Done-ski!

Posted on 2013 May 16 by Perla Quintana

“So long farewell, Auf Weidersehen, good night.
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight…”
That’s exactly how I feel when thinking of parting ways with West Plains. This is a weird feeling knowing I won’t be coming back in the fall after five years of doing this thang.

To anyone debating on whether to go here, I dare you. Come, but remember that you’ll get out of this institution what you put into it. This college isn’t here to baby you, but rather to challenge you, and hopefully shape your mind into something more beautiful than when you came.

Especially remember that life does not owe us anything, so work hard for everything you do. See, everyone runs the race, but only one wins the prize. Only one wins the reward, the trophy, the ultimate mark of victory, so if the prize comes easy, the race isn’t worth the energy.

I have such a peace knowing the last five years of my race have been worth every second.

Now, I bid this lovely campus, which has harbored half a decade’s worth of my life, farewell. I hope I’ve inspired a soul or two into achieving something greater than what was thought possible before, and no worries, I’ll be back in due time, hopefully with great wisdom, cool stories and a tan.

Considere por sumo gozo, hermanos míos, cuando os halléis en diversas pruebas, sabiendo que la prueba de vuestra fe produce resistencia.

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Really though, if I cut out sleep, I would have so much more time.

Posted on 2013 May 10 by Dillon Puzzo

So with the massive amounts of work that have been stacking up on my desk, I’ve recently had to do some time management adjustments. Looking at my daily schedule, I reasoned that if I were to cancel out sleep, I would have so much more time for other things. And also, if I cut my eating out, there is also another three hours, at least. Ha! I am joking, I don’t promote lack of sleep, in fact I discourage it.

Being a bit of a health buff I know some of the negative effects of sleep deprivation. But I also know that these last few weeks have been really nuts for all of my fellow students. Social life has gone downhill dramatically as the days are now filled with homework, commuting, class, and maybe, just maybe, eating and sleeping. The creativity, energy, and emotions are being squeezed out of everyone like the final days of a tube of expensive toothpaste. But has the band Fun. once said in a song, “Carry on, carry on.” Keep going dudes, one week left.

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Adults Anonymous

Posted on 2013 April 26 by Perla Quintana

I have a confession to make. As mature as I may seem (yeah, right), and as comfortable as I have become with the anatomy and physiology of the body through my nursing school career, sometimes I still laugh when people toot.

I can’t help it. It’s as if something was physiologically designed within me to automatically giggle when someone passes gas!

I raise this point because I’m 22, almost ready to graduate and be thrown into the real world, and I wonder sometimes if I’m “mature” or “responsible” enough to handle what’s thrown at me, considering I can’t even hold in a smirk when somebody’s tush perfumes the air. Then I was reminded recently that I may never outgrow certain child-like qualities, and that’s ok!

My journey into adulthood doesn’t mean I will suddenly become boring and only do the cliché, boring adult-like things. If anything, the older I get, the more I can appreciate the little things in life. Light can’t exist without darkness, heat can’t exist without cold, and happiness and joy can’t exist without sorrow. The truth is I need both humor and seriousness to appreciate life at its fullest.

With that said, ladies and gentleman, it is my pleasure to announce that my name is Perla Quintana, and I laugh when people honk their booty horns.

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Look into my eyes…. Listen to my voice…. You are getting sleepy……

Posted on 2013 April 26 by Anna Cantrell

Last night, the university brought an entertaining program to campus for all students, faculty and staff.  Paul Ramsey charmed the campus and amazed us with his hypnosis. I was very skeptical of the hypnotist at first, thinking it was all a hoax, but then the show started and he went to work.

He started off by hypnotizing the whole audience and then by the end of it, if you couldn’t remember your name, you were called to go up on stage. One student, Taler Sutherland, couldn’t remember his name when I asked him.   All he could say was “T… T…” At that point I was a starting to believe in it. It was crazy to see him not remember his own name!

