What Would You Had A Week To Live?

Today in yoga, we were asked what we would do if we had a week to live. My responses were

-go to Greece

-buy a red 1965 Impala SS

-tell my family and friends how much I love them

-give all my money to the worthy causes that I care about

-tour Michigan (even though I have lived here all my life,  I haven’t seen all the sights)

-eat Mackinac Island Fudge and Saunder’s Hot Fudge (some of my favorite things made in Michigan)

-volunteer at an animal shelter

-run a marathon.

What would you do if you only had a week to live?

Erica Meier is a senior at Albion College, loves her sorority sisters and wishes Phi Mu a happy 158th birthday on March 4, and cannot wait to go to Florida with her teammates. She can be contacted at intern@collegelifestyles.org

Meaning of being a true teammate

On Friday,  Albion College competed in an indoor track meet (an indoor track is 200 meters while an outdoor track is 400 meters) in Indiana. I was in the finals for the hurdles along with three of my teammates.  While my teammate Morgan was running in the same heat as I was, she fell and as she feel she hit me with her legs. Even though I was ahead of her, I turned back and offered her my hand to help her up. We ended up skipping the last remaining hurdles, but it didn’t really matter, which technically meant that the both of us had no time recorded, it mattered more to me that my teammate knew that I was there for her. Unfortunately, Morgan ended up breaking her wrist, but Friday showed me what being on a team really means; it is about being there for each other during a fall or cheering on your teammates as they run the last relay of the meet or sharing a pizza on the way back to campus. Luckily, we have wonderful coaches that want us to be a team first and do our best, and if we win, awesome, but if we don’t win but if we give it our all and were there for each other, then it was a good meet.  Over the course of the season, I will spend more time with my teammates and coaches than I do with my roommate or my own family.  Having wonderful teammates and coaches reminds me why I have stayed with track and field for seven seasons.  Athletics should be about the support of your teammates and not necessarily winning.

This entry is dedicated to my coaches-Hayden, Willie and Steve that continue to be examples, even when they may not be  aware of it.

Have you ever had an experience where you were reminded of why having supporting teammates is essential? Or did you have the opposite experience? Have you ever had a coach that was a really big inspiration?

Erica is a senior at  Albion College, a proud Phi Mu and is looking forward to her next track meet. She can be contacted at intern@collegelifestyles.org

February All About Me

‘What I love about February!’

Erica Meier is a senior at Albion College, dislikes the amount of snow covering her college campus, and is looking forward towards spending Spring Break in Florida with her teammates.

Formal Recruitment Albion Style

Tomorrow kicks off Albion College’s Formal Recruitment; which is three days of serious recruiting with the hope of getting lots of new sisters to share your sisterhood.  The six sororities on campus spend months preparing for Formal Recruitment.  At Albion College, you are unable to join a sorority until after your first semester of college, in hopes that you have adjusted to being at college.

Day one of Formal Recruitment (Friday) involves the women who are signed up for Formal Recruitment going to each of the sorority houses to meet the women. It is generally viewed as a sort of information night/ meet and greet.

Day two of Formal Recruitment (Saturday) is philanthropy day and the women signed up, go and visit four out of the six houses that they preferenced.  At each of the houses, the potential new members (PNMs) make items that goes towards each sororities philanthropy.

Day three of Formal Recruitment (Sunday) is formal desserts where the PNMs go to the houses they preferenced, experience an open ritual and eat lots of yummy desserts.  Later the night, the sororities find out who are their new sisters, which involves cheering out in the cold to welcome to all the new sorority members. Each sorority then goes back to their lodge and has a party to celebrate their new members.

These three days are exhausting but it is so worth it to get new members!

GO GREEK!

Erica Meier is a Phi Mu participating in her last Formal Recruitment at college ever, applying to graduate school for a Master’s of Public Administration and  wishes spring was here. She can be reached at intern@collegelifestyles.org

I Love Detroit! Yes you read that correctly!

I love Detroit! Yes I will say that again, I love Detroit.  I know people are beginning to have questioning looks on their faces. How can you love a city that has been on the decline for years? Simple. I have always lived in Metro Detroit, my mom grew up in Detroit proper and for me Detroit has been important part of my life.

Reasons I love Detroit

1. Hey, hey, Hockeytown. One of Detroit’s many nicknames is Hockeytown because hockey is such a big sport here. And Detroit is home to the Detroit Red Wings, winner of the 2008 Stanley Cup. The hockey arena is named after Joe Louis, a famous African-Boxer. And the fist of Joe Louis, which is a statue of a huge arm with a fist attached is located near Joe Louis arena, more commonly called the Joe.  Hockeytown also tosses octopuses on the ice during the Stanley Cup finals. Why octupi? Originally, there were only 8 games needed to win the Stanley Cup, so each tentacle represented a game, this is no longer the case, but the tradition still continues.

