http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/ en Copyright 2009 Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:25:31 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Hey everyone, So yesterday was the second Accepted Students/UNE Day.I thought that it went very well. It was nice to see so many people there. From 9-10 I stood holding the doors open greeting people as they walked in, and everyone actually seemed excited to be there. It was nice to see a lot of smiling people. For the rest of the day I was just being available to help out wherever I was needed. Two of the other bloggers, Marilyn and Jennifer, were there too so we were switching off guarding the side door to Alfond, and manning the laundry room where faculty lunches were available outside of the gym. We were jumping around from table to table in the campus center, answering questions and directing people in the right direction. The whole gym was set up for the incoming freshmen to see what UNE has to offer. Professors and advisors were there with tables set up so that anyone could ask them questions, and there were also different clubs and organizations set up at tables. I remember going to UNE Day last year. I thought it was so much fun. I was able to meet some of my future professors and talk to some of their students about what the occupational therapy program entailed. I was very impressed with the information I was given during that short meeting and I'm glad that I was able to meet them. I hope that all of the students that came to the Accepted Students days enjoyed them as much as I did. A lot of the parents that came seemed very impressed with the school, so it was nice to hear good reviews from them because we want the parents to be just as comfortable with the school as their children are. On Friday, my coworker from home came up to visit me. She also went to school here and is now working as an Occupational Therapist back in my hometown. The first time I actually visited the campus was with her about a year and a half ago now. We had lunch at the Windward Cafe and walked around campus for a little bit because it was so nice out. The past couple of days actually have been beautiful. It's been warm and sunny! It was really nice to hang out and catch up with Kelly and I'm excited to go back to work with her in May. We've had some pretty exciting things on campus lately. Coming up this week we have Fiesta 4 Finals put on by Hall Council where students can go to relax and take a break from studying for finals. We'll have giant inflatable moonbounces and jousting, massage therapists, mexican food and a movie going on so that people can start to wind down and relieve some stress. Saturday is Spring Concert. We have some bands coming to play and that is put on by APB (Activities Planning Board). Hall Council is also doing Swoop Days in the next couple of weeks where we come around with some carts to each of the dorms so that people can get rid of clothes they don't wear anymore, broken electronics, old batteries and ink cartridges, and non-perishable food items. HC will sort through everything and bring things to proper disposing places or shelters. Now I'm working on my final research paper for my English class and I can't wait to be finished with it. Once it's done, I'm pretty much completely done. It's a weird feeling knowing that I only have one more week left until I am done with my freshman year. I keep mentioning this but it's true, it's so strange. I'm excited for the summer, but I'm definitely going to miss being on campus with all of my friends. http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/04/une_day.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/04/une_day.html Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:25:31 -0500 My cousin Chelsea (I think she found one up there) My cousin Ryan and I looking for our eggs My younger sister Nicole looking for her eggs Yay! I found one finally! My brother Kurt My older sister Kailyn No family get-together is complete unless someone is sleeping...this time it was Leo. It was a really good and relaxing weekend, but I'm glad to be back at school because every day that goes by is one day closer to summer. I have a feeling that this week is going to fly by because I don't have any english classes. My teacher cancelled classes this week so that we could have individual conferences with her to revise our papers. If we meet with her about our papers then we can fix them up and pass them back in to her to regrade until we get an A on it. It's a really good opportunity because we learn how to self edit. After finishing a daunting research paper, the last thing you want to do is go back and write it all over again, so this teaches us to put our best effort into it the first time around so that there is less to do when we get it back. It's getting pretty late, so I'm going to head off to bed now! Goodnight!]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/04/only_two_weeks_left.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/04/only_two_weeks_left.html Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:37:00 -0500 Hey guys! Wednesday night the rest of the incoming sophomores registered for classes, but we've been having a lot of trouble with our internet connection in Featherman so most of the people went over to Alfond where there's wireless internet. I stayed in the Featherman first floor lounge because we have wireless there too. I hung out down there for about three hours with my friends waiting for midnight to roll along. Registering for classes is a race. It honestly puts your typing skills to the test because if you don't type in your class numbers fast enough someone could beat you out for the last seat in a class that you need. I'm embarassed to admit that for about twenty minutes I was practicing typing in the numbers so that I could