Thanks to all the faulty, staff, and students who made my time at BU so memorable!!!

Since I am part of the Brown Scholars Program, I had to complete a senior capstone. The capstone is supposed to integrate different things we learned while in the Brown Scholars program and specifically highlight civic engagement, communication and leadership.Since I knew I was going to be participating in an alternative spring break in Washington DC working with the homeless, I decided to make my capstone about homelessness.

When I started the project my original plan was to interviews of students where I just asked them questions about homelessness to gauge their understanding of the issue. My theory was that as a society, we are often times very ignorant in regards to homeless– I thought that if people were more educated about the issue they would be more willing to help.

When I interviewed students I found that I was correct– we didn’t know that much about homelessness. But I found when I put all the interviews together, it didn’t leave an impact. I decided to scratch that idea and go a different direction. Instead of having students discuss what they don’t know about homelessness, I decided to talk to people who were actually homeless and hear their stories. The end result was this:

a documentary that focuses on the four main parts that people seemed to the most misconceptions about. If you have a chance to watch it, you should… I mean, I would — though I may be kind of biased. I started my capstone with the hopes of enlightening others and in the end I found that I was enlightened myself.

Enjoy!

Until next time!

Ailise

“Sleep, to the homeless thou art home; the friendless find in thee a friend” -  Ebenezer Elliott

Whining and complaining was pretty much my go to, though the past year I have been making more of an effort to come to terms with life’s little setbacks, and see them just as that: little setbacks. I tried to view “bad” things as little setbacks– things that temporarily interrupted the flow of everyday life but things that would be resolved.

This approach to senior year had worked pretty well for me –but don’t get me wrong, I still complained from time to time. I used the past tense (had worked) because around the end of February, life dealt me a colossal lemon.

In February my mom was diagnosed with Lupus. Actually, when I first found out I was dealing with one of life’s setbacks– I had ran over a screw with my car and subsequently need to have my tire replaced. While dealing with the tire center at Costco I got a call from my dad saying that my mom found out she had Lupus. Immediately I hung up with my dad and called my mom, she said that she didn’t tell me herself because she didn’t want me to worry while I was away at school (that’s my mom for you– always putting others before herself).

Now, I’m not sure if you all know anything about Lupus but I definitely didn’t. All the knowledge I had in regards to Lupus was derived from the television show House, and even that wasn’t all that informative.

SO, I took this colossal lemon that life threw at my family and made a colossal amount of lemonade. I started researching Lupus. I found out as much as I could. Lupus is a chronic (meaning there is no cure) autoimmune disease where your body attacks and destroys its healthy tissues. They don’t know what causes Lupus and anyone can develop Lupus. I started sending links to my mom regarding Lupus — what a Lupus diagnosis means, what to expect, how to talk to your family about Lupus. I found that by comforting my mom I ended up comforting myself.

During all my research I found out that there are Lupus Walks (not all that surprising because there are walks for practically everything these days). I found a walk that wasn’t too far away from my house and invited all my friends and family to join my team.

The walk is May 19th– just one more thing to look forward too besides graduation!

That’s all for now, until next time!

Ailise

http://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1051445&supId=378120529&extSiteType=1

I am officially a member of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Class of 2017!!!

The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine…my new home this fall!

Throughout the entire process, I have had great support from friends, family, and the Bellarmine community.  I would like to thank everyone who has given me advice, kept me in their thoughts, or listened to me vent!

A special thanks to all of the Bellarmine faculty and the BU Pre-Medical Advising Committee for providing direction and guidance throughout my journey, and for preparing me for the next step in my life!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

-Marianne Williamson

Hi everyone,
After months and months of careful planning, I’m very happy to say that my hard work has paid off. I’ve known for a while now how busy this weekend was going to be, so luckily I’ve been able to mentally prepare, but I never expected I would learn as much as I did. I’ve never felt so empowered, so motivated, so inspired. This weekend showed me that I’m capable of so much more than I ever thought of. Now that I can let out a sigh of relief and enjoy some downtime, let me tell you a little about my weekend:

IMPACT SUMMIT:

Bellarmine held its first annual Impact Summit leadership program on Friday evening. I was able to attend the first committee meeting and assist with foundation planning of the event, but was unable to attend the remainder of the meetings as I had two other big events I was responsible for in the two days after the Summit. I was truly impressed with how the Impact Summit program turned out and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be surrounded by so many talented emerging leaders within our University. We all came from different backgrounds and different student organizations, but we all had similar experiences.

What stuck with me the most was learning the importance of making a difference. Even if you impact just one person, that’s positive change and your act, whether you’re aware of it or not, may trickle forward to other acts of kindness.  I’m a huge fan of random acts of kindness, as well as letting my friends and family know how much I care about them, so this program really meant a lot to me.

Phi Mu National President, Kris Bridges, and I at KY Phi Mu Day

After months of planning, countless meetings, late nights and crafting, it was finally the big day!  I was so happy to finally welcome almost 200 Phi Mu women from across Kentucky and southern Indiana to Bellarmine’s campus. It was a wonderful opportunity getting to meet new sisters and swap ideas with them, as well as listen to our oh-so-elegant National President speak. All of the hard work for this event, especially this past week, became so worth it getting to sit in awe knowing I was surrounded by girls who have gone through the same things I have and share the same special bond.

