The Senior Art Show
Each year there is a senior art show and I try to pop in and check it out for a few minutes. This year I went mostly because Jay, one of the student workers in IT, had signs covering our whole office so it was pretty hard to forget. A friend of mine, New Eric, was in the show as well so I was excited to see his work. By the way, he’s New Eric even after all these years since in my freshmen year I had a friend named Eric, who lived in Freiburger who later transfered to a different school. New Eric came the following year and he moved into Old Eric’s room, so when we became friends, the only way my friends and I could stay sane when talking about an Eric was to give them nick names.
Anyway, so I went tonight to look around and I was blown away by the talent right here at Lynn that in a week will be graduating and starting a new life, hopefully following their passion and talents. The creativity I saw from drawings to graphic work was great. There was even this projector show in the corner which was pretty cool. If anyone saw Chris Brown’s Grammy performance this year, they used the same idea but with their own art work projected. Here are just some of the pictures I took from the show:
Bring your kids to work day!
Thursday was bring your kids to work day. I was a great! Who knew it was one of the perks of being a graduate assistant for the IT department? Two of the full time staff members brought in their kids, which total 4 little helpers for the day ranging from ages 3 to 9. I had heard the night before that it was bring your kids to work day but I hadn’t taken a moment to think about it until I called one of my coworkers, Yanatha (who was also my BSU advisor for years) about if he wanted breakfast when he told me he had his eldest daughter with him. I was so excited, I called James to see if he wanted breakfast when he told me that he had all three of his kids with him. By the time I got to work, it was packed with a full and energetic office. I brought breakfast for the whole office and as we ate, I enjoyed watching James’ kids playing with Yanatha’s. I was surprised how much work we accomplished with the kids in the office but they are surprisingly good helpers.
As a student worker, I get to see a different side of Lynn University that I didn’t when I was an undergraduate student. Working at Lynn University is a lot of fun and I get the chance to learn and see how the staff that help run the university see our community. I saw a lot of smiles on Thursday as parents showed their children where they worked and proudly took them to preplanned activities for the kids. Some of the kids went to the airport and others got to bake cookies. The school even had Lynn badges made for them so they could match their parents. When the kids weren’t at an activity they were keeping us student workers highly entertained, they were playing with all the balls we have in the office… which now that I think about it, why do we have so many balls in the office? We have a huge bouncy one that the little kids were having a blast trying to balance on, a football, a tennis ball, a bunch of those foam balls that are light as air. The kids were having fun playing catch and assisting the other work study students with their work. It was nice having the kids in the office, they were hysterical and fun having around. They asked us all what we did and wanted to know everything we were doing as we were doing it. Plus it was the chance to see some of my coworkers in a different light, daddy mode. I was highly amused by the full timers working hard, fully focused on their work to only be stopped by their young daughters asking them questions and them wheeling around in their chairs with a big smile on their face.
It was refreshing to see a different side of Lynn. I enjoyed a lot of the activities and events dedicated to student interest, but to see that they not only care about the staff that work there but their families as well was great to see. The kids were really happy to spend the day with their dads and I enjoyed the opportunity to have some play time with some very bright kids while at work. Even our most hard core undergrads who insist they aren’t kid people found themselves playing with our 4 limited addition employees.
My first official alumni weekend!
The past weekend was my first official alumni weekend and I was so excited to attend. Last year as a senior, I felt like I was a guest at an exclusive club but not this year! I was finally a full member to one pretty darn cool club on campus and it was wonderful to see not only my sorority sisters but my biology classmates as well. Each year there is a theme or style and although I liked last year’s design a little better, the food was fantastic this year! The whole white and glass look made it feel like a Martha Stewart wedding but it was still nice. Even if there were bathtubs on the lovely manicured lawn that were being used as coolers.
Alumni weekend is a time to see old friends, network with new friends, while trying interesting food. I loved the interesting twist with food trucks. I’ve seen shows about them and I’ve always wanted to try and find one for the experience but having a bunch of different ones scattered around the event was pretty cool. They had a few types from tacos to ice cream sandwiches. It was great going around to the different trucks with different people, I got to catch up with Michelle over wings and egg rolls, grabbed a few sodas out at the bar station that was using a door as a table and a bathtub has a cooler with my sisters Carolina, Tiffany and Tookie (Which by the way, Tookie later on spilled wine all over my blouse which I spent the rest of the night covering with my purse which may explain any seriously awkward photos that may show up from Friday night.) and then dessert with my sister Lauren and her boyfriend Billy. But seriously though, I have already informed Michelle that when we go to Miami in a few weeks, we must find at least one of those food trucks! Billy and I conspired together to get Lauren to come to the Tri Sigma Alumni event the next day which worked by the way.
