Jenn's MTA Blog!

one more thing!

2008-04-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh, I forgot to tell you this!

I GOT THE JOB!!! haha

I'm going to be a part of the Conference Services Team for Mount Allison this summer! I am SO excited!! I can't believe I forgot to mention this!

What's also really exciting is that two of my close friends got the job too, so that just means double the fun! And my boyfriend is here for the summer doing research for the economics department!

All right, that's all!
Now you can have a wonderful week!

17. End of March

2008-04-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

It's April Fool's Day - I almost can't believe it. This year has gone by so fast! I'm really itching to get out of residence though, so I think it's good that the year is almost over. Residence is so much fun, don't get me wrong. Parties every weekend, random dance parties every night, and spending all your time with your friends. But there's only so many more quiet hours, and meals and meal hall I can take! haha

So this past weekend was my good friend Megan's 20th birthday. We all went out to Joey's, a pizza/pasta restaurant in town. Their food is really good, but their sangria is even better! If you're ever in Sackville, you should definitely get some garlic fingers from Joey's - they're soo good!!! Anyway, because we're such girly girls, we got all dressed up in fancy dresses for Meg's birthday! Here's some pictures:

( all the girls @ Joey's )

( 48 Lansdowne girls in Meg's Room: Emily, Lauren, me & Megan )

So that was Thursday night. Then on Friday night, the Windsor exec hosted a party with, in my biased opinion, the BEST theme EVER! haha. We called it WonkaLand - and it was CANDY THEMED! I mean, c'mon! Free candy, colourful walls, free COTTON CANDY, and our Sec/Treas dressed up as Willy Wonka! It was such a fun time.

We had a dance off competition between the floors (Windsor has floor competitions to compete for "Floor of the Year"), and all the music for the dance off was candy-themed. Aka, "Candy" by Mandy Moore, "Candy Shop" by 50 Cent, "Candyman" by Aqua, etc. It was a blast! Here's some of the pictures of the decorations:

So that was my week basically. This Thursday I'm going to the Habitat banquet, which should be really fun. And on Friday is the ASCARS that I keep talking about!! I'll let you all know if we win Party of the Year!!

Have a wonderful week!

Love Jenn
jmdavies@mta.ca

16. St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

Hey there,

This past weekend was a really fun one! Two Saint Patricks' days, 6 straight hours of Nintendo, a floor party and a North South Hockey game!

With "St. Patrick's day" being on "Saturday" this year, everybody in residence starting drinking at a very early hour. However, Emily, Kate and I knew that we wouldn't last past supper if we did that, so we played Nintendo instead!

We played Mario Party on N64, which is essentially a virtual board game. It's really fun! Since we had all day, we played a 50 round game, which took us 6 hours!! I was winning near the end, but then Emily took the lead and won the 3 bonus stars! But it was still really fun.

3rd floor in Windsor was having a party, but not that many people were there, so we just hung out in mine and Emily's room. We had about 2 drinks each, and decided that was enough haha. Pizza just sounded like more fun than the Pub. Here's Kate and Emily:

Then on Sunday, there was a North vs. South hockey game! Mount Allison's campus is divided into 3 parts; North side (Windsor, Harper, Campbell & Meal Hall), the academic buildings, and South side (Hunton, Edwards, Thornton, Bennett & Bigelow). And there's this big rivalry between the north and south sides of campus. I think it used to be rivalry between Truman and Windsor (South and North - the two biggest residences), but then Truman got torn down. Haha so now the rivalry basically has no meaning, but it still goes on! Here's some of North side at the game:

Anybody could sign up to play, so it was a mix of house exec's, hockey-playing boys, and the women's varsity hockey team. It was a really fun game to watch, because North side was dominating!! haha the final score was 9-1 for us :)

Everybody gets all dressed up in their house colours, complete with face painting! Windsor's colours are blue and red, and here's Emily, me and Colleen:

It was a really fun event! I lost my voice from cheering to hard, and so did Emily. But it worked! 9-1!! My favourite North Side cheer is "North Side, Full of Pride, When you see us, Run and Hide!"

Then on Monday, it was the "real" St. Patrick's day! And Uncle Larry's (a bar downtown) hosted a Keith's Crew! It's one of the most fun things ever, I promise haha. You pay $12 to get in, and the Keith's reps come with a large number of kegs, and it's all you can drink beer! There's lots of prizes as well, and the first 100 people to get in get sweet Keith's cups! I have quite the collection of them now.

Anyway, it was one of my favourite weekends at Mount Allison. Every once and a while, you need a break from work, and what better weekend to do that than St. Patrick's day??

Have a great Easter weekend!

Love Jenn

jmdavies@mta.ca

15. It's already March

2008-03-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

I absolutely cannot believe that it's March. The year is almost over. I am almost halfway through my degree. THAT is crazy!