send in my requests as quickly as possible. At 11:55 I signed in to U-Online. Your advisor will give you an "Alternate Pin" which is the last thing that you have to type in before typing in your class numbers. So I typed my alternate pin in at 11:59 so that I could press enter once it was 12:00. So I'm sitting there on the couch in the lounge at 11:59 and I didn't press anything or touch anything, but it signed me in for some reason and I started freaking out because you can't be signed in before midnight, so I had to close the screen and reboot it all. I closed it down and then opened a new page to get back as fast as I could. Then the clock changed and said midnight, and everyone signed in all at once so the internet was going as slow as ever. It ended up taking me four minutes to get to where I needed. Needless to say I didn't get into one of my classes, Abnormal Psychology. I was so bummed out, but at least I got into all of the others. Sometimes if you can't get into a class that you need, you can go to the professor or the head of the department and they can override it for you, but from what I've heard, none of the psychology classes are allowed to be overridden. This weekend is Easter so I've been home for the past two and a half days. I've seen most of my family, but I'll see the rest tomorrow. Yesterday was Good Friday, so I went to see the "All...I Have Done For You" play that my brother and sister were in. Last night I went to the movies with my cousin and my friend. We saw the Hannah Montana movie. It was not terrible, surprisingly, but I wouldn't pay another $8.50 to see it again. Today I went to play ultimate frisbee with my cousins and a bunch of other people who are regulars at our weekly frisbee games in the summer. It was pouring so we were all soaked and my hands felt like they were going to fall off. Tonight I'm going to the movies again, but this time to see Adventureland? I haven't heard much about that movie, but we'll see I guess. I can't wait for the Easter Egg Hunt tomorrow at my Meme and Pepe's. Wish me luck in finding the Bonus Egg!! http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/04/registration_and_easter_weeken.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/04/registration_and_easter_weeken.html Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:48:18 -0500 Assisi Hall next year! I don't know what floor I am going to be living on yet, but at RA training on Sunday they told us what building we'd be living in. So if any of you freshmen know that you will be living in Assisi in the fall, I might be your RA. I'm really excited about having this job. It's a lot of work, but I think that it will be rewarding too. I'm really excited to make door decs and bulletin boards for my residents. My friend at UNH is also going to be an RA so we'll probably be talking and collaborating quite a bit throughout the next year. On Thursday at 12 a.m. I will be registering for my fall classes. I'm a little nervous about it because some of the classes I want to get into may already be full. I made myself a mock schedule with the classes that I want, and I made it so that I have Mondays and Wednesdays off. Now I'm rethinking that because I have Tuesdays off now and I feel very unproductive on those days usually. I don't think I want to feel unproductive two days out of the week. I also want to minor in Psychology, so I have to take into account that I'll have to add a class or two to my schedules starting very soon. I think it will be better to get those classes out of the way now while my schedule is still pretty light. I have to take Anatomy, Physiology and Pathophysiology, Human Traditions (English or History), Intro to OT (which I am very excited for), Social/Cultural Context of Human Development, and Abnormal Psychology (which I am also very excited for). I can't believe there are only three and a half more weeks left of my freshman year. It went by so qiuckly, but I am really excited for the summer because I have a lot planned. I will be working at my old job at the rehab, but I'm also planning on travelling back out to Oregon to visit Nawwal again. My host-sister from Germany is coming to stay with me for two weeks at the end of July into August and we're going to my cottage on Prince Edward Island. And at the end of August I will be moving back to school a week and a half or so earlier than everyone else to get the dorms ready and for some more training. Hope to see many of you in the fall! http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/04/i_am_an_ra_in.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/04/i_am_an_ra_in.html Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:00:29 -0500 Hey everyone! It's been pretty busy around here lately, but I wanted to update you on some new stuff going on. I went home last weekend for my friend's birthday. We played laser tag and went out for dinner. It was the first time I'd ever been laser tagging so that was really cool. Saturday I went out for the day with my mom. We did a lot of shopping, and then I went to see my brother and sister in the Easter passion play that my grandfather directs. Sunday morning I went out for breakfast with two of my friends from high school and came back to school later on to go to a meeting. This week has been election week for the clubs that I'm in, so I was elected PR Rep for Hall Council, I was nominated for Co-President of SHAC (but as an RA I can't be a president of any club), and I was elected Co-Managing Editor of the Nor'easter News, which is our school's newspaper in case you didn't know. This past weekend was also Housing Selection. I didn't have to worry about it because the Area Coordinators just tell me where I'm living, but all of my friends had to go through the process. Apparently it didn't work out quite the way they had anticipated, but they are all reasonably happy with