Saturday brought a whole new twist. For the first time in 5 years, I was on the other side of the annual Tri Sigma alumni weekend events. Suddenly there were a lot of faces that I did not recognize which I fully understood how off putting it could be from all those years watching other Tri Sigma Alumni come in and feel out of place at first. It was great to see though that the chapter has grown and the girls are doing well. We had a decoration bake off… without the baking. lol. My team won, go team two! We all knew that whoever had Tova was going to win.
Here are some of the photos from this weekend. Enjoy. 
Tonsillitis is no fun
On Thursday my throat started feeling a little scratchy and by Friday I was drinking one large cup of tea by the hour which wasn’t making it easy to answer phones up in IT. I finally gave in and went down to the school nurse who promptly informed me that she wanted me to go to urgent care since my tonsils were extremely swollen, so much so that she hasn’t seen tonsils that swollen in a while. That wasn’t very comforting so when I arrived at urgent care and had a doctor tell me the same thing, I had to finally admit that I was really sick and going back to work was not and option. An hour later, I was leaving urgent care with a few prescriptions and a bossy Michelle informing me that she was coming over to take care of me for a while. We watched TV while I took my antibiotics and caught up on our plan for Alumni Weekend which is next week.
Although I haven’t been sick in a while, I’m super annoyed that I am sick. I had to miss BSU’s pool party and from the photos, it was a pretty good party. They had a DJ, dancers, and a ton of food, plus everyone looked like they were having so much fun which just reminds me why being sick sucks. 
Not only did I have to leave work early, but I had to miss an event that looked like a lot of fun that I had been looking forward to for the last two weeks. But is it just me, or has Lynn stepped up its event game lately? There have been a lot of great events and speakers recently. like Malik Yoba and military personal to speak about issues that may come up in the 2012 Presidential Debate that Lynn is hosting in Oct. I’m glad I am still at Lynn just for a few more months so that I have the opportunity to still enjoy all that Lynn offers. It’s great to see all the events happening across campus, no matter if they are student events or events put on by the university.
It’s almost Monday and although I feel a bit better, my throat is still really sore. Sneezing is truly evil right about now, I mean it just is cruel. At least I have the cutest nurse. My kitty Bobbie has been following me around, taking care of me the last few days. I think he’s just a sucker for belly rubs.
Well for the first time since starting my masters, I’m behind in my work and it’s not a great feeling. I’m trying not to be hard on myself because I know I’ve been in and out of sleep and with a sore throat, drinking tea like it may go out of style at any minute, but I’ve been doing extremely well in the program and I’m half way through with my workload. Hitting the half way mark to my degree should sound more exciting but it just reminds me that I still have a lot of work to do… starting in the morning… after a long night a much needed sleep…. after another cup of tea.
Moving too fast
Lately I have been hearing that a few students have been planning to move off campus before truly understanding the burdens that comes with having an apartment. I’ve written before that I think every student should spend two years in the dorms to fully learn about themselves. It’s an interesting experience living in dorms. Yes they are noisy at times but it’s a fast and easy way to make friends and bond with classmates. I loved the random gatherings in my sisters rooms, or the late night studying in Michelle’s room. I even miss the random fire alarm going off at 3 am but mostly the ability to roll out of bed 10 minutes before class and still make it on time.
When you move off campus it’s not just rent you have to worry about, there is the sudden rise in amount of traveling you are doing so more gas money is needed, there is a power bill, a cable bill (and an internet bill if you don’t get a bundle) and a groceries bill. If you get locked out at 4 in the morning, security isn’t right down stairs a few feet away to let you back in. Then there is the issue of where the money will be coming from and what if you are late on a bill? Late fees suck, trust me, it’s just throwing money out the window. The food plan is gone and now it’s up to you to cook every day and wake yourself up to drive to school. A lot of times, students who were once active at Lynn who move off campus start pulling back from their activities because they don’t want to drive back and forth. I understand the not driving back and forth part since I cut back on a lot of my roles on campus due to the commute. And professors really don’t care if you are late to their class because of traffic, they will simply tell you to be more prepared in the future.
Plus, it is hard to start saving money while in college if you are always spending it. It get tiresome after a while when all your money is going to bills. It gets expensive eating out and going to hang out with friends when you have other financial responsibilities. Plus those unexpected issues like the car stops working or your frig stopped running and you lose all your food. There are a lot of benefits to living on campus. Easy access to friends, classmates, the caf, the library, and security. Plus, it’s already paid for! Before rushing off to be independent, remember it comes with a price.
Don’t be in a rush to join the real world, you are going to be in it for a very long time. Enjoy some of the privileges that college provides.
Maybe we should stay in the lab….
The other night my lovely sister Michelle convinced me to go out dancing with her which sounded great at the time. I got all dressed up, actually put some make up on and we headed out to the Hard Rock in Fort Lauderdale…. only to hit something in the road and have to pull over to the side of I95. Neither one of us saw anything in the road but the tire showed some evidence that it had met it’s match. The front tire on the drivers side of her car was missing a huge chuck of tread.
