Gobble Gobble, the turkeys gone!

I'm back to school after a wonderful Thanksgiving break! It was so nice to go home and see my family and eat amazing food, but I'm glad to to be back at school! Unfortunately final season is upon us, so this is really crunch time this time of year! I have so much work to finish in these next two weeks that I'm not to sure how I'm even going to pull this off! I have all sorts of papers and presentations to do, so I've resorted to creating the master "to-do list" to keep me organized. My favorite thing about coming back to Ripon after Thanksgiving break is seeing all the new decorations that are put up on campus. It was a most pleasant surprise my freshman year to see how much Ripon got in the winter holiday spirit, putting up trees in every building on campus, wreaths, and lights. It was a simple but wonderful pleasure my freshman year and it continues to be even as I'm a senior! Over the Thanksgiving break, my best friend Trish came home to celebrate the holidays with me because she lives in Texas. It was great to bring her home and have her experience my crazy family's Thanksgiving traditions. We had a lot of laughs around that table. I also got to see a lot of my friends from high school which was really fun. On Friday we attempted to go shopping early but didn't end up at the mall until 11am! We went to the Mall of America, and boy was that a shopping adventure! It was packed...reminder to self, never go to MOA on "Black Friday!" It's never a good idea, I didn't even get any shopping done! Over the weekend we checked out some movies too. We saw "Enchanted," which is the cutest movie ever! I suggest everyone go and check it out. We also watched "Stranger Than Fiction," with Will Farrell, a movie I can definitely add to my favorite movie list! Over all, It was a super Thanksgiving! I ate more than I should have and I had a great time with my friends and family. Hopefully everyone has recovered from their tryptophane overdoses and are having a great week! Wish me luck during this two weeks before finals crunch time!!!


Leila

Turkey Day's so close I can taste the Tryptophan!

I am sooooooooo excited for Turkey Day that I can barely contain myself! This is the first time since my sophomore year that I will be going home for Thanksgiving so I am very exctited to go home. I miss my family and I'm craving my mothers home cooked meals. I'm also looking forward to thanksgiving this year because my best friend Trish will be coming home with me! It should be a great couple days off. I think we might be brave and try going shopping on Black Friday as well, but I feel like when we wake up at 4 in the morning we'll turn off our alarm clocks and shop for sales at a more normal time! Even though this is a short week, it is still proving to be a busy one! I spent much of Sunday wide awake writing my 20-25 page senior seminar paper on "Social Movement Criticism: Censorship and Harry Potter." I love Harry Potter but 20 pages later I couldn't wait to stop thinking about it! It felt so good to hand it in to my professor Monday morning, now I just have to wait and see what I got on it! Today I just got done giving a sales pitch in my Organizational and Business Communication class. The assignment consisted of us choosing a product that we would have to sell to a targeted audience. I decided to sell spring break trips. So, I created a sales pitch to a group of girls, that I did in front of the class, selling a trip to Nassau, Bahamas. It was fun and I think that I did a great job. It made me look forward to spring break because I'm hoping to be going somewhere fun this year!

Mhh...what else is going on in my life?

Last weekend was my sorority's formal, so that was really fun. My dates name was Shane and we had a great night with all my sorority sisters and their dates. Dinner was yummy and the music was good, two ingredients to a great formal!

After pulling an all nighter on Sunday, I think that I'm going to work on catching up on my sleep tonight. Two of my favorite things are occuring tonight too...Nip/Tuck (I'm obssesed!) and Domino's Two for Tuesday! I think my friends and I are going to make it a girls night watching hot plastic surgeons and eating pizza, a perfect combination!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Leila

P.S. Remember (as if you'd forget) 2 days to Turkey Madness!

P.P.S My first picture is of my best friends, Trish and Patti and I at Formal. The second picture is of my friend Nasif and I. And the thrid picture of my is my formal date and I.

Who will be crowned Mr. Ripon???

