Student Ambassador Application Video

Hey there everyone! I know I just posted recently but I have something very exciting that I wanted to share! As I have been saying for a while now, I am applying to be a Student Ambassador here at Bishop's next year and I am happy to report that today I finalized and submitted my video application! So now here it is for your viewing pleasure!

Also, after a very long process I have finalized my plans to come home for Easter! So I have some long days of traveling ahead of me but I can't wait to see my family! I have a very busy week coming up so an Easter break will be much needed in 4 days!

That's all from me for now! All my love, Erica xoxoxo

They Call This Spring?

Happy First Day of Spring! I don't know about you but we currently still have a foot of snow here so it certainly does not feel like spring! Nonetheless, according to the weather forecast, we are going to start getting temperatures a little above zero so hopefully the snow will leave us soon! My French prof yesterday said that this is called "Quebec Spring." I am not a fan. 

So it continues to be busy here and Reading Week already feels like such a long time ago. I have written three midterms, prepared a presentation, given two presentations, submitted 4 assignments and done multiple readings all since arriving back on campus a week and a half ago. Later today, I have another midterm and then I have a bit of a break, but not really because there is still lots of stuff to do. One thing consuming a lot of my time is job applications. Yesterday I spent over two hours researching and applying for various jobs and now I am going to start calling places and pestering them until someone hires me! That is one of the most difficult things about being a camp counselor - you have to find a place willing to hire you for only two months! So please keep your fingers crossed for me as I continue on my job search. 

Last Wednesday night, I was invited to the Bishop's Leadership Dinner, along with the rest of my leadership community, some other first year students, other student leaders on campus and select university faculty.  We were assigned to certain tables and were led through cafe-style conversation topics centred around leadership. We were supposed to discuss designated topics but my table kept going on tangents which made it all the more interesting. One of the students at my table is actually involved in this project called the Top 36 or Canada's 36 (something along those lines) in which he is in a group with other students from across Canada. competing to present an actual business venture. He has been involved with it since December and they make their presentation to corporations in August. You may have guessed it already but he was one of the award winners that night! Other awards were given out to my friends Matt and Leigh and my RA Lily, who were recognized as Rising Stars, and other upper year students for their contributions on campus. 

Last Friday, my friends and I had your traditional Girls Night, complete with chocolate fondue, waffles and a Zac Efron movie. We took over our residence common room and set about eating and movie watching well into the night. We were celebrating our friend Elizabeth's return to campus, as she didn't get back until Thursday and we were so excited to have her back!

Saturday and Sunday were designated to celebrating St. Patrick's Day, which turned out to be quite the event here at Bishop's. On Sunday, one of the streets was actually shut down and there was a huge party there all day long. It was super cold though so my friends and I took some warm-up breaks at McDonalds up the street. The celebration got kind of crazy - two couches and a mattress were set on fire, as part of some "annual tradition" and the fire department had to be called in!! The take home lesson from this event is that I need to invest in some more green clothes!

This week was Research Week and there have been many events on campus to allow students and professors to showcase what they are doing. There was a Research Fair in the SUB with various tables set up offering information. There was a debate night, guest lecturers and tonight there is a movie screening about bottled water. Unfortunately, I have not been able to participate in many of the events, as I have been so busy with school!

So now I have to go to History class where we are starting our third and final simulation on the Vienna Conference for Human Rights. I am simulating Singapore with two other people I have been working with all semester, so the prof must think we work well together (or doesn't feel like changing the groups). Later, I have my French midterm and then hopefully I will be going to see the Laramie Project tonight. I am also currently sorting out whether or not I am coming home for Easter so I will keep you posted! This weekend I am filming my Recruitment Video so hopefully I can send you the link next week! 

All my love, Erica xoxoxoxo

Hannah McLean vs Ontario - Reading Week 2013

Hello, hello everyone! I am extremely happy right now because I just finished my rough draft of my take home midterm, a midterm that I am super nervous about and am now allowing myself a quick break! I honestly did not think I would get to this point of my midterm as the two questions are very hard and the prof is a pretty hard marker, so wish me luck as I try to finish it up. On a different note, today marks the end of reading week aka the week where I took my best friend Hannah all around Southern Ontario. 

The week leading up to Reading Week not too much happened on campus mainly because we were all pretty much drained and ready for a break. However in my History class, we started our Bandung simulation and my friend Jason and I were successful in setting up a live twitter feed that will be ongoing for the rest of the simulation. On the Thursday night, my aunt Stacey came up to see me which was super exciting. She took my friends and I to the Pilsen, a pub in North Hatley where she used to go as a teenager when she would spend her summers here. Then on Friday, we went to Mount Orford to spend the day skiing. I tried to impress her with my bilingual skills by asking a man to take our photo in French, however the first thing he said back to me was "You must be anglophone." Nonetheless, it was a great day (especially because we got chilli in a bread bowl for lunch), followed by a nine hour drive home to Ancaster with Hannah in tow. 

