Gopher Blog

Land of 10,000 Lakes

Friends at Lake Calhoun

It’s hard to believe that in less than a month I’ll be back in school! I’m excited for my senior year to start, but I’m not ready for summer to end. I plan to spend the last weekends of summer at the beach swimming and enjoying the sun…because before we know it, the leaves will be changing and then snow will be on the ground.

 

There are plenty of beaches from which to choose in the Twin Cities. My personal favorites are the beaches on the Chain of Lakes, which consists of Brownie Lake, Cedar Lake, Lake Calhoun, Lake Harriet, and Lake of the Isles. It is located on the Grand Rounds, which is a well-known National Scenic Byway.

 

The Chain of Lakes is surrounded by beautiful homes and natural scenery. In the distance you can see the skyscrapers of downtown Minneapolis. Two of the lakes (Calhoun and Isles) are located near Uptown, one of Minneapolis’s most “happening” business districts, filled with many unique shops and restaurants.

 

There is so much more to do at the lakes than bask in the sun. You can play beach volleyball, rollerblade, bike, or jog on the Grand Round paths. There are several spots that rent kayaks, catamarans, and sail boats. People even enjoy the lakes during the winter! When the city puts hockey rinks and warming shacks on Lake of the Isles, members of my intramural hockey team and I go there to play pick-up games!

 

 

Graduation!

After four years at the University of Minnesota, I can say I’ve reached my goal—I am an official graduate!

Here's a picture of me and my family!

Here's a picture of me and my roommate Christi. She's been my roommate for the past year.  

 

On May 22, 2008, I posted my first entry. Over the past two years, I’ve had the opportunity to give you the inside scoop on my life here as a student at the U of M. And while not every post may have tickled your fancy, I do hope that some did—and I hope that you have a better understanding of the great opportunities that the U of M can offer to students like you.

• You traveled with me on my study abroad trip to Cape Town, South Africa where I learned about leadership with fellow U of M students. 
• You experienced countless Gopher football games—including the return of football on campus at the TCF Bank stadium.
• You got a taste of Big Ten tradition through blog posts about Homecoming and on-campus sports like volleyball.
• You got a first-hand look at the Twin Cities as I blogged about the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes, Uptown, the world-renown Guthrie Theater, the Minnesota State Fair, and Minnesota History Center.
• I’ve shared what a typical day is like for me. And of course, I wrote about all about my classes. You know about my experience living on campus in Centennial Hall and in my sorority house in the Dinkytown area.
• You know a little bit about what the is like on campus as I’ve shared about my life in sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta. From formals, football, and philanthropies, my involvement in Kappa Alpha Theta and other student organizations on campus has created the small, close-knit community that has made the U of M my second home.
• And this spring, you’ve followed me on the home stretch to graduation as I attended the job and internship fair, wrapped up my final classes, participated in Relay for Life, and announced my exciting after-graduation plans at Fairview Health Services.

As in many aspects of life, all good things must come to an end. Tomorrow, I start my full-time internship with Fairview Health Services and the next chapter in my life as a University alumna. I’m leaving the U of M having achieved my goals with a quality education and the out-of-classroom experiences to enhance it. Who wouldn’t be proud of that? When it comes to college, I couldn’t imagine having been anywhere but the U of M.

It’s been an honor.

For the last time,

~ Trisha

Dean's List Dinner

Last Thursday, I was invited to a Dean’s List dinner hosted by the Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council, the governing bodies of the sororities and fraternities on campus. The dinner was held to honor all the Greek students who made the Dean’s List last semester. (To make the Dean’s List, you have to earn at least a 3.67 grade point average). This year, the dinner was held at Annie's Parlor in Dinkytown and Greeks on the list could stop by during the day for a free meal and malt. I went with a couple of my fellow Thetas, and we had a blast! 

Here's a picture of the famous Annie's malt; my personal favorite is Oreo cookie. 
 
In other news, I’ve been hard at work getting things together for graduation and working on a big project due next week. It’s a creative project for my New Media Culture class in the Journalism department. I decided to create a social media logo collage that reflects themes from a book I read for class called The Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen. The nice thing is, each student in the class had free reign on what he or she wanted to do for the project to allow us to delve deeper into the course material that interested us the most. It’s a lot of work, but I think it will make an awesome statement when it’s complete.

