Happy Halloween!

So, this past weekend was my big Halloween weekend!

Though Halloween isn't until this Wednesday, I had to get all of my holiday fun in now since I am on duty for Residence Life on the actual date.

My boyfriend, he's been mentioned in previous blogs, Matt was up for the weekend. We dressed up at Lucy and Ricky from I Love Lucy. Enjoy some of the pictures below...

The whole costume!

In black and white for the retro effect!

We had a blast, we went to Haunted Erie on Saturday night which is an event that allows people to view all of the historical and supposedly haunted spots of Erie. I was a really nice night, and was super fun. After Haunted Erie, we had a quick dinner at Molly Branigan's a local Irish pub (I definitely recommend the pretzel sticks if you're ever around!) and then went out for a night on the town as Lucy and Ricky.

On Sunday, I put together the Ambassador Club's Halloween Social. It was in our Student Union Great Room and was packed with current Ambassadors and those who are pledging. About 150 people showed up dressed in costume. There was a mummy race, donut eating contest, pumpkin painting, and a photo booth. It was a great way to get to know some of the new faces pledging and to socialize with current Ambassador friends.

This made me super excited to plan our annual "Chrisgiving" dinner. It's the cross between Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner we have with the entire club between our holiday breaks. I'll post more about that in December.

That's all for now, enjoy your Halloweens and talk to you next week!

Bingo and Breakfast

This past weekend was a fun one! On Friday, MSG sponsored Vera Bradley Bingo with the women's lacrosse (WLAX) team. It was a fundraiser for WLAX, but MSG bought 50 tickets to give away to students. It is a great event every year, and tons of winners walk away. This year there were 20 rounds, and over $2,000 of prizes to be given away.

On Saturday MSG hosted The Breakfast Place at Mercyhurst. The Breakfast Place is an Erie favorite, and is known for their amazing breakfast foods. They are always super busy on Saturday and Sunday morning, the lines is always long but it sure does go quick. And since it is a breakfast only type place, students were excited to see it after hours at the 'Hurst.

This upcoming week, MSG is hosting a beer sampling on Thursday, Oct. 25. Three of Erie's own microbreweries are attending to educate students about the art of beer making. The Brewerie at Union Station, Erie Brewing Co., and Lavery Brewing will all be there. It is a free event to students 21+ and I can't wait to share how it goes with you next week.

That's all for now! Thanks for reading :)

Marketing, MSG, and More!

Hello!

Example of a board on MU's Pinterest

So this past week at the 'Hurst flew by. Not much was going on events wise, but it sure did fly.

I've been busy at my internship. I intern in the Marketing and PR Department here at Mercyhurst. So far, I love it and I'm sad that I'm almost done. As the intern, I help with the university's social medias. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram and Pinterest are all applications that our marketing team utilizes to reach out. It's really cool that they let me have so much freedom to bring up new ideas and to run with them. And it's pretty cool that I get to tweet, sit on Facebook, and pin as a part of my internship! This all makes me so excited to enter the "real world" of marketing after graduation.

Other than classes and interning daily, MSG (Mercyhurst Student Government) for you first time readers) has been busy preparing for our Fall Retreat. We had an awesome speaker come in to talk to us about resetting goals, and how to achieve them realistically. I think both Senate and the Executive Board, as well as the Student Activities Council are all pumped to run full force for the rest of the year.

Patrick Keane

Speaking of the Student Activities Council (SAC), they had the hilarious comedian Patrick Keane on Friday night followed by The Hunger Games Saturday night. My favorite events are comedians and movies because you just have to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show... And that I can go in yoga pants and not feel guilty!

Also this past Saturday was the University's first fall open house. I gave tours to some wonderful families. If you're interested in visiting the 'Hurst, call for an individual tour (814-824-2202)... you can even request me, Jenna D! Or go online here to register for our next open house on Saturday, November 10th.

This is an ad created by the Marketing and PR Department where I intern!

Wow... I guess a lot did happen this past week!

Upcoming MSG bingo event

In this upcoming week MSG has its first Forum coming up. This one is entitled "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly." We are basically opening up to the student body to answer any questions they may have about student government, upcoming events, or procedures. Hopefully we have a great turn out, and give out some much needed answers to students who need them. 

