The last few weeks...

...have been lots of fun!  I volunteered as a recycling monitor at a Bridging the Gap recycling station at Boulevardia (a local beer festival) in an effort to help make it a green event.  I also went to an interesting talk (with some of my favorite people, below) about the Cambrian Explosion.  And in the last week, Dr. Sturgill and I have been to two Royals games!  Unfortunately, they were both losses; but they made for exciting times at the K.

Biology Field Trip

During the last two weeks of May, Dr. Chad Scholes and I took five awesome students to Appalachia for our Biology Field Trip class.  We packed the seven of us and all of our camping gear in the Rockhurst Student Development mini-van and headed east.  We saw so much amazing biology, and even went to a Willie Nelson concert and hiked 8.5 miles of the Appalachian Trail!  What a trip.

Royals!

Yesterday, Dr. Sturgill (Psychology Dept., pictured below) and I went to Kauffman Stadium to watch the Royals take on the Detroit Tigers.  It was a perfect day for baseball and we had amazing seats, which slightly softened the blow of a disappointing loss.  The Tigers just made it look so easy!  But W or L, it's always a great time at the K.

Easter weekend

Since we have a four-day weekend for Easter break, I went down to the Texas Gulf coast to spend it with my family.  The weather was beautiful for cruising the beach in our golf carts, building sand castles with my adorable nieces and roasting marshmallows for them in the evening; but the water was a little chilly for my taste (though not for my brother and his border collie). We had an amazing and relaxing time and I already can't wait to do it again next year!

Honors Induction

On March 31st, we formally inducted the freshmen honors class into the program.  Our student speaker at the ceremony, Ms. Sarah Czirr, was outstanding, as was our faculty speaker, Dr. William Sturgill.  We had a great turnout, including first year students and their families, a few faculty members, and two of our Honors Student Association Executive Board members.  It was a successful morning celebrating the accomplishments of our freshmen honors students.

Americorps

Four members of the Americorps FEMA Corps group (mentioned in the KCWL post below) came to speak to our honors students last Monday evening.  They were really informative and some of our students are genuinely interested in pursuing this service option after graduation.

Spring Break

Our spring break was this week, and it was really busy and exciting!  I went to Belize to work on some logistical aspects of my fall sabbatical (I'll be teaching at St. John's College, pictured below).  It was amazing and I met so many wonderful and kind people!  I also had an overnight layover in Houston on the way home, so I got to see my parents!  Yesterday, I helped the Psych Department as they hosted the Great Plains Student Psychology Convention on the Rockhurst campus (also pictured).  Today, I'm catching up on work and resting!