In less than one day, Ripon will be having its first ever "Man Pageant" organized by yours truly and my applied communication class. At this event we will be fundraising to help support the Huntington's Disease Society of America. I'm super excited and nervous for this event to take place. We have been planning it for 2 months now and the anticipation is killing me! I'm worried that no one will show up or that we will not make our fundraising goal. We have worked very hard to make sure that this is going to be an exciting event and I really hope that people will come and check it out. It should be a lot of laughs! We have the Ripon dance team preforming, and we also have a couple other musical acts. We asked the dance team to incorporate the pageant contestants into the dance so I'm really excited to see how that is going to turn out! Cross your fingers for us!!! Have a great weekend ;-)

Leila

P.S. Come check out the Man Pageant in Great Hall @ 7 P.M. ($3 @ the Door, all Proceeds go to the Huntington's Disease Society of America!)

Whoooooooo! The wind's blowing!

There's something about walking across campus, your face frozen, your hands numb and your clothing blowing in every direction that you just have to love! The winter season on the Ripon College campus has officially begun for me because I wore my first pair of mittens of the school year. I can't quite believe that this will be my last Winter in Ripon, who knows I could be living on beach come this time next year (hey I can dream right?!). I have been bad about posting these last couple days so I have some catching up to do. Let's start with Halloween...It was great! As always, I love getting dressed up and pretending to be someone other than myself for one night. This year I had two costumes, and I was a teacher and a school girl twice in one week. It was so much fun seeing all the costume ideas that people come up with at Ripon. People never fail to surprise me with there creativity. My favorite costume by far was this boy who drew bones all over himself and was the "Operation Man." Such a low cost but creative costume!

And now for school news ;-)...

I am in a class that is putting together what we like to call "Ripon's First Annual Man Pageant." I'm helping organize this event which will benefit the Huntington's Disease Society of America. The show goes on this Friday, November 9th, so I'm super busy getting all those components together so that the show goes on with out any problems (knock on wood!). So basically the moral of this blog post is to come the "Man Pageant" this Friday, November 9th! It will be totally worth it...I promise!

Leila

A good laugh never killed anyone, right?!

One of my favorite things about college are the random fun times that I have with my friends. As the semester literally ZOOMS by, I am starting to realize just how much I am going to miss all those fun times that we have together. Last night was one of those times. We had our weekly ritual of watching MTV's "The Hills" and then we just hung out being silly for another 2 hours, when we probably should have been doing homework. We must have been in a really silly mood that night, because we spent about a half an hour entertaining ourselves with a silly pair of eye glasses that we kept passing around, taking pictures, and laughing about. Someone must have put something in our drinking water because I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at something so stupid! Good times! I have a busy night ahead of me tonight, full of meetings and homework, but I think I'll make sometime to catch up on episodes of "Greys Anatomy," one of my many favorite T.V. shows. I have a meeting tonight with a consulting company called Accenture, for a possible job interview, so I'm interested to see how that will go because who knows, if it goes well, I could be working for them one day! Have a great Tuesday!

Leila.

Where oh where did my fall break go?!

Wow, its been forever since I lost work an entry and boy has a lot happened since then! I'm just getting back to school after a wonderful week long (and much needed) fall break in Texas with my best friend. It was awesome to have a little break and get some much needed Zzz's after a busy first semester. This was the first time since I've been at Ripon that I've not gone home for fall break, so it will be interesting to not see my family until winter break (tear :-{). Trish and I departed for Texas on Saturday and spent a wonderful week with her family shopping, eating good Texan cooking, and visiting Dallas and other surrounding cities. I did some damage to my bank account as well because I did a little to much shopping. I love getting the chance to travel around the U.S. and see the differences between each state. For example, there are not basements in houses, and most Texan homes are made out of brick as opposed to our wooden Midwest homes. Over the break, we also had the opportunity to meet with one of our sorority sisters that now lives in the Dallas area. It was such a great to get to see her, and for her to show us around her neighborhood. I also got to see two great movies over break. The first was "Across the Universe." If I could recommend one movie that everyone has to see, it would be this movie. It was absolutely the best movie ever. It is a musical that is based on 30 Beatles songs that the new cast members sang (amazingly). The movie is set in the sixties, and the Beatles songs they choose fit every situation well. Not to mention that the remakes of the songs are spellbinding. I can't recommend this movie enough, I've been listening to the soundtrack non stop! The next movie we saw was "Hairspray" which I thought was equally enjoyable. Coming back to Ripon after a week was great, I love my campus bed, and it was great to stop living out of a suitcase as well. What can I say, I just hate being away from Ripon to long, I start to go through withdrawals! But, I wouldn't have minded break for a couple days longer, because I got no homework done in between all the shopping I did and had a big paper revision waiting for me! Coming back after a week, it was great to see the changing weather and to see the amazing fall foliage. I love fall and I'm not looking forward to winter! I hope everyone stays warm, wherever you may be, and have a wonderful Monday!

