The FINAL Countdown

To do:

1 paper
3 exams

The last month has been a whirlwind! I'm sorry I have not written. My days, and nights, too, have been filled with meetings, long hours at the library, and CAFFEINE! Although, I shouldn't complain too much because I did get to spend a week in Florida over Thanksgiving :)

In terms of end of the semester work, I've survived three presentations and turned in two papers. I'm almost there! For our group project in Volunteer Management, my partner and I got to reconnect with the Crossover representative we worked with and show her what we've put together for their organization. She was very appreciative and seemed to really like it. In all three classes, its been really interesting to hear about all of my classmates projects and the research they've done. Well done, everyone!

In PASS news, we'd like to welcome Lauren Stieritz to the leadership team! Lauren has offered to serve as secretary for 2012, thanks, Lauren! We have plans in place already for a service event on MLK day in January and a social at a Cyclones game in February. We also have a lot of great ideas about guest speakers, so be on the lookout for more information! We're very excited about our plans for PASS this year!

On a related note, I attended my first ASPA (American Society of Public Administrators) event last Friday, which was a networking social. About half of the group was from NKU, but I also met some new people and we had very interesting discussions. I'm already looking forward to the next event in January!

Another highlight of the past month was the Mayerson Awards Ceremony. Our class presented the grants Toyota had awarded to local nonprofits based on our recommendations. It was very exciting and I got to reconnect with Anne Gunkle from Cincinnati State, who I met on our site visit. There were other classes there as well who had worked with the Mayerson Foundation in other capacities such as direct giving models, or providing some kind of research or other service. Some of the speakers were really captivating! It was a great event and I really enjoyed hearing about everyone's experience.

So, six more days and I'll be on winter break! While I'm really looking forward to the time off, I hope to be semi-productive, as well. We'll see.. HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!