Long overdue update

So, It's been awhile. Big happenings... My internship ended. I moved into my own place in Oakland (and when I say own place, this means not with my parents, but four other girls) which has had a slew of issues in itself. School started back up. I just can't wait until it's all over. Things are... OK. Not great, not terrible, just OK. I guess that is all, just to update briefly what's going on.

Summer internship

This summer, I applied for an internship at MSA (Mine Safety Appliances) in the Communications Department. It was more of a PR (public relations) internship, which I didn't know until I arrived for my interview, so I didn't walk away from it thinking I had it. Well, alas, last week, I get the phone call telling me that I was chosen for the internship!

This is a huge lifestyle change, though. I will be moving in with my aunt (who works for the company) since she lives closer, and only coming home on the weekends. She, also, does not have internet, so it will be very interesting how I occupy myself after work.

I move out tomorrow, and I haven't even begun to pack. I don't really know what I need, and I know I will forget a million things anyway.

I will make more money than I have anywhere else, this will look great on my resume, and many of their current employees were hired after their internships, which are great things, so I will have to live with the change. I just hope I am ready.

finished!

I am officially done! I turned in my 15-page paper today, and it was the last thing I had to do this semester. Ah, it feels great!

Everyone is moving out now, but I won't leave until Saturday...the less time I have to spend at home, the better.

Also, I got my class ring! A whole week early! I haven't seen it yet, but it has arrived at my house, and I can't wait. Well, I guess that's all for now. Have a good summer!

It's the end...

The time has come-- the week where all work must be done, all projects finished. My work consists of a spanish packet and paper, a powerpoint project with a bibliography and outline worksheet for all in the class, my takeout article, a ten page paper, a fifteen page paper, and three two-three page papers. This is it. The week before finals week.

Everyone associates finals week with being the most difficult. It's always been the week before for me. No one wants to stay around for finals week, so everything is done the week before. It is killing me!

Without further ado, I should be getting back to all this work. Good luck everyone!

What a great day....

Last night around nine p.m. my left eye started itching, burning, and was red. Now, I was not worried at this point, my eyes are crazy, so I took some Visine for red eyes and went about my work. The pain was so unbearable, i was moody, couldn't help from rubbing my eyes. Then, my left eye swells. Still not too worried, has happened a couple times a few years ago, so I take some Claritin-D, since it is probably an allergic reaction. I also put a cold compress on to help ease the pain.

Once waking up this morning, I was in more pain then ever. I then went to the Web site that makes a sick person more paranoid then ever- WEB MD. Honestly, you can type in that you have a headache, and your problem could be a tumor.

After checking WEB MD, thinking I am losing my eye and my vision I called my dad, who works in a hospital, and said he would take me to the hospital. After spending the day in the hospital, I have a form of conjunctivitis (pink eye) and some sort of stye on my eyelid, hence the swelling. I take these really gross blue pills FOUR TIMES A DAY on an empty stomach, which is crazy, since I am eating constantly, and drops three times a day, which means no contacts for a week, but I have been wearing my glasses a lot, so I don't mind that much.

In total, I am thankful that some places are open on Sunday for things like this, but it couldn't come at a worse time. The semester is coming to an end, I have finals, a takeout story, papers, etc, and with my eye like this, all I want to do is keep it closed, and the only thing I can think of to do with my eye closed is sleep. So I am not accomplishing much right now, and I hope I feel better soon.

Class Rings/ Graduation Gear

On Monday in the ballroom, organizations selling class rings, graduation invitations, caps and gowns, and many other things, were there. Being a first semester junior, (I graduate in December 2009) I received a post-card from the ring company, Balfour, about the event, so I attended on a whim, just dropping by after my online journalism class.

With no plan in mind, I just strolled around the room when suddenly my gaze was directed toward the lovely class ring table. One side for women, the other for men. Being the average woman, immediately my eyes dart to the shiny objects, as I squeal in delight.

I have bought a class ring before, while in high school, but I wanted the"official" Point Park ring. It was so pretty! You could choose yellow or white gold or Celestrium, a non-precious metal. You can choose your stone, engravings, side panels, along with other features. I got yellow gold with asn emerald stone with the Point Park "P" imprinted in gold on the stone. On the sides, I got the Point Park Crest, BA, a journalism symbol and 2009, with my name engraved on the inside. It was so pretty!

Currently, it's on sale, which is good, since it was originally $565, but for me, $429. :) Which is still not cheap, but it's about $150 cheaper, which is good enough for me; I can't pass up a sale!

I wear my high school ring almost every day, so I know I will get use of this ring. You can make payments if you cannot afford it all right now and it is really something nice to have, I would say.