Next weekend, MSG will be hosting a Vera Bradley Bingo to help the Women's Lacrosse team fund raise and a late night breakfast event, catered by an Erie exclusive The Breakfast Place. It's absolutely delicious and if you are ever in the area, I recommend you check it out... no matter what time of day it is!

Thanks for reading :)

Fall Break

Hello,

My beautiful city

This week was a short one at Mercyhurst. After classes came to an end on Wednesday, we went on Fall Break. Normal classes will start back up again on Tuesday. This was a much needed break, and I enjoyed mine at home in Pittsburgh, Pa.

While in Pittsburgh I enjoyed some shopping in the city and at the outlets. And it just isn't a trip to the 'Burgh unless you make a stop at one of the many best restaurants. If you've never experienced a Primanti sandwich at the original "dahntahn" (downtown) location on The Strip, you don't know what you're missing. Also, if you're ever in the area for breakfast, Pamela's Diner has some of the best morning meals. Even President Obama has special ordered her crepe pancakes to the White House. 

Another favorite of mine from good ol' Pittsburgh, Pa. is Soergel's Farm. I love honey crisp apples and they grow the best! There's lots to do at the farm besides buying apples and this time of year, it's always crowded with Pittsburghers getting ready for Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Well, as I finish up this week's post, I have to admit, I'm watching the Steelers game. The score is 13-7 Pittsburgh, we're playing the Eagles.

I make my trip back to Erie tomorrow afternoon, but for the rest of my time at home I'm going to enjoy the Steelers and my family.

Thanks for reading!

:)

Whatta Week!

Can you believe it's already October? Tomorrow is the 1st, and this term is zooming by!

This past week was pretty uneventful in comparison to homecoming last week. This coming week is the mark of midterms for Mercyhurst, then this Thursday we go on Fall Break – which I'm super excited for.

So besides preparing for midterms let me give you a run down of what happened this week:

I had MSG meetings on Monday night. Monday at 8:30 p.m. are weekly MSG meetings, this is a great opportunity for any Mercyhurst student to voice concerns, issues, suggestions, or praises to student government. We swore in our new freshmen senators, so now we are working on a full senate for the year.

On Wednesday, I had a Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) meeting. This is a club that I am involved in that combines fun and practical professional experience in the field of PR and marketing. This year our big event is going to be the Frozen Putt-A-Thon. If you'd like to read up more, please read Joe's blog, he's the president of PRSSA and has blogged about the details, and I'm sure more are coming. I'll keep you posted too!

Also on Wednesday, I attended the Senior Gift Committee meeting. We've been hard at work narrowing down potential gift ideas for the senior class to vote on. Some of the ideas include: a green house/bio-dome, a breakfast bar in one of our dining venues, fire pit, a pavilion area by our athletic fields, or a concession stand in our athletic center. A senior gift is something that the outgoing senior class leaves as their mark at the 'Hurst.

Wednesdays are also my duty night as an RA, so I ended the night with the Res Life staff and rounds. 

On Friday I gave a big presentation in my Advertising Branding and Strategy class. It went well, it was a partner project and we had to analyze commercials, and apply theories and methods we have learned. It was actually pretty fun for a class project!

To end the week, there was the blessing of the new Mary Garden outside of Old Main. If you ever come for a visit, you can't miss it as you go up the drive. It was a wonderful way to bring the Mercyhurst community together on a Friday afternoon.

Thanks for reading and wish me luck on my midterms this week! I'll talk to you next week and tell ya what happened at the 'Hurst.

:)

Hurst Homecoming

Hello and Happy Homecoming Weekend!

Homecoming Facebook cover from MU's page

Homecoming and Family weekend here at the 'Hurst is coming to an end tonight. It has been a great week of alumni and Mercyhurst Laker spirit. Homecoming Weekend at Mercyhurst is often called Hurst Fest. Some of the things that went on include: a golf outing, athletic alumni sporting events, Friday Night Lights, bingo, 5K race, tailgates, performances, Hurst Fest activities (inflatables, photo booth, food, and fun), and of course the homecoming football game and crowning of the 2012 Homecoming King and Queen.

Since I am the MSG Event Coordinator, like I've mentioned in other posts, a chunk of homecoming festivities were my responsibility. All homecoming nominations, family activities, and crowning of the king and queen fell on my to do list. This year we had record breaking nominations for king and queen, which is outstanding! It makes me happy that so many people wanted to participate in such a rich MU tradition. This year our homecoming King was Adam Ferrari and Queen Kaleigh Hubert.