Leila

P.S. I have a lot of pictures to catch up on showing ya'll (brought a little Texas twang back!).

The first picture to the left is of my Crush Party date Danny and I. The second to the right is of Patti and I at Toga. And the center Photo is of my best girl friends from Northfield who came to Toga.

Mhh Mhh Culvers!!!

Today in my Organizational and Business Communication class I had to do a mock interview in front of my whole class. It was a really nerve wrecking experience because I had to do it in front of everyone, all dressed up, pretending that I was interviewing from my dream job. Even though it was only 5 minutes or so, it felt like an eternity. I think I did very well, so I guess I'm not to nervous to see what grade I got out of it. The job I interviewed for was an entry level consulting job with Accenture a fortune 500 company that does consulting all over the world. It was a very real experience doing this interview today because I know that in a few months I really will be going out and doing interviews. Last night was the Sigma Chi/Alpha Chi Omega date auction, an event that both of our houses organized as a fundraiser. It turned out to be a really fun event. From each house, we auctioned of 10 people and we had some people go for as much as $100! I couldn't believe it! It was pretty crazy to see different boys and girls fighting over one person, and the prices just rising each time. We did it in the new student union, and I was very pleased to see how well it accommodated students, with comfortable seating and a stage. That was one of the many activities that I have going on for the rest of the week. Tonight, my sorority sisters and I will be working at Culvers to raise money for out 5k Walk/Run for Victims of Domestic Violence. Working from 4-9 at Culvers, we will receive 10% of all profits of the night, so we are really looking forward to making money for out event this Saturday. I'm hoping that its a super nice day so that we get some great turn out! Also this weekend my best friends from home are coming to visit me! I'm so excited to see them! They're coming for Toga, an event that is being hosted by the Merriman house in our Union. I think that this will be a super weekend! I'll keep you posted!

Leila

P.S. Come by for some Culvers tonight!

I once was sick but now I'm better!

The past couple days have been rough for me. I seem to have picked up the sickness that is creeping its way through the Ripon campus. The one the were you start with a cough and then next thing you know you can't get out of bed. Well that was last week and this is now, and I feel much better. This past weekend was Homecoming which was really fun. We did not win our football game which was a real bummer, but our team worked hard and that's all that really matters. At our homecoming, my classmates from my Applied Communication class and I, hosted a dunk tank, raising money for Huntington's Disease Society of America. We had all sorts of people involved in this event, ranging from our Residence Life Director, Josh DeWar, to my best friend and sorority president Patti Ann Mazur. Our goal was to get a wide variety of students and staff involved in the event, which we did achieve. One funny thing that we didn't plan on was the color of the water that came out of the pipes when filling the dunk tank. We had the fire department come and fill it up, and when they did, a brown rust color came pouring out of the hose. We were so nervous that no one would want to get in the cold rust colored water, but everyone proved to be a great sport and hopped right in! Saturday night was also a really fun night because it was Merriman House formal. I got to hang out with some of my closest friends, but a little fancier dressed. It was a great night and all my friends looked lovely in there suits, ties and dresses. Sunday night I spent many hours working on my 14 page Rhetorical Criticism paper that was due today! It was a killer to say the least, but I finished it!!! Oh man, let me tell you, it was such a wonderful relief to hand that paper in! I did a Neo-Classical critic of JFK's "Arms Quarantine of Cuba" address...sound confusing to you? Try writing 14 pages about it! Tonight I am going to Oshkosh to hear the Prime Minister of Sudan speak about the situation in Darfur. I am really looking forward to this once in a lifetime opportunity and hopefully very educational. I'm hoping to pop in a movie tonight and relax to after a week of being sick, dunk tanks, formals, and 14 page papers! Hopefully you all have a relaxing week too! Ciao!