This weekend Emily and I served at a residence party. It was actually a pretty good bar tending experience. Usually they're pretty annoying because everyone has their own reason why they deserve a double shot, or their drink early, etc. At MTA, much like every Canadian university, we follow SmartServe - which is this alcohol serving rule-following program kind of thing..haha that makes no sense. But it just says that you can only serve one drink per half hour per person. And there's rules for how big a shot can be and stuff like that. Also, there's quite the payment for serving: you get to drink as much as you want after you're done haha. Here's a picture of us from the weekend:

So now that the year is almost over, I have to start thinking about jobs. I've applied for a job at the university which I feel I am very qualified for, but I heard a LOT of people have also applied for it. I really want to live in Sackville for the summer. The majority of my friends are staying, plus my boyfriend, and I really want to experience the town when it's not snowing!! Plus my house is beautiful, have I mentioned that? haha any time spent in that house will be a good time.

I have been drinking a lot of Tim Hortons coffee lately. (This sounds random, but it ties into the job thing). I usually make my own coffee in Res (NEVER drink meal hall coffee - just trust me on that one!) or I walk to Bridge Street for coffee, which is probably my favourite part about Sackville. Anyway, I've been going to Tims a lot since Roll Up The Rim started, obviously. It's such a good marketing plan, it gets me every time. And I realise the odds are only 1/9 of winning anything, and even less to win a car or truck, but every time I roll up my rim, I honestly feel like I'm going to win something big.

Emily and I have a deal that if one of us wins something, and we always buy our coffee together, that we will split whatever the prize is. So now back to the job. I have a pretty sweet back up plan if my job with the university doesn't work out - yep, that's right, I'm going to win a boat and sell it for tuition money. Then I will sit around all summer, work on my tan, read a lot of books, and live in Sackville. I realise it's a pipe dream, but I'm really hoping that it works out!

So that's all for this week. Wish me luck with my ongoing wishful thinking :)

-Love Jenn

jmdavies@mta.ca

14. New Orleans

2008-03-04T18:32:00.000-08:00

Hello!

I got back Sunday night from the Habitat for Humanity trip...and oh my goodness, there are no words to describe it. haha well, obviously there actually are words, as I'm about to write a whole blog about it, but you know what I mean!

I'll just go through the days, because I don't know how else to organize my thoughts about the trip:

Friday, Saturday, Sunday:

- We drove through 1 province and 14 states to get to Louisiana

- We stopped at a lot of truck stops and McDonalds!

- Here's our bus:

Monday:
- We went alligator "hunting" at this swampy area and then to the Musician's Village (go on Wikipedia for the story - it's really cool!)
- We had a free day in the French Quarter!!
- My friends and I walked around the area, saw all the crazy Mardi Gras stores, and then went shopping at a nearby mall

Tuesday:
- Our first day on-site!!
- The site had 3 houses on it, and they were basically just foundations and basic framing when we showed up
- Throughout the week (Tuesday - Friday) we installed windows and doors, put up the pre-siding, fixed and added frames, made an entire roof for one of the houses, and laid the floor on the decks. I was very surprised with what I could do - having never tried construction before!
- Tuesday night we went on a Haunted History tour of the French Quarter - SO much fun - and we got to see Nicholas Cage's house!
- Here's a photo of one of the houses when we first got there:
Wednesday:

- Another day on-site. It was a lot easier to get things done than the first day! I knew a bit more about what I was doing this time around

- Wednesday night we went to an NBA game!! New Orleans Hornets vs. Phoenix Suns! And Shaq just got traded so we got to see him play!! As well as Steve Nash, which was really cool! Here's a picture of Megan, Laura & I at the game:

Thursday:
- Another day on-site, lots of fun! I'm pretty sure this was a really warm day, but I can't really remember! haha how sad, it was only 6 days ago!
- Thursday night we went out for a real Cajun dinner, which was a really cool experience
- And after that, we had more free time in the French Quarter
- My friends and I basically bar-hopped, going from bar to bar along Bourbon street, as well as stopping for an outdoor jazz concert at the Musical Legends Park.
- All drinks were 3 for the price of 1, no bars ID'd (We're all 19 and 20)
- Mardi Gras was just a couple of weeks ago, and people were still celebrating it, so we caught lots of beads and also threw some of our own from bar balconies!
- We also had a dance party on the bus on the way home!!
Here's some pictures from that night:

Friday:
- Our last day on-site, it was so sad to leave!
- We got to meet one of the homeowners, Cynthia. It was simply amazing to hear her story, and to really see how much she appreciated us being there.
- Here's a picture of the group on the last day:

The whole trip was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I highly recommend going on a Habitat build to absolutely anyone. It's an awesome way to spend your spring break, that's for sure.