2012 Mercyhurst University Homecoming Court, and returning 2011 King and Queen on left

Following the game MSG and SAC held all of the Hurst Fest activities. This year we had an obstacle course bounce house, caramel apples, cider, hot chocolate, cotton candy, popcorn, donuts, tshirts, raffles, photo booths, a huge petting zoo, and the big yellow Food Truck from our dining services.


Though the weather was pretty crappy for most of the day, it did clear up in small patches. Our football team also won against Slippery Rock which made for a great homecoming weekend.

I would also rewind to last Monday, I told you MTV's Andrew Jenks would be speaking at Mercyhurst as a part of MSG's Distinguished Speaker Series. I just wanted to make mention that he was great and we had about 200 kids come out. It's kind of cool that I can say I had a celebrity in my car! I had to bring him to and from his hotel to campus. Students seem to really like him and loved the meet and greet after his presentation. His next season premiers November 12th on MTV!

Another great pic off of MU's Facebook page

So that is all I have for this week! I have a paper to write and some homework to finish.

Have a wonderful week everyone :)

WOW.

Hello There!

I'm sorry it has been so long since I've posted to my blog. I've been busy with my time away from the 'Hurst. This summer I had so many adventures. For starters, I traveled with my Faculty Lead Study Abroad (FSAT – when you become a Laker, you'll get familiar with that term!) to Italy, Greece, and Turkey. It was an experience of a life time! Since this is a catch up blog, I think I'd do Europe more justice is I dedicate one of my next blogs to the trip versus cramming it in here. But enjoy a few of the pictures below.

Shortly after returning from my two week excursion to Europe, I celebrating a big birthday. I turned 21 in Las Vegas! It was wonderful, though not my first time there. The food was amazing, the shows, and the sites, it was a dazzling way to turn the big two-one. I went with my parents, my boyfriend Matt, and my roommate Andrea. If anyone is familiar with the show Pawn Stars, you'll enjoy this pic! They were filming the day I visited the shop and I saw the gang. So I just had to buy something as a souvenir... This is a two-dollar bill signed by all the stars – Ricky, Richard Sr., Big Hoss, and of course my favorite, Chumlee. So if you're a fan, be sure to watch for me somewhere on the third season if they happen to air the items I was there for. 



So if we fast forward through summer hang-out sessions and long hours of grocery store work, I found myself right back at the 'Hurst in Erie, PA. I had to come back a few weeks early due to Residence Life training. It's weird, I'm a senior living in sophomore area, because that is where I am an RA. I enjoy it though, I get to meet a lot of new people I would never probably have associated with.

Also during my weeks back, I was preparing for a bunch of Mercyhurst Student Government (MSG) events before classes started up. Like our Service Day BBQ, the Upperclassmen BBQ, dances, speakers, and Hurst Fest – our homecoming festivities. MSG and SAC (Student Activities Council) are hosting their annual Fall Ball this Friday at 7 p.m. It's always a great time and it is sort of like Mercyhurst's version of a homecoming dance. There is going to be some great food this year, I picked a menu with Buffalo chicken dip, spinach artichoke dip, chicken kabobs, dessert shooters, and chocolate covered strawberries. Hopefully, the weather is beauuutiful, and it doesn't rain.

The next major thing MSG has going on is our Distinguished Speakers Series. This Monday night we are hosting MTV's Andrew Jenks. He is a filmmaker with a show on MTV about not judging a book by its cover and living in different situations. We are super excited to have him on campus, and I'll definitely have to blog about the event next week!

My final piece of update is Hurst Fest. As I mentioned, it is Mercyhurst's Homecoming tradition. This year Hurst Fest is Sat., Sept. 22nd, our football team will be playing Slippery Rock University. There is always a lot of hype about homecoming, so I can't wait to fill you in on the details. Another exciting factor of Hurst Fest 2012, is that I am actually on the ballot for Homecoming Queen! How exciting? I am so flattered that my friends and peers would think to nominate me... Voting started today, so fingers crossed... Maybe I'll score enough votes to be Queen? I'd love to have a crown!

Oh well, that is all I have for now... SO sorry that I haven't been blogging, I promise that will change. Get ready for my senior year at MU!

:)