Hope you all are enjoying April! Have a great weekend!

~ Trisha

A Surprise U of M Performance

While April Fool's day may be over, people are still talking about the stunt performed at a local grocery store by U of M student actors from the School of Music.  They burst into a song called, "Mealtime Hero" in the middle of the store! Check out the YouTube video below:

Also, read an article about the performance from local news source, Kare 11, here. Audience members definitely enjoyed it!

~ Trisha

Sunny Skies

We’ve been having some glorious weather lately! Today it was a whopping 70 degrees, so I decided to check out one of my favorite places on campus—the Northrop Mall—to see how my fellow Gophers were enjoying the weather. Students are definitely taking advantage of the nice day… check out the photos below!

Studying outside makes homework infinitely more bearable


On warm days, it’s common to see members of the U of M Juggling Club practicing their awesome skills:


Here’s a photo of students playing a game of Frisbee—a great study break!


All in all, it’s a great day to be a Gopher!



~ Trisha

The U of M Jazz Man

Hello Gopher Blog fans!

At the U of M, students are always on the move. A convenient aspect about being a student with a busy schedule is the fact that we can always rely on free transportation via the Campus Connector or Campus Circulator busses that run all day, all over campus during the week.

In addition to simple convenience, sometimes riding the bus on campus comes with a little jazz. Check out this story about the U of M Jazz Man, a beloved bus driver spreading his passion for jazz all over campus.

~ Trisha

Spring Semester Begins

Welcome back Gopher Blog fans! In my last post, I talked about my winter break plans. Over the break, I spent time with family and friends and traveled on an Eastern Caribbean cruise! I was able to visit Nassau, The Bahamas; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Georgetown, Grand Cayman; Cozumel, Mexico. Check out a couple of pictures below:

Here’s a picture of me in front of our cruise ship, the Costa Fortuna:

This is a picture of my sister and me in The Bahamas:

Back to School
Vacationing in the Caribbean was a great way to spend a portion of winter break, but now it’s back to school for my final semester at the U of M. By working closely with my academic adviser throughout the years, I have been able to take a lighter credit load this semester. (Usually, I take five or six classes which total about 15 credits. My credit load this semester totals 13!). Here are my classes:

• Journalism 4551: New Media Culture
• Communication Studies 4471: Communication in Marriage and Family
• Communication Studies 3431: Persuasion Theory
• Communication Studies 3422: Interviewing and Communication
• Physical Education 1012: Beginning Running

I am looking forward to my running class since I haven’t taken a gym class on campus before. Plus, the class does not begin until after spring break in March, so right now I have only four classes to keep track of, which is a pretty nice change compared to semesters past.

Classes for the new semester began on Tuesday and the campus is alive with activity. I stopped by Coffman Memorial Union to pick up a few items from the bookstore and it was absolutely bustling with people. Students were going to the bookstore (like me), studying, grabbing a bite to eat at the Minnesota Marketplace (our version of a food court), and catching up with friends they hadn’t seen since mid-December.

New semesters on campus are always fun and exciting! I’m looking forward to everything that my final semester will bring.

~ Trisha

Cakes for CASA

Welcome to December! It’s less two weeks until the end of the semester and boy, have I been busy!

On Thursday night, my sorority held its signature philanthropy event. Our philanthropy is called Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), and the organization works to provide a voice to children in the foster care system. One of the reasons that I joined a sorority was to get more involved in community service. CASA is a great cause, and I’ve loved being associated with it for the past couple of years.

Each year we hold a late-night pancake breakfast called Cakes for CASA to raise money for the organization. This year, the event was held at Tony’s Diner in Dinkytown (read an entry I wrote about Dinkytown here). Having the event in Dinkytown allowed for even more people to attend than last year. I’m not sure how much money we raised just yet, but I’ll be sure to let you know! In the meantime, check out a couple pictures from the event below.

A group of Thetas gathered together before the event began. Seniors are in the yellow shirts and younger members are in the green shirts.


Here’s a picture of me and my friend Theresa. We joined Kappa Alpha Theta in fall 2007 and will both be graduating in the spring.


Overall, it was a great event for CASA and a ton of fun for Thetas! I can’t wait to come back next year as an alumna.

~ Trisha