And New Orleans especially still needs your help. The city's homes are all still in ruins, so many homeless, and so many schools still closed. It's a beautiful, historic and important city in America, and I really encourage anyone who's thinking of going there to go! They need the tourist money, and while you're there, volunteer to build something!

Enjoy the pictures, and have a great week!
Love Jenn

jmdavies@mta.ca

13. It's almost Spring Break!!!

2008-02-19T17:34:00.001-08:00

Hi there!

I can't believe it's only 3 days until the break! It seems like I've been waiting for this week off all school year.

Last weekend, as I mentioned, I went home to hang out with my parents. And I was right - they took me shopping haha. It's really nice to go to a school that's relatively close to home (only 2 hours). I don't think I could've gone any further away - it's not that I get homesick easily, but I just like knowing I can go home when I need to. And I definitely needed to last weekend.

So we found out when we are officially leaving for New Orleans - on Friday at 5:30! That's so close! I'm actually really nervous. I'm scared I won't be very good at building, roofing, etc. I know they give you a crash course in basic skills, and I won't be doing anything too hard, but I'm still nervous I'm going to mess it all up! We also have a sneaking suspicion that our bus, which we will be on for 48 hours there and 48 hours back, doesn't have any outlets haha. Sooo that means I only have my IPod for ~8 hours and then no more music!

However, my lovely professors have taken care of that problem for me - I have 2 midterms the week I get back! One of them is on Tuesday. Seriously, why do they even give us a break if we have to spend the whole time studying? haha I suppose that's why the school officially calls the break "Reading Week"!

My friend, Megan, and I are in basically all the same classes this semester. So we're making flash cards this week for our midterm next Tuesday - and we can study lots on the bus, in between watching movies of course :)

Speaking of classes though, I wanted to share with you this really cool project I have in my Child Development class. We get to pick a parenting issue/style (examples include having more than one child, breast feeding, maternal employment, etc), and research it as we normally would to write a paper, but we also have to interview an actual parent as part of the research process! How cool is that? I just think it's a really neat (yes, I just used the word neat!) idea for a paper - a way to make it really hands-on. And there's my plug for the Psychology program here at Mount Allison haha!

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures this week! I'll be back from New Orleans on Sunday, March 2nd though - and that will be the longest blog that you've probably ever read haha - full of pictures!

Have a wonderful break! Or maybe you're still at school...wishfully thinking of your upcoming break...have fun with that!

Love Jenn

jmdavies@mta.ca

12. February!

2008-02-12T12:17:00.001-08:00

Hi again!

I cannot believe that it's February! This is always the craziest month, too, I think. Everyone has midterms all month, the SAC elections are going on, and we just finished our residence exec elections as well. It's a really weird feeling knowing that you're about to be replaced!!

But you know what the best part of February is? Spring Break!! It's only 2 weeks away! I think I've mentioned this before, but I'm going to New Orleans with Mount Allison's Habitat for Humanity. We're staying at Camp Hope - it's a converted school that holds up to 2000 people volunteering to rebuild the city after Hurricane Katrina. I'm so excited to go! The bus ride down is almost 48 hours long haha but it'll be fun. Two of my best friends, Megan & Lauren, and I are going.

(Here's a picture of us before the MASSIE banquet - they look awesome and I'm
not even looking at the camera haha)

I will definitely be putting up lots of pictures after the trip, don't worry!

Another exciting part of February is Valentine's Day! I told my boyfriend I didn't want to celebrate it, because I thought it was a card store's fake holiday haha, but as the date got closer I told him I actually did want to celebrate it!! I'm such a "girly-girl"!! But we're just making each other dinner, I think. But I wanted to show you the card I made him, because it's actually really funny...or maybe just silly.

It's from a Simpson's episode, when Ralph doesn't get any valentine's from his classmates. Lisa feels bad so she makes him this card:

I know this not because I watch the Simpsons, but because I googled "Valentine Card Images" and my roommate explained it to me! lol

Anyway, I made the whole card out of construction paper - it's really quite amazing what a student will do to procrastinate!!

This weekend I'm going home to hang out with my parents - since I'm not going to be home for Spring Break - and because I'm a little homesick. Also, I need to get my passport, steal my parent's sunscreen + bug spray, and charm my mother into taking me shopping :) It's amazing how much your mom will take you shopping when you go home (once you've been away)! Haha just kidding....

So that's my February so far! Full of midterms, elections, procrastination, and an exciting trip to look forward too! Stay tuned for my (frantic) blog next week where I will be freaking out about the amount of work I need to get done before going to the States!

Love Jenn

jmdavies@mta.ca

11. Mardi Gras !!

2008-02-04T17:55:00.000-08:00

Hi there!