Leila

P.S. The picture is of Patti and I at Merriman formal from this weekend!

One step closer to the real world!!!!

I hope that everyone is having a great day! So far I have had a busy morning, and I have a busy night ahead of me as well! I spent much of my morning working on my resume and cover letter for my organizational and business communication class. Working on my resume has made me realize how quickly my senior year is going by already! I am going to be sending my resume out very soon to prospective employers and I can''t even begin to wrap my brain around it! I'm nervous but at the same time I know that I have been well prepared by my professors and classes here at Ripon. I worked very hard to make resume nice and attractive to employers, so now I just have to wait and see if it is effective! Wish me luck!

P.S. This is a picture with one of my best friends Patti Ann!

Hello! Hope everyone is having a great day. Yesterday I went to Madison with two of my friends to go see my dad who came from Minnesota to show his documentary at the University of Madison. It was such a treat to see him again, especially since I had just seen him over the weekend. During our visit, I also got the chance to meet up with two of my friends who studied abroad with me and are students at Madison. It was really exciting to see them because we had not seen each other since we parted ways in France. I love the Madison campus, so going to seeing what a large campus is always fun for me. Making comparisons between Ripon and Madison is impossible and fun to do because both places are so different. Visiting such a big school like Madison makes me appreciate so many things about Ripon. For example being able to go to class, know everyone in it, and being able to ask the professor questions without having to wait for there office hours, or going through a TA My friend was telling me about one of her classes were the professor just posts all his lecture notes online! How crazy, how could that even give you the incentive to want to go to class? I would never go if I could just get my notes online! Being on such a small campus makes you accountable for going to class, and you also realize that being in class will make you a more successful student! Not that I haven't been tempted to skip my 9am class and sleep in! Its almost the weekend! Have a wonderful Thursday :-)

Leila

P.S. that is a picture of my friend Alexa from study abroad on the Mediterranean Sea in Palavas, France.

Let me fill you in!

Let me fill you in on what has been going on in my life. I've been busy as usual, but last weekend was a nice time to relax and have fun because my dad came from Minnesota with my brother and sister. It was family weekend among many other things going on on the Ripon campus, so having them come was great! I kept them very busy that Saturday. We did an early breakfast in the Commons, then they came and watched me speak on the study abroad panel. Afterwards I took them to the AXO family picnic that my sorority was hosting so that they got the chance to meet some of my sisters and the their parents. My dad, being the big talker he is, had a great time meeting my closest friends parents. And for me it was a treat for my friends to finally meet my family. My mom and little sister were not able to make it, but hopefully they'll get the chance to come visit again so that my little sister can wreck a little havoc on my sorority sisters! After the picnic and giving my family an extensive tour of Ripon's new campus additions, I then took my family to a fundraiser that my applied communication class was hosting downtown Ripon at "Septemberfest." Our fundraiser was for the Huntington's Disease Society of America, and with my group members, and my siblings that I put to work, we made balloon animals and handed out candy to the youngest members of the Ripon community. We made a total of $186, that we will be donating to the organization. I think that my brother and sister enjoyed themselves, even though I made them volunteer! Later that night, I had my family experience my favorite Ripon restaurant, ROADHOUSE! We went with my best friends, Trish ( and her dad, who was also visiting), and Sarah. I had to show them the place where so many of my dollars are spent! The weekend went by quickly and before I knew it, they were leaving for home. Having a fun weekend is always a great way to start of the week, and having so much fun with my family was just what I needed! Hope everyone is having a fabulous hump day!

A Good Weekend is the Key to a Good Week!

