Backup from Nazareth

The Gorillas from SUNY Fredonia

Our very own Sexy Pitches

Premium Blend also from SUNY Freddie

Absolut Acapella

After the performance I had to head out to the College Terrace for an Open Mic night where the Orientation Leaders and First year students were being RECOGNIZED. It was fun to see almost everyone (minus Felipe who was celebrating his 20th birthday at home, Happy Birthday OL Felipe!). When the night was coming to an end the ol’s put on a final performance of our SOAR ‘o8 lip sync, which turned out to be really bad but funny because we’d forgotten it. Here’s a pic that I thought was really funny:

Okay so that was my fun weekend and good news.

I hope everyone has a great week.

To all those prospective SUNY New Paltz students, I hope to see you at Accepted Students Day Open House this upcoming Saturday. Feel free to say hi if you recognize me.

Bye all,

Kevin

Listen, I can’t talk right now because I have to go and enojy the weather!  I’m heading out to go on a lovely, superfast bike ride right now -which is totally encessary.  This day has been funtastic so far and after having an AWESOME food drive for Family of New Paltz and listening to some choice tunes, I gotts to go!

That’s all, enjoy the pic and the musical selections!

Dispatch, “Bang, Bang”

Gavin DeGraw, “Follow Through” (Thank You, Tiffany S. French!)

Love,

Matt

: D

Hola all!

TGIF! For starters. It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. Sheesh, last time I wrote on this here blog I was talking about ice climbing! It’s gotten a little too warm to do that!

Speaking of which, what a sunny day today was. The spring break came and went, we had some cold days sporadically throughout, but today was a wake up call from Spring itself. Now I really shouldn’t be too hasty with this “goodbye cold” attitude, because this weekend isn’t predicted to be too spectacular: rain, rain and more rain. However, you could see the spirits of us college students perk right up. So many people were running around on Old Main Quad, playing frisbee, running after each other or just lounging on the grass with some friends, chatting it up and catching some good ol’ vitamin D. Hey, studies show that most of North America doesn’t get enough Vitamin D, even if we are out in the sun, we may not be getting enough. So perhaps think about purchasing those Vitamin D pills? I know my mamma has forced a bottle upon me to bring back to campus once spring break ceased. Eh- I don’t mind. I need to be more consistent with my vitamin intake, that’s for sure.

Well this week has been a rude awakening. The word on the street once everyone returned from our one week of freedom was the same: break wasn’t long enough.  I’d have to agree. It wasn’t long enough, but hey, we have to be thankful with what we’re given, ey? I’m just glad it’s friday, because I have much to look forward to. Tonight I’m hanging out with this lovely gal Marlea Ligouri, who is going to be graduating at this semester’s end. She will be sorely missed by all us Student Ambassadors who work with her. So tonight I’m going to her suite to play board games and such. I’m such an easy person to please-  sit down with me and play cards or a board game and I’m happy as can be.  After that, there is our performance of Midnight Theatre which I’m excited for. I have a strong sense that tonight I’m going to laugh hard and in good company. So, can’t complain there. I’m charging my camera as I type this!

And tomorrow is an a cappella extravaganza! Us Sexy Pitches, Absolute A Cappella, and three other a cappella groups from 2 different schools are coming here to perform! The event is coined  “Guilty Measures.” Aw good play on words. So you should definitely come out to hear some good singing, have some fun, and the best part is, IT’S FREE!!!!!!!! How often can one say that? It’s at 8pm in McKenna theatre, and I don’t think you want to miss it. I’m kinda sad that my parents nor my brother can attend. Actually, my best friend and my roommate can’t make it either, ah, but alas, they can’t come to it all…they have lives too. It will be loads of fun, so you should come and have loads of fun with us….der! Then on Sunday I’m going to see a performance on campus of The Last 5 Years, with 2 of my friends cast in the only roles. It’s a good musical by Jason Robert Brown. It was completely student run, directed, stage managed, etc. etc. Then I gots a staff meeting and such Sunday night. Sooo…fun packed weekend right?

However, I have this looming cloud overhead reminding me of the much needed homework that needs to be completed by Monday. Ick, ick, double ick. So I’m gonna have to try to manage my time well this weekend. And this night seems quite shot….so tomorrow will have to be devouted to homework for at least a couple of hours. Oh time management is the most valued skill, I feel, here at college. Learn it well, and your life will be less stressful. Yeah, well, it’s a hard skill to master…most of us are still a working progress.

