Stuck.

A couple Fridays ago, I ventured out to the Stadium parking lot to get my car to head home for the weekend. Now, if you’ll remember, there was still a LOT of snow and ice on the ground at the time. My car, too, was covered in ice and snow. Some of the windows were clear, but the windshield and the hood had about 3 inches of ice. The tires were also buried in several inches of snow and ice. I spent awhile trying to get the car out on my own, before I realized the gravity of my situation. My car was stuck.

I had heard about some other students who had gotten help from BSU’s free charter service the weekend before. So I got out my phone and called Charlie’s Charter. After a few minutes, an older gentleman pulled up in a Charlie’s Charter van. He had shovels, picks, and rock salt. Still, he was unable to push the car or to really dig it out. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite receive the assistance from Charlie’s Charter as the students had the week before. While I was waiting for him, a nice guy stopped and offered to give me a push, but it just wasn’t going anywhere.

For those of you who don’t already know, my family is originally from Muncie. So I am lucky enough to have grandparents and family friends in town. One of my dad’s friends (the same one who moved our futon in, actually) brought one of his coworkers and came to my rescue. When they came pulling into the stadium lot in their big trucks, I was overjoyed to see them. My heroes! It took them about 20 minutes, a gallon of washer fluid with de-icer, and some serious pushing to get me out. I honestly don’t know what I would have done without them.

All in all, that day I spent about an hour and a half at the Stadium getting my car out. I know this isn’t very reassuring for those of you wanting to come to BSU without strong family friends in town. However, the way I see it, the storm we had produced a cruel and unusual amount of ice. Yes, the snow in Muncie can get bad. I feel like that much ice doesn’t happen very often though. Even if it does, I would have been able to gather some guys to help me out, I’m sure.

Nevertheless, I was on my way by mid-afternoon and spent a wonderful weekend at home with my family.

Let it snow, snow, snow

Just when we all thought we'd survived the "Snowpocalypse" of 2011 with ice, wind, and snow, we woke up this morning to MORE of it!



Fortunately, today was just lots of snow. The ice this past week was what made it so bad. Most universities were cancelled, but of course Ball State wasn't. We had "partial snow days," as I like to call them. Tuesday, classes after 3:30 p.m. were cancelled, which meant no Accounting for me. My French class was cancelled by the professor that day too. Wednesday, classes didn't start until 11 a.m. and my Astronomy class was cancelled by the professor too. It was still quite treacherous to get around those days and the rest of the week. Now, there's even more snow!! I decided to take advantage of a lapse in snowfall early this evening for some great photo opportunities. Here are a few:


Shafer Bell Tower in the snow


Take a seat!


Frog Baby keeps warm, thanks to kind BSU students

Winter Weekend Update

This weekend has been one of the busiest of the whole year. It all started with CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ) Formal on Friday night. All the girls from my Bible study dressed up in our pretty dresses, curled our hair, and danced the night away. It was so much fun!

Saturday I went to my first college basketball game. We lost to Ohio 61-60, but it was a good game! I got to meet up with my great-aunt and great-uncle afterward for dinner too, and we had a great time. That evening, Becca and I got a futon in our room – finally!! We’ve been thinking about doing this for a long, long time. And we finally did it! Thank goodness for my dad’s friend and his son, who helped us move it in. It looks amazing and is so comfy!



Today has been filled with homework. All day. It’s been kind of a long day. The rest of the weekend was great though!

Last week, a prospective freshman came to visit the College of Business and sat in on my Econ class. As I was talking with her, I kept thinking about how cool of an opportunity she had. Even though I was almost certain about coming here last year, it would have been such a great experience to try out classes here before I made my decision. So my advice this week: sign up for a tour day and contact someone in your major department about sitting in on a class or two. I am sure it would be a great opportunity to see if BSU is a good fit for you!

