Loyola’s Department of Programming (“dop”) is great at organizing events and making discounted tickets available for students to do fun things in Chicago. I bought tickets yesterday with friends for “Skating in the Sky” on February 18th— $5 for ice skating, skate rental and hot chocolate on top of the John Hancock Center (one of the top three tallest skyscrapers in Chicago). I’m excited for skating and I’ve heard it’s a great view up there!
Loyola is the nation’s largest Jesuit university. Loyola’s Jesuits (the Jesuits are a specific order of Catholic priests) sponsor a men’s basketball game every year at Loyola’s now new-and-improved Gentile Arena. The “Jesuit Jam” of 2012 took place this past Friday when the Ramblers mens’ basketball team took on Cleveland State. The Jesuits gave away free swag and hosted a bunch of games and events during breaks in the game: a Jesuit dance contest and musical chairs game between the priests and a few student athletes. It was a really fun night!
Here is a peek at some of the photos I took that night for the Loyola Phoenix (All photos were taken by me!)
Loyola cheerleaders get rowdy to distract a Cleveland State free thrower.
A Rambler tries to get around a Cleveland player in the first half.
A Jesuit gets funky in the Jesuit dance contest during a break in play.
Loyola’s nationally-ranked dance team observes the halftime festivities put on by the Jesuits.
Players go head to head late in the second half.
As part of my financial aid package at Loyola, I was given the opportunity to get a work study job in the neighborhood to bring in some extra $$$. Starting at the beginning of the fall semester, I took on a position as a tutor through an after school program put on by a church in Rogers Park, about a ten minute walk from Loyola’s Lakeshore campus. The job turned out to be more fun than I ever thought— I get paid to play dodgeball, do art projects and help the cutest third graders ever with their multiplication tables. Today we took the kids on a field trip to Warren Park a few miles from campus to go ice skating, my favorite wintertime activity! The weather has been unseasonably warm in the Windy City for the past few days, so it was perfect weather today to skate outdoors. Some of the kids had never skated before. They were nervous and shaky at first, but by the end of the afternoon they had gotten the hang of it! It was so great to see what a blast they were having.
Here are some photos of the excursion today (All were taken by me!)—
A few of the kids leaning on me at the beginning of the trip
Getting the hang of it!
Jorge getting right back up after falling!
If there’s one thing I’ve been taught over the past year and a half I’ve been away at school, it’s that life is so precious. Every day is a gift and you can never take one second for granted. I read this great article in the Phoenix, Loyola’s student newspaper, about a student my age who passed away unexpectedly at the end of last semester. We shared many mutual friends; from what I have heard, she was a Phi Sigma Sigma sorority sister, a beautiful dancer and her smile could light up a room. Over the past few months of my life, there have been several family friends and faces from my childhood that have passed. It’s made me think a little differently and question the importance of certain things I used to place a lot of value in. I would like to share this article from the Phoenix. I believe its author did a great job in sharing Emily Johnson’s life with Phoenix readers. The article will be a wonderful commemoration of her beauty.
Click the headline below to view the story.
by Anna Heling, Loyola Phoenix
Hey there readers! We’re coming to the close of a great weekend here on campus. I’m grateful that I don’t have too much homework to do this Sunday evening after a tough first week of classes, but I still wish I had another day left before the start of this coming week.
There was a pretty big snowfall on campus on Friday night— it was beautiful!
This was the view from my apartment in Baumhart Hall on Loyola’s Water Tower Campus on Friday during the snowstorm. You can see the School of Communications building across the street, and a few pedestrians all bundled up trying to hide from the wind!
Because of a few big sports games on campus, this past week was dubbed Spirit Week— my friends and I cheered on the Loyola Ramblers on Friday night as the men’s volleyball team played Penn State, and then again on Saturday afternoon as Loyola played Indiana’s Butler University in men’s basketball. Both were great games to watch!
Men’s basketball game— Loyola Ramblers vs. Butler Bulldogs; Saturday, January 21st. It was a full house!
After the basketball game, we headed over to the New 400 Theater just north of the Lakeshore Campus to see Mark Wahlberg’s new movie Contraband. It was so great! I am a huge Marky Mark fan; if you like him and you liked The Italian Job, I definitely recommend Contraband.
After the movie we made our way back to campus to the Centennial Forum Student Union to the “Stuff-a-Wolf” event that was part of Spirit Week. Instead of the traditional Build-a-Bear, Loyola’s Department of Programming ((dop)) sponsored “Stuff-a-Wolf”, and had adorable wolf stuffed animals for us to make in honor of Loyola’s mascot, Lu Wolf.
A photo of all of us girls and our new stuffed Ramblers!
Later, with our wolves in hand, we took the Red Line back downtown to our residence hall on the Water Tower Campus and had a relaxing evening with some chick flicks and hot tea. (Another movie I saw for the first time this weekend— Crazy, Stupid, Love. So great!) All in all, it was a pretty fun-filled weekend. Definitely setting the semester off right, and now I’m very much looking forward to what the rest of the semester’s weekends have in store!
