Just a quick update until I'm fully functioning and back on a normal schedule...
We raised $1,602,713.20 FTK. (for the kids, just in case you didn't know) That number is truly amaaaaazing...the most ever raised by IUDM, let alone the most raised among the nation. I can't even begin to express how proud I am for being a part of that. I not only helped raise over $500 of that, but I was a dancer, a true participant, and stayed awake a loooong 36 hours straight. Unlike most of the people there, I made it to the 28th hour before sitting down. Yepp, 28 straight hours standing before I reached my breaking point. By that time, they were "allowing" people to lay down for alloted periods of time upstairs for massages or just to put feet up against the wall. I have never laid on a hard gym floor with my feet up against a cement wall and felt SO great.
I'll post more later, but that's all for now :]
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
IUDM Live Webcast
IUDM is a little less than 7 hours away but I'll be leaving in about 5.5 hours. Ahhhhh! Insane. Sadly, my body chose to sleep through both classes today. It must know that I need as much sleep as possible :P Anyways, be sure to stay posted and check out the live webcast on the IUDM.org website.
Here's a timeline of important events you shouldn't miss :]
Friday:
8pm - Opening Ceremonies
9:30pm - Introduction of Hoosier Theme Hour with IU Athletes
Saturday:
11:30am - CEO of the Riley Children's Foundation speaks
12:55pm - Ryan White's mother (Jeanne White Ginder), doctor (Martin Kleiman), and High School Principal (Tony Cook) speak
2:50pm - IUDM Alumni Board President (Matt Sowder) and IUDM founder Jill Waibel speak
4:30pm - Riley kid talent show - highlight of the Marathon for many!
Sunday:
6:30am - Closing Ceremonies - final Riley families speak, awards presentation, and Presidential Address
8am - 2010 IUDM fundraising total is raised!!
Uhm, if you don't tune in at 12:55 on Saturday, you're insane. I'm beyond excited for that part...and just found out today it was an actual confirmed event. Ahhh! So this will probably be the last post before I leave...keep me in mind for the next 36 hours. I'll be sure to update as soon as I finish recuperating.
Here's a timeline of important events you shouldn't miss :]
Friday:
8pm - Opening Ceremonies
9:30pm - Introduction of Hoosier Theme Hour with IU Athletes
Saturday:
11:30am - CEO of the Riley Children's Foundation speaks
12:55pm - Ryan White's mother (Jeanne White Ginder), doctor (Martin Kleiman), and High School Principal (Tony Cook) speak
2:50pm - IUDM Alumni Board President (Matt Sowder) and IUDM founder Jill Waibel speak
4:30pm - Riley kid talent show - highlight of the Marathon for many!
Sunday:
6:30am - Closing Ceremonies - final Riley families speak, awards presentation, and Presidential Address
8am - 2010 IUDM fundraising total is raised!!
Uhm, if you don't tune in at 12:55 on Saturday, you're insane. I'm beyond excited for that part...and just found out today it was an actual confirmed event. Ahhh! So this will probably be the last post before I leave...keep me in mind for the next 36 hours. I'll be sure to update as soon as I finish recuperating.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Preparation for IUDM
"Tonight marks what many consider the beginning of IUDM. Every committee will be meeting tonight at 8pm to start preparing the HPER for the best IUDM to ever grace IU. Prepare yourselves my friends. We have a long few days in front of us but together we will culminate 20 years of work, sweat, tears, and happiness into something beyond what anyone thought was possible. Ryan, Ashley, and all the others who unfortunately passed will be watching down on us and keeping us full of their passion and guidance as we venture together through the hours. Believe in yourself and believe in one another. We owe every ounce of our energy to the children at Riley and we will not stop. Cheer on the dancers and each other to keep their heads up. There is no reason to stop. If you ever get to a point where it seems like too much, visit a committee member for guidance, or look to one of the many Riley kids that will be there. I promise you the feeling will disappear. Our time has come DMers. It is time to dance and time to believe. We will make this the best IUDM ever, and we will do it with pride. Don’t hesitate to say thank you to anyone participating, because just one small word of appreciation can make someone turn around and start giving 110%. Eric Davis, our president, has a mission, and that is to have every person step out of that old building this weekend with nothing but the positive feelings about their experience — to want to be involved with IUDM as they continue through their college career. Do you part everyone, and together we will achieve the impossible. Thank you for your time, work, and effort ladies and gentlemen, you all are the definition of inspiration."