Grocery store Downtown

Last week, Downtown's first "grocery store" opened on 7th Street. Rosebud, a little hidden treasure, has the essentials for life, but not much more. If you weren't looking for it, you wouldn't see it.

It is very small, offers five different kinds of cereal, three sauces, and a small frozen food section, along with a little deli, fresh foods, etc. A few shelves were empty, probably because they just opened, but I was not impressed.

It is a much longer walk than CVS, with half the variety. A pro though, would be that it is less expensive. Also, with the long walk, and heavy groceries, it is not something I would do without taking my boyfriend to carry them. Here's an article on the new store.

The mail room

Ever since I have lived on campus, I've had issues with the mailroom: not putting mail in my box that is time sensitive, putting the wrong mail in the wrong mail boxes, and their hours being unrealistic. Now, my biggest fear due to mail has occurred.... lost mail.

I always thought, "hey, the mailroom messes up sometimes, but I will always get my mail, I can trust them with that..." Well, I was wrong. I saw my grandma yesterday for easter, and she asked why she did not receive a thank you note. (yeah, I'm a little old fashioned, I send thank you notes when I receive a gift.) And I told her I didn't know what she was talking about. She said she sent me a package for Valentine's Day (aww, how sweet!) but I never received said package.

With this being said, I am not SURE it was the mailroom, because the postal service can't really be trusted either, especially around holidays, but I predict the mail room had something to do with it. If my package pick up form went in someone else's box, I know there are people that would not hesitate to take my package and eat my candy. Furthermore, mail is delivered less often to the suites than those boxes in the mail room. (People may say this is not true, but my roommate has gone numerous times to pick up her Netflix in the mail room because they did not deliver it for days.)

I recently placed an online order to be sent to me, and I am a little concerned if it will actually make it. I am constantly tracking it, seeing where it is every second of the day. Luckily, it does not say delivered yet, because once it does, I will be the first to check out the mailroom.

Internship Fair

This past Thursday was the annual internship fair for J/MC majors. I had never been there, but attended this year. I must say, I was not all that impressed.

There was probably about 20 maximum organizations there, which I gave my resume to, but no one was really interested in my portfolio. A few glanced at it, but they asked if my published pieces were online to view. It's great that they still may have been interested, but it seemed that no one was interested enough in spending time to get to know anyone, or really interested in anyone's work; they just spoke to you out of kindness.

I would think if these organizations were really looking for an intern, they would spend more time looking at student's published pieces and get to know the student him/herself. After getting dressed in professional clothes and getting ready to make a good impression, all it got me was a wasted day of talking to people who seemed as if they couldn't care less.

Online Registration= waste of time

After I had my schedule approved by my adviser yesterday, I was told to register online this morning at 8:30 a.m. Well, I tried, but it was not very successful.

The first class I tried for only had two spots left, in a class of 15. Once I clicked it, it said I did not have a prerequisite that I needed to take the class. In the coursebook, it doesn't list any prerequisite, and my adviser didn't say anything about it yesterday. Once trying again, the class was full, which kind of wrecks my whole schedule. Then, for other classes, they required adviser approval, and contained other error comments. With frustration, I went to the registrar's office, where they proceeded to not knowing how to fix my problems. After an upset discussion, the only problem I had left was not being able to get into my class that was full.

After a day full of calls and e-mails, my schedule is finally the way I want it.

Nevertheless, the online registration is a good idea on paper, but essentially useless. I still had to go the registrar, and my problems aren't solved yet. I think it has a lot of flukes to work out and we will still just register in person, the way we do now.

Laundry

Doing your laundry at Point Park can be quite a task.

When in Lawrence, I would do my laundry late at night/earlier in the morning because it was not crowded. Even having about 8 dryers and washers, it would get pretty crazy. People throwing clothes out of the dryer the second their time was up, throwing wet clothes from the washer just so they could have their turn. People are so self-centered!

When I moved into the suites, I was happy that I didn't need to have all the drama as sharing a laundry room with an entire hall, but only my floor of about 16 people. Unfortunately, my laundry drama did not disappear.

Campus Life provided the floor with a laundry bin, for if someone forgot their laundry, or wanted to take out someone's laundry immediately when it was done so that person could begin their laundry. Well, ours went missing. So clothes are left in the washer or dryer, or put on top of them.

To make it worse, people feel the need to dry their clothes more than one cycle, which is 60 minutes. Why would you need to dry something for more than 60 minutes? I did my laundry this passed Monday. Someone had clothes in the dryer, but it only had eight minutes left. Since the washer takes 26 minutes, I knew I could dry my clothes since the other person's clothes were to be out in eight minutes.