So now it’s the two of us, in dressed and heels pulling out tools to change a tire at 1 am on the side of I95. Perfect. All I could think about is that I’m not doing homework so I can be stranded with my sister. Lol, of course. Well I know nothing about changing a tire but Michelle said she did, so I let her put the jack under the car… or so I tought. She was playing with the jack and then suddenly we couldn’t figure out how to bring it back down. Great, we have two biology degrees between us and we are out smarted by a jack. Humiliation doesn’t cover it. We struggle to read the faint instructions on the jack when suddenly I turn around to have bright lights in my face. A state trooper had come to our rescue…. or so we thought. I was pleasently surprised that it was a woman, and possibly more surprised that I was thrilled to see any form of law inforcement. Well she tried to figure the jack out and was confused by the thing so she called road side assistance for us. A nice guy showed up 5 minutes later with a truck prepared for all kinds of emergancies, including ones my sister gets me into, and of course, this guy laughs at us, shows us how to lower the jack, changes the tire in about 4 minutes, tells us to drive safely and waits for us to get back into the car safely. He was probably shaking his head at the site of us.
Well my sister wanted to call it a night, but I wouldn’t have it. I was in a dress and make up and not doing homework, we were doing something! We ended up going to Blue Matini in Boca Raton…. which wasn’t very far from where we started. All that to end up a few blocks away from where we started, I was shaking my head and laughing. Only us. We ended up enjoying Latin night there and now have a great new sister memory, plus we learned how to change a tire properly!
So on facebook our classmates are laughing at us that we should have staid in the lab. Honestly, can’t blame Frank for laughing at us. Clearly we can follow directions pretty darn well if we are trying to create foam, a valcano erruption, or blow up a beaker, but change a tire? I’m pretty sure we made our parents proud of the money they spent on our education that night. lol. Well it will be worth it when Michelle finds a cure for cancer or something…. 
(She’s going to kill me for saying that. lol. I love you….)
My Anti Valentine’s Day
I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine’s day. I spent mine with Michelle baking cookies while watching movies and TV shows. I made us lunch and then we went out for dinner. She was the best Valentine’s date I could have asked for! lol. I love my sister. We spent most of the time watching Charmed and wondering why there aren’t more Leo’s in the world or watching action movies to see stuff blow up. I still blame Professor Ahmed for our love of things catching fire or flowing up. I don’t think there are very many biology majors who have ever left Lynn in the past decade that didn’t turn out to love a good chemical reaction explosion.
Well we may have been without dates this year but we had a blast making a ton of chocolate chip cookies which were happily enjoyed by the Lynn IT department. I started working as a grad assistant in the IT department in December and I love it. Although I am swimming in testosterone all day, I quit enjoy my job. All I really do is answer phones and put all the cases into the computer but I get to ask all the random computer questions I want so I think it’s a fair trade. I have learned a ton about computers a little more about how this University is run behind the scene. It’s been working out great, I have a part time job, I get to bake a ton of stuff when Michelle comes over and we have experimenting, and then I get to take it to work with me the next day for 7 guys to devour.
I may not have been the biggest fan of Valentine’s day this year, but thanks to my sister Michelle, it turned out to be one of the best ones ever. Who needs boys anyway?
Joking guys…
Basketball games and changes at Lynn
I know it’s been a while since I’ve written anything, Honestly, I didn’t want to write anything after we had lost Ally. My heart wasn’t in it and I’ve never forced myself to write blog posts before so I didn’t want to start now.
This past weekend, Lynn University held a beautiful memorial for our dear sister Ally who passed away. The reason why we waited a month was because of J-term, we wanted to make sure that all the sisters could attend. Sigma sisters from our chapter flew in from all over the country. Sisters I haven’t seen in years showed up to help us remember Ally. Although its been a horrible loss for our chapter, Ally’s memorial is now one of my favorite Sigma memories simply because all my sisters and I were wearing white and our badges, laughing and crying at the same time, it was just gorgeous. I really don’t have the words to describe how wonderful it was to be in a room full friends sisters, and Ally’s family to remember her. There was a lot of love in the room. When it came to honoring a woman who was nothing short of a true angel, the service was perfection.
So what have I been up to this past month? Well I went to Lynn basketball home games last week and it was awesome! I haven’t been I think about two seasons so it was great to watch another game before I leave for Spain. The women won their game against Eckerd but sadly the men lost. It was a great feeling to feel the rush of excitement that I used to get while watching the games. I actually went after work as a spur of the moment thing. Normally I rush home to make dinner, feed the cats, and procrastinate on graduate school homework but for some reason the gym was calling me last week. I believe there is another home game tomorrow night and if work in IT isn’t super busy and I have energy left over, I might check it out.