That blog post gave me the biggest smile today; I cannot wait. In case you're absolutely clueless, (I feel as though I use that phrase a lot in this blog. I promise I'm not insulting your intelligence.) I will be participating in one of the greatest events IU has to offer, the Indiana University Dance Marathon. This organization directly supports Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, which really hits close to home since I was a Riley kid due to being a premie baby. I'm not going to type up a big long spiel about the organization because it would be an absolute waste of space, breath, and time. Their website, IUDM.org, sums it all up and then some, explaining just how amazing this group is. IUDM is the largest organization here on campus, let alone one of the largest of its kind in the nation, So make sure you check the site out; read up!
Anyways, IUDM itself is a 36 hour long marathon. Yes, you read that right, THIRTY SIX STRAIGHT HOURS. Are you staring at the screen thinking I'm crazy yet? That I've completely lost my mind in college? Well, you may be right, but I think it will be a remarkable, life-changing 36 hours. I couldn't be more excited! In order to participate as a dancer, I had to fundraise $500. With a busy college schedule, and only having a month or so to do so, it was a challenge. I received some VERY generous donations luckily, and was able to raise just enough. The organization doesn't reveal the total amount raised until the actual marathon. Ahh, just typing this I'm getting excited. I figured it'd be a good idea to get this part out of the way so my update will be a lot quicker.
The event starts tomorrow night at 8pm and ends Sunday morning at 8am. Intense right? We have a packing list and everything. When I received it in the email I was blown away; I'm so thankful they sent that otherwise I would have definitely been ill-prepared. The packing list is as follows:
Things to know for the marathon:
PUT YOUR NAME ON EVERYTHING: IN PLAIN SIGHT
To bring in a large duffel bag (size of a Vera Bradley duffel or Nike duffel)
o 3-5 different types of shoes (tennis shoes, flip flops, crocs, slippers, Uggs, etc.)
o 4-5 T-shirts/Comfy shirts
o 3-4 Bottoms (athletic shorts, sweatpants, yoga pants, maybe 1 pair of jeans)
o Socks, Underwear (5-6 pairs), bras
o Toothbrush, toothpaste, DEODORANT, maybe perfume or cologne
o Bring eye drops/contact solution
o Female products if needed, Advil/Tylenol in case, IcyHot is awesome
o Bring your phone and camera chargers
o For men: being gold baun (ew)
To bring in a medium sized bag (size of Vera Bradley tote) to be kept with “checked” bags (I would suggest having a way to attach it to your bigger one somehow)
You will only be able to bring this bag down to the bathrooms, the bigger one stays
o Shampoo, Conditioner, Body wash/louffa (sp?), shower shoes
o Towel (not a huge one to take up space)
o Blow drier/straightener
o Make up bag
To bring in a backpack or other medium bag:
o Bring tennis balls or golf balls to roll your feet
o Bring a few little snack in your bag
o Bring mad libs, apples to apples, board game, catch phrase
o Bring matching funny stuff, preferably yellow (CAUTION TAPE)
o Bring Gatorade, Powerade, Crystal light
o Bring singles for the vending machines
o Game face and face paint
o Bring a water bottle (with your name on it)
Things NOT TO BRING
o Computer, iPod (there will always be music), anything you would die without
o Adderall, energy drinks/five hour energy, caffeine of any sort
o Weapons…haha I mean don’t, but…I didn’t think you would
Things to do before:
o Ease off of caffeine
o Schedule friends/family to visit you every few hours
o Start collecting color war outfits
o Keep fundraising like it’s your job
o Talk to your donors about the online webcast during the marathon on iudm.org
o Exercise, eat right, get plenty of vitamin C, get GOOD SLEEP, don’t go out the whole week before (mon-fri)…
o GET EXCITED FOR THE MOST AMAZING TIME OF YOUR LIFE
Intense right?! Well, I'm going to go get some sleep and prepare for tomorrow. I'll try to post as soon after the marathon as possible...probably Monday or Tuesday. Sunday I plan on coming back and PASSING OUT. Say a short prayer for the person who attempts to wake me up; if they succeed, they might just die. I'm just saying.