This past weekend was probably the busiest weekend...of my life! Haha that sounds so melodramatic, but it was intense.

Every year, each Mount Allison residence hosts a "house party" and invites nearly all of campus - about 600 people at each party (I think about a thousand live on campus...don't quote me though!). They usually always have the same name and theme; Harper Havoc, Cancun Campbell, Hunton Gets Lucky, etc.

So this weekend was Windsor's Mardi Gras! The 5 of us on Windsor Exec were responsible for planning it, and it was a ridiculous amount of work haha!

(Colleen decorating 2nd floor!)

(The main lounge; featuring our dance cage)

This year, Em and I had our hearts pretty set on winning Party of the Year. The Mt. A S.A.C. hosts the "Ascars" each year - an award ceremony for the whole campus & school.

The big awards are "Frosh of the Year", "Off-campus House of the Year", "On-Campus House of the Year" and "Party of the Year".

The candidates are all the residences that threw parties - and we really want to win! The Ascars are held in March, so I'll keep you posted. Here are some of the decorations we made:

(Back wall of the Main Lounge)

(Stairwell)

(Second Floor Lounge --- I don't recommend taping tissue paper!! It doesn't like to be taped!)

To make the party stand out a bit more, we added a few special touches. We rented a Sno Kone machine, which was a huge hit. And we also had a Fake Tattoo Parlour - with Mardi Gras themed tattoos that Emily ordered online from the States! Last year's exec also added a really cool element to the party, which we continued, and that was a photo booth! It was set up under a circus tent, with a tripod, and people came to get their photos taken. Here's a few of them (there's over 200!!)

(Windsor Exec! Cory, Colleen, Emily, Me & Nick)

(My boyfriend, Ryan, and I)

It was a lot of fun! It's a really cool social aspect of Mount Allison. And I think it's a pretty unique thing to do. The houses all go way out for this competition. If you have the chance, and have a friend already here at MTA, you should come up during a res house party - Edwards and Hunton's are coming up. You can stay with me and my roommate if you want ! :)

The one kind of not-so-good part of the whole experience though is that it took soo much time away from schoolwork! I had a midterm this morning that I did not do so well on - it wasn't worth much, so I'm not overly worried, but it's still not a great feeling to know you performed so poorly.

Having said that, Mardi Gras is awesome haha! We gave out beads to almost everyone at the party, the DJ was really great, there were 5 bars to cut down on line-up wait times, and hardly any problems with security. I really couldn't have asked for it to go any smoother.

So, moral of the story time. Come live in Windsor :) !! I know I always say that! I suppose I could just settle for you coming to MTA, but you have to promise you'll at least attend Mardi Gras next year! Hope you enjoyed the pictures,

-Jenn

jmdavies@mta.ca

10. New Semester!

2008-01-11T11:18:00.000-08:00

Hi again!

Hope you had a great holiday break. I loved being at home. Last year, during my frosh year, I was not excited at all to be home - I wanted to stay in residence and hang out with everyone! haha But this year, I was really excited for a break. Not that I fell out of love with MTA, I just wanted to be home for a couple weeks :)

So now I'm back at school, registered in all new courses. It's always such a great feeling to have a fresh start. I had registered for 5 courses;

1. Research Design & Analysis part 2
2. Social Psychology
3. Child Development
4. Intro to Prose Fiction
5. Eastern Religions

But then I got back to school, and remembered how much other stuff I have to accomplish by February, and started to get very overwhelmed! Windsor's house party, Mardi Gras, is on Feb. 2, and there is a ridiculous amount of work to do for this event.

And 2 of my girlfriends and I are planning a tournament fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity - which will likely be in the next couple of weeks. Also, I got chosen to go on the Habitat trip this year and help build a house! This year, MTA's group is going to New Orleans, to build a house for a family that lost theirs in Hurricane Katrina.

I'm really excited about that! However, it's a trip over Spring Break, which means I'm not going to get much, if any, work done over that time. So I'm trying to get all my reading and studying done now - before Mardi Gras and the trip.

So with those two things in mind, I was starting to feel very overwhelmed, and unsure if I could do it all, and still keep my GPA up. So I dropped a course (Eastern Religion), because I can always overload or take a summer course - but I'm not always going to have the chance to go to New Orleans with Habitat for Humanity.

I'm really excited for this semester. I'm just scared that it's going to be more work, and more commitments, than I can handle!! I'm worried about everything that's happening this semester, and that makes me think that it's going to go by very fast! Which is a scary thought, because after this semester, I won't be living in residence anymore! And that's so sad!

Next year, I'm moving off-campus with 3 of my friends; Emily, Megan & Lauren. We found the cutest house, with all new appliances and hardwood floors, and it's only a 4-minute walk from campus! I'll post pictures of the house soon - which may be a little creepy of me, because we don't even live there yet...so basically I would be posting pictures of someone else's house...is that illegal?? Maybe I'll draw a picture of the house on 'Paint' haha!