At any rate, I hope to report back to you with fun-loving pictures and such of the events I breifly touched upon. Have a lovely weekend in advance and you’ll hear from me soon.

xoxo,

Kristen

So I am still in search of internships, but it seems to be slim pickings recently. 3 out of the 7 I have applied to are no longer doing internships this summer due to lack of funding because of the economy. It hadn’t occurred to me that the recession would affect me as a college student, but the internships and jobs I would apply for this summer will be taking less people-if any at all! I’m scared. I need a job this summer to help save money for the next semester and give me pocket money. If I don get a job, not only will I be broke, but I’ll also be incredibly bored our of my mind at home. There are only so many times I can go to the mall, beach and watch tv before it gets old. Simply-I need a job!!! I will continue applying to everything I can think of, but I have this terrible feeling that I won’t be getting any call backs anytime soon I hope for the best. Wish me luck everyone!

Hello! I hope that you all enjoyed the rest of your Spring Break. I had an AMAZING Spring Break and am excited to share it with you! On Wednesday, I returned to New Paltz to prepare for the Mini No-Frills conference, located at Fairfield University in Connecticut. I spent Wednesday and Thursday prepping for the conference with 7 amazing New Paltz students, as we worked on the banner, trinkets, and presentation to host Mini No-Frills 2010 at SUNY New Paltz. Although these two days were a ton of work, I had so so so much fun hanging out with our delegation! Woo!

On Friday morning, we met in Deyo Hall to go over our presentation a few more times, and then loaded up the van and began our trek to Mini’s!!! Friday was also the free ice day at Rita’s (an amazing ice shop!), so along the way, we stopped at three different Rita’s! Yum! First I got Cotton Candy, followed by Fudge Brownie, and then.. drum roll please.. Pumpkin!!! We then arrived at Fairfield, and attended Opening Ceremonies and activities and socials on Friday night! Saturday was a lovely day, full of board rooms and presentations.

Moose Love at Rita’s!

Rita’s #1!

Rita’s #2!

Rita’s #3!

I am really proud of the presentation New Paltz put together. From the COUNTLESS hours devoted to saving fliers, to designing covers, to organizing the conference, to hand making 70 bids, to the creativity put into our 10 minute presentation, to the many presentation practices, I am blown away by the dedication and enthusiasm of the Mini No-Frills 2010 conference staff!!!

Three years ago, as a first-year student, I attended my first regional conference at SUNY Oneonta. Until then, I loved college, but attending regionals opened my mind to a whole new world, and I am truly confident that being involved in NEACURH has drastically impacted my college experience. I would not be where I am today, or who I am today, if I had not be so active in NEACURH. This organization has inspired me to further get involved with the New Paltz residence hall community, and the region, and I am just so thankful!

About a year and a half ago, I had this CRAZY idea to bid to host a conference. Yet, somehow, over a dozen students supported this idea, and we decided to bid to host Mini No-Frills 2009. Although we did not get the conference, we learned a great deal from the bidding process and were motivated to do it again! This year, the support and encouragement from our campus was overwhelming, and I am just so proud to be a SUNY New Paltz student!

I am so excited to Climb Mount Marty from March 5-7, 2010! “Climbing Mount Marty serves as a metaphor for essential leadership techniques, in addition to encouraging student leaders from our region to take advantage of their surroundings in our rapidly changing society. We are confident that this theme provides exemplary elements which will enhance your leadership skills, campus life at your respective institutions, and our mooosefully marvelous region. It is with great enthusiasm and pride in which we present to you… CLIMBING MOUNT MARTY, MINI NO-FRILLS 2010 AT SUNY NEW PALTZ!
Climbing Mount Marty is the perfect conference theme for SUNY New Paltz, as we are located in the heart of the beautiful Hudson Valley of New York State, north of New York City and south of Albany. More specifically, our institution is situated in the Shawangunk Mountains, a ridge of mountains in Ulster County, Sullivan County and Orange County. The ridge top, which widens considerably at its northern end, has many public and private protected areas and is not heavily populated. Today, this land has become known for its outdoor recreation, most notably as one of the major rock climbing areas of North America. Since New Paltz is nestled in this gorgeous environment, we felt that it would be an awesome to take advantage of what our land has to offer, and expose our NEACURH family to this natural treasure.
A mountain resembles leadership. What we see from the outside is the magnitude, the trees, the rocks, which symbolize leadership skill. However, the majority of a mountain is what it is made up of, what is inside, and what keeps the mountain strong and stable, and together, these aspects symbolize character. This conference will celebrate your character and allow us to network with each other in order to understand the most effective ways to contribute your character towards teamwork. This regional conference was designed to ensure that YOU make time for YOU so that you can give 100% to the team!
We want to take this opportunity to thank you for being YOU! You rock! It is quite impressive to attend a NEACURH conference, and we here at SUNY New Paltz are proud of your dedication to bettering your campus. Think of all that you do, all of the college experiences you improve through your dedication to the residence hall community -wow! Being a student leader is not an easy task. The balance between academics and extracurricular activities is a challenging obstacle. This conference will emphasize the importance of wellness, as it is essential that you find time in your busy schedule to take care of yourself! Furthermore, you can’t possibly give your best to the team, unless you feel 100%! Whether it is making time to go for a walk outside, watch a movie with a friend, call home, head to the gym, or just lay down and relax, this conference will help you find that spark and energy!
We look forward to having the opportunity to learn from each other about the ways wemaintain a balance between self-wellness and teamwork and seeing you in the lovely Hudson Valley from March 5-7, 2010. Remember, we only have 84,400 seconds each day, so make the most of them! How will you spend that time to most benefit your team and yourself ? Come join us in this beautiful place, with beautiful people, to come together and to further understand this crucial balance.”