where they ended up. Two of my friends are in Featherman again next year and the other four are in Freddy. They could apply for a room change to get a 6-person suite in Champlain (the old South), but I don't know what the plan is for sure. Right now I'm drowning in homework, but that's because finals are only a couple of weeks away and my teachers are cramming stuff in at this point. I have a research paper as well as an argument paper that I'm working on for english, we are having an in-class essay test on Wednesday that I have to make a quotation sheet for, and I have a chem/phys exam on Monday. It's going to be another busy weekend. My friend, Kayleigh, is getting her car this weekend. Her mom is driving it down, so we will finally be able to go off campus without having to wait for the bus. I am so excited for that, and then Sunday is RA Training day, so from 1-5 I will be finding out where I am going to live and meeting the people I will be working with. Gotta go to class now! http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/04/quick_update_1.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/04/quick_update_1.html Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:18:38 -0500 ]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/03/busy_weekend.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/03/busy_weekend.html Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:20:41 -0500 that good). The next day we went to a peeps diorama making party and I've had to explain this to everyone I've told so far, so I'm guessing I should probably explain here too. We used the little easter peep marshmallow things to make dioramas. My and Nawwal's was themed "Ode to the Octamom" and Katelyn and Millie did one themed "The Bachelor". After the peeps party we went downtown to the Saturday Market. On the waterfront there are a bunch of tents set up for little vendors. There are hat, food, art, and jewelry tents to name a few. That night we went to see Nawwal's brother's performance at the hip-hop cabaret. He does a style of dancing called popping and he's great at it. I was so impressed. It was a really interesting night and I had a lot of fun. It's not something that I have the chance to go to often, so I'm glad I got to experience something new. On Monday, Katelyn got sick with a sore throat, so we took it pretty easy. We watched Madea's Family Reunion (hilarious movie) in the late morning/ early afternoon and then Nawwal drove us around to see a couple of the towns around where she grew up. It was a little rainy but we got to see some really cool places. Tuesday we went to visit Nawwal's high school and her old teachers, and we spent most of the day driving around to see where she grew up. There was a nickel arcade in Beaverton that we went to called Wunderland, so we spent a little while in there. Later that night we drove up to Portland to get donuts at a place called Voodoo Doughnuts. It's a little creepy at night, but the donuts were so good. On Wednesday, we woke up pretty early and went to Jamba Juice for breakfast. Then we drove down to Nawwal's new school: Western Oregon University. We spent most of the day walking around there and then drove up to the Washington Square Mall to go to a store called Made In Oregon. After we left the mall we stopped by a protest for peace where I tripped and fell in the middle of the street. I am so graceful. We went back to Nawwal's, had dinner, and then went to the movies to see Madea Goes to Jail (another very funny movie). Thursday, Nawwal's mom took the day off of work to bring us to the coast. Now I can say that I have touched the sand on both the East and West Coasts. On the way up we stopped at a cute little restaurant called Camp 18. It was so good and we took some pictures and then headed back out to drive out to Seaside. It was beautiful out and it wasn't too windy when we got to the beach, so we sat out on the sand for a little while and then went in and out of the little shops down the street. We left the beach after seeing all the shops and went back to play some basketball. Me and Millie vs. Katelyn and Nawwal. First of all, both Katelyn and Nawwal grew up playing basketball and Millie and I didn't PLUS we are shorter than the two of them, so we resorted to cheating. They still beat us. After basketball, we went out for dinner with Nawwal's mom and step dad. Friday was our last day in Oregon so we spent most of the day in the city. We went to get lunch with Nawwal's mom and spent the rest of the day walking around downtown. We went to the Pioneer Place mall and Pioneer Square. We rode the train back to Beaverton and spent the rest of the night at Nawwal's playing Balderdash with her sister and watching Golden Girls. Our flight left at 7:20 the next morning and we landed back in Boston at 3:30 (12:30 Oregon time). It was a sad goodbye, but I can't wait to go back out and visit again. Hope you all had as nice a break as I did. Check out the pictures from my trip! Made In Oregon sign The four of us at the restaurant we went to "Camp 18" The beach! Pioneer Square Statue in the square One of the top left "branches" says Portland, ME! Pioneer Courthouse Nawwal and me sitting on the fountain in Pioneer Square ]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/03/spring_break_2009.