After 23 minutes passed (I don't like when people are late for their laundry, so I try not to be) I go to the room and there is 75 minutes left on the dryer! Someone pushed the dryer button again after their clothes were already in their for an hour!

Needless to say, my room was, and still is, covered in clothes, hanging from every possible hook, door handle, and shower curtain.

Registration this week

This week begins registration for the fall 2008 semester at Point Park. This is a picture of people waiting to register last semester.

When making my schedule last week, I realized a lot of the optional journalism classes that I wanted to take were not even available. Courses like magazine article writing, computer-assisted reporting, or even web publishing and editing, or print graphics. I think these courses, for me, anyway, are the most important, because they aren't the generic journalism classes, but things I am interested in and may want to pursue later.

Though it is only my second year here, I am a junior because of the amount of credits I have, and have to register according to my class. So the earliest I can register is Wednesday. I first need an appointment with my adviser, Helen Fallon, for her to approve my courses and then I go to the Registrar to officially register. My adviser though, had no time open Wednesday morning, so I signed up to meet with her Tuesday afternoon, so I could still register Wednesday morning, as to get into all the classes I want, even though Tuesday is supposed to be for seniors.

This semester was supposed to begin a trial online registration. I was chosen, and I got e-mails about it, but they said that more information would come from my adviser or department. I register in two days, and I haven't received any more information.

Saint Patrick's Day Festivities

Yesterday was the annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Downtown Pittsburgh. I have always enjoyed the parade, since I started going when I was little. This year though, it seemed so much different. Instead of the bagpipers and dancers, throwing beads and candy, it was more a political parade, with politicians throwing beads and candy, along with stickers and signs promoting themselves, or Obama or Clinton. It just wasn't as special. Here is Hillary in the parade.

It's nice not to worry about parking or anything, just being able to walk a few blocks and be at the parade. Then there are the massive parties, in market square and station square, and I am sure there are things on the South Side and Oakland too. It is always a good time, even with all the crazy drunks everywhere. It's so packed though, and impossible to move around, but a Pittsburgh tradition, especially with the green beer. Specifically to this year, even in market square, people carried around Obama signs, or Clinton signs, and the worst thing is when drunks get in a fight. There was this one guy, stumbling past me that kept going on and on about Obama. It's Saint Patrick's Day! The last thing I want to talk about is politics, thank you.

I hope next year upholds the fun traditions, and that politics were only so prevalent because it is an election year, and not involved as much next year.

Decision-making time for residence next year

It is that time of the year when students have to decide whether or not they will be living on campus next term. Options range from Lawrence, Thayer, Conestoga, Pioneer and now new apartments, called the "Boulevard Apartments." They are supposed to be bigger, have a full-sized fridge, not be gender specific, and have a self-cleaning stove and oven. The best news though--no meal plan required.

Living in the suites I hardly ever go and use my meal plan, except the flex dollars at Starbucks. I may attend the cafe a maximum of once a week, and I never go to the cafeteria. Spending an insane amount of money on a meal plan is ridiculous, because I never use it.

Don't get too excited though: the new apartments are only for juniors and seniors, the university's attempt to keep students on campus to make it a real "university community."

Unfortunately (or not), I will be living off-campus in Oakland next year, and won't have to pay their ridiculous amount for food and living.

For the Office of Campus Life's information and phone number, click here.

Chelsea Clinton at Point Park

Chelsea Clinton came to Point Park this evening to promote her mother and discuss her mother's campaign. Though it was supposed to begin at 5:30, Clinton didn't arrive until approximately 6:20 due to traffic.

Though I did not attend, a lot of people did. The University Center was crowded with people. U-View showed the live footage on campus, like in my room in the suites, which was very convenient.

It was interesting to see a young person, close to my age, care about politics and be so well-versed. It was cool to see her passion and a younger face represent a candidate. She answered questions for about an hour, then went into the crowd to talk and take pictures with people.

It is amazing to be on campus for events like this in such a crucial election. I hope Point Park will host other candidates, and with Pennsylvania being such a pivotal state, it may very well happen.

To see Chelsea's visit, click here. Hillary's Web site, which clearly addresses her stance on the issues, is hillaryclinton.com

Recycling (or lack thereof)

I am a recycling freak. I think that every piece of "garbage" can somehow be used again; like the obvious plastic bottles, glass containers, aluminum cans, along with all paper, pizza boxes....you get the idea.

