Hello from England!!

Hello! I apologize for the being possibly one of the worst bloggers ever. I have not made a post in over three months! Exams and the relaxation of summer captured me!

I am writing you from OXFORD, ENGLAND! I am studying abroad through a program called British Studies at Oxford. There are four Birmingham-Southern students here, and we are all taking different classes at St. John's College of Oxford University. I have only been here a week, but it has already been amazing!

Oxford as a city is beautiful and rich with history. In my history of science class, my professor always says, "Just a five minute walk" or "Just 300 yards from where you are sitting" and names some major discovery in science, and thus in history, that happened near where we are. Oxford brings out this amazing drive to work hard, study hard, and play hard for me. I am surrounded by the most brilliant minds in the world. I am just a lowly undergrad student from Indian Springs, Alabama, but I can discuss Aristotle, Galileo, and even Thomas Jefferson with some of the most intelligent people this world has ever seen. I am learning form the people who wrote the books on the subject. Seriously, for both of my classes, the professors gave us copies of their books or works on the subject. How amazing is that?

Dr. Tatter and Dr. Ullrich, two members of the English Literature faculty, are teaching classes here. So far it has been more than I have ever imagined. This weekend, two of us BSC-kids are going to Ireland. The weekend after that we are all going to Stonehenge through an excursion with BSAO. The weekend after that, a few of us are going to Brussels, Belgium. You basically can't come to Europe and not go to more than one country. As my Dad says, traveling country to country in Europe is like traveling state to state in America.
I hope you are having an enjoyable summer!

The Birmingham-Southern crew at the garden party behind St. John's College. It is an honor (and big deal) that we are allowed on the lawn two specific times during our weeks at the college. Left to Right:Matt Maloy (sophomore), David Miller (senior), Sarah Kloewer (senior), and Kerry Patterson (senior)

At St. John's college pub for coffee or tea in between classes and before our common lecture. I will probably come home with an addiction to coffee. We should start a tea/coffee time at Birmingham-Southern.

Hello from England!!!

Hello! I apologize for the being possibly one of the worst bloggers ever. I have not made a post in over three months! Exams and summer time just captured me.

I am writing you from OXFORD, ENGLAND!!! I am studying abroad through a program called British Studies at Oxford. There are four Birmingham-Southern students here. We are all taking different classes at St. John's College of Oxford University. I have only been here a week, but it has already been amazing!

Oxford as a city is beautiful and rich with history. In my history of science class, my professor always says, "Just a five minute walk" or "Just 300 yards from where you are sitting" and names some major discovery in science, and thus in history, that happened near where we are. Oxford brings out this amazing drive to work hard, study hard, and play hard for me. I am surrounded by the most brilliant minds in the world. I am just a lowly undergrad student from Indian Springs, Alabama, but I can discuss Aristotle, Galileo, and even Thomas Jefferson with some of the most intelligent people this world has ever seen. I am learning form the people who wrote the books that I need to read for class. How amazing is that?!

Dr. Tatter and Dr. Ullrich are here with us. So far it has been more than I have ever imagined. This weekend, two of us BSC-kids are going to Ireland. The weekend after that we are all going to Stonehenge through an excursion with BSAO. The weekend after that, a few of us are going to Brussels, Belgium. You basically can't come to Europe and not go to more than one country. As my Dad says, traveling country to country in Europe is like traveling state to state in America.

I hope you are having an enjoyable summer!

Pictured: The BSC crew at the garden party on the St. John's lawn. It is a BIG DEAL that they let us on the lawn two times during our weeks at the college. Left to Right:Matt Maloy (sophomore), David Miller (senior), Sarah Kloewer (senior), and Kerry Patterson (senior)

This week has been rough. Sleeping didn't happen too much but that's ok because now it is SPRING BREAK!!!! Midterms are killer- I always end up with a ton of stuff due in every class at the same time the week before spring break. It makes it even worse because all I can think about is being at the beach! Well, all of my papers are done, take home midterm exam complete, Art critique- survived, project proposal submitted... With all of that behind me I will be leaving this afternoon to go home for the weekend. On Sunday after church I am catching a flight to the Bahamas for 6 days!!!!

In other news, two weeks ago Birmingham-Southern launched the Destiny: Delivered Campaign. Basically BSC will be raising 100 million dollars over the next ten years which is exciting ( Get more info here http://www.bsc.edu/advancement/campaign/). For the launch there was a huge party on campus for Alumni. 60 or so students helped out with the event because it was massive. I got to host one of the awesome alumni being honored at the event; Ansley Collins a BSC graduate of 2001 who now works for NASA as a TOPO- basically she coordinates the docking of the space shuttle with the international space station. It was really fun. Below is a picture of newly elected SGA president Trey Cotney and I at the event. I wish everyone could have been there it was so pretty and all of the speeches and presentations made me so proud to be a Student ( and soon to be Alumna) here at Birmingham-Southern. Of course that was the desired effect. The point of the evening was to impress the alumni so they will give the big bucks toward the campaign. I was convinced and I don't have the big bucks that's for sure. It takes a lot of money to run BSC ( an average of $100 a minute). Tuition, while expensive, is only half the cost of a student's time at BSC and most student's don't pay full tuition- they have scholarships from the School which are funded by the annual fund ( which is where the $100 Million from the Destiny: Delivered campaign is going). Anyway I guess what I am trying to say is that while I may spend a lot of my time stressed out and angry that I have big papers due or what not I know that it is all worth it for a degree from this place. Not only is it an outstanding college in the academic realm it also has left me more well rounded- knowledgeable of the problems in the world around me globally and locally, comfortable to discuss tough issues, more open in my world view and a little less socially awkward :) .

History in the Making...