2. Motown. Another nickname for Detroit. Motown Records was founded in Detroit and was the record company for acts like Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, the Jackson Five, the Four Tops, the Supremes.  Motown records allowed African-American artists to break into the White mainstream during the 1950′s and the 1960′s.

3. The Motorcity. Detroit’s most famous nickname because of being the home of the Big 3 (Ford, Chrysler and General Motors).  The Motorcity has given us cars such as the Corvette, the Mustang, the Camaro and has inspired a large car culture. In case you haven’t guessed, cars are a big deal here.  Henry Ford founded the assembly line mode of production, which changed how cars were manufactured.

4. Sports are king here. The Detroit Tigers (baseball) won the 1984 World Series and the Detroit Pistons (basketball) won the 2004 Championship. It is common to see everyone from kids to adults were gear supporting their favorite team. In the tough times, the sports teams provide hope for the people of Detroit. We won’t talk about the Lions, who have one of the worst records in the NFL.

5. The architecture. Detroit has gorgeous architecture scattered throughout the city. The Renaissance Center (or Ren Cen) is a well known building outside of Detroit. Additionally, there are beautiful cathedrals located throughout the city including Historic Trinity Lutheran Church, where my parents were married.

Do you love Detroit? Is there another big city that you love?

Erica is a Collegelifestyles Intern, hopes to see her beloved Red Wings this year and finds out Teach For America today! Erica can be contacted at intern@collegelifestyles.org

Erica’s Quick 15

Here are 15 things about Intern Erica.

1. Name: Erica
2. Dream job: NCIS field agent or a writer or working for a non-profit organization
3. One word to describe me: passionate
4. Favorite movie(s): The Blind Side, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Happy Feet, Office Space, Princess Diaries 1 and 2, We are Marshall, 300, Remember the Titans, I think I’ll stop now.
5. Favorite TV Show(s):  NCIS, CSI, CSI New York, Glee, Cold Case, Without A Trace, Mythbusters, Ace of Cakes, Say Yes To the Dress, What Not To Wear, I’m going to stop now.
6. Favorite Color: Orange
7. Coke or Pepsi: Either, put I prefer Cherry Pepsi or Cherry Coke
8. I can’t live without: my friends, my iPod, my computer, my books
9. Pet peeve(s): back stabbing people, people who use others, bad parenting that results in ill behaved children, bad manners
10. This makes me smile: my friends, teammates and sorority sisters and dogs
11. If I had 1 million dollars I would: pay off my student loans, pay my little sister’s way through school, pay off my parent’s house, buy new cars for my parents, my sister and myself and make an anonymous donation to one of my favorite charities.
12. Cats or dogs: Dogs all the way.
13. When I feel blue I: listen to music, go for a run, watch a movie, talk to my friends
14. My friends say I am: a good listener and a good friend
15. Anything else to add: I have earned varsity letters in both high school and college.

Erica Meier is a senior at Albion College, still has 2 weeks of Christmas break left and is excited to go to Florida twice in three months. She can be contacted at intern@collegelifestyles.org

Do you know about Kwanzaa?

Continuing the idea of explaining the major holidays in December, today’s blog is about Kwanzaa, an African- American holiday started in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga.

Kwanzaa is based on 7 principles; unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. Celebrating Kwanzaa involves a Kinara (a 7 candle holder, not to be confused with a menorah), Mmkea (a straw placemat), Mazao (crops such as fruits and vegetables and the number of ears of corn generally reflect the number of children in the house), Kikombe cha umoja (communal unity cup), Mishumaa saba( 7 candles-1 black, 3 red, 3 green) and a Zawadi(enriching gifts). The seven candles represent the seven principles.  The colors of Kwanzaa are black, red and green and these should be the dominate colors when decorating the house for Kwanzaa.  Gifts are given during Kwanzaa but they should be of a educational nature.  The big feast of Kwanzaa or the Karamu is held on December 31st, and this feast is way of connecting people back to their African roots.  Kwanzaa is not a holiday meant to replace Christmas.

All information from Tike.com

Are there any other December holidays I should cover?