Talk to you next week! Have a great first week back at school!

Love Jenn

9. End of Semester

2007-12-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

Hi again!

So it's the end of the semester, and everyone is really stressed about final papers and exams. I just finished my first exam today - worth 40%. It went okay, but I was a little bit ticked off because when I got to the gym to write it, our prof told the class that he had changed the format of the exam! And he took out an entire essay question that he told us would be in there - so basically, I pre-wrote an entire essay for nothing! But besides that, studying is going pretty well!

I thought that for this blog, I would list all my goals for the semester (my best friend and I made a big list), and then see whether or not I met them!

So in August, just before coming back to school, Emily and I made a list for what we wanted to do (and not do!) during our first semester:

1. Go to all aerobics classes - Alright, I did this until about Thanksgiving....

2. Eat a salad every day - Again...I did this until about Thanksgiving...

3. Have all readings prepared before all classes - Yes! Did this! haha

4. No garlic fingers - Okay, we followed this rule so strictly all semester...Right up until Joey's (the best restaurant in Sackville) came out with their "Exam Busters Specials". It's 2 large garlic fingers for 9 dollars!!! Who can resist that?!

5. Only nap on Fridays - I'll admit I never followed this one at all!

6. Do at least 1.5 hours of homework a day - Yep!

7. Do not spend more than 1 hour in meal hall per meal - Yep! It's so hard though! All you want to do is sit there, hang out with your friends, and avoid studying!

8. Keep a 3.0 average - Yep!

9. Only drink once in a weekend - Sort of followed this one...

So basically it looks like I barely followed my goals for the semester. But I am so happy with how the last 3 months have gone! I got to know all of the MASSIE's this year, and had a great time hanging out with them. (They actually just left this morning...back to Japan...one of the saddest days ever!!). I kept my GPA way up from last year! I even got my first A on a midterm! I signed a lease for a gorgeous house to live in next year with my best friends. And I made so many new frosh friends here in residence.

So maybe I didn't quite follow my goals for the semester, but I had a really fun time not doing it!

Wish me luck on my next 3 exams!!

Love,
Jenn

8. MASSIE's

2007-11-20T07:48:00.000-08:00

Hi there!

There are many unique things about Mount Allison that contribute to making this school amazing. For example, according to MacLean's, we have the number one library holdings per student in the country for all primarily undergraduate schools. We're also number one for the percentage of students from out of province. And oh yah, we're also number one ranked over all!!!

However, my favorite unique part of Mount Allison is the MASSIE program. MASSIE stands for Mount Allison Sophomore Semester in English. It's a program for students in Japan who attend KGU (Kwansei Gakuin University). They come here for all of our first semester to study and learn English. They have their own (small) classes where they study oral and written language, critical thinking in English, etc.

(the girls at "Canada Day")

This year there are 46 MASSIE students, I believe. They all live in double rooms in Windsor, Hunton, Bennett and Bigelow - and they all have Canadian roommates. A lot of my friends have MASSIE roommates and they absolutely love it.

There's also another way to get involved in the program, and that is to become a conversation partner. A conversation partner is a Mount A student who spends at least one hour a week with their MASSIE partner, and they simply talk. It really improves their English and allows them to become more confident with the language. My conversation partner is Yui. She's really funny, and I find that we're a lot alike. And she actually she lives across the hall from me, so I get to see her all the time, which is great!

There's tons of cool events that the MASSIE organizers plan for everyone all semester, too. At the beginning of the year, all the roommates got to go play volleyball with their MASSIE roommates. The conversation partners went on a huge scavenger hunt of Sackville, which was really fun. We also went curling recently too - Yui and I were terrible at it!!

This past weekend, Emily and I hosted a MASSIE Canada Day for all those involved in the program. We thought it would be a good idea because the MASSIE's aren't here for our July 1st celebrations. So we played all Canadian music, had a huge cake, played Canadian trivia, and even projected fireworks on the wall. It was a really fun night and everybody came out because, well, the MASSIE's are very well-loved on this campus!!

(getting ready for Sota's surprise party)

So if you come to Mount Allison, make sure you get to know at least one of the MASSIE students. They're really fun, and it's also really cool to learn about the differences between our culture and theirs.

Have a great week!!

Love Jenn

7. Windsor

2007-11-06T17:19:00.000-08:00

Hi again!

This week I'm going to make a huge plug for residence here at Mount Allison. It is, by far, one of the best decisions I've ever made - to live in res, that is! It's the most fun I've ever had, constantly surrounded by friends, and always meeting new people.

