This year I was assigned to Fordham Hall with the same roommate from my freshman year. We lived on the 12th floor with a great view of the city!
We always enjoyed watching the sun rise and watching the sun set on clear days. The hues of the sky relax us from our stressful days and make us grateful for having the once in a lifetime opportunity to not only attend Loyola University Chicago, but to be in environment where we can observe and enjoy nature.
The tall windows in our room allows the natural light come in and we are also able to look out and reflect.
I will definitely miss living in Fordham because of the large spaces and the kitchen. We both loved to cook! The kitchen also helped us eat healthy and enjoy the food we missed from home during freshman year. We took it upon ourselves to make it on our own!
As this week comes to an end ans as I start my final exams next week, I will definitely take in the days and nights watching the sun rise and the sun set. These are moments to never take advantage of!
It’s crunch time here at Loyola, time to begin the countdown to the final weeks of the semester. I’ve been super busy with school and running around trying to get things done before heading home for a quick Easter trip. I’ve been working, fundraising for my mission trip that I’m taking in May, completing assignments, taking exams in my classes and trying to plan out my class schedule for next semester.
I’ve also been working on plans with a few friends to live in an apartment off campus together for the next school year. At Loyola, students are required to live in campus residence halls for their first two years, so next year will be my first opportunity to move off campus and get my own place! I’m super stoked!
I’m going to miss living on the Water Tower Campus in Baumhart, but it will be nice to move back up north and be a part of the beautiful Lake Shore Campus again. My future roommates and I have been conversing with a potential landlord about leases and credit checks and adult stuff that I know nothing about. It’s definitely been a learning experience. I think we’re on the right track so far to move in to a place on the south side of campus near the Granville Red Line station, Metropolis Coffee and Pete’s Pizza. Can’t wait! Cross your fingers for me that everything goes as planned!
I was able to take a break from crossing things off my to-do list this weekend to see some awesome concerts with some awesome people. On Friday, I had plans to meet up with some friends from Illinois Statue University and Northwestern University to see a show by a band called Lovedrug. On Friday afternoon before the show, I knew the band was scheduled to do an interview with Fearless Radio, a really cool internet radio station in Chicago. I tuned in to the interview and actually tweeted to both the band and the radio station on Twitter— and the band gave me a shootout on the radio! I was ecstatic! The concert was later that evening at the Beat Kitchen on Belmont, a venue that I had never been to before. It was pretty small— more like a bar or a restaurant— but it was so intimate that I was able to walk right up and meet the band right after the show. Very cool!
We were able to get right up against the stage for the show at the Beat Kitchen. This is my friend Evan just before Lovedrug is about to start their set; as you can see he’s super excited to be so close!—
Saturday night I saw a little bit bigger of a show at the Riviera Theatre. One of my favorite bands, Needtobreathe, played a sold out show, and it was awesome! It was PACKED, but the energy in the place was really cool. Needtobreathe was so great live. And I always love shows at the Riviera!
My friend Erin and I at the venue after the show!—
Hello Everyone! My name is Raven Icaza and I’m a senior at Loyola. I’m a Journalism major, with a minor in Studio Art and English. A native to Illinois, I am surprisingly not from Chicago or the suburbs! In fact, my hometown, Galesburg, is an approximate 4 hour drive away. Very small. Very boring. Fun fact: The poet Carl Sandburg, who wrote “City of Big Shoulders,” (famous poem about Chicago), was born and raised there.
I came to Loyola a little more than 3 years ago, and I LOVE it here! I spend a lot of time working on stories for my reporting courses, but they get me out into the city, where I’ve met some really fantastic and exciting people. They also force me to trek into parts of the Chi I would otherwise have no reason to go to. These treks often turn out to be totally awesome and really adventuresome. Some of my favorites parts of the city, include Pilsen, Andersonville and Boystown, just to name a few.
If I’m not doing homework, I might be found roaming around the Lake Shore Campus with my friends in search of campus events, which usually mean free food, or scoping out the Quidditch practices or games. YES, there is Quidditch! And YES, it is awesome! And if I’m not doing those things, then you may very well run into me downtown getting my shop on. Which I do. Quite often. In fact, I think by Loyola standards, I would have a minor in “shopping” by now, if not a major. All in all, I would say my experiences thus far have been pretty amazing!