New Year, New Semester

Well, it’s back to school again. I just loved having a 3-week vacation for Winter Break. That’s definitely a benefit to college. It was especially nice because we had no assignments at all to worry about, just the holidays, friends, and family…

Alas, all good things must come to an end. Although, we are beginning a new semester full of new classes. This time around I’m taking:

HONRS 202 – more humanities
ASTRO 100 – Astronomy
ECON 202 – Macroeconomics
ACC 201 – Accounting
FR 302 – French Composition
PFW 103 – Walking

I definitely have a busy schedule this semester! This first week back was pretty good. I’m enjoying all of my classes for the most part, even though some are boring, required courses. It snowed a lot early in the week. As much as I love snow, I can’t say I enjoy walking to class in its slushy remains. Some of the main sidewalks dried up quickly, but I definitely needed my snow boots last week!

Fingers crossed for a good semester! I can’t believe we already had a 3 day weekend last weekend, but it was actually really nice.

Remember to get those school and scholarship applications in – the deadlines will be here in no time, trust me.

Miller Scholars & Honors

I first learned about the Miller Scholars & Honors program 3 years ago when it began. I knew then that it was something I wanted to be a part of, even so far down the road. And here I am today, writing a blog about my experiences as a Miller Scholar.

The Miller Scholars are representatives of the Miller College of Business (MCOB) at BSU. These students are labeled some of the “best and brightest” of the college, which is quite an honor. The program provides full tuition for about 10 students in each freshman class. The scholarship also includes a study abroad stipend, networking opportunities, and more.

Aside from the Miller Scholars, there are also 10 students from each class selected to be Miller Honors students, who have the same opportunities without the scholarship. On a day-to-day basis, there is no distinction made between us. We are all classmates and we are all part of the Miller Honors Program. We really are becoming a close-knit group of students.

As a Miller Scholar, we have each been matched with a Miller Mentor, who is a MCOB alumnus and who wants to be involved with the college. My mentor is the CEO of his own company, which makes him a great contact for me since my major is Entrepreneurship. He has already been an excellent mentor, who genuinely cares for me and my future.

In October he invited me to attend the MCOB Alumni Awards dinner. This is an annual event that is attended by a large number of alumni, which makes it a great networking opportunity. As a freshman, I was honored to attend. At the dinner, I joined a table of my mentor’s associates, his son (who graduated from the MCOB in Entrepreneurship) and his son’s fiancée, as well as several other current students. I even had the opportunity to meet the VP of World Travel at the Walt Disney Company, who is also a Ball State grad.

As I continue through the College of Business, I can foresee the Miller Honors program providing me with even more excellent opportunities that will make a difference in my future.

If you have an interest in the Miller Honors program, definitely check out their website! The deadline for the 2011-2012 Miller Scholars is January 31, 2011. Also, applications for the 2011-2012 Miller Honors Programs are due March 1, 2011.

Happy Holidays, from my family to yours!

Now that I'm home for Winter Break, my family and I are happy to be back together. My sister, Jessica, even had a snow day today! Actually, it was more of an "ice day" since there was half an inch of ice on everything. So we basically had an ice skating rink on our driveway, and the idea developed to create our own version of "Skating with the Stars." This video is the result. Enjoy! Happy Holidays!

Let it snow...

Yesterday was the first measurable snowfall on campus this year (it actually snowed the first weekend of November, but didn’t stick very long). It snowed all day, from flurries to big flakes. We got about half an inch or somewhere around there. Last night, the sidewalks were icy enough to slide our feet along – ramps being the most fun, of course.

Today, the sun is shining and slowly melting away the snow. Ball State seems to do a good job of keeping salt on the sidewalks when classes are in session. There is quite a bit out there today.

It’s definitely getting cold in Muncie. Since I’m not a huge fan of winter weather, I made sure to bring LOTS of things to keep me warm. I’ll share my list with you.

Winter Checklist:
-parka (or just a winter coat)
-snow boots (the kind that actually keep your feet warm - not Uggs)
-gloves (invest in Isotoners)
-scarves (nice, warm ones)
-ear muffs (I haven't gotten any yet, but I feel like they would be really nice...)
-hat (I want one with fur)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the dorms...especially in Becca and Nicole's room!