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

“Saint Leo Spirit�

When I joined cheerleading, I was so excited to be in a new environment with new teammates and learn things that I had only seen on TV. Stunts would be all new, and the games would be more intense. Practices even were more intense, and I love the feeling of getting in shape, and back to my prime. And, I was real excited about showing my talents. I have a lot of background in cheerleading, and I wanted to let it be seen; not be the shining star on the team, but just try and improve on something I’ve done for over 12 years.

The first game was great, I did a basket toss during our first halftime, and it went well. The best and worst part about my position on the team is that I am very versatile in where I can go. I can be a base, a back, a flyer, or even front, and although I would prefer to do one over the other, I guess I don’t mind being one or the other every now and then.

I have the highest hopes for this year’s team; we have a high standard to live up to. Last year, the SLU Competition Cheerleading team won a championship title; so our coaches are expecting nothing but perfection out of all of us, even during games. They only push hard because they care, and want us to care as well. Getting the Saint Leo Spirit was easy - keeping it is even easier.

February 2008

About a month into my new semester, I felt a little better about everything that was going on. Even though things started rough, they were getting better, and I was finding out that I have mastered one of many important NON-academic traits while being here at Saint Leo - time management. I had been balancing things really well, and with cheerleading over, I had more time then ever to just enjoy being in Florida. So I thought… Valentine's Day came up, midterms came out of nowhere, and CAB had become a HUGE demand. Haha. Like any perfectionist, I got stressed; many of my friends would come up and just hug me, because they knew I would not make it through the day without some sort of comfort. Everything just became so habitual. I would wake up every morning, get dressed, go to class, eat lunch, go to my office and do work, see my boyfriend, do my homework, eat dinner (maybe), and go to bed. It made my day to talk to someone new, however I tried my hardest to relax on the weekends; even that became hard with the issues at home, and the baseball games to attend, or the CAB events to host. The last thing on my mind was grades… and that was a BAD IDEA. Being a freshman who is as involved as I am definitely takes its toll. You must know how to have time management, but also know when enough is enough. Even though that is a concept I have not mastered yet, I am learning how to strive to succeed in EVERY aspect of my life, not just in social or non-academic situations.