Stacey and I at Mt Orford

We got back to Ancaster around 2am and spent the night at my aunt's house. When we woke up, we went home and I took Hannah on a run around Ancaster and showed her exciting places like my high school and my two old houses. That night, Hannah got to meet one of my other best friends, Alex, who was heading to the Mayan Rivera the next day. During dinner, my friends Elena and Kathryn called and ended up picking us up and we hung out at my dad's for a while. So within one day, Hannah had already met my parents, their boy/girlfriends, my siblings, my cousins and 3 of my best friends. 

On Sunday, we all went to Kitchener-Waterloo to watch Lauren's cheerleading competition, where my cousin Claire was competing too. In between routines, we went to visit the place where my bogmate Jocelyn works, which apparently is closed on Sundays and stopped by the city hall. Lauren's team did really well and Claire's team got a partial bid to compete at Cheerleading World's. As a bonus, we got to watch all the cheerleaders at the competition film a Harlem Shake video!

Hannah's first cheerleading competition!

The deli Jocelyn works at!

 On Monday, my mom and I took Hannah to Square One Mall in Mississauga where Hannah experienced my favourite stores Aritzia and lululemon. I am not quite sure how, but she was able to resist the desire to buy anything! That night, she got to meet my friend Andrea who came over for dinner and to watch the Bachelor. Hannah impressed us all when she was able to sit through 60 whole minutes of the Women Tell All episode. 

Hannah in Mississauga!

 Tuesday I took Hannah to the Ancaster Aquatic Centre (exciting) and then we spent the afternoon down at McMaster. My friends Priya and Zach gave us a campus tour and bought us Booster Juice (another first for Hannah) and then we also saw my friend from camp, Clare. It was also my first official tour of the Mac campus, and I have to admit, I was quite impressed! That night, we went to my dad`s for dinner, where Hannah met my dad`s girlfriend`s kids and my granny, who took us back to her house for a sleepover in Toronto. 

My friends Priya and Zach who are in nursing at Mac!

Wednesday was a super exciting day as we spent the day in the big city! We started off the morning at the Eaton Centre, following Hannah`s first ride on the TTC and then went to Nathan Philips Square and City Hall. We then walked all the way to the CN Tower and went up to the Observation Deck to look out over the city! Following that, we walked through Chinatown and Kensington Market and all the way to Queen`s Park. We got stopped by some charity workers as we walked by U of T and we also met a very friendly Japanese tourist outside the provincial parliament. We ended up back at the Eaton Centre where Hannah had Starbucks for the first time and bought herself a very fashionable fanny pack. We then went back to my granny`s house for dinner and then hopped on the Go Train to head back home!

Hannah at the Eaton Centre!

Hannah and I on the glass floor of the CN Tower!

 Bright and early Thursday morning, my dad took us to his Rotary Club`s meeting where we heard an update on Ancaster affairs from councilor Lloyd Ferguson. Fun fact for everyone, the Wilson Street renovations won the Ontario Public Service Project of the Year award for 2012 (though I am not quite sure how...). The Village Green Splash Pad is well under way and future Wilson street renovations will be coming soon. Later that day, Hannah and I went to Niagara Falls and while there, we ran in to 4 of our friends from Bishops! 

Our friend Jay who we ran into at the Falls!

 On Friday, we had a pretty relaxing day BUT for the day`s excitement we went to downtown Hamilton for Gorilla Cheese sandwiches. You may remember my exciting first visit back in December and I am happy to report that my second visit was equally as good. Who would have thought that Doritos and jalapenos would go perfectly on a grilled cheese sandwich? Then Hannah came with me to run some errands including an emergency trip to Walmart for a green pepper (sorry mom). To end our stay in Ancaster, my dad took us to see Silver Linings Playbook, which I highly recommend everyone sees!

Saturday morning, my dad drove us to the bus station, where we thought we were getting on the megabus but we were shafted to a regular coach bus. We took the bus to Montreal and then met my friend Natasha at McGill. After settling in nicely in her beautiful residence room (aka a renovated hotel room) on the fifteenth floor, we went out to a place called Cacao 70, a chocolate restaurant. When we got there, the line was out the door (!!!), but the chocolate gods were smiling down on us and after only a little while, the host called for a group of 3, which we were! Then we died and went to chocolate heaven. Hannah ordered a quadruple chocolate brownie parfait and Natasha and I got the Sweet Chocolate Experience, which included a chocolate milkshake, a chocolate covered waffle, fruit and fondue and marshmallows to roast on a personal grill. After a short sugar high, we completely crashed back in Natasha's room and spent the night cuddled up in her queen sized bed.

Hannah's brownie!

Natasha and me at Cacao 70!

 Finally, this morning we got up and headed back to campus but first we had to mission across Montreal to meet up with a carpool we found online. I am happy to report we successfully made it back to campus and since then, I have been doing all the homework that I didn't do over the week. I have also started to hand out the toothpaste and floss my dad gave me to bring back that I had to lug around Montreal. While I am jealous of my family who are currently in Florida (dad and step family) and at Okemo Mountain (mom and siblings), I am happy to be back after such a fantastic week! I hope that Hannah had a fun time over spring break because I know that I certainly did! With that, I must get back to studying as I head into one of my busiest weeks yet! 

All my love, Erica xoxox

PS I just got the email about applying to work for campus recruitment and have to post a video on YouTube for my application! Keep an eye out for the link!