After Impact Summit and KY Phi Mu Day I was ready to close my weekend with the Phillip Phillips concert. One of the countless reason why I love Bellarmine so much is that they provide us with so many opportunities. Whether it is to help us develop professionally at the Impact Summit, allow us to celebrate our sisterhood at Phi Mu Day, or to enjoy a relaxing evening in the Quad accompanied by Phillip Phillips’ wonderful performance, they give us opportunities. And for that, I’m incredibly thankful.

Song of the day: Home by Phillip Phillips. This weekend proved to me that Louisville is my home, reaffirmed to me how Bellarmine couldn’t have been a more perfect choice, and that this is where I truly belong.

For those playing at home, I made a post a couple of days ago (and by a couple of days ago I mean yesterday) called “Dun Dun Dun the plot thickens” about how I had decided on a law school. Well the boyfriend ported in Singapore so I was able to talk to him and tell him the news, SO that means, I get to share the excitement with you all…

SO without further ado (drum roll please…)

I will be attending Penn State University starting August 2013.

I know, I’m probably as shocked as anyone. Originally I had decided on another school but this past weekend (well, Thursday and Friday) I ventured to State College, PA to visit the school. When I arrived on campus I just had this gut feeling (though truthfully, that could have been due to the fact that I woke up at 4am and was hopped up on caffeine) Anyway, as I walked around the campus I just had this feeling of belonging– like this was the place I was meant to be. Every little thing that happened I took as a sign– for example, this picture:

This is a picture of the famous Nittany Lion (Penn State’s mascot). After I took the picture I realized that it looked almost as if the sun was shining straight on the statue– of course I took that as a sign. I also considered the fact that the Senior Admissions Director I met with had actually heard of Bellarmine as a sign. Upon meeting Mr. Keener he said “I’ve got a bone to pick with you. Bellarmine was the only team that we lost a ballot to last weekend at the Mock Trial tournament.”  I kinda laughed and said, “yeahhh, our Mock Trial team is kind of a big deal….” Mr. Keener was extremely complimentary about our Mock Trial team and program and even gave me a letter and t-shirt to bring back to the Mock Trial coach, Jim Wagoner.

Another fun story for y’all– as I was walking to the law school to sit in on a class I passed a piece of gum that had been smushed on the side walk. At first I thought it was a penny because it was pretty much a perfect circle. When I realized that it was just someone’s discarded chewing gum I thought “man, if that was a penny it would have been like a sign that I was supposed to go here”. Well, guess what I found no more than 20 feet later — yup, that’s right a HEADS-UP penny. Well played universe, well played.

Superstitions aside, I am reminded of a quote from one of my favorite television characters Leslie Knope (played by Amy Pohler) of Parks and Rec “When you’re in love, everything seems like a sign”. The fact that I took everything as I sign that I am supposed to go to Penn State next fall just reaffirms the fact that I am supposed to be there– I fell in love with the program and the place and I justified my love by finding “hidden signs” hah.

I am very grateful for my friends and family who have put up with me and supported me endlessly through my journey to law school . I’d be lost without them.

Alright kids, that’s all for now!

Ailise

I know, you’re probably thinking “what gives?! This is just a picture of a rolled up t-shirt”– well there is an explanation for that one. In previous posts I have briefly mentioned the fact that my boyfriend is deployed– well I’m not sure how familiar you are with deployment but it kinda limits communication.

Well, deciding on a law school is kind of a big deal– a big enough deal that it merits more than an email saying “Oh hey, I’m going to this school. Talk to you later!” Sooooo, I got a little creative. I decided that I would break the news via a t-shirt from the school I will be attending in the fall. Until I have a chance to tell the boyfriend I’m trying to keep things hush hush– but don’t worry, I’ll let you all know in a couple of days!

Until next time!

Ailise

The Soil and the Sun (minus one)

The Michigan-based group is amidst of a tour. They played SXSW (South by Southwest for those unfamiliar with the acronym) earlier this month and they have a handful of shows with Kellen+Me before they head back home.

Now, I’m going to be honest– prior to getting the invite to the concert I hadn’t really heard of the Soil and the Sun before, I checked out a couple of their songs and read up on some of their history but I wasn’t entirely certain what to expect. To say I was pleasantly surprised would probably be an understatement. Not only was the group super friendly and down to earth but they made amazing music. When we spoke to them before their set we asked them what genre they were and they explained it as “orchestral/alternative/folk/ambient” I’m not sure what you all imagine when you hear such a wide spectrum of genres put together but I was definitely intrigued.

While listening to their set I had somewhat of an epiphany/light bulb moment. At Bellarmine when you want to become a DJ for Bellarmine Radio you typically have to take broadcasting lab taught by Dr. Kyle Barnett. I took broadcasting lab last year and I remember a moment in one of the first few class periods where Kyle posed then answered the question “Why college radio?” His answer was simple yet brilliant. He told us to think of our favorite song or our favorite artist and said they weren’t your favorite until you found out about them– someone or something introduced you do them and that that is the point of college radio– to expose people to music they may not typically encounter and to help people find their new favorite artist or new favorite song. That being said, Bellarmine radio is responsible for introducing me to The Soil and the Sun– a band that is quickly topping “number of plays” in my itunes, so I am going to pass on the favor and introduce them to you.

Don’t worry, you can thank me later.

That’s all for now, until next time!

Ailise

ps. here is an obscene amount of pictures I took at their concert — if you scroll through them quickly it has the same effect as one of those picture books that looks like the people are dancing — I know, pretty awesome ha

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200481418095290.1073741825.1152360284&type=1&l=bc967041d5

pps I’d include more from the interview but sadly Vincent has those notes not me — I”ll update y’all when I can get