Good things are happening!

Happy Sunday! This has been a pretty emotional week both physically and mentally. I have got some news that I am very excited to share with you all! But, I will save that till the end :) This weekend has been very good- I have had some time to relax and even bake some cookies for Tina's birthday that happened on Friday! This is my first time making peanut butter blossoms on my own. I have helped rolled balls with my mom countless times over the holidays but have never made them all on my own. They turned out very good! I am proud of myself! I really do enjoy baking!
This past week has been busy at work. Spring Break applications were getting turned in this week, but they started off very slowly. On Thursday, we had 11 applications turned in. For the 4 service trips, we need at least 44 students, so I was getting a little nervous about that. The service trips will be going to Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, and South Carolina, with 10 people going on a trip (at least). On Friday, I heard that we got 53 applications turned in that day, so we are definitely over the amount of students needed for the trips, which also means that we have students to pick from that would be best for the different service trips. Interviews are taking place next week and I may be helping give them on Thursday evening.

Community Service Fair Poster

Tomorrow, I have a pretty large event happening from 12-2 in the Student Union. I am bringing a Community Service Fair to Dickinson! This fair will have 17 different organizations from the Dickinson College community, Carlisle community, and Harrisburg community. The different organizations will talk to students about the different volunteer opportunities that their organizations holds for them. I have many different groups including the YMCA, Salvation Army, Dickinson Farm, Therapeutic Horseback Riding, and Project SHARE. I am hoping a lot of students will come to this event, I have not promoted it as much as I normally would have because I am sitting in the office more as the administrative assistant, but it is in a high traffic place, right at lunch time, so I hope people will stop in!
On Saturday, St. Stephens had a brass/organ concert at 7pm. This event was incredible! St. Stephens choir directors brother, Jonathan, come in and preformed a concert for the community with the help of a brass section from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. I have never heard such a loud sound inside the church before. I never realized the different acoustics it had and how incredible things can sound in it! The organist is well known internationally and even has a Grammy. He performed a song by Bach called Jig Fugue and told the crowd that it is originally a harp/piano song, not organ. So if you are able to see his feet, watch them because he literally does a jig to play the song. I had to ask questions about the organ, I have heard it hundreds of times, but I don't really know that much about it. In a standard piano, there are 88 keys and 3 foot pedals. In an organ, there are 66 keys and 44 pedals, which explains why he was doing a "jig". I was very pleasantly surprised about this concert, it was much better than I thought it would be and I definitely enjoyed it!

Interview Email

Now for the exciting news! As many of you know I have turned in my Counseling and Student Personnel- College Student Affairs application and was waiting to hear back about an interview. Well, a day after all my references were submitted, I got an email stating that I have moved on to interviews! I am very excited for this opportunity! I found out this exciting news via email from the secretary on behalf of Dr. Jacqueline Lewis. The email stated that group and individual interviews will take place on Feb. 20th in MSU, Mankato and there will be a lunch with professors and staff and then an opportunity to meet with the different graduate assistantships available in the fall. I emailed back asking if there would be subsidizing costs for me to fly back to Minnesota or if I am able to do a Skype interview. They will be reviewing my application and letting me know of their decision! This is all starting to feel real! I am very excited to move on to interviews, I am not guaranteed a spot in graduate school, but I don't feel very nervous about not getting in- which I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing! We will just have to see. I am eager to find out if they will be sending me to Minnesota, I think it would be great for me to meet the professors and they can meet me personally to see if I am a good fit for the program. Wish me luck!
This upcoming week is going to be busy! On Monday night I have choir rehearsal, Tuesday is community dinner, Wednesday I am going out to eat with my mentor, Brigette, Thursday will either be interviews at Dickinson or choir rehearsal, Friday is Friday meeting and I am going to get a smartphone and grocery shopping! Busy week ahead for me, I am sure I will be sleeping a lot over the weekend!

Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Katie