Final Few Days of February!

Hello Everyone! As we head into the last week of February, I cannot honestly not believe how fast the time has flown by - I almost finished my first year of university! For most of my friends from back home, today was their first day back to school after reading week whereas mine is just 4 short days away! As I mentioned last week, I am really looking forward to going home and I can sense that just about everyone on campus is ready for a break. Everyone is bogged down with midterms and the "Oh my god, the semester's half over and I haven't started my term paper" realizations and I think that we all need some time to recharge. However, many of my profs do not seem to think that we need a break and have decided to make their own contributions to my already planned out week. So, I am determined to work extra hard this week to limit the amount of studying I need to do over the break! 

As I mentioned last week, my friend Hannah is coming home with me over the break and I am super excited about it! While I am a little bit jealous of my friends going to New York City (Elizabeth) and warm vacation spots (Mexico, Aruba), I am excited to see my family and friends back home. So far, we have planned potential trips to Guelph, Laurier, McMaster and Toronto with a maybe stop in Kingston on the way back to BU. So if you are in any of those places, let me know and we will try to come see you! 

Bringing it back to campus, last Wednesday, former Governor General Michaelle Jean visited BU as a part of our Donald Lecture Series. She had just arrived from Haiti the night before so we were honoured that she came all the way here after such a long trip. I thought that her lecture would mostly be on her work as the GG but she actually talked a lot about growing up, fleeing Haiti and coming to Quebec almost 25 years ago to the day she was here - to the Eastern Townships! She spoke of becoming the first African Canadian woman to be an anchor for the French CBC and the obstacles that were constantly thrown her way. She talked about making the decision to become GG and how she really thought hard about how she could make a difference for the country! I think it's safe to say that she certainly has made a difference and continues to do so today while inspiring all of us to do the same. 

Earlier in the day, I went to the first meeting of the BU-Champlain Empty Bowls Project. This is an event done all over Canada in which local potters make bowls that are purchased by event attendees and then filled with soup made by local chefs. We are bringing this event to Bishop's in the fall, hopefully at the beginning of October. A teacher at Champlain will be making and donating the bowls and we will be inviting local chefs to prepare different soups for the event. We have only had one meeting so far but I am super excited to see where this project will go. 

Last week was also the Canadian National Synchronized Skating Championships, so I purchased a season's pass to Skatebuzz to watch the livestream all weekend. On Friday, the leadership community had an event, to which I brought my laptop and had the livestream screening at the side of the room to ensure that I would not miss Nexxice Intermediate. It was slightly bittersweet watching all of my friends compete but they all did such an amazing job and I am super proud of everyone (special congratulations to Amber Scott, a former teammate whose team this year won the Intermediate category)! I feel like the proud mom who has to stay at home but I am more than happy to fill the role of number one fan in Quebec!

Me in my#1 fan gear watching the live stream!

 On Friday, we had our Leadership/Eco Floor "Snack and Speaker" event. Before that, I went to a rez event in Mack, where I made my own lip gloss (so science can be fun after all). For the speakers event, we had an RA named Laura (the one who shaved her head a few weeks back) talk about inspirational leadership and we also had a student talk about the Mae Sot Education Project, a volunteer trip to Thailand. Both were very good and the snacks were delicious too. 

Vicki and our homemade lip glosses!

Gaby at our pajama party on Friday night!

 On Saturday, Vicki and I (and some of our other friends) went to Jay Peaks for the day. The weather was great and the skiing was even better! At the end of the day, we found some trays and went sledding on a mini snow pile at the bottom of the hill, acting like seven year olds, but it was a good time. Then we rushed home and Vicki and I, along with our friends Jason, Kirsten and Sarah, all went to the Education Gala, held at the Oasis Centre here in town. The event was put on by the School of Education and staff from the local schools were all invited to help raise money for the breakfast programs at LES and Alexander Galt, two of the schools we work very closely with. There was live entertainment, an art auction and great food - all in all, a lovely evening, 

Vicki sliding on the tray at Jay!

Vicki, Kirsten, Jason and I at the Gala!

Housemates' photo shoot on Saturday night!

On Sunday, we headed back to Jay Peaks and had another great day of skiing. I was brave enough to try out some of the Glades run, which my brother, sister and father will be happy to hear as they always pressure me to go in them. Evidently, I didn't hit too many trees and I survived and we made it back to campus in time to watch the 85th Academy Awards at the Oscars Event in Dewies. I have to say my favourite speech of the night was Anne Hathway's and my favourite performance was that of the Les Mis cast, but Jennifer Lawrence gave a great post-Oscars speech which I will post below for your viewing pleasure (for those who missed it, she took a bit of a tumble up the stairs to accept her award). Needless to say, I did not get too much work done this weekend but it just means I have a little bit more catch up to do in the next few days. 

Vicki and I at Jay Peaks!

Housemates at the Oscars!

Speaking of catch up, I am off to try and get a bit more work done before bed. Hopefully, I will be as productive as I plan to be this week so that I can enjoy my first reading week to the fullest! Good luck to everyone in Ontario who went back to school today - finish your semesters off strong! I hope that I will be able to see many familiar faces when I am home, so let me know if you're around! Good night everyone!

All my love, Erica xoxoxoxo

PS Congratulations to my fabulous sister and her cheerleading team who took home the National Title for the American Cheerleading National Championships held this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio! Go Bahama Sharks!

So proud of this girl!