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/03/spring_break_2009.html Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:43:55 -0500 Hey guys! I got my RA letter back yesterday and I got offered a position as a freshman RA! I am so excited. So if any of you are planning on living on campus next year as a first year student, I could possibly be your RA. I don't find out what dorm I'm in until April 5th because Housing doesn't want residents choosing their room assignments for next year based on who the RA is, which makes total sense. I am just so excited that I got the position! I've probably said that a few times now. Do you think I'm really excited? Tomorrow starts Spring Break and I can't wait to see my family. I'll be either staying home Friday night, or going to see the basketball game in Rhode Island with my friend. I have to talk to the fam to see what's up first. On Saturday I leave for Oregon to visit Nawwal! I can't wait. I never thought I would go out to Oregon, it never really appealed to me, but I'm psyched to be actually going somewhere. My other friends from school are all staying at home, so I'm pretty much the only one travelling. I have a long flight ahead of me, but next week is going to be so much fun. I'll post the pictures when I get back. Anyways, that's my really quick update, and now I have to go get the rest of my homework done. Have an awesome Spring Break everyone! And for those of you who are not on break yet, or have just finished your break...I'm sorry. Hang in there though, it's almost over for the summer!! http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/03/quick_update.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/03/quick_update.html Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:22:36 -0500 This is UNE's new logo. Colby Sawyer in black, us in grey, with the refs People in the stands Me with some of my friends in the stands Stormin' Norman- our mascot foul shots final score cutting off the net the champions holding their trophy! ]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/03/tccc_champs.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/03/tccc_champs.html Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:52:05 -0500 ]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/02/happy_fastnacht_day.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/02/happy_fastnacht_day.html Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:31:06 -0500 I have been a little bit homesick lately. I miss a lot of the aspects and perks of living at home. Mostly I miss being able to go out whenever I wanted to because I had access to a car. It's harder at school because you have to take the bus or have a friend with a car in order to go off campus. I miss driving around, and I miss going to concerts. I really want to go to a concert. Lately I've been craving really loud music. I need to go see some live performances. There are some local bands that come to The Hang and play little mini shows here, but I want a huge venue with a ton of people jumping up and down and singing along with the cute, sweaty lead singer of an alternative punk band. My iTunes just isn't doing it for me anymore. So this weekend was Valentine's Day weekend. Most people on my floor were gone with their significant others. One of my roommates had her boyfriend up and the other one went home for the weekend. Personally I spent Valentine's Day with most of my friends from school because none of us have significant others, and that is a-ok with me because we had a good time just hanging out together. I went out for dinner with my friend Jenny, her parents, and her little sister who is 8. We went to a restaurant in Portland. It was nice, but service was slow. I had a really good time with them and then I came back to the dorm and Jenny went with her family to stay at a hotel for the night. I sat in my room alone for a while until my friend Erin got out of work. Then we waited for our friends Brianna, Savanna and Kayleigh to get back from the movies. Everyone hung out in my room for a few hours listening to music and sucking helium out of a balloon, and that was the extent of our Valentine's Day. Today I had RA group processing day. We got separated into groups or tables and did group bonding/ problem solving activities. It was a lot of fun, but a little nerve-wracking. The whole time we were there we were being evaluated by existing RAs as well as the Area Coordinators. I have two interviews this week coming up. I have my interview with the Area Coordinator on Tuesday and I have my duty interview on Wednesday. Hopefully they will both go well because I really want this position, and not just for the money. Maybe one of you reading this will be my resident next year. Who knows? Wish me luck! http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/02/needing_a_taste_of_homeliterally_and_figuratively.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/02/needing_a_taste_of_homeliterally_and_figuratively.html Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:08:01 -0500 These are some pictures of a couple of the "Love Shacks" ]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/02/fish_fun_and_other_festive_things.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/02/fish_fun_and_other_festive_things.html Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:18:22 -0500 This is a picture of my friends Jenny, Brianna and Kelsey. They are roommates and live down the hall from me. These are some of my other friends Erin and Sarah who are also roommates. (Thank you to Sarah for driving us!) This is Jenny being wicked talented. And this is me pretending to be as talented, when actually I stuck the blade of my skate into a crack in the ice so I could balance, and then grabbed my other foot. I cheated... And this is all of us again... Lately, I have been really busy trying to get ready for Body Image Awareness Week that is coming up March 2-6. I am trying to set up meetings with people, today I sent out five or six e-mails checking in with different people involved, and it is turning out to be a lot of work, but I have a great support system from the presidents of SHAC as well as our advisor. SHAC is definitely a really great group to get involved in as a freshman. We sponsor a ton of events from condom sales/bingo to awareness weeks to Body Image Awareness. There is so much you can bring to this group because it is still growing and if it's