But on a brighter note, be sure to tune in to the live broadcast of the marathon this weekend! I'll be on the yellow team (mostly consisting of freshmen/newbies) in case that's any indication to finding me. The broadcast will be on the IUDM website :]
That blog post gave me the biggest smile today; I cannot wait. In case you're absolutely clueless, (I feel as though I use that phrase a lot in this blog. I promise I'm not insulting your intelligence.) I will be participating in one of the greatest events IU has to offer, the Indiana University Dance Marathon. This organization directly supports Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, which really hits close to home since I was a Riley kid due to being a premie baby. I'm not going to type up a big long spiel about the organization because it would be an absolute waste of space, breath, and time. Their website, IUDM.org, sums it all up and then some, explaining just how amazing this group is. IUDM is the largest organization here on campus, let alone one of the largest of its kind in the nation, So make sure you check the site out; read up!
Anyways, IUDM itself is a 36 hour long marathon. Yes, you read that right, THIRTY SIX STRAIGHT HOURS. Are you staring at the screen thinking I'm crazy yet? That I've completely lost my mind in college? Well, you may be right, but I think it will be a remarkable, life-changing 36 hours. I couldn't be more excited! In order to participate as a dancer, I had to fundraise $500. With a busy college schedule, and only having a month or so to do so, it was a challenge. I received some VERY generous donations luckily, and was able to raise just enough. The organization doesn't reveal the total amount raised until the actual marathon. Ahh, just typing this I'm getting excited. I figured it'd be a good idea to get this part out of the way so my update will be a lot quicker.
The event starts tomorrow night at 8pm and ends Sunday morning at 8am. Intense right? We have a packing list and everything. When I received it in the email I was blown away; I'm so thankful they sent that otherwise I would have definitely been ill-prepared. The packing list is as follows:
Things to know for the marathon:
PUT YOUR NAME ON EVERYTHING: IN PLAIN SIGHT
To bring in a large duffel bag (size of a Vera Bradley duffel or Nike duffel)
o 3-5 different types of shoes (tennis shoes, flip flops, crocs, slippers, Uggs, etc.)
o 4-5 T-shirts/Comfy shirts
o 3-4 Bottoms (athletic shorts, sweatpants, yoga pants, maybe 1 pair of jeans)
o Socks, Underwear (5-6 pairs), bras
o Toothbrush, toothpaste, DEODORANT, maybe perfume or cologne
o Bring eye drops/contact solution
o Female products if needed, Advil/Tylenol in case, IcyHot is awesome
o Bring your phone and camera chargers
o For men: being gold baun (ew)
To bring in a medium sized bag (size of Vera Bradley tote) to be kept with “checked” bags (I would suggest having a way to attach it to your bigger one somehow)
You will only be able to bring this bag down to the bathrooms, the bigger one stays
o Shampoo, Conditioner, Body wash/louffa (sp?), shower shoes
o Towel (not a huge one to take up space)
o Blow drier/straightener
o Make up bag
To bring in a backpack or other medium bag:
o Bring tennis balls or golf balls to roll your feet
o Bring a few little snack in your bag
o Bring mad libs, apples to apples, board game, catch phrase
o Bring matching funny stuff, preferably yellow (CAUTION TAPE)
o Bring Gatorade, Powerade, Crystal light
o Bring singles for the vending machines
o Game face and face paint
o Bring a water bottle (with your name on it)
Things NOT TO BRING
o Computer, iPod (there will always be music), anything you would die without
o Adderall, energy drinks/five hour energy, caffeine of any sort
o Weapons…haha I mean don’t, but…I didn’t think you would
Things to do before:
o Ease off of caffeine
o Schedule friends/family to visit you every few hours
o Start collecting color war outfits
o Keep fundraising like it’s your job
o Talk to your donors about the online webcast during the marathon on iudm.org
o Exercise, eat right, get plenty of vitamin C, get GOOD SLEEP, don’t go out the whole week before (mon-fri)…
o GET EXCITED FOR THE MOST AMAZING TIME OF YOUR LIFE
Intense right?! Well, I'm going to go get some sleep and prepare for tomorrow. I'll try to post as soon after the marathon as possible...probably Monday or Tuesday. Sunday I plan on coming back and PASSING OUT. Say a short prayer for the person who attempts to wake me up; if they succeed, they might just die. I'm just saying.