After a wonderful weekend, I'm ready to start another week of classes. This weekend, my friend Trish and I went home with our friend Sarah who lives in Denmark, WI. She had invited us home with her to volunteer at the Congressional Medal of Honor Breakfast on the Farm breakfast. This year, Green Bay played host to the Congressional Medal of Honor Conference. This is were over 100 of the last surviving medal recipients go to a U.S. city to visit, and share there stories and experiences. It is an amazing event that brings together some of our bravest Americans. At the Breakfast on the Farm, Trish and I served an array of Wisconsin's finest breakfast foods, such as, every Wisconsin cheese possible, veil patties, bagels, scrambled eggs, and so much more. Lets just say we were sent back with enough yummy cheese to last a year! At the farm there was a petting zoo, with horses, chickens, donkeys, goats, calf's, and many other farm animals. I felt like a little kid, getting giddy every time I got to see one of the animals. Who said petting zoo's are just for kids!? Not only did we get to play with the farm animals, we also got the opportunity to meet some of the amazing medal recipients. Their stories were so touching that they brought tears to my eyes. One of the men we met saved the lives of eight other men by taking his helmet and laying both his body and helmet over a live grenade! If that's not bravery I don't know what is! That weekend, Trish and I got to do one of our favorite things when visiting Sarah, and that's playing with all her cows! We've both been given namesakes, so whenever we go to the farm we have to visit our cow versions of ourselves! Not only did we get to play on the farm, but we also got to go four-wheeling, one of my favorite things to do! Last but not least, the weekend would not be complete without one of Sarah's mom's amazing home cooked meals! While I love the Commons, nothing beats a home cooked meal! I had such a great weekend, that when Sunday rolled around I was wishing it was three day weekend! Sunday Afternoon, the Senior Communication Majors and I participated in a "Surviving Comm" workshop, were we taught the newly declared communication majors the In's and Outs of our department. Giving them tips on how to survive difficult classes and different study techniques as well. It was a great way to share our expertise and to meet the new majors. After our workshop, we were treated to an amazing meal by Jody Roy our department chair and my advisor and mentor. Overall I can't complain about my weekend, it was great and now I'm ready to kick of my week as well! Have a happy Monday and an even happier Tuesday!

Root Beer Floats and Greys Anatomy!!

Root Beer Floats and Greys Anatomy, can you think of anything better? Well I can't and tonight my sorority sisters and I will be doing just that. We have an activity in our residence hall where we will be having Root Beer Floats and catching up on everyone's favorite hospital drama Grey's anatomy. I'm looking forward to taking a break from homework and hanging out with my sisters (and watching Dr. McDreamy and Dr. McSteamy!)! This morning I had to get up nice and early (8am! I love my sleep!) for a meeting with a man that I am doing an internship with. I am really really excited about this internship. Essentially my best friend Tricia and I are to create a marketing plan for his leather refinishing company first semester, and then put it into effect second semester. He has given us total free range to create a plan for him that will get his company name out there and make him some money. He even told us that if we need to fly somewhere he would pay for our travel! Crazy! I am so excited to get the ball rolling on this project and see where Tricia and I can take it! Not only is this going to be a great oppertunity to learn about marketing, but it will be an amazing thing to share when I start my job search. I can't believe it's already Wednesday, it's almost the weekend! Hope you are having a wonderful hump day!

Happy Happy Monday!

Hello! I hope you are all having a wonderful Monday and that you have a great week! So far, my week is starting off busy as usual. I have all sorts of things going on today. Today in my Organizational and Business Communication ( a class that focuses on the career world and how to be a productive worker) we spoke about how to write the perfect resume. This is something that I really had to pay extra attention to because I will be hopefully starting my own job search come second semester (SCARY!!!). The class is taught by one of my favorite professors here at Ripon, Deano Pape, so having him be the one giving me advice about how to prepare myself for the real world is extra special for me.
Later today, I will be attending a luncheon hosted by our registrars office, were all students who studied abroad last spring will be coming and sharing there stories. I am really excited to hear what other people with have to say about the experiences aboard. I know that hearing all there fun stories with make me miss France some more!
This afternoon, I have a formal presentation to give in my Applied Communication class concerning two fundraisers that we will be creating for the Huntington's Disease Society of America. This is a class were we apply all our communication and group working skills and put them to the test, actually working on a real project such as as fundraiser. Today we will be presenting our goals for the semester. I am looking forward to seeing my group succeed because of all our hard work!
Later tonight I will be attending a barbeque hosted by Ripon's Greek council, I love barbeque's so this should be a fun event. I'm hoping to get all my homework done early tonight so that I am in bed by the latest, midnight, but who am I kidding, I always say that and then get sucked into watching a movie with my friends!

