Wow, this month went by SO quick! A lot has happened. My classes went into crunch mode, and midterms came out of no where. College is definitely not what they show on T.V. It is more work than most expect, but if you get involved even a little, it seems to be an easy transition and balance of work and play. I was asked by the Campus Activities Board to represent them as an assistant. This was very exciting, because they design, plan and run events that happen on and around campus. Since I am a communications major, this is a great opportunity for me, and as close to field training as I could get. We had many events such as movie nights, fall family festival which is also known as parents weekend. I often feel like I have no time to do anything but work or write papers, but I always find at least and hour to myself to think about my day and plans for the next day. It is always a great idea to take even a few minutes to think about your own priorities and things you have to take care of, especially when you normally put others before yourself.

The best part of the month was when my parents flew down as well as my brother. My brother attends Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va. I had not seen him since I came to SLU over the summer for the LEAP program. This month was actually really hard for me. I thought all the things I was involved with were going to balance out and be a lot easier then they are. I even became homesick. I moved away from Virginia with a great expectation of the new life I was about to embark on, however there was still

March 2008

March came up so rapidly. I had received good news at the beginning of the month; my father had spoken to my grandfather and he is doing much better than at the beginning of the semester. My grades were coming up, and I had actually made a difference in a kid’s life. I had to make a phone call on behalf of the admissions office here at Saint Leo, to talk to a family about my experience this summer in the LEAP program. His name was Cliff, and he was not sure if he wanted to go through with the program or not. I told him and his family about my experience, and just how much it changed my life as well as my perspective on college, months before my freshman year even began. Luckily, my advice and words encouraged him to not only attend Saint Leo, but go through with the summer program. I knew at that moment that Saint Leo was, with no question or regret, the place I needed to be for the next four years of my life. It had already done so much for me, I hadn’t even noticed. I have become a stronger, smarter, more responsible student while being here this short period of time; I could never guess what lay ahead for me here. My academic standards have always been set for me by my parents and me; yet unlike before, I know I can achieve them. Friendships I had lacked in high school, I had doubled them while being here, and they were friendships worth having 20-30 years from now. If you were to ask me before I left for the LEAP program in July, if I was to be this involved, or even think that a college could define a person, I would have said no. Now, I can strongly say that every aspect that Saint Leo stands for, I can relate to a part of myself that I have seen come out of me over the past 7 months. With only a short few weeks left until my first year in college comes to a close, I can see how the good, the bad, and yes even sometimes the worse, have helped me grow and mature as a person, a student, a daughter, and a Saint Leo Lion.

P.S. Yay for March Madness and Spring Break!!