Wittenberg University

The only really bad thing about the fall, if you ask me, is the cold season. Other than that, it is pretty much a fantastic season. The fact that fall is now finally here brings a lot of great things such as:

-          Fall fashion. Tights, overknee socks, boots, skirts, turtlenecks, scarves, gloves and trench coats are a few of my favorite things. Layers are fabulous.

-          Pumpkin Latte. Yet another reason to drink coffee! In the words of my dear friend Lacey Davidson: “Oh, to be a freshman again and drink coffee just because you like the taste.” Just kidding, I bet some freshmen stay up just as late as us seniors, and we could all treat ourselves to some good coffee.

-          The Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Every year I participate in the walk and raise money for the cause with my sorority. This year we went to Antioch in Yellow Springs to walk. One of my sisters who graduated last year, Lindsay Beckman, came in from Columbus to join us, which was such a treat!

-          Fall Break. I am leaving Wittenberg in two weeks to go Washington DC with one of my best friends. We will visit friends, look at grad schools, internships/jobs and enjoy the city. Lot of walking I expect. Or maybe riding the metro? Can´t wait!

-          Giving tours to prospective students. As a tour guide, I can definitely say that the number of students visiting Witt is increasing rapidly. During the first few weeks of classes we hardly had any, but now there are a lot of high school juniors and seniors here. Welcome!

Have a great first week of October and enjoy fall!

Hanna

September 2^nd was the last day to hand in the paperwork to apply for graduation for the senior class of 2012 here at Witt. From what I heard there was quite a line to get it all done at the registrar’s office. It shows how we’re still not excited to graduate from Witt because we procrastinate that hard J

It may seem weird that you have to apply to graduate, but it’s a way for the university to keep track of us actually fulfilling what is required of us, our general education requirements, majors, minors, community service writing intensive classes and so on. It is quite complicated to get it all done, but that’s where I’ve had the most help from my advisors. It helps to put it all down on paper even your freshman year, and then modify as you go.

As a double major with a minor I have three different advisors! I also still keep in touch with one of my first freshman class professors since he is basically a scheduling genius. My classes have been pretty much planned out since freshman year and that is definitely something I would recommend doing. Even though you might not know what your major will be you will have some kind of idea of which classes to take. Make an outline, think about what you want and DO IT! There’s a lot of credits to take and it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Oh, and starting ahead of time will help others help you. I handed in my application for graduation early and because of that I found out that I had not declared that minor yet… Ooops… But since I was doing it ahead of time, there was no problem getting the paperwork done.

Have a great week!

Hanna

So here we are, the first day of classes of my last year in college. Senior year – that’s what’s up. I’ve been telling people I am in denial for the past three months but I guess it’s about time to accept the fact that it is almost over now. Wow, that sounded very sad, but trust me, it’s not. I’m excited about what this year will bring in forms of classes, new acquaintances, professors, activities, intramurals and opportunities for the future.

Senior year will be bittersweet, with one foot steadily in the ground here at Witt and the other one up in the air, looking to put it down somewhere new and exciting. I’m pumped!

Other great things I look forward to is putting my cleats back on for the first time in nine years. That’s right, I will play intramural soccer this fall. One of my sorority sisters is organizing a team and since my parents got me cleats for my birthday this summer I’ve realized there’s no way out.

I’m also excited to see all of our new freshmen and getting to know more about them. Four amazing years here at Wittenberg awaits them and I am almost jealous that it’s not me. Almost.

Tiger up!

Hanna

I have held a few jobs during my time here at Wittenberg. Freshman year I worked as an assistant for the International Recruitment first semester, and than as a research assistant for one of my professors second semester. Sophomore year I worked as a Resident Advisor, and I blogged for the webpage. Since I was abroad last semester I have had to find a new job now that I am back on campus. I am super happy to have been picked as one of Wittenberg’s new tour guides!

This week I will have my final exam after a few weeks of training for the job. I have been shadowing a few of the experienced tour guides too, which has been a lot of fun. Keep your fingers crossed that I will pass the final!

I have also managed to get a job in the Political Science Department next year, which I am also excited for. I think it will be a great balance between helping out in the office and getting out and meet prospective students during tours.

Hanna

This month has been crazy as far as activities and school work goes. The Kappa Delta (one of our sororities) had their Confidence Coalition this month, which is a great project. They brought in a lot of speakers and interesting events and were very successful. I had the luck to get to meet with two of our speakers, Becca and Kelly, the founders of the organization OneStudent. Faculty and students met to discuss the program and it was cool to hear more about their work.

My sorority also had our annual Blueberry Pancake Dinner at our house, which was a success. A lot of people showed up and I just wanted to thank everybody that came!

As far as academics goes, this is the time where classes are actually beginning to sum up. In six weeks they will be done. I look at my schedule and can see how everything is just planned out week by week from now on. It is not too bad, but a matter of being ahead of the game.

My plans for this summer is more or less finalized by now. My younger brother Lukas is graduating from high school in June, so I will head home to Sweden after commencement at Wittenberg and spend a month there. My mom got her Ph.D last year, so there are some ceremonies she wanted me to come to with her. We´re going to a ball at the castle for example! By mid-June I will come back to Wittenberg to spend two months working on my honors thesis. I know senior year will be tough, so I wanted to get some work in before classes start.