So this week I thought I would talk about being on House Exec - one of my favourite parts of living in Windsor! As I've said before, my best friend (Emily) and I are the Social Chairs this year. This is all of us together on Halloween:

Me, Emily, Cory, Colleen & Nick
Ballerina, Pippi Longstalkings, Sumo Wrestler, Audrey Hepburn & a Transvestite Hairdresser

It's roughly the same set-up in every house; a President (Cory) or sometimes Co-Presidents (we have a Vice President - Colleen!), a Secretary/Treasurer (Nick does both jobs!), and 1 or 2 Social Chairs (as you can see, Windsor has 2!)

Our job is to provide the fun for the house! We plan everything from Frosh Week, to Floor Competitions, to movie nights, and of course the parties!

One of my favorite events this year was Spirit Night! It's organized by the Intramurals people, I believe. Anyway, each house exec gets their house together - all decked out in house colours of course - and everyone gets together in the Athletic Centre's gym. We have a huge cheer-off at the beginning, and then the relay races begin! Each house picks representatives and points are awarded to the winners. There's also a dance-off, which is really funny to watch! Here's some of Windsor getting ready for Spirit Night:

Another one of my favorite events was our Coffee House. I find that coffee houses really bring out a lot of people - everyone loves performances! The thing about living in residence is that the people there become just like your family. And everyone is usually very comfortable performing in front of everyone - or making fools of themselves, which is also fun!! This was our first coffee house of the year:

The last event that I'll talk about was our WindsorWood Floor Crawl. All the houses here on campus love hosting Floor Crawls - usually 30-45 minutes are spent on each floor, and at the end of the time period we all switch floors. A couple weekends ago, we hosted WindsorWood! It was Hollywood themed - clever name, eh? We started on 4th Floor, which was "Pimping & Primping". It was all decorated up with mirrors, dresses and lipstick marks. 3rd Floor was "The Red Carpet" - and there was literally a red carpet laid on the floor, with the flashes from paparazzi's cameras. 2nd Floor was "The Show". It had black and white movie signs and ticket stands everywhere - with a movie filmstrip lining the hallway that was filled with pictures of 2nd floor people. I live on second floor :)! And Basement & First Floor decorated the main lounge to be "The After Party", which is where these pictures were taken:

So there's my plug for Mount Allison residences! They're all so much fun, and they all have their own unique characteristics and special touches! There's something for everyone with all the events planned. So come on up for a visit and take a look at all of them. Meet the execs and RA's in each house, and let them tell you about their house. I hope I at least peaked your interest :)

Love Jenn

6. My Week

2007-10-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

Hello!

So today I think I'm going to write about my entire week - there was just too much going on to pick only one thing!

Monday

I went to Mel's for milkshakes. Mel's is a diner/store here in Sackville - and my best friend Emily wants me to call it an "integral" part of town. She wants to start using that word in essays because her prof said it in class this morning and she thinks she'll get a better word if she repeats it back to the prof!! I'll let you know how that goes. Anyway, Mel's is famous for their milkshakes. It's a really old building downtown, and it's a great hangout spot for students.

Tuesday

I had a midterm on Wednesday morning in my Religion class. It was worth 30%, and I was kind of worried for it, so I spent the night studying. This semester I'm in 4 Psych courses and 1 Religion class. I took Religious Perspectives on the Body & Sexuality, and it's definitely my most interesting class. Mount Allison really encourages their students to take a broad range of subjects. So I studied all night for it, and wrote the midterm, and I think I did pretty good on it!

Wednesday

I did my homework. I'm a nerd.

Thursday

My 2 best guy friends played a benefit concert at Georges Roadhouse on Thursday night. It was really fun to go watch them play! We heckled them from the crowd because Tyler said he was nervous. And by "heckled" I mean we mouthed "elephant shoe" a bunch of times! They're going to call themselves Brett Martin and the Others (Tyler Glenen & Alex MacDiarmid). Very Clever. Descriptive, don't you think?

(Alex, Brett & Tyler)

Friday

I helped Emily get ready for a date. And then I made Kraft Dinner on my date. We're romantic like that.

Saturday

I went Halloween costume shopping with my Mom in Amherst. That's the sweet part of going to a school that's relatively close to Halifax - my Mom can still come and buy me things :) ! I was a ballerina for the night. In Windsor, we had a "warm up", aka cheap drinks, for Thornton's Halloween party (called Thalloween). Em & I went to the party and served for the first house and then enjoyed the rest of the party!

(Brent, Emily, me & Ryan)

Sunday

I slept and then did more homework.

So that was my week - just a random example of my life here at Mt. A :) Hope you enjoyed!

Love,
Jenn

5. Midterms

2007-10-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

Another week. Wow! This past week was my week of midterms, and I am so happy to be done with them. This time last year I wasn't so happy with the marks I was getting back. I could blame that on my mono, but really, I just wasn't trying. Being a frosh was simply too much fun, and I got really caught up in the events and activities.