For those who are part of the Lynn community already, many have probably already noticed many of the small changes around campus. Tree’s being planted, the entrance of the university is getting redone, and the memorial for the students and professors we lost in the Haiti earthquake will be completed shortly. Seeing all the changes brings mixed emotions. It’s great to see Lynn grow and work on the Lynn 202o plan but at the same time, I know when I bring my kids back to Lynn in the future, it will look nothing like how I remember it now. I remember when I went to Georgetown for a week, I could find the buildings where my mom hung out when she was in college. But really, at the end of the day, it’s not the buildings themselves that matter, its the memories and I have a lot of great memories of my time at Lynn. My mom said to me the other night and she was telling me how she knew I picked the right college for me since I was always happy and doing what I loved and now I get an extra year with graduate school. Lynn is constantly changing, it’s always looking to find new ways to teach and get through to students while letting students creativity blossom outside the classroom, hopefully directly into the community.
Happy New Year! It’s 2012!
I am excited to start 2012! I have a lot of hope for good things this year. I have a lot to be excited and to thankful for this year. I’m moving to Spain in August with my mom and my fur balls. I’m doing well in the masters program at Lynn and I’m enjoying my classes which is always a plus. I have great best friend and a bunch of sisters that keep my life interesting.
A new year brings a fresh start, which is kind of where I am at in parts of my life. I’m single for the first time in three years which is uneasy but interesting. I’m getting ready to start packing my life to move to another country which is always exciting but can be very stressful. Although, I don’t think I can get used to the idea that I am getting farther into my 20′s. I’m still getting used to the idea that my teens are over. 23 doesn’t sound exciting at the moment.
I’m thankful to have a part time job on campus in the IT department that I enjoy. I’m thankful for my heath and that my cats are healthy. I’m thankful that I got to go home for the holidays and see my mom (and have her cook for me. Always awesome.). And last but not least, I’m thrilled that I get to live in a beautiful state! While most of the country is freezing, we still have beach weather. It’s great, who could complain about 80 degrees in the winter time?
I hope that 2012 brings new exciting adventures, lots of good blessings, and the past stays in the past where it belongs. Happy New Lynn University! It’s a new year, lets start fresh! Think big, dream big, work hard and strive for a better world.
Alexandra Petrozzo
My beautiful, smart, talented singer, always smiling sorority sister Ally Petrozzo has passed away.
This is by far one of the hardest things I have ever written about in all my years at Lynn. I’ve lost a sister. A beautiful young woman who was nothing short of an angel which makes this so much harder. I’m hurting and I am angry inside. It’s not fair. Ally was the sweetest person and everyone that ever got the chance to meet her knew it! She had a beautiful voice and used to sing the national anthem before the home basketball games. She was always smiling, I mean it, always, even on the bad days. To think such a good person has left this world at the age of 24 is not an easy reality to swallow. Ally was the kind of person who loved giving back, it wasn’t something she had to think about, it was naturally part of who she was, full of love and joy.
We lost Ally on December 26th, the day after Christmas. I think it makes the loss even harder, especially on our chapter since we are all so far apart at the moment. My sister Nikki was closest with Ally and I’m glad to see my chapter rush to care for her. Ally was Michelle’s little which makes it hard for me to see my best friend and sister in so much pain. From the outside looking in, we may not look like we are always close as chapter but that is far from the truth. Alumni from years ago are calling us to find out how we are doing, I think I’ve texted Nikki at least 40 times. My sister Carolina is making sure we are ok, my big Brittany, well, I don’t know what I would do without her. She knew I was upset about losing Ally and she knew I was a little angry and she didn’t hold it against me, she just remained supportive.
Ally was a beautiful soul. She had a gentle and kind heart. I used to tease her “What am I? Chop liver?” because she would always scream “Big!” when she saw Michelle with such energy and then I got a simple “Hi Morgan.” I know the bond between bigs and littles so it was always funny to tease her about. No matter what she was positive. She was brave, so brave. Ally survived a brain tumor at the age of 13. She was a hard worker and she wanted to become a Sigma so badly that when she finally became one, the whole chapter was ecstatic. Ally had a beautiful voice, she was talented. Oh and if it was morning, Ally was drinking coffee! Like many, she wasn’t awake until she’s had her coffee. This world has lost a beautiful person. Her loss will not be an easy one to bare for a lot of people, especially her family.
I cannot wait to see my sisters. I want to hug them all and tell them I love them so much. They may drive me crazy sometimes but they are my sisters, my crazy, funny, wild, silly, drive me nuts so I want to pull my hair out sometimes, sisters.
Ally, you are now a true angel. You will be missed by so many. You were loved and cherished and you’ve left a beautiful footprint on many lives. RIP dear sister.