Enjoy your week!

Hanna

Even though the sun is starting to show more and more her in Ohio, it was nice to get some extra time during spring break to enjoy the weather. Me and my room mate from freshman year and my current room mate drove down to Miami to go on a cruise to the Bahamas! It was almost surreal that the sun was shining all the time, so I can’t wait until spring is here for sure! Midterms week was not as bad as I had expected, my professors did a good job spreading out the assignments and midterms. It was still perfect to get some time off and just relax last week.

The three of us are usually pretty busy with school work and other activities, so it was also good to have some time to spend together and catch up. I talked to my parents back in Sweden on our way down to Florida. They were pretty jealous that we had such great weather. There is still snow on the ground in Sweden, and they will be so happy if there’s flowers on the ground for my brother’s birthday on April 6th. Hey, I guess that’s Sweden for you.

This week is the AIA (American International Association) and GSA (Gay Straight Allience) Fashion Show. I am really excited because it is always a lot of fun. I think that I will model for the Greek wear together with some of my sisters, and there will be a lot of other different styles up there.

Have a great week!

Hanna

As much as I do love being at Witt I am looking forward to spring break.  I, my roommate from freshman year, and my current roommate are going on a cruise to the Bahamas! We will leave for Miami in little over a week and then spend five days in the sun before we head back for Witt. 11 days until we’re on a boat!

There is definitely an increase in students at the library these days, and the opening hours are as usual extended. I am working on a paper for my Political Science Methods class right now, looking at women in legislative office all over the world. It is a big project, but luckily our professor has divided it up in smaller assignments, so it is finished little by little. I also have one midterm next week, and a few other assignments.

Other than that, I have recently joined Rotaract, the college club of Rotary. We had our first meeting last week, talking about this year’s activities. The parents of one of my best friends back home in Sweden are members of Rotary, so that was one reason I was interested in joining. I also received a scholarship from Rotary to a school in Georgia, but decided not to take it and come to Witt instead. Still, I have had great experiences with Rotary, so when this opportunity came along I knew I had to try it.

Good luck on your midterms!

Hanna

So after a calm and quiet weekend, a new week is here! I have my first exam on Thursday and a paper due on Friday, so I am in the library right now. I will risk sounding like a nerd, but I love the library. Usually I spend most of my time here on the first floor, reading, using the computers, and occasionally meeting up with friends. My roommate works at the Reference Desk so it’s always fun to come in and see her.

I also appreciate the quite area upstairs. For some reason I love walking up and down the aisles of books, randomly taking one and see what it is about. Once I found one just on Swedish food, which was nostalgic.

Another thing I do in the library is looking for a summer job. I don’t know if I will be on campus or back home in Sweden this summer, it all depends on what kind of summer job I get. My mom recently sent me a package, and judging from the size, I thought she sent me a Swedish magazine or something else for pleasure reading. No, she didn’t. My mom sent me a resume’ workshop… And then suggested a time when we should have a Skype date, working on it. Well, I do appreciate it a lot. I always do better when I have some help reviewing.

Thank you mom!

Have a great week,

Hanna

For once, this weekend wasn’t over in a heartbeat. It was like time moved slower these past few days. It could be because I got to spend some good quality time with a few of the people I appreciate the most here.

On Saturday, one of my sisters came in to town with her mother. My sister graduated early last semester and has been living in Columbus ever since. It was so good to see her and catch up on the past few months. Her mom is really sweet, and I could definitely see the similarities between the two. My sister has got a very impressive job in Columbus, and it was inspiring to hear about what she is doing after college.

I also spent about five hours with another friend on Saturday night. We made Valentine’s Day gifts, dinner, cookies and a lot of other things, just enjoying spending time together. She is living in the Campus Ministries house, which is amazing. The atmosphere is great, and as we were in the kitchen, her house mates would come down and talk and make food. They are all really nice and I am hoping to get to know all of them better.

On Sunday, the grey weather continued and I think that made the feeling of time moving slowly (but in a good way) more noticeable. The sky had the same color as the ground, and as Sundays are usually a slow day, I think the unwillingness to go out in the chilly weather made me calmer.

It was a good weekend, but I’m happy the week is here now,

Hanna

Everything I did during our three snow days:

-          Slept in

-          Had a “cleaning-our-room-party” with my roommate. This included: bunking our beds, vacuuming, picking every single thing up from the floor and finding places to put them, re-arranging everything, blasting music, pizza and pop break, dancing, singing, throwing stuff out, putting posters on the walls and finally getting my Swedish flag up.

-          Took a lot of naps.

-          Had cabin fever (new word for me).

-          Finished homework.

-          Wondered why I have never had a snow day in Sweden. FYI – It’s because we put gravel on the streets.

-          Almost slipped and fell numerous times when I was hiking to the computer lab and then to the house and then to the gym and then back home to the house again.

-          Got super excited for our cook to come back after two days of being snowed in.

-          Hung out and talked to my sisters.

-          Worked out with all the other people who had cabin fever.

-          Complained about the snow days.

-          Was happy for the snow days.

-          E-mailed a LOT.

-          Facebook.

-          Slept in.

-          Ate.

-          Stayed up until way too late being slap happy with my sisters.

-          Slept in.

I only have one class tomorrow, but I hope the ice is gone by then!

Hanna