But on a brighter note, be sure to tune in to the live broadcast of the marathon this weekend! I'll be on the yellow team (mostly consisting of freshmen/newbies) in case that's any indication to finding me. The broadcast will be on the IUDM website :]
Saturday, October 16, 2010
I should be...
...at the tailgates and homecoming game, but I'm not. I just got back from my first college midterm. I'm currently running on 4 hours of sleep thanks to the amount of stress I was feeling last night. Woops! So I've decided that I'm going to catch up on sleep while it's quiet on Harper 9, shower and eat lunch, then celebrate tonight :] I feel pretty confident about the midterm, here's hoping my confidence is accurate! I just need to keep this class in perspective. Nearly everyone has to take it, it's just a small requirement, and I won't be doing this for the rest of my life. I'm going to just do my job, pass it with a decent grade, and move on. I'm thankful for my prof, who is a complete hippie...curly grey ponytail, solid color tee with jeans or jean shorts, suspenders occasionally, and chalk covered hands. He has a relaxed way of teaching and explaining things. Everyone else seems to be having problems with their professors, I'm glad that's one thing I don't have to worry about. Ugh, I need sleep. I'm now rambling on about my hippie prof? Awesome. Main point to the blog: I merked that Finite midterm like a champ...meaning I feel great.
Goodniiiiight!
Goodniiiiight!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
It's Official!
Today I declared my major in Tourism Management along with minors in Ecotourism, Recreation and Park Administration, and Fundraising and Resource Management. PHEW!! I cannot even begin to explain how exciting this is. Most of you are probably staring at the screen wondering what the heck Tourism Management is...haha, that's quite alright.
Tourism and commercial recreation is over an 800 billion industry in the United States. It is estimated that by the year 2020, more than half of all employed people in the world will be involved directly or indirectly with the tourism industry. In the United States, travel-related tourism is the first, second or third largest employer in 32 states. The Department of Recreation and Park Administration at IU is one of the largest in the country.
Help any? I'll post more as I begin to take introductory classes and whatnot. I could go on and on about my ideas of what I want to do or where I want to intern. I'm excited that I've finally taken this first step. It only gets better from here! It also helps that one of my newfound friends is an RA in the building I live and majors in Tourism Management as well. A huuuge help for sure. I love Franquie :]
Welp, off to psychology. Just thought I'd update the world for a bit.
Tourism and commercial recreation is over an 800 billion industry in the United States. It is estimated that by the year 2020, more than half of all employed people in the world will be involved directly or indirectly with the tourism industry. In the United States, travel-related tourism is the first, second or third largest employer in 32 states. The Department of Recreation and Park Administration at IU is one of the largest in the country.
Help any? I'll post more as I begin to take introductory classes and whatnot. I could go on and on about my ideas of what I want to do or where I want to intern. I'm excited that I've finally taken this first step. It only gets better from here! It also helps that one of my newfound friends is an RA in the building I live and majors in Tourism Management as well. A huuuge help for sure. I love Franquie :]
Welp, off to psychology. Just thought I'd update the world for a bit.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Nearly Naked Mile
Yepp, you read that correctly. As part of Homecoming week, IU hosts the Nearly Naked Mile. It isn’t exactly a mile and you shouldn’t really be naked! Students, alumni, and friends of IU participate in this new tradition and get nearly naked (or not!) and run through campus in the spirit of old IU. All runners must finish the race with at least as much on as a bathing suit would cover...some guys were definitely pushing that rule. :P
Participants "streak" past such famous IU landmarks as the Indiana Memorial Union, Showalter Fountain, and the Student Building, finishing in Hoosier style at the Sample Gates. I have never experienced anything like this. Thousands of students showed up; most girls wearing a sports bra and spandex (or even less, such as a bathing suit. BRR!) while guys were seen in boxers, swim trunks, speedos, girl's underwear?, and even Borat-type costumes. I, however, chose to go in an IU tee and shorts. (close enough, right?)