At the risk of sounding like a complete nerd, I am going to tell you a really cool story that happened this past week. Every history major is required to take HI 270, the Practice of History Seminar. In the class, we are learning about the process of history, reading, researching, and writing, using the American Civil War as a focus. Every student is working on a specific research topic that is interesting to them. Dr. Mark Lester (pictured side right) and Dr. Guy Hubbs (pictured bottom left) are the instructors for the course. Last Thursday, Dr. Lester and Dr. Hubbs had Dr. George Rable (pictured top left) from the University of Alabama be a guest speaker for the class. He is a renowned Civil War historian and scholar. Google his name and you will see how interesting he is. Dr. Rable walked into class, looked at a list of every students research questions for our papers, and gave every student advice on their topic with a list of books they should consult. Obviously he had prepared before he came to the class, but the fact that he just rattled off advice for every topic, minor or major, was astounding.

After class, Dr. Lester and Dr Hubbs invited the students to coffee in the cafe with Dr. Rable. We in the SGA-couch area in the cafe, just chatting. I wanted to ask Dr. Rable, as well as my professors, a simple question about history. I am studying to become a high school history teacher. I know, why in the world would I want to go back to high school? I posed the topic of improvements in teaching history in the secondary classroom setting. What happened after was amazing. To keep this post to a minimum, I'll just say that Dr. Lester, Dr. Hubbs, and Dr. Rable provided the encouragement I needed to re-strengthen, if you will, my commitment to teaching high school history. One thing Dr. Rable about teaching is, "Rule #1: Know something. Rule #2: Be enthusiastic. Rule #3: If you are not enthusiastic about it, act like it." As I left the coffee time, I thanked Dr. Rable for his time and he responded, "Get them fired up!"

I am genuinely excited about teaching history. I still have a long way to go before I am certified and in a school, but I can't wait to get there. Part of that enthusiasm is knowing that I can make a difference. Dr. Lester, Dr. Hubbs, and Dr. Rable reaffirmed my belief that teaching can change lives even though I know it is going to be hard. Some of you reading this post might be laughing or thinking that I am naive, but I am up for the challenge. Check back with me in 2010, I'll let you know how it turned out.

This weekend several students from BSC, myself included, attended the YMCA's Collegiate Legislature. It is the college version of Youth-Leg for those of you who are familiar with that. It was BSC's first time to send a delegation to the event and we did really well. Of the 5 bills we took 3 passed, one in both the house and senate. We were chosen as the best delegation at the conference. One of the members of our delegation was selected as the outstanding delegate and one of our bills was chosen as the best bill at Collegiate Legislature. Basically we dominated as expected. Above is our delegation in Montgomery on the steps of the capitol building.

My roommate and I were talking earlier about how weird the weather has been this week. We realized that we have had hail, sleet, tornadoes, snow, rain and 73+ degree weather all in just 7 days. It is a little insane. Every morning I wake up and put my hand on the window pane to see how warm/cold it is that day. A cold window pane means I should wear layered clothing since it will most likely be much warmer by lunch time. During my time at BSC I have learned to love my pink rain boots which I bought in the spring of my freshman year. When it rains around here if you aren't wearing boots then your feet are going to be soaked. It is all of the hills I think. The rain water is running down the hill as you are walking up the hill... you get the picture. Bottom line- this week we have had crazy weather!!!


Until later...

Apparently I'm an Avid Sports Fan... Who knew?

So one of my favorite parts of the spring semester is SPORTS!!! In my spare time lately I have found myself at several sporting events. I have friends on most of the sports teams here so going to games is even more special because you can support your friends and BSC at the same time. Allison, Ashley and I went to a basketball game earlier this week and took some signs for our friend Mark. We thought it would be fun to embarrass him so we made these posters with inside jokes ( which no one else probably got but we thought were hilarious!). BSC won this game and over all we have a GREAT record especially considering the fact that we are a brand new team. Both the men's and women's basketball teams have their last home games today so I'm going to go this afternoon.

Speaking of brand new teams, this year is BSC's first time to field a women's lacrosse team. I went to their first game earlier this week too. They played the University of Alabama and beat them 15 to 5!!! I was totally impressed. Oh yeah, we made posters for this game too ( this poster business has just been happening this week- I guess I was in need of a creative outlet or at-least an excuse to doodle with a marker...).

It is weird to think how much controversy there was over the switch we made form D1 to D3. Some people were very upset and some people still are but the switch has been so great in my opinion. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't originally onboard with the idea, but now I'm so glad it happened. We have gotten more sports and more students are able to participate plus the money we had tied up in the D1 program has been distributed to other parts of campus so there is more money to work with for many departments. And did I mention BSC Football!? Go Panthers!! I'm so proud of all of our teams this year- they are laying the foundation for an athletic program of excellence that will be around for years to come at Birmingham- Southern.

Breathe Deep...

Wow. I don't even know how to describe this past week, and it's only Wednesday!

Monday was insane. I went to work, class, and drove to a school in Birmingham for my first tutoring session. Not to metion I had to drive home for dinner with my parents and then drive back in time for a meeting at 9:00 pm. Crazy, I know! It is days like this Monday that make me feel like I am making progress though. I know I am busy because I am teaching, learning, and working. That is really all I want to do anyway.

This Saturday is Scholarship Day. Students from across the nation are coming for a competition for scholarships. It is really stressful for the students who come, but a lot of fun for the current students. Despite the fact that we have to get up early on a Saturday, we get to meet prospective students. It is always cool to meet people from different places.

I am just going to try this, but if there is anything in particular that you want to hear about from one of the bloggers, e-mail us! Seriously, let us know what you want to know! So, let us know if there is something you want to know. Talk to you soon...