Furthermore, I am so so so proud of the progress made by the SUNY New Paltz residence hall community this year. Each individual truly has contributed to making this a “home!” Also, a shout out to Christina for 1st place passive program and Chris for a top 10 program! A very special thank you Tiff and Christina for all of their hard work and dedication and for being so amazing! And.. thank you to EVERYONE who was involved with Marty’s R.O.C.K.B.A.N.D.– you ALL rock <333 Congratulations to EVERYONE who attended this conference!

Enjoy! <3 Jessie

Uh so I’m back at school after a much needed spring break. I basically just hung out, went to the city with my parents and Tarah to see Guys and Dolls, went to Montauk, ate good food, and watched the Food Network like it was my job. I really do love New Paltz but I’m so sick of schoolwork it’s not funny. College would be so much better if there were no tests to study for or papers to write but we know that’s never going to happen.

I came back early today with the intentions of doing the homework I was supposed to do over break but somehow never did. Of course, once I get to my room I can’t get myself to do my work so I try my best to find a way to procrastinate. That’s why I’m blogging right now. That’s also why I just made my schedule for next semester. My favorite time of the semester, when the classes for next semester go up…isn’t that sad that that’s my favorite time of the year? It’s not really my favorite, but it is up there. I guess that is the inner school counselor/nerd inside of me.

Speaking of which…I no longer know what I want to do with my life again. If you recall one of my blogs from the past I had mentioned that I wanted to be a school counselor but then changed my mind and decided I wanted to get my PHD in Clinical or Counseling Psychology. Well, I have changed my mind once again. Now I’m reconsidering the school counselor thing simply for the reason that I’m really not a fan of research, and that’s all you really do in a PHD program (from what I’m told???)

I think I’ve also decided that I want to go out of state for grad school. Originally, I wanted to go back home to Long Island, but now all of  a sudden I think I want to leave. Nothing too far, just something different. I feel like it can’t be that bad because at this point in my life I only want my Masters Degree, and that should only take 2 years. So what’s 2 years of my life in a different state? It could be a really great learning experience and it could just be fun to try some place different.

I change my mind so much with everything I do in life. It seriously is crazy. I can’t even make decisions or think about something because as soon as I do I change my mind again, but oh well.

Okay that is enough ramblin’ from me for now. I NEED TO DO WORK!!!! I hope everyone had a great spring break…

Kevin

Happy Spring Break! And for those you not on Spring Break right now, Happy Monday!   Life is good!

As per usual, the week before Spring Break was pretty hectic!  Midterm assignments and exams galore, in addition my plethora RHSA & RA duties!

On Tuesday night, I held a Spring Break program for my residents.  It was a simple pizza party, but it was a nice opportunity for residents to take a break from studying and hang out with each other and just relax for a bit.  I had a great time!

Woo!   I was on duty on Friday night and  Deyo was pretty quiet!  Starr came over to hang out, so we played basketball-monkey-in-the-middle-run-around-Deyo with Keron and Cheyanne!  It was just wonderful!

When I got home on Saturday, I went out for coffee with some friends!  I had a delicious chai tea drink.  I love meeting up with friends I haven’t seen in a while, and just catching up as if we haven’t left each other for a day!

On Saturday, I walked on the boardwalk with my  family, and then had dinner with my grandma.

Today, I have been catching up with work all day, so I thought I would stop by and say hi!   Hope all is well!  Have a nice day! -Jessie

PS. Congratulations to all of the new RA’s!  I am so proud of each of you!  Welcome!

So hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed your weekend. One more week until spring break, I’m so excited.