Today is my third day of classes back on campus for the spring semester. It definitely doesn’t feel like spring at all! I am thankful for the sun today, but the wind pulls the temperature down to subzero temperatures.
Other that the less than pleasant weather, I am happy to be able to start the new semester with a clean slate. My new year’s resolutions mostly revolve around being more proactive in getting assignments done earlier (I am usually quite the procrastinator), so we’ll see how that goes!
I am most looking forward to diving into my Photography I class for my Studio Art/Photography minor, taught by Professor James Jensen. He seems to be very enthusiastic and really know what he’s talking about— I learned more in the first two classes about the history and technology behind photography than I did in two years of photo classes in high school! I am really looking forward to getting some assignments and actually being able to go out and shoot a few rolls.
This is the film camera I’ll be using for my Photo class assignments. I’m so excited!
With finals week quickly approaching, my friends and I knew this was the last weekend of the fall semester we would be able to let loose in the city. We had high hopes for a fun-filled, holiday-themed weekend and boy did the Windy City deliver! With plans for an ugly Christmas sweater party on Saturday, a few girls and I set out after classes on Friday in search of ugly sweaters at Ragstock on West Belmont Ave, a quirky, fun resale-type shop in the Boystown neighborhood of the city. I was looking for something sparkly and unnecessarily festive– I found a kooky, comfy, white pullover sweatshirt with Christmas teddy bears on the front. It was very ’90s and perfect for the party, and only $10!
Later Friday evening, like my fellow blogger Raven, my friends and I headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo for the opening of the ZooLights event. The zoo puts on all kinds of events all year round– one of the greatest things about this is that admission is always free. During the month of December, ZooLights is open in the evenings from 5:00-9:00 p.m. with all of its colorful lights on display.We watched a man carve an ice sculpture right in front of us, got some popcorn, and ran into Santa in the Kovler Lion House next to the king of the jungle himself! If you want to check it out, head over this coming weekend (December 9th-11th), or any night between December 16th and January 1st (except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day).
On Saturday, the following day, we rolled out of bed and took the Red Line to Millennium Park to ice skate at the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink. A few friends rented skates from the park for $10, but I brought some old skates from home so I got to skate for free. It rained a little on us, but it was still a blast. The rink wasn’t too busy because of the questionable weather, so we had lots of room to ourselves!
Every year, the CTA runs a Holiday Train that travels across the whole city. After leaving Millennium Park and grabbing hot chocolate from Starbucks, we headed over to the L stop at Madison and Wabash to catch the Holiday Train on the Brown Line. It was magical– it was like we were riding the real life Polar Express. It smelled like cinnamon and was decorated with all kinds of lights and ornaments inside and out. You can find detailed schedules of where the train will be at what times on the CTA’s website— I recommended tracking it down before it’s gone for another year!
I finished my Saturday with friends at our ugly sweater party. It was put on by Cru, a Christian student organization I’m involved in on campus. A bunch of us dressed up in overly festive garb and hung out and listened to Christmas music. In my opinion, it was a pretty great way to spend our chilly Saturday night.
There are so many fun and festive things to do in the city this time of year, and the best part is, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a great weekend with friends. I am looking forward to heading home at the end of next week for the holiday break, but definitely not looking forward to leaving behind the beautiful lights and sparkle of the city during the holiday season!
All photos were taken by me!
Tomorrow is Loyola’s last day of classes before Thanksgiving break, and thank God! Two more class periods left and I’ll be on the road headed home to that great state shaped like a mitten. This break will definitely be well-deserved. Last week was busy busy—all of my professors are loading up the assignments and papers in order to make sure they fit everything in before the end of the semester.
Last Wednesday provided a much needed break from writing and studying—one of my favorite singer-songwriters, Mat Kearney, was in town and did a little meet-and-greet at the Michigan Avenue Apple Store just blocks from my apartment in Baumhart Hall on Loyola’s Water Tower Campus. A few friends and I got there early and waited in line so we could get seats. Mat did a quick interview in front of the crowd, talked a little about his favorite songs and answered questions from audience members.
Afterward, my friends and I got in line to meet him and get a photo. We wanted to break the ice by asking him a silly question—we found out his favorite breakfast food is apple cinnamon oatmeal from Trader Joe’s!
After another long couple of days of classes, we got to see Mat in concert on Friday at the House of Blues. The show was great! Mat is so personable and such a great performer.
One of my favorite parts about living in the heart of the city is being so close to so many opportunities for fun things to do on the weekends—shows to catch, people to meet, fun times to be had with friends. The diversity of experiences available is great. There is no one genre or area of interest more favored than others. Mat played shows at the House of Blues on Thursday and Friday last week, and in the next couple weeks the venue will host shows played by my fellow Detroiter Kid Rock, American Idol David Cook, and the noisy metalcore band As I Lay Dying.
My taste is definitely much more suited to performers like Mat Kearney—if you’re interested (and I highly recommend it), you can check out his music on YouTube.
All photos were taken by me!