This year, my GPA has skyrocketed from where it was last year. And do you want to know my secret?

I read.

I read my assigned readings before I go to class. I take notes and read them after class. I read my prof's objectives and actually answer the example questions.

Now this might sound like I'm oversimplifying my method. It also probably sounds like the most obvious thing to do to improve your GPA. But it is so hard to find the balance of school work and social life.

This year, to find that balance, my best friend and I made a long list of goals - and we make each other stick to those goals (for the most part!)

Luckily, in Windsor (the best Res on campus...) there is a library. Not that I don't enjoy the real Mt. A. library, but the Windsor library has enforced 24 hour quiet hours. And it's great! We go there all the time to get our readings done - without even leaving residence.

So to sum up my week - my midterms went great! I feel a hundred times better about my schoolwork this year compared to last. I recommend actually doing your readings, and not putting it off until just before the midterm. Make time for your homework :) It's so simple, but not always hard to stick to!

Oh, and live in Windsor!

Love Jenn

4. Sackville's Untapped Resources

2007-10-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

So I just had a great weekend, and my friend's gave me the best idea for this week's blog (Thanks Kate & Em!). On Saturday night my friends and I went out for the best adventure I've had so far at Mount Allison. So here's my newest top 5 untapped resources of Sackville -- and if you read closely, you'll understand where I picked up the phrase ("untapped resource") from!

5. Subway. It's one of the only restaurants in Sackville that stays open late. This town is all about the students, and subway is a perfect example of a hangout spot! Also, what is more fun than eating with your friends, quoting Dane Cook??

[ some of the girls :) ]

4. Waterfowl Park. It is so beautiful! I took my very first walk through there this year. It's crazy that I went my entire first year without walking through the beautiful paths. The water is so calm, and the ducks are fun :) haha. If you're ever in Sackville, make sure you go there!!

3. How nice the people truly are here. On Saturday night, walking home from the bar, my girlfriends and I really had to use the washroom. We decided to stop at our friend's apartment. And by friend, I mean acquaintance. And by stop at, I mean knock on two apartment doors before we find his - because we really had no idea where he lived. When we finally found the right apartment, a person we didn't know answered the door - and yet still let us use his bathroom! That's how nice the people are here haha!

2. The playground. Saturday evening we (about 6 of us) decided to go for a walk. We ended up at the playground...and decided to play Grounders! Do you remember that game? It was the best part of my weekend. Playing like a little kid again was very refreshing, and super fun!

1. And the best "untapped resource" of Sackville has got to be Ducky's. It's a bar in downtown Sackville. We had never been before, and had always assumed that only off-campus students went there. And it's true - only off-campus students do go there. But that's why it's an untapped resource! There was a ridiculous amount of people there that we had never met and it was so much fun! And the most surprising part? There were basically only boys there. Mount Allison is over half girls (I believe it's something around 55% - 60% girls), and so it is very rare to go somewhere in Sackville and not see girls.

So the moral of my Saturday night is this: Even after a year and a half of being at Mount A, there is always something new to do, and always a new adventure to be had!

Love,
Jenn

PS - E-mail me with any questions or just to chat!

3. Home Sweet Home

2007-10-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

Hi again,

I just got back to residence from my weekend at home in Halifax. It was a much needed break from school (and school work...)! Living in residence is a lot of fun, but it is really nice to go home and see your family and friends sometimes!

(those are them ^ )

So while at home I noticed something. Actually, that's a lie - I've noticed this before. But while at home this weekend, I realised what I wanted to write this week's blog about :)

In Halifax, a sort-of big city, the "it" bar is always changing. And not only that, but there's also SO many bars to go to! Here's what they all have in common: they're always busy, and they're always full of people you don't know. Sure, you might go to the bar with a bunch of friends, and have a great time, but you don't know the majority of people there.

That's one of my favorite things about Mount A - it's small. Which is great for a number of reasons: you get to know everyone faster, your classes are small so you can contribute more to discussions, all your profs will know your name, etc. But my favorite part of Mount A being a small university is that when you go to the bar, you know everyone there!

That might sound like a silly thing to say, but it's true! Any given weekend night, I can go to the pub and look around and basically know everyone in there. It makes for a really fun bar "atmosphere".

(Kate, Brent & Emily at the Pub)

I'm making it sound like everyone at Mount A drinks and hangs out at the pub - and that's not the point of my blog this week haha! My point is that Mount A is small, and there are so many great things that go along with that. The sense of community and family here is amazing. (And MTA's Pub is really fun!)

So that's it for this week!

