It's Cold!!!

Bozeman is acting up again! We have experienced an 80 degree drop from two days ago to today. I was getting spring fever the other day, with this close to 50 degree weather and people busting out their shorts and bright colors... only for mother nature to drop the temperature to 30 below zero with wind chill last night. not fair. But the good thing is, the weather will warm back up again and like I have said before, Bozemanites are not afraid of the cold! I hope everyone is staying warm!

Sri Lanka Fund Raiser

Something I really like about Bozeman, is that there are always fun events to go to, and a lot of them are put on for a good cause. Last night, the Bozeman Brewery hosted a fund raiser organized by my friend John, for kids in Sri Lanka that don't have enough money to eat. There was a great band playing last night, along with a raffle and for every pint that was purchased, the brewery gave 50 cents. I like to go to things like this because 1) they are fun to go to and get me out of the house and give me a break from homework, and 2) it feels good to do something to help.

Literature and Art in Context

So.... I believe I mentioned before that I am planning on studying abroad this upcoming summer and that I would give you more details later. Well, we just had our second meeting, so I am able to give you more details. The program that I am participating in, is made up of MSU students and led by three MSU professors. We will receive 9 credits for this trip or in other words we are taking 3 classes: children's literature, young adult literature and methods of teaching art. We start the trip in Paris. We will explore that area for one week, going to the Louve, the Cathedral of Chartres, and of course eating lots of crepes. Then we head up to England. We will be traveling all over the country (spending a lot of time in London) going to Harry Potter sites, and Beatrix Potter's farm (author of Peter Rabbit). Then I plan on staying in Europe for a few weeks. I will have one to two weeks there by myself (I haven't decided what I am going to do yet) and then I am meeting my little sister in Italy, where we really want to take a cooking class! That's about all I know so far about the trip, other than the fact that I have to read a heap load of books before this semester is over (which is not easy given the lack of time I have to do my current homework!) I am excited!

Phone-a-thon

If you have applied for admission at MSU, you will most likely get a phone call from a student asking you if you have any questions and try to get you excited about being a bobcat! Most of the time, the students that do this are the "Tele-cats". For the next few weeks, I get the pleasure of supervising the Advocats while they take part in what we call the "phone-a-thon". Each student has to dedicate 3 hours to calling prospective students and put their knowledge to the test! I encourage you to take advantage of these hard core Cats fans that call you. Not only because it makes their job most exciting, but because they LOVE to talk about their school and Bozeman, and they all are full of facts and information that they would like to show off:-) Of course if you don't have time to talk, or come up with more questions later, you can always call 1-888-MSU-CATS.
(I don't mean to sound like an advertisement:-) I just wish I knew that number when I was applying to school!)

BIG SKY!

This weekend, Big Sky Ski Resort was generous enough to give a free ski day to everyone that works in the admissions office at MSU. I have skied and snowboarded at 6 ski resorts in Montana but I had never been to Big Sky. I always just assumed that it would be too crowded and too expensive... Too commercial. Turns out, I was wrong. Big Sky has worked it out so there are ZERO lines to get on the chair lift. Their lifts are big and fast and efficient. Big Sky has so much terrain... fresh powder is not hard to find. I was most surprised by the price. On a regular day, a full-day pass for students is only $41! That is within a couple dollars of Bridger Bowl and Moonlight Basin. A representative from Big Sky Resort told me that they are trying to get more involved with the community and with MSU and make it more accessible for students. If you come to visit Bozeman, I recommend that you try out a ski resort or two. Even if you don't ski, it is a great way to get the feel of a small ski-bum town!

Spring Semester Starts!

So, the semester has started and already my teachers are putting me to work! This semester I will spend most of my time reading. Reading for my classes this semester and doing the pre-reading for my study abroad classes this summer! I will spend less time in class this semester (even though I have the same amount of credits) but I will have to dedicate a lot more time outside of class to homework and reading.

Spring semester is way different than fall semester. Campus has a different atmosphere, activities, ward robes and attitudes change, and spring fever starts way too early for me. People come to Bozeman for the winter sports, skiing and snowboarding being the big ones. Campus is a lot more vacant during Spring semester than fall semester because every spare second is spent on the slopes. A lot of students organize their schedules so they don't have class everyday and many students take skiing or snowboarding classes for a little extra snow time! Bozemanites definitely do not hibernate... the snow brings people out and together! (I know that is kinda cheesy, but it's true!)

This semester should be interesting!

Hmm...

So, I lied and I neglected you... my apologies. I do not have any pictures of the Madrigal dinner and I haven't written in over a month.

Well, to catch you up... Christmas was great. I went to Billings for a few days to see the family. It was awesome because all 22 of us were there! (which is a rare occasion) I worked on New Years Eve and New Years day. I also went skiing at Discovery Basin, near Anaconda about an hour and a half away from Bozeman, and skied at Big Mountain in Whitefish (northwestern Montana). Both were amazing and so much fun. My break has been semi-boring, which is good because I needed a little boredom.

School starts on Wednesday. This semester will be just as busy as the last with 20 credits, JoAnn Fabrics, Advocats, Blogging, Spectators, and planning my trip to Europe in the summer! Have a happy spring semester!