Spring Fest 2012

I'm about to blog about one of the greatest Mercyhurst experiences I've ever had. 

It was more than 6 months in the making, but Spring Fest 2012 has come and gone. MSG Events Coordinator, Shannon Kissel and I have been working very hard all year planning this classic weekend-long event, and I must say, it was a total success!

One happy Laker from her Walking Taco!

This year Spring Fest was a Cinco de Mayo theme, let me give you a run down of all that went on:

It all began at 8 a.m. on Thursday morning when Shannon, Adam (next year's SAC Chair) and I took a huge van to Sam's Club to buy tons of water, Gatorade, snacks, and dressing room hospitality. After 30 cases of drinks, and the other random things, our 15 passenger van was full!

The fun really began Thursday afternoon when two huge trucks pulled into Mercyhurst University. These two trucks contained all the "magic" for our annual Spring Fest concert. We had tons of volunteers, two MSG executive boards, and two SAC executive boards, plus the production company building the stage, setting the lights, and hooking up sound. It took about four for five hours to set, and everyone was tired and sweaty when we were finished.

Friday afternoon Shannon and I planned a Walking Taco station to give out 300 free "tacos in a bag" to students who walked by in Garvey Park. They were served from a huge yellow Culinary Cab that our dining services, Parkhurst, debuted for the first time that afternoon. If you don't know what a walking taco is, it's a bag of Doritos crushed up topped with taco meat, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and salsa. They were absolutely delicious and they students loved them!

Friday night was also the concert. Before the concert while students were loading in and between sets we had one of MU's own, DJ b-Lang, spin records for us. He was awesome and got the party going. Then we had a STOMP-like percussion group called Industrial Rhythm perform the opening slot to really pump students up for this year's headliner – Sean Kingston. When Sean Kingston took the stage, it was ridiculous. I don't think I've ever seen a Spring Fest more packed. We gave out 1500 free tickets, and we got over 95% of them back in the doors, and after letting in a few stragglers, we were at maximum capacity. I can't believe we sold out and packed in a full house! During the concert I even got to go on stage and throw out glow-sticks, sombreros, and tshirts.

Sean Kingston performing in our Mercyhurst Athletic Center

When Sean Kingston took the stage, he sang all of the songs that everyone know. These included: Fire Buring, Eenie Meenie, Like a Melody, Beautiful Girls, and Letting Go, just to name a few. He even sang a new track off of the album he is releasing shortly. It's called Back 2 Life, it features TI and Nicki Minaj and it was a hot beat! Also, another special touch was when he got a few girls to come on stage when he sang Beautiful Girls. Not going to lie, I was a little jealous that Mr. Kingston didn't ask me on stage! But that's okay, I did snag a picture with him later – just Shannon, Sean Kingston and me!

Now immediately following the concert, we have to tear down the stage we just built, load it all in the trucks, and send them on their way. This was my third year helping with the stage for Spring Fest and every year, it breaks my heart to build a stage and then rip it down only a few hours later. When everything was said and done Friday night, and the trucks were pulling away, it was about 2:30 in the morning. And we were only half way done with the weekend at the point!

Saturday afternoon was the last portion of the Spring Fest activities. We emptied out a parking lot on campus and held a Cinco de Mayo of our own. It was complete with Erie's own, The Romantic Era, DJ b-Lang for a second day (because he's that great!!!), an inflatable obstacle course, a giant dual lane slip-n-slide, photo booths, air brush tattoos, a sandy candy bar, a caricaturist, Rita's Italian Ice and a full Mexican fiesta buffet. The day activities ran from 1 to 5 p.m. and it was a great flow of students. It was wonderful to see all of these students appreciating and enjoying something that Shannon and I have worked on so hard all year. Though this was my last event (and blog) as the SAC Chair, I am honored to do it all over again next year as MSG Events Coordinator (and blog about that too!). Both the MSG and SAC boards and volunteers surprised Shannon and I with flowers at the end of the weekend, it was too sweet and I really appreciate all of the hard work everyone put into this event for me. From building the stage with our bare hands on Thursday, during the concert and stage break down on Friday, and throughout the day on Saturday, I was truly blessed to have worked with such wonderful people.

Shannon on the left and me on the right after a loooong Spring Fest weekend!