Taler went up on stage and the first act Paul had him to dance like a ballerina. He jumped and twirled and had moves that I had no idea existed. I about fell out of my chair laughing when the music began and Taler started to dance.  After the music stopped Paul Ramsey told everyone to sleep again and Taler was just looking around smiling. He apparently had come out of his trance and he was free to leave the stage. When he got back to his chair he remembered his name and said he knew that he was dancing on stage, but said he felt no emotion when he was dancing.

The evening went on and we laughed all night. One of the most interesting things about Paul, and what makes him unique, is that he uses remotes from the audience to poll the crowd on what they want the participants to do next. The crowd chose one student to have a voice coming from his jeans so the student thought his jeans were actually talking to him.

It was such a fun night and something totally different. I love it when really cool acts come into town and gives us such an awesome experience.

By the way, we are currently looking for event ideas for next year, so if you have anything you would like to see let us know and we will look into it.

P.S. It’s almost the end of the semester…. Thank goodness!! Hang in there and keep strong and I will see you at the finish line!!!

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An Evening of Recognition… and More!

Posted on 2013 April 19 by Anna Cantrell

Last night was our end of year shin dig, we call Celebration of Leaders. As a campus we come together to celebrate each other’s success and accomplishments over the year. I was very fortunate and thankful to be nominated for awards and am humbled by the recognition I received on stage last night.

As people were being seated last night there was music being provided by several of our talented students on campus. The evening was heartfelt with emotion and just a wonderful way to wrap up another year.

This year has flown by and I have grown so much as a person. I can tell that things that used to worry me to death are, “nothing but a thing.” To me this is a true sign of maturity and I can tell that I am maturing and understanding life a little more every day. I think the honors professor Dennis Lancaster would be proud that I have taken some of his philosophical values to heart. Anyway……!

The campus is looking gorgeous right now because every tree, flower, and plant is in full bloom. This is a great time of the year to tour the campus if you haven’t done so already. If you toured back in February for a Red Carpet Day feel free to come on back and visit us again. We would love to catch up with you and take you on a more personal tour to give you all the details on campus.

Funny thing is my post started off being about Celebration of Leaders, but it seems like my mind loves to wonder and my fingers just keep typing. Hope you are finishing out your year strong and keep in mind that the finish line is in sight! Keep your eye on your prize and you will be rewarded for your hard work. Hang in there gang and I will see you at the finish line.

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Twitter and Olympic Legends

Posted on 2013 April 17 by Dillon Puzzo

I am a Tweeter, I’ll admit it. I don’t tweet much, but I like it way more than other forms of social media. There’s an unwritten rule that when one reaches 1,000 tweets, they dedicate it to something significant. I haven’t tweeted that much yet, but when I do I’m going to dedicate it to the year 2013. It has been one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. If I could give any advice to my fellow students and the students-to-be, it would be that you’re going to go through some struggles, especially in college, but the main growth that you get from college (outside the classroom) is definitely how you bounce back.

In the 1972 Olympics, Lasse Viren fell during the twelfth lap of the 10,000 meter race, and instead of giving up right then, he got up and he won while the whole world was watching. Gold. He won the GOLD MEDAL. For 4 years he was the best in the world, AND HE FELL. So I would say it’s not so much how or why you fall, it’s more of how you get back up. So even though (as my honors teacher described it) the worst month of the year, April, may get you down, you gotta keep goin dudes. You never know who is watching.

Oh! And follow me on twitter! @dillonpuzzo

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End of The Road, Jack!

Posted on 2013 April 17 by Lucas Risner

As everyone may well know, I have golf fever now that spring is in full swing. (Man I sure can rhyme.) With numerous tournaments coming up, practice is crucial. With the third man in my regular tournament team consisting of my dad and me living 5 hours away, it is really hard to get in some team practice. Individual practice does help, but its just not the same. The Bank of Thayer-Kkountry95 tournament is on May 4th and The Grizzly Classic follows shortly after that. Get out and go play, especially the Grizzly Classic. It’s so much fun.

The same things about practice can be said about school at the moment. With the end of the semester approaching, many teachers are assigning the largest projects of the year, and many are assigning group projects as well. It is harder to find time to work in group when the year is ending because everyone is ready to be done and already has things planned. These projects are a group effort and all the weight should not stand on one persons shoulders. Don’t let yourself slip and put the work off on someone else. We all have summer in front of us to look forward to, but there’s important things to finish first.