I will participate in this event every year it is hosted, which will hopefully be for the rest of my time here at IU. By the time the mass student mob reached Showalter Fountain, instead of simply circling around it and continuing on with the run, many stopped and bombarded the fountain, jumping in and climbing up. If it weren't as dark and crowded as it was, I definitely would have taken a picture. The fountain was not even visible due to the number of kids in, around, and on top of it. Absolute insanity, but in true Hoosier Spirit.
In light of it all, my favorite part was the actual run. Being of a...smaller size...I was never a fan of lifting weights or doing intense conditioning. Taking "human development," a weight lifting class in high school, was a poor decision on my behalf. The three days of weight training were a struggle and definitely made me aware of how small I really am. When it came to completing the two-mile in spring however, I finally found my strength in that class. While the big football and basketball players could lift multiple times my body weight, let alone what I was so proudly lifting, I found that I could easily outrun many. Not that I'm a speedy runner, or planning on racing anytime soon, but I found that running was my "thing." The other girls could only run a few laps at a time before taking a walking break, meanwhile I found I could power through and push myself to not stop. I haven't been much of a consistent runner, but instances like last night remind me of how much I enjoy it. Running in a hyped up crowd of hoosiers through the beautiful Bloomington campus is incredible beyond belief. I'm pretty sure I smiled from start to finish. I think I'll take advantage of my surroundings (and this crazy still-summer weather) and run a few days a week. Why not right?
We'll see how that goes...or how long that lasts.
Other than running nearly naked, and preparing for a great first homecoming week here at IU, I'm absolutely loving life. College is amazing beyond words and I can't imagine being anywhere else but here.
Participants "streak" past such famous IU landmarks as the Indiana Memorial Union, Showalter Fountain, and the Student Building, finishing in Hoosier style at the Sample Gates. I have never experienced anything like this. Thousands of students showed up; most girls wearing a sports bra and spandex (or even less, such as a bathing suit. BRR!) while guys were seen in boxers, swim trunks, speedos, girl's underwear?, and even Borat-type costumes. I, however, chose to go in an IU tee and shorts. (close enough, right?)
I will participate in this event every year it is hosted, which will hopefully be for the rest of my time here at IU. By the time the mass student mob reached Showalter Fountain, instead of simply circling around it and continuing on with the run, many stopped and bombarded the fountain, jumping in and climbing up. If it weren't as dark and crowded as it was, I definitely would have taken a picture. The fountain was not even visible due to the number of kids in, around, and on top of it. Absolute insanity, but in true Hoosier Spirit.
In light of it all, my favorite part was the actual run. Being of a...smaller size...I was never a fan of lifting weights or doing intense conditioning. Taking "human development," a weight lifting class in high school, was a poor decision on my behalf. The three days of weight training were a struggle and definitely made me aware of how small I really am. When it came to completing the two-mile in spring however, I finally found my strength in that class. While the big football and basketball players could lift multiple times my body weight, let alone what I was so proudly lifting, I found that I could easily outrun many. Not that I'm a speedy runner, or planning on racing anytime soon, but I found that running was my "thing." The other girls could only run a few laps at a time before taking a walking break, meanwhile I found I could power through and push myself to not stop. I haven't been much of a consistent runner, but instances like last night remind me of how much I enjoy it. Running in a hyped up crowd of hoosiers through the beautiful Bloomington campus is incredible beyond belief. I'm pretty sure I smiled from start to finish. I think I'll take advantage of my surroundings (and this crazy still-summer weather) and run a few days a week. Why not right?
We'll see how that goes...or how long that lasts.
Other than running nearly naked, and preparing for a great first homecoming week here at IU, I'm absolutely loving life. College is amazing beyond words and I can't imagine being anywhere else but here.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Freshman Family Weekend
This blog quickly turned into a two day entry as I found myself easily distracted yesterday. Woops!
(Sept. 24) Ohhhhhh, joy. More and more Moms keep appearing on the floors, medicine, food, and other essentials in hand for their college babies. My family is not coming this weekend, and to be honest, I don't mind. I won't go as far to say campus will be in a flurry of madness..but I know our dorm will. Foster seems to house a lot of freshman, at least from what I can tell. I certainly wouldn't mind being taken out to dinner on repeat all weekend, but my family will be here soon enough.