Love Jenn

2. Wedding Crashers: A guide to Residence Life

2007-09-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

Hi again,

So I think I’ll write about something that I was super worried about when I was in grade 12 and trying to choose a university. Roommates. If you’re coming to the school “alone” without anyone you know, it can be really scary! I did it last year – there were a couple of people from my high school, but none of my close friends – and I remember how afraid I was.

So here’s my experience, and hopefully it will make you feel better about the whole situation! And I promise there’s a really funny ending!

I got to school, was living in Windsor (again, I’m going to put in a great word for my residence…the best one on campus!!). I was with a roommate that I had never met before, and she was really cool. But after a couple of weeks, we both just kind of decided that we were pretty different, and our living habits weren’t meshing.

At this same time, there was a girl who lived across the hall from me that was moving to a different residence (one with single rooms). So I moved in with my new friend, Robin, who lived conveniently right across the hall from me! Room 301 to 306!

Living with Robin was easily the best part of my first year experience at Mount Allison. She is the most easy-going, kind-hearted person I have ever met. Having a roommate is a really fun part of coming to Mount Allison. There’s a really strong focus on Residence Life here, and they do a really good job at it; Great RA’s, really fun House Execs, great parties, and a good balance of university life in general. However, I think that having a roommate is the best part of the whole experience. I really encourage you to live with one too! Hopefully you’ll have the same great experience I did!

(Robin & I before "Second Floor gets Gunned" last year)

This year, I live with my best friend Emily. As House Execs, we were allowed to take single rooms this year – but we thought it would be way more fun to live together! We met during Frosh Week last year, and have been inseparable ever since.

(Me & Emily before the Joel Plaskett Concert)

Now here’s the funny part (and the moral of my story). Emily and I do a LOT of silly things; we play drinking Cranium, we hide our RA’s stapler in Jello (just like on The Office), we make Kraft Dinner at 3 in the morning, and the list goes on. And throughout it all, we’ve always had a motto: No excuses, play like a champion! Yes, that is Rule #76 from Wedding Crashers. We said it to each other all the time last year to pump each other up. And for Em’s 20th Birthday this summer…we got it tattooed on ourselves!!

So the moral of my story is this: Take a chance, and sign up for a roommate (in Windsor!). Hopefully you’ll meet your best friend – or maybe you’ll just have a really funny story to tell at the end of the year. But at the very least, you’ll get the true Mount Allison Experience.

Love Jenn

PS – No excuses, play like a champion!

1. Intro to life at Mount A

2007-09-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

My name is Jenn, I’m a second year student here at Mount Allison, and I’m from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Most of you reading this blog will be grade 12 students trying to decide what university to pick. I definitely remember that position – it’s tough, eh? You want to go to a school where you’ll get a great education (alright, lets be honest, you want to go somewhere where your parents know there’s good education!) and you want to go to a school that has great campus life, great spirit, and a place for you to fit in. Trust me, Mount Allison has it all. It’s a school concerned with giving you the best education possible, while allowing you to really find out who you are – through a great campus life and a real community-oriented spirit. And I’m not just saying this – stick with me all semester, and I promise I’ll have you convinced!

All right, so a little bit about me…Well, I’m a Psychology major, in an Arts degree, but I am considering making it a Science degree, with an English minor. I am the Co-Social Chair of my residence, Windsor Hall (the biggest and most spirited residence on campus!!), I’m involved in the MASSIE program here at MTA (Japanese students come here for one semester every year to learn English and experience Canada), and I’m hoping to do Habitat for Humanity this year as well!

I know that I had the perfect first-year university experience, and that’s why I think you’re going to enjoy reading this blog. So I won’t give away all of my first-year stories just yet – you’re going to have to check back every week for them! – But I will give you the overview: I came here and made amazing (lifelong) friends, I got involved in my house and on campus, I partied really hard all year, and I found a subject that I have a true passion for. However, I don’t just want to tell you guys about the great things I experienced. I want to tell you about the not-so-good things too: I was really scared/anxious to leave home for university, I got mono (I know, I know, the classic first-year illness!!), I nearly failed a course (or 2…), I got my heart broken by boys, and I had such a hard time figuring out my major!

I want to share all of this with you. I think that learning from your mistakes is the only way to success and happiness. And I also think that the not-so-good stuff I went through, which we all go through, only made my year better. Honestly! I know that sounds like the words of an eternal optimist, and I am one of “those”, but just wait until you hear my story!So hopefully this has been enough of a teaser to entice you to check back in a week! I promise to give you the honest truth about life here at Mount Allison; from the classroom, to meal hall, to the town of Sackville, to societies and clubs, to sports, and lets not forget the parties! (I also promise to only be a little biased towards Windsor…the best residence on campus…)!!

So take care, and check back next week!

Love Jenn

(PS – email me anytime! I love getting emails, especially ones with questions! jmdavies@mta.ca)