Erica Meier is a senior at Albion College, is hoping for a white Christmas, and still loves Disney movies. She can be contacted at intern@collegelifestyles.org

December-the month of Holidays

December has at least three major holidays that are celebrated; Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas. I thought three blog entries would be devoted to the basic of each holiday. Today’s blog is about Hanukkah, and I do not profess to know enough about Hanukkah to give the best explanation possible, I still thought that an overview would be helpful.

Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights and lasts eight days and nights. This year Hanukkah started on December 11th and runs until December 18th. The origins of Hanukkah begin well before the time of Jesus. In 168 B.C.E. (Before Common Era), the Syrian-Greeks seized the Jewish Temple, and forced the Jews to bow down to a false idol and eat the flesh of a pig, both these acts are very offensive to Jews. Fighting began between the Greeks and the Jews, with some of the Jews fleeing to the mountains. The Jews returned and discovered that their temple was defiled, and in attempt to purify the temple, they planned to burn oil in the temple’s Menorah for eight days, but discovered there was only enough oil for one day. The oil lasted eight days, and this was considered a miracle.

There are some standard traditions of Hanukkah; these include lighting the Menorah, spinning the dreidel and eating fried foods. Every night the Menorah is lit to symbolize the eight days of oil.  The dreidel is a four sided top with Hebrew lettering on each side and winners get Gelt, which are chocolate shaped like coins. Fried foods such as latkes, potato pancakes and Sufganiyot, deep fried jelly doughnuts, are eaten to symbolize the miracle of oil.

All information from About.com

Erica Meier is a senior at Albion College, her new favorite TV show is NCIS and she still needs to decorate her tree. She can be contacted at intern@collegelifestyles.org

Changing the lives of children

My final interview is on Thursday for Teach For America. I’m nervous but excited. Teach For America is a program that takes college graduates of any major, trains them to be teachers and places them in the school districts that need quality teachers. Teachers are generally sent to inner city schools or rural areas. The application process is extensive; there is an online application with four different deadlines throughout the school year. If you get through the first step, there is a half hour phone interview and if you pass that, you are invited to an in person interview, which lasts all day. Teach For America is looking for dedicated students are willing to make a difference in the lives of children.  I hope to teach in New Orleans or Mississippi or Miami, because these areas are in need of teachers (and they are much warmer than Michigan!)

I choose to apply for Teach For America because I’ve always enjoyed helping people, and my desire to help people has been further enforced by my job working for a non-profit organization, Albion Volunteer Service Organization in Albion, Michigan.  I have also realized that I had an amazing public education that not everyone is able to have and I want to attempt to give children a chance to have a decent public education.  I also believe in giving back to the community, which interestingly enough is sort of reinforced by attending Albion College, which is associated with the Methodist Church. Teach For America also gives me an opportunity to experience life outside what I know and to live in a new place far from home, which will hopefully strengthen my independence.

Have you applied to Teach For America or similar programs? Have you had a Teach For America teacher? What have you done to give back to your community?

Erica Meier is a senior at Albion College, a Phi Mu, and is looking forward to her last week of classes. Erica can be contacted at intern@collegelifestyles.org

OMG! I’m a senior?! How did that happen?

I’m a senior in college. Jeez that is just scary to write and even more scary to think about. Fall semester ends in about five weeks, and I still haven’t totally come to terms with the fact that I will be done will college in May. I also haven’t come to terms for the first time ever, I do not have definite plan for what I am doing after graduation. This in its self is a little scary, but I am working through it. My current plans are applying to programs like Teach For America, Mississippi Teacher Corp, the Peace Corps, looking for jobs in the ‘real’ world and possibly the US Navy, hoping for non-combat job. And go where ever I am accepted; there are benefits to this, because it would just be me moving to a new place, and I don’t have to worry about pets or significant others. On Friday, I had a phone interview for Teach For America, and I think it went pretty well. I don’t find out if I made it to the next step until later this month. I am supposed to hear from Mississippi Teacher Corps in 9 days (not like I’m counting or anything). My ultimate goal is to go to graduate school, but that is not currently going to work, so I am on what I call “the winding path to graduate school.” At the same, I am also excited because I am facing the possibility of living in a totally new area that I have never been in, and I am going to be an ‘adult.’ Also, if  I move out of my parents’ house, I have a better chance of getting another dog, since we had to put our dog down in June.

So hopefully by time I graduate in May, I know what I will be doing.

If you a senior, are you feeling nervous, anxious or scared? Is the economy affecting your decisions for after college? Any tips for seniors?

Erica Meier is a senior at Albion College, an avid hockey fan (Go Detroit Red Wings!) and is eagerly looking forward to going to New Orleans in January.

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