Next weekend IU football plays Michigan. In case you're completely out of the big 10 loop, or not from around here, that's a HUGE game. Madness won't even begin to describe next weekend...especially around the northwest dorms near the football stadium. My mom and sister are driving down to visit and I'm pretty stoked. Mom will be staying with her friend in town so I'll have Abbie for the night. It's been crazy not being around her this month; we're basically twins. Only 13 months apart, we've grown up doing nearly everything together. This is the first time we've really been separated. Sadly, it has probably been easier on me than it has on her just because I'm in a completely different environment and not stuck at home. Either way, next weekend is going to be a BLAST. I bought tickets for the two of us to go, should be exciting :]
----------
(Sept. 25) Tonight we play Akron in football; I'm going to help Michelle and the bowling team sell programs...should be interesting. I slept in today and it was wonderful. Last night was interesting to say the least. I owe a big thanks to JenBunny across the hall, we teamed up to help out. ;] Gotta love taking care of girls on Friday nights. We had a few laughs in there, though.
On a different note, I had two exams this week. Business X100 on Wednesday and Finite yesterday. What a week! For now only having three college exams under my belt, I'm feeling decently confident. I studied hard for my business exam, and along with the in class review we had, I feel I was extremely prepared. We'll see how that reflects on my grade posted tonight. My finite exam is an entirely different story. I don't feel that I bombed it, but due to the matter of the material, it's nearly impossible to feel confident. Probability, Combinations, and Permutations..how the heck can you feel confident at all? I could be slightly off and completely miss a problem. Here's hoping it turns out for the best.
Now that I've pretty much covered my entire week, I'm going to put on my B-Town shirt, curl my hair a bit, and get ready for the game. Hopefully I'll get pictures up soon. I'm finding that it's crazy hard to carry my camera around with me and actually take pictures. Having anything besides my Vera Bradley carry-all wristlet has turned out to be an inconvenience :P I will try though; I need freshman year pictures eventually right?
(Sept. 24) Ohhhhhh, joy. More and more Moms keep appearing on the floors, medicine, food, and other essentials in hand for their college babies. My family is not coming this weekend, and to be honest, I don't mind. I won't go as far to say campus will be in a flurry of madness..but I know our dorm will. Foster seems to house a lot of freshman, at least from what I can tell. I certainly wouldn't mind being taken out to dinner on repeat all weekend, but my family will be here soon enough.
Next weekend IU football plays Michigan. In case you're completely out of the big 10 loop, or not from around here, that's a HUGE game. Madness won't even begin to describe next weekend...especially around the northwest dorms near the football stadium. My mom and sister are driving down to visit and I'm pretty stoked. Mom will be staying with her friend in town so I'll have Abbie for the night. It's been crazy not being around her this month; we're basically twins. Only 13 months apart, we've grown up doing nearly everything together. This is the first time we've really been separated. Sadly, it has probably been easier on me than it has on her just because I'm in a completely different environment and not stuck at home. Either way, next weekend is going to be a BLAST. I bought tickets for the two of us to go, should be exciting :]
----------
(Sept. 25) Tonight we play Akron in football; I'm going to help Michelle and the bowling team sell programs...should be interesting. I slept in today and it was wonderful. Last night was interesting to say the least. I owe a big thanks to JenBunny across the hall, we teamed up to help out. ;] Gotta love taking care of girls on Friday nights. We had a few laughs in there, though.
On a different note, I had two exams this week. Business X100 on Wednesday and Finite yesterday. What a week! For now only having three college exams under my belt, I'm feeling decently confident. I studied hard for my business exam, and along with the in class review we had, I feel I was extremely prepared. We'll see how that reflects on my grade posted tonight. My finite exam is an entirely different story. I don't feel that I bombed it, but due to the matter of the material, it's nearly impossible to feel confident. Probability, Combinations, and Permutations..how the heck can you feel confident at all? I could be slightly off and completely miss a problem. Here's hoping it turns out for the best.
Now that I've pretty much covered my entire week, I'm going to put on my B-Town shirt, curl my hair a bit, and get ready for the game. Hopefully I'll get pictures up soon. I'm finding that it's crazy hard to carry my camera around with me and actually take pictures. Having anything besides my Vera Bradley carry-all wristlet has turned out to be an inconvenience :P I will try though; I need freshman year pictures eventually right?
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