Tag Archives: Honors Club

So I threw a Halloween party last night…

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Since Halloween fell on a Wednesday this year, both this weekend and last weekend were eligible for Halloween festivities. Another DMC suite and I volunteered to host a Halloween party in DMC Lounge after the vice president of the Honors Club sent out an email to everyone in the Honors Program wondering if anyone would be carrying on the Honors tradition of throwing a Halloween party this year.

The party was open to people in the Honors Program, people who live in DMC, and pretty much anyone on campus looking for a good time on a Saturday night that didn’t involve alcohol or other substances. (And because it was open to all Honors students, it counted as a suite event for both my suite and the other suite I hosted it with. Suites are required to host suite events if their residents want to be eligible to live in Honors housing the next year. People will do anything from hosting movie nights to having a party like the one we had.)

Being one of the hostesses, I was naturally a little anxious about how the party would go. Would people like it? Would they show up and stay a while? Would my music selections be good enough? (I was in charge of music in addition to some of the decorations and candy.)

Much to my relief, this year’s Halloween party was a great success! The turnout was excellent, and for over an hour, there were at least 40 people at the same time dancing and enjoying themselves. (I estimate that at least 60 people came throughout the night.) The decorations were fantastic (the streamers were a must), my music selections pleased the crowd pretty well, and a lot of people were wearing great costumes! I also got a lot of positive feedback from people who told me that this was one of the best Honors Halloween parties they’d attended. I had a wonderful night myself, and knowing that other people had a great time as well made me feel even better and my hard work and money spent extra worthwhile!

I think the ability to throw events for other students makes being a member of the Honors Program at McDaniel worthwhile. It really builds a sense of community within our Honors Program when we get to interact with each other in a non-academic setting, and when we can include students not in Honors as well, it makes for an even more fun time!

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A Busy Little Week

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Returning to campus from fall break means a return to friends and now-familiar routines. Unfortunately, it also means returning to a fresh batch of homework assignments (and ones put on hold during break). One look at my workload tonight, and you’ll be able to tell two things: that I’m an English major and that I’m a little overwhelmed at the moment. Tomorrow I have my first test of the semester for my grammar class, and I have a paper due in my rhetoric class. (Fortunately, the paper deadline got pushed back by a day, giving me more time to work on it. Unfortunately, that means I’m still working on it.)

Of course, I haven’t let the homework bog me down completely, as I kept busy with plenty of non-homework things yesterday too. After class, I went to West Middle School, a local middle school within walking distance from campus, where I volunteer once a week as an after-school tutor for kids who want or need extra help with their homework. I’ve been involved in this since last fall, and I have not only enjoyed it but I have also learned a lot about myself and working with people who are younger than me.

Later in the evening, I went to Honors Around the World, an event sponsored by the Honors Club at which students of the Honors Program talked about their experiences studying abroad. It was great to hear about some of my friends’ and peers’ travels to Costa Rica, Budapest, Spain, Ghana, and other places. I was especially glad to hear Mara talk about her experience in Glasgow, Scotland, since I would like to study abroad there in 2014. McDaniel’s Honors Program is part of a special partnership with the University of Glasgow that lets honors students from select U.S. institutions study at Glasgow. I think it’s a pretty awesome opportunity, and I can’t wait to experience it myself next spring!

And before I hit the books last night, I helped the Free Press, our student newspaper, distribute copies of our latest print issue in my residence hall. Our print issues have been looking fantastic this year, and I highly recommend that you track a copy down if you visit campus. Whether you’re interested in journalism or not, looking at colleges’ student newspapers is a great way to learn more about the campus and find out what students care about.

The October issue of the McDaniel Free Press, featuring McDaniel ROTC cadets

Despite being only three days long, this week has been one of my busiest little weeks in recent memory. (The fact that we don’t get a lot of short weeks on campus can also account for that.) I’m definitely looking forward to this week coming to a close! After my grammar test, I’m heading home again to take care of things I didn’t get to over fall break and to spend more time with my family. (Fall break will never be long enough for me!)

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This and That

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It’s been a little of this, a little of that for me over the past few days, which is pretty much reflective of how I try to live my day to day life at McDaniel. (It makes things more fun!)

On Sunday evening, I went to the year’s first meeting of the Honors Club, the club of our Honors Program to find out what sort of fun events and community service opportunities are going on this semester. I’m definitely looking forward to participating in some of the activities, such as volunteering during Night of Nets, which takes place next week. The event, sponsored by Advocacy Team, seeks to raise malaria awareness and raise money for bed nets, takes place at night on the Quad in between the residence halls DMC and ANW.

In between my afternoon class, Grammar and Usage, and my evening class, the Hero’s Journey, I went to the English Department reception on Monday. This event is one of many of my favorite annuals events that take place on campus each year. It’s really wonderful to see just about all of our English professors and faculty in one place and get to mingle with them and my fellow English majors. There’s plenty of fun and laughs, and of course, there’s good food and door prizes. I won a set of eight notecards featuring an illustration of Hill Hall, the building in which the English Department is housed, and a handful of pens. It was an excellent prize, since I love writing letters to family and friends while I’m at college.

Today was pretty much nonstop beginning at 1:00 this afternoon. I had my rhetoric class, Approaches to Everyday Discourse, followed by my general science class, the Nature of Science. After that, I went straight to an information session about the Fulbright Program, a scholarship that allows for U.S. college graduates to travel abroad to study, conduct research, and teach. Since I’m only a sophomore, I still have quite some time to go before I can even apply for such a scholarship, but I’m glad I went. It seems like a neat opportunity to consider, and I’m glad that I’ll have the next year and a half to keep it in the back of my mind.

After the Fulbright info session, I went to dinner at Glar, our dining hall, where the international flavor continued. Tonight was one of Glar’s theme nights, Moroccan Night, which featured a live DJ and some dancing from members of McDaniel’s Belly Dancing Club. (I think I’ll have to go to one of their meetings at some point—I’d love to try it!)

Tonight (and sadly, tomorrow night as well), I’m pretty swamped with homework. My first paper of the semester is due in two days, and my draft needs work! That doesn’t mean I won’t take a break in an hour or so though. Today is one of my suite mate’s birthdays, so we’re ordering a pizza and having some fun tonight!

It’s been a pretty fun and busy semester so far, and I’m expecting this momentum to continue!

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