I am so honored that the Mercyhurst community keeps giving me opportunities to do things like this. I get to meet awesome people and work with a fantastic group of students on a day to day basis. I know that so many students across campus, whether they vocalize it or not, enjoy what students like me do. I promise to continue to seize each opportunity that comes my way, to give students the best time on campus as possible. Because to me, this is what it means to be a MU Laker. Carpe Diem!

Kids 'N Sibs

Whew! I feel like it was just yesterday when I last posted! This week sure flew by.

This weekend at the 'Hurst, SAC held its annual Kids 'N Sibs weekend. Kids 'N Sibs is a weekend long event where SAC holds a variety of activities on both Friday and Saturday for Mercyhurst Students to do with their siblings. Most "kids" bring "sibs" or cousins, or just friends from other schools. Older, younger, or the same age, it doesn't matter! Though you do not need a sibling to attend, in fact I, personally, am an only child and have attended this event in the past with no one to claim as my "sib."
 
It was an "Under the Sea" theme this year, on Friday night we had a treasure scavenger hunt that lead groups around campus to find clues to where the hidden treasure was. We also had under the sea creatures at a build-a-bear station and the movie "Dolphin Tale" for all to enjoy. Also, notice the Kids 'N Sibs t-shirts in the pictures below, I designed them and they were a huge hit!

My favorite though, of the whole weekend, was Saturday! Saturday was set up with more under sea fun complete with an inflatable obstacle course, a shark slide (see below), more sea creature build-a-bears, face painting, balloon animals, Chick-fil-A, cotton candy, popcorn, and to top it off... Rita's Italian Ice – Swedish FISH flavored of course! Throughout the day on Saturday, there was also chances to win 2 iPads! This was a great event and more and more students come out every year. Maybe once you're a Laker too you'll be bringing up some brothers or sisters to our Kids 'N Sibs weekend, it's always a fun time filled with tons of free stuff!

Check out some of my SAC Board, a BIG shout out to Rosemary (blonde in the front, covering her mouth) and Megan (far right/twin with the headband and jeans) for co-planning this awesome event!

This is Louie the Laker, MU's mascot sneaking some cotton candy...

Next weekend we have the final Laker Spirit Club (LSC) event of the year, it's on Friday and it's a baseball game. Then on Friday night we have a Caribbean Night that we are sponsoring with the Multicultural Center and a Jamnesty concert on Saturday night. After next weekend we have one of the biggest events of the year – Spring Fest! I know I've been mentioning it a little here and there, but I'll be sure to give you the total run down on it next week, all I can say about it for now is that it's on Cinco de Mayo and I'll be meeting Sean Kingston!

Well I'm off to finish a little Sunday night homework, talk to you next time!
- Jenna

P.S. I just wanted to take a quick moment and thank you for taking the time to read my blog, if you ever have any questions or want to know more about SAC, LSC, or MSG or anything else here at the 'Hurst, feel free to comment or shoot me an email :)

Foodie Frenzie!

Hello everyone! I'm back again to blog about this past weekend's happenings at Mercyhurst with the Student Activities Council. This weekend, the 'Hurst was full of food, food, and more food!

On Friday, SAC and MSG (Mercyhurst Student Government) joined efforts and had a night with guest Chef Mary Sue Milliken. MSG brought her in as a part of their Distinguished Speaker's Series to talk about the journey she went through when becoming a chef. Chef Mary Sue was such an interesting person, and was a delight to listen to. She even gave out some super simply recipes for college students! After she spoke, she had a question and answer section where she let students ask everything and anything. She was a wonderful lady, and very inspiring.

After the speaker portion, Chef Mary Sue came over to our SAC event for the night, Chopped: MU Style. It was hosted in Egan Dining Hall, and I have a bunch of pictures that I'll post to show you how many students were there and participating. There were two rounds, an "anything goes" round where teams could create anything they wanted. Secret ingredients were chicken, iceberg lettuce, and a blood orange. After a round of judging, Chef Mary Sue and two other judges pulled the top four teams to the final round. A team of MSG senators (Amanda Kocent, Brian Lomardo, and Richard Molloy), the President (Meg Hess), and Events Coordinator (Shannon Kissel) signed up to compete and made it to this round! The final round was a dessert round and they were given strawberries, a Twinkie, and a Hershey's chocolate bar as secret ingredients that they must use. All the teams did really well, but a team of three girls one overall supreme with their crepes. Here are some pictures from the night!