Leila

P.S. My picture is of me and my friends from my study abroad program in London!!! It's one of my favorite pictures because of all the different landmarks in the background and because we all look so pretty. I tried to find a picture of London in sunshine but that will never happen!

TGIF!!!

THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!!! Yay! After a busy week, it's so great when the weekend is finally in sight. I'm excited for this weekend because there's a big football game against Oshkosh on Saturday (GO REDHAWKS!) and I'm looking forward to seeing how our team will preform against a division three school! Football games are always a good time to chat with friends, and express a lot of school spirit. I love seeing all the red in the stands! Also there are some old alums of Ripon who will be coming back to visit, so I'm looking forward to catching up with them as well. Last night my best friend Trish and I went to Oshkosh at 10pm and went to Perkins! I love that there open 24hours, it always makes for a little adventure! I've had two classes so far today, and I have one more class at 2:30. It's a class that only meets on Fridays, from 2:30 to 5, and it is super intresting! It's a class called "Religious Violence and Terroism." I think in our day and age, this is a really important topic to study and I'm looking forward to learning a lot more on this issue. Well, I'm going to head to class, I hope you all have a super weekend!!!

GO REDHAWKS
Leila

Tomorrow's already Friday?!

Wow, I can't even believe. Tomorrow is already Friday. If this week is any sign as to how my school year is going to go, things are going to go by really really quickly. I know that in May, at graduation, I will be so suprised as to how quickly a year can go by when your having fun and working hard. This week has been a fun and busy week thus far. I've been very busy with readings from my Rhetorical Criticism class (fun fun!) and that kept me up late on Tuesday night. I also participated in the student activities fair on Wednesday for my sorority Alpha Chi Omega, this is an event where all our campus organizations come together to share information about their organizations. It's always a great way to see all the organizations we have on our campus and to meet new people. I even signed up to be in Photogenisis, a photography club that we have on campus! Tonight my sorority has an event called "Fun in the Sun, " we'll be hanging outside, grilling burgers and playing some volleyball and Frisbee. I'm actually excited to be able to say that there will be sun at this event today, because these past few weeks have been nothing but rain! Tomorrow is Friday and I am really looking forward to the weekend and being able to sleep in! Hope everyone has a glorious Thursday!!

Leila

Ring in the New Year!

Hi my name is Leila Keita and I am a Senior Communication and French major at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin. I was born and raised in Northfield, Minnesota, a small college town located about 45 minutes from the Twin Cities. You may ask your self, how does a girl from a small college town in Minnesota, end up in an even smaller college town in Wisconsin? Let's just say I met a great admissions recruiter from Ripon and as they say, the rest is history! I have had thee best past 3 years of my life at Ripon and I can't wait to see what great things I have to look forward to during my senior year! I can't wait to graduate and start my life after college, but at the same time I'm already very emotional and sad about having to leave Ripon! I am the oldest of 3 siblings -- my little sister Mimi is 3 and a half, my brother Walid is 13, and my sister Madina is 16 -- and I hope to serve as a great example to them, hoping that they might all follow in my Ripon footsteps! I hope that my blog will serve as an eyewitness account of my Ripon experience and will allow all my readers to see how fun, academically challenging and unique Ripon is! Well, enough said, let the year begin!

Stay Tuned!

Leila.

P.S. My picture to the right is of two of my best Ripon friends, Pam and Trish! This picture was taken our freshman year at Springfest. When I look at it I can't believe so much time has already passed, we look so young!