Game Night

Social capital theorists, including Robert Putnam, claim that human nature’s interest in civic engagement is declining. We join less community groups, spend more time alone, and are all together less social. As Putnam states in his book, Bowling Alone, “Over the course of the last generation or two, a variety of technological, economic and social changes have rendered obsolete the stuff of American social capital” and “we are right to fear that this transformation has very real costs.”

I however, do not agree. Working in student affairs, we see more and more student groups on campus; each year a record number. I personally am a member of many social groups and ways to engage in community building. Perhaps I might agree that civic engagement is less formalized than the once thriving Elks Lodge and Red Hats Society, but as humans we have an innate social curiosity.

Take for example….GAME NIGHT! One of my favorite things….EVER!! Cranium, Catch Phrase, Cards, Scrabble, Monopoly, Balderdash, DUTCH BLITZ….whatever the game, I love it! I’m not always the best but the challenge, camaraderie, and competition always leave me satisfied after a night of games with friends.

Last night the student group that I work with hosted an event called Charade-O-Rama and boy was it just a simple reminder of how fun game night is. There were four people to a team, and our team was on point (Go Tick Tockers!!). You had one minute per category to get your teammates to guess as many things as possible. 4 categories per round, 3 rounds. My personal favorite category: Animals. I racked up about 14 points for our team with my charading of animals like anteater, giraffe, and sloth. Another round was hobbies, which I thought was going to be easy…boy was I wrong. Please enlighten me on how to charade stamp collecting. Ummmmm….STAMP COLLECTING!! I was at a loss. All in all, Team Tick Tock did not take home first place or second, but we did have a great time! Great job Caroline, Keith, and Tyler (we missed you Stefanie…maybe you could have figured out how to charade Stamp Collecting)!!

What is your favorite game for game night?

Around Town

The past few weeks have been delightfully busy.

Here is a picture synopsis of happenings in my world!

A walk around town as little tidbits of spring unfold right before our eyes.

A trip to Airlie Gardens to see all the beautiful sights. We were able to see 4 swans, a handful of turtles, and the Airlie Oak.

Frolicking through the Minnie Evans Bottle House.

A much needed visit with my mom and brother to see my brother play in his last soccer game of the season. He is growing up soooo fast.

And last, but not least, B.o.B!! What a huge success! I'm so proud of the hard work everyone put into the show. We all had a great time!

Much more coming up in the next few weeks. This weekend is the Azalea Festival, which means, lots of people, funnel cakes within walking distance, AVETT BROTHERS!!, and of course beautiful Azaleas!!

Oh yea, ACE, that thing that's been a part of my life for like two years...is about to be over. WHAT!!

For those of you that I don't know...I have been working with a student group on campus, who plans amazing events for the student body, for the past two years. They have been a B-I-G part of my life and this, along with many other things, is something that is quickly coming to a bittersweet end. Tomorrow night is our spring show featuring B.o.B!! The students have worked really hard for it all to come together and I'm really excited to see everyone take a deep breath and really enjoy the show. B.o.B is one of the top touring artists through college campuses and the reviews say he is great!

Although I am excited about being at the concert in general, I'll be thinking more about how this will be one of the last times that we spend together. Sooooo sad. Part of my job is to coach them through event planning, help them grow as leaders, and provide guidance where it's needed...but really they have taught me more than I could ever teach them.

Each one of them is so creative and open-minded, talented and thoughtful, and most of all....know how to have a good time! Here is just one prime example of some of the things that come out of ACE...I love this promotional video for a program our comedy committee put together. Enjoy!

Wish us luck tomorrow night at the show! Whoot Whoot!

Not my finest hour.

5 am. is. early. and is not my finest hour. This morning was the ticket sales kick off for B.o.B at UNCW so the executive board all congregated at 5 am this morning at the student center to find people camped out waiting to buy tickets. In the words of Michael, "camping, like legit camping, with tents." Despite the early morning, it was so much fun to see people excited about our show and to see all the ACErs put their whole heart and energy into making this event great!

In other news....I'm looking forward to seeing my best friend in less than 20 days. We are going to look at bridesmaids dresses and shoes for her wedding in October. She has picked out both that she really likes, and I love her style. The dress to the left is the dress that she has picked out for us, it's super cute and her color is purple. I just am keeping my fingers crossed that it's flattering on all of us. All five of us will be together for a weekend of dress shopping and it's her birthday!!!

Peace, Love, and Awesomeness.

Oh Crap, I'm about to die in a velvet jumpsuit!

It's homecoming and we've all survived more than half way through. I have to say there have been a lot of laughs and good times this week.....and it's not even the end. The announcement of ACE's spring show with Grammy nominated B.o.B went flawlessly and was tons of fun dancing around in the blacklights. Late night breakfast was delicious and we have a great showing students...although there was no bacon and I was thoroughly outraged, don't worry we'll put it in the books that bacon is demanded for next year. Last night's comedian, Dan Levy, was a riot. The title of this post was from one of his jokes. Had me dying laughing!!!

We have two more days to go and we've all survived - game show tomorrow and parade/basketball game on saturday -!!! Two of my students are nominated for homecoming court, so I'm wishing them tons of luck and know that they'll both look stunning on Saturday!

Peace, Love, and Awesomeness.

Tealin Like A Star

This week kicks off my university's Homecoming celebrations, and for those of you that don't know, the organization that I work for spearheads all homecoming efforts. Soooo...needless to say, the past few weeks have been filled with a lot of planning and the next week will be filled with a lot of school spirit, fun events, and teaching moments. Tonight kicks off homecoming with a Late Night Breakfast at the campus dining hall, which means....ALL THE I WANT.......nom nom.

The rest of the week is filled with fashion shows, blacklight parties (which includes the announcement of our spring concert...more on that in a second), comedian Dan Levy (from Chelsea Lately), American Idol spin-off event called Dub Idol, game shows, basketball games, parades, and lots and lots and lots of the color teal. Did I mention that I get to marshal the parade driving the Chancellor's car with the Chancellor in it? How did I ever get to be so important around here?

Like I said, this week also is the kick off of our Big Spring Show. Since I advise our amazing, topnotch marketing chair we've been busting our butts to get this show promoted and sell out our Coliseum. Fingers crossed that the crowd loves it and when tickets go on sale on Mon., Feb. 21 people are buying them like hotcakes.

Despite synthesizing this exciting week ahead, Peace Corps has been on my mind all day. It's really becoming a part of my day-to-day language and I get more and more excited each time I talk about it. I've been having existential moments day-dreaming of helping children in Nairobi, developing water systems in Indonesia, or connecting communities in Macedonia.

Peace, Love, and Awesomeness.