The crazy first few minutes!

MSG's Amanda & Brian!

Madame President Meg Hess

MSG's 1st Round Dish

Chef Mary Sue Killiken

On Saturday, SAC continued the food theme and had a campus favorite, Grocery Bingo. It's as simple as it sounds, students play rounds of bingo to win groceries. We had popcorn, chips, candy, cereal, peanut butter, fruit snacks, cases of water, Red Bull, Starbuck's Frappuccinos, graham crackers, and much more! We were told by participants that this event came just in time because not only is today the Superbowl, but finals are creeping around the corner and their cabinets were looking a little bare.
  

Prize Table of Groceries

Overall, this weekend was awesome (and delicious)! We had over 100 students at each of the events. It was a blast, and I can't wait for next weekend when we'll have a Hip Hop Dance Party on Friday and Comedian: Erin Jackson on Saturday.

Until next week – Happy February :)

Profs, Playing, and Puppies!

Happy MLK – We had the day off from classes at Mercyhurst today, so I thought I'd sit down and give you all a run down of the weekend we had at the 'Hurst!
 
  

Last Friday we had another game show type event. SAC co-sponsored the night with the Mercyhurst Honor Society with an event called, "Are You Smarter Than A Professor!" Sound familiar? The event ran just like the TV show "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader." We had teams of three to five students compete in random trivia against three of Mercyhurst's own profs: Dr. Ripley, Dr. Bourdreau, and Dr. McGurk. The answers that came out of the professors were absolutely hilarious and witty. It was an overall great event and winners received a $50 MC Bookstore gift card! There were prizes for other places as well which included $25 Fandango gift cards, and Jump the Line Passes for the end of term Food for Finals event. 

 

On Saturday we thought that everyone would be sick of being coped up in their dorms or apartments from all of this cold weather. So we decided to host a Glow-in-the-Dark Volleyball Night. Students showed up to play off in a giant volleyball match in our REC Center. The gym was transformed into a neon volleyball court, complete with black lights, strobe lights, glow sticks, and hot music! While students took a break from playing or while waiting for a new match, we also had these really cool glow tattoos. You sprayed them on and in the black lights you could see it, but then if you stepped out into the lobby where there was normal lighting, it vanished! This was a random idea we had during event planning and the event turned out well! We're interested in what other students thought of this event, or even you! Feel free to leave your comments about any of the events on here and we'll definitely use the feedback during our planning.
     
     

Isn't he precious?

Next weekend we have the HILARIOUS comedian Eric O'Shea and a "Greek Week" Themed Hockey Game vs. Robert Morris University... Stay tuned for all the details!
    
     
P.S. Check out this picture of me and this aaaadorable Akita puppy I played with at the Millcreek Mall this past Sunday on the left. I was totally ready to smuggle this dog back with me onto campus!
      
     
Well, seriously now... I have midterms to study for and more events to help plan! I'll post back here next week :)

Finals, Food, and Fun!

Finals, food, and fun? Crazy right? You're probably thinking that those are three words college students would never associate together... unless you're on Mercyhurst's campus!


Mercyhurst's Student Activities Council puts this event on once a term, which is three times a year. Food for Finals was a huge hit this past term, like always! We had a long line of students waiting for snacks, chicken wings, pizza, and donuts. Check out the back of my car once it was all packed up with food for the event – and that wasn't even with the pizza, wings, or donuts!

We also had a Spa and Relaxation Day the Friday before finals. From 12 to 4 p.m. students were invited to come out for a day of spinal relaxers, massage chairs, and an oxygen bar. A bunch of students showed up ready to take a break from their studies and relax with SAC. Though every station was full from start to end of the event, the massage chairs were definitely the most popular attraction, and my personal favorite too!

It was truly a great start to finals week, followed by a wonderful Thanksgiving Break at home... But I'm happy to be back on campus to help provide fun weekend activities for Mercyhurst Lakers to enjoy before our Holiday Break!

Ciao for now – I'll be back really soon to post about some other events that have happened on campus!