On a brighter note, The Master’s tournament, professional golf’s first major of the year, kicked off today! I’ve been waiting for this anxiously, even though Tiger will most likely win again…

Will my Golf Fever ever subside? Probably not, but I don’t see a problem with it.

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Swag.

Posted on 2013 April 2 by Perla Quintana

The weather is warming up. Finally!

With this said, I would like to tell you all about my first embarrassing moment in the warm weather this year. I was driving home from a friend’s house the other night when I noticed a truck coming up behind me. This truck was HUGE. It didn’t help that I driving my friend’s tiny station wagon, or as I like to say, shaggin’ swag-on.

(If automatic seatbelts don’t say “swag,” then I don’t know what does anymore.)

Anyway, this giant truck began to get uncomfortably close to the swag-on. It was practically giving the swag-on a little booty bump. Naturally, I kind of freaked. I got a little paranoid as I kept looking back, thinking things like “Boy, it sure is dark out,” combined with “What if he has bodies in his giant truck like in the scary movie, Jeepers Creepers?!” In the process of constantly looking over my shoulder, it’s no surprise I crossed the center line a few times.

After several miles of darkness and this truck tailing me, a flash of red, white, and blue came on behind me.

It was a cop.

The truck was a secret cop. I can no longer say I’ve never been pulled over after that night.

I didn’t get a ticket thank goodness, but I’m sure I sounded ridiculous explaining how terrifying his truck looked in the rearview mirror. Needless to say, boys and girls, always keep your eyes on the road, the road of life, that is. You never know, that scary truck may actually be a good thing. So as you finish up your school year, and as you’re nearing graduation, don’t waste time looking back for long.

Keep looking ahead to what’s in front of you, or you may end up swerving into something you didn’t see coming.

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March Madness!

Posted on 2013 April 2 by Lucas Risner

Now that we’re all back from Spring Break and with ith March Madness in full swing, I find it hard to concentrate on many things in my fast paced life of fighting crime, extreme sports, flying fighter jets, and drinking Koolaid, much less school work. I am constantly checking on my basketball bracket and talking trash to all of those other people in my bracket league of how bad I am going to beat them, when the reality is that my bracket is most likely going to end of busted completely by the end. Now on a more serious note, I am already a skilled procrastinator and all of the nail-biting games on television make me lose my focus with ease.

I’m sure many people struggle with March Madness just like I do, but the only thing we can do is hope that our instructors do not assign large projects as soon as we get back from spring break. It is hard enough for us to want to do anything when we return to school, much less forget about basketball. The only advice I can give you is to stay on the grind as long as you can, and if you fall off, finish your game and return to your work. Sometimes this can help clear the head enough to accomplish a few things. It works for me, so maybe it will work for you too!

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Cold Weather? Who cares?

Posted on 2013 March 21 by Lucas Risner

This cold weather has really dampened many students’ spirits this semester. We have already had two snow days here on campus! While many high schools get out frequently during the winter months, the university stays open most days. While I was grateful for the quick break of the snow days, I was glad to be back to school and on track again. I have a set schedule that my body does not seem to want to change. When that schedule is interrupted, my mind and body is in mass chaos until it rights the ship!

In most cases, I like to spend my time off outside on the golf course. There’s nothing quite like a relaxing round of golf. Someone once said, “A bad day golfing is still better than a good day working.” I couldn’t agree with them more! I can’t wait for the weather to warm up so I can get out on the course and reclaim some of my sanity. If you haven’t tried golfing, then grab a few friends and hit the course. It’s not about how good you are, but the company you enjoy and the fun you can have. So when those cold winter days get you down, think about all of the nice days that are coming and plan something outside, be active, play a sport, or simply take a walk. This will help to clear your head so you can get back on the grind and your school work with some enthusiasm.

Also, when the weather is nice, it’s a good time to tour college campuses.  Call for a tour of Missouri State-West Plains and request me as your tour guide!

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