something that you are interested in, I would highly suggest looking into it more closely. Regardless of what you like to do, my best advice is to get involved. You don't have to do everything, but try out the things that interest you the most and I'm sure you'll end up really liking a couple or at least one of the groups that you join. I've found three personally, so that just goes to show that putting yourself out there is very beneficial. Besides clubs and academics, I am most recently working on my application to be a Resident Advisor next year. Hopefully in a freshman dorm. I am also trying to put together my resume. There are so many people here on campus willing to help you out with anything you are having trouble with. I am meeting with a woman in Career Services who is helping me write my resume and she has been a huge help. Don't hesitate to ask questions if you need help. I guarantee you there are a handful of people here, both faculty and staff, who are completely willing to help you out. Right now, I need to get back to working on the short answer part of the application so I will talk to you all next week! Have a good one everyone! ]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/01/this_semester_is_going_pretty.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/01/this_semester_is_going_pretty.html Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:15:40 -0500 Winter break is over and everyone is back at school again. The adjustment has been okay. I can definitely tell that some people are a little on edge still missing home, but overall we're all settling back in to the swing of dorm life. It's been a little different for me because my best friend here at school transferred back home to Oregon. It's strange to not be able to just walk down the hall to her room, but we chat on webcam and we text (thank god for technology huh?) so we are still in touch which makes things easier. Other than that, I couldn't wait to get back to school. I missed everyone else and I missed the independence. That's one of the hardest things to deal with when you go back home for break. Giving up the ability to leave and do just about whatever you want when you want is a tough thing. I feel like my parents loosened up with me though. My curfew wasn't as early as it had been this past summer, so I just had to worry about sharing the car with my younger brother who just got his license. Classes started the 14th and so far I like most of my classes. I am taking French, English, Chem/Phys (which is a requirement for OT majors), and Music Appreciation (which hasn't started yet because I only have it on Mondays and this Monday is a holiday. My French teacher is very bubbly and animated. I like her a lot and the class has been pretty fun so far. We do a lot of speaking and repeating after her. My English teacher is difficult but I think that I will learn a lot from her which is good. I am horrible at Chemistry and Physics so Chem/Phys is my worst nightmare. I'm going to have to work really hard to get a good grade in that class, hopefully I'll be able to pull of at least a B-. I'm looking forward to my Music Appreciation class because I play a couple of instruments and I love music. I made my schedule so that I don't have classes on Tuesdays, so I go to the gym and work 5-11 and get my homework done on those days. Thursdays I work 8-12 and then have my Chem/Phys lab from 1-2:50. And that's about the extent of the fun for right now! http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/01/back_to_the_grind_stone.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/01/back_to_the_grind_stone.html Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:16:02 -0500 Break is almost over, and we only have six more days left to laze. Too bad my break has been everything but lazy. I go to work a couple of days a week for 8 hours, have family holiday parties, apply for summer jobs and try to fit in seeing high school friends in whatever time is left over. At the same time though, my break has been really good. My birthday was a lot of fun, Christmas with my family was awesome (I missed them a lot and I had about 4 different Christmases with different family members) and I had an awesome New Years Eve in Cape Cod with 6 of my friends. I went skiing for the first time in a couple of years with my friend Michael and my brother. I had a spanish dinner with my some of my friends from high school because one of them was spending her first year of college in Spain and had learned how to make a couple of popular Spanish appetizers. I'm really glad that the Occupational Therapy curriculum got changed around so that it's easier for us to travel abroad now too because that's definitely something that I want to do. My cousin just got back from a semester in England, and got to travel to a bunch of places around that area as well. He went to Ireland, Portugal, France, and London as well as a couple of other places and had the time of his life. I really want to be able to do that my junior year. I've studied abroad twice in Germany for three weeks at a time. The first time was after my sophomore year and then again this past summer after I graduated. It was the most amazing experience I've ever had, and would totally suggest doing it if you have the opportunity especially before you go off to school because you learn so much and become much more open minded. The only drawback for me coming to UNE was that they didn't offer German as a language class. I would have liked to continue studying German, but since I had taken it for four years in high school I figured that if I really wanted to I could continue studying it on my own. http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/01/lazy_days.html http://blogs.targetx.com/une/AlyssaFastnacht/2009/01/lazy_days.html Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:39:59 -0500