FALL BREAK!!!!

One of the many perks of going to Ripon? FALL BREAK! I left on Friday, October 17 and just got back last night. It felt really good to be here again. My best friend Ashlee came home for a weekend, and it was really good to have some "girl time." It's been a while since we were able to do that. This past weekend my brother and his fiance came to my hometown as well as my boyfriend's mom. Lots of visitors, but lots of fun!

What was really good about my break happened during the week on Monday and Friday. When I was a freshmen I took Public Speaking and then Advanced Public Speaking. I was then invited to become a part of an elite group called Speakers Bureau. Speakers Bureau is a hands-on class and requires that I set up my own syllabus. That means that I set up my own speaking engagements in the real world, I decide how much of my grade they will be worth, I decide what the criteria for grading is, and I write my own self-assessments. That may sound like "la-la" land, but it's not at all! I'm really passionate about speaking, so I want to make improvements. I think it goes to show that ultimately you have to improve upon yourself...no one else can do that for you. Anyway, one of the events I set up was to talk to two groups of 8th graders while they were one a field trip to a college. After all, who better to talk about college than a college student? Plus, higher education is something that I really believe in and it's one of my interest areas as I look forward at careers. I went to talk to students and they were so much fun! They had some awesome questions and got really involved in the conversation. It's really great to see young kids really examining the possibility of college and how to get there. That was by far the best part of my break.

This week looks preatty busy, but that's to be expected after a long break. Have a good one!