I’m not really going to post anything right now, I just wanted to put up the lip sync video. The quality of the video kind of stinks because of the lighting but you’ll still get the point…

In case you didn’t read my last post this was from the Residence Life Conference I recently attended in Cortland, and SUNY New Paltz won! Go us.

Alright, that’s it…Until next time,

Kevin

Oh hey there! Happy Sunday!

I hope you had a lovely weekend! The weather was just so beautiful! I love love love anticipating springtime! The changing of seasons is my favorite! I was indoors most of the weekend, but it was still nice to just know that spring is around the corner ! With that being said, just one more week until Spring Break- woo!

This weekend, RHSA held our annual STARS conference. Tiff and Christina did an outstanding job, and I am so proud of them for transforming this program into such an amazing weekend.. you go girls!

Saturday morning began with roll call, followed by a full day of programming. Halls had the opportunity to present programs, in addition to attending programs and being exposed to new ideas. Then, today, Sunday, we had a banquet and award ceremony to thank everyone for participating.

It was a wonderful event! Residents enjoyed themselves, networked with other student leaders, and learned new ways to program in their halls! Check out some pictures from the conference!

Roll Call!

Programming!

Banquet!

Awards!

Enjoy! <3 Jessie

So Saturday I went Ice Climbing…true story. I woke up, layered up and walked with duffel bag in hand onto the bus. I did this on a whim too…signing up for this trip I mean. I didn’t know anyone who was going. AH! But there ended up being people I’ve known casually throughout my years here, and new people that I became friendly with.

So, we drove into town, where we stocked up on cliff bars at the Mobil gas station, and was given our ice climbing equipment at Rock and Snow. That was my first time entering that store, and I gotta say that I liked it. I may trek on back there to get a warm, stylish hat: mine is starting to meet it’s retirement phase.  Check out their site at http://www.rockandsnow.com/store/. At any rate, we had 2 instructors who gave us our boots to try on, our crampons, our ice axes, our helmets and our harnesses. Here, this will be a good visual for ya: http://www.rockandsnow.com/store/department/33/ICE-CLIMBING/. So off we went to our site, in the Catskills near Hunter, NY.  The area was called Stoney Clove (AKA the playground). It is located at Notch Lake on RT 214 N about 2 miles before the town of Hunter, which is about 45-60 minutes away. Now, when we got off the bus, we put on our helmet, our crampons, our harnesses…and we were set! Here’s a group shot of the lot of us!

Alright, so we had to hike up a heck-of-a-lot to get to the climbing site. That killed me a little. I was getting all hot from the layers and the climbing up ice, snow, rock, and mud. It was odd.

At this point we had the crampons on: those spikes attached to our boots. I’m telling ya every time I hear that word, crampon, I think of…well…that feminine product. Nuff said. Anyway, we were hiking on up which took a little while. We were high up! And we stayed up there till about 4! When we weren’t climbing we were sitting on the rocks or the snow or the mud (you’ll see some of the affects of that from the back of our pants.) Once we finally arrived at the ice climbing site, I was so nervous to go up there! I didn’t think I could do it! The day before I went to the gym and did this kinda hard workout…what happens if my legs gave out? Or what happens if I fell? Well, I found out you can’t fall! I mean, you’re on a harness and if you lose your gripping, you are suspended in mid-air. Kinda Coolio (yeah, I went there.) Anyway, I did do it, (SUCCESS!) and here are some more pictures of the day! OH YES!

<–This shot is of Justin Krzeminski, the president of the Outing Club, here at SUNY New Paltz.

Check out the Outing Club facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2200816661

<–Here’s Jen Reid turning around with a smile on her face at her accomplishment!

Here’s Schuyler Penny climbing to the top!

This is me, climbing on up. See how it’s a mix of ice and rock? I found that to be difficult, but sometimes you just had to locate small ledges to pull yourself up instead of sticking the front spikes of your crampon in the rock- that doesn’t work.

<–This shot is courtesy of Jenny Brannigan who was also on the ski/snowboarding trip to Hunter last weekend.

Here’s Jenny Brannigan, herself. This shot was taken by Schuyler Penny.

Alright, so I went on this trip for a mere 25 smack-a-roos! That’s right! I hear it’s hundreds of dollars to rent an instructor and all the equipment normally. So aren’t we lucky!! It was a great experience, a great workout, and a lovely, not too cold day. As you can see, the sun was shining brightly! So everyone check out the trips they hold at the Athletic and Wellness Center! There’s a newsletter that comes out via e-mail. Just sign up at the gym to get it e-mailed to you, and you’ll know all the whereabouts! Good deal, ey? Alright gang, stay happy and healthy…OH AND ENJOY THE NICE WEATHER THIS WEEKEND! 50s I hear!

x0×0,

Kristen