When I came to Point Park in 2006, they were just getting recycling containers. Before the containers were in place, I would save all my recycling in a few plastic bags (which too could be recycled) and give them to my aunt when I would get a chance to see her, about once a month. In Lawrence, on every floor by the elevators, there was a container for paper, a container for plastic, and a container for cans. Nothing for glass. It didn't make sense to me, with a college campus that sells Starbucks in the glass containers, Snapple, Sobe, etc. and doesn't recycle glass. Even more confusing, I don't think I ever saw a recycling container in the cafe or the cafeteria. I may be wrong, but I didn't see them.

What baffled me even more was that I would still see things that could be recycled in the garbage room; like water bottles, newspapers, etc. This year, in Conestoga, there is no recycling, that I am aware. It really bothers me that people are lazy, and that such a small, simple act that can help the environment is basically ignored.

Here is a link to the importance of recycling
and another

Shopping for Necessities

Today, I went to the local CVS for things I needed--items from cotton balls to chocolate. I try not to buy everything I need in one trip because it isn't exactly tons of fun carrying multiple bags a few blocks back to my suite.

A great thing about CVS is the coveted CVS card. You can get discounts on everything you purchase, and earn dollars off for the more things you buy. Unfortunately, it is not a grocery store, so everything is not available that you may want, but basic necessities are.

It's so much different than when I lived at home, where I would go everywhere before heading back home, putting all the bags in the car. Walking, or even taking the bus, I can't go too crazy or I would have to carry and lug all those parcels around.

The weather is finally get nice out again, which means no more cancelled classes. On the bright side, soon I will actually want to leave my room, and go out. I can't wait.

Spring Break is coming to an end

This past week was Spring Break for students at Point Park. I went to Virginia Beach on Friday and came back on Wednesday. I have been in my dorm room since, not wanting to spend any more time with my family as possible, since I "mess with the flow of the household," as my mother says.

I'm glad they don't close the dorms or do extensive work on them during breaks so I have this opportunity to be here any time I want, even on breaks, like a real apartment. I've mostly been working on the extensive amount of homework I received for break.

I don't understand why professors see this week as a time to overload students with homework. It's break! Not everyone just sits around. It should be treated as a break, and not a time to move forward in teaching.

Having people over

Last night, my two roommates and I had people over for the last time before spring break. We played the Wii, which keeps us occupied with most of our free-time since nothing is open past about seven o'clock Downtown.

That brings me to how we get non-residents into the building. I really enjoy the policy here in the suites this year. I remember last year in Lawrence, you could sign someone in, but they had to give security their ID and had to be out by 1 a.m., I think. To have someone spend the night, you had to go to the office of Campus Life and get a sheet of paper signed and the roommate to sign the paper as well. Now, at least in the suites, we can sign in anyone, and they can stay as long as they want, including the entire night. I'm sure it was just a safety issue before, but it was such a hassle.

Since spring break is this coming week, the residents halls are clearing out...along with me. Have a good break!

another useless club

Yesterday was the first meeting of the Residents Hall Association, RHA. Now, in the beginning, I was all for this club, thinking that MAYBE it would help out the students. After I talked to a friend who attended the meeting, I discovered that the RHA was begun by Campus Life. I feel like if the students really had huge issues that they wanted dealt with, the students would have created a group to deal with them. I see this group created by Campus Life just another useless club that will change nothing. The big issues brought up were toilet paper and laundry baskets, two things I, living on campus, could care less about because I provide my own of both. The RHA is for any students living on campus that want to make their living situation better.

Nothing Campus Life has started, for me, or that I know of, has worked that well. For example, this year they also began the Corrigo work order system, which is for work orders for your room, like changing light bulbs, or any problems that may arise. I have used this system. I have tried three times, with four different tasks. Only one was answered. The others accomplished nothing. I had a leak in my room earlier this semester, so I put in a work order. No one ever came or contacted me. Two weeks later, almost half of my room was wet. I called Campus Life, who put in an emergency work order for me. It still took a day for anyone to come. It turns out that a pipe in my wall was leaking, and the water was seeping through my carpet. If I would have waited, who knows what would have happened. My point is, Campus Life often tries to change things, but, in the end, you still have to call to get things done.

In total, how I view this organization is just another way to spend my student activity fee for a group that will accomplish nothing. Feel free to disagree with me.

Just a little background on me

Hi, my name is Caitlin and I attend Point Park University to major in journalism. This is my second year, and for both of these years I have lived on campus.

My first semester I lived on the 11th floor of Lawrence, and for the second semester I moved in with a friend I had made on the 16th floor. Last semester I lived in the Conestoga Suites, and it was quite an adventure to get here. Though I am now still in the suites, I have my own room this semester, and I cannot wait to live off-campus.

This blog will be featuring what it is like to be a student living on-campus. Feel free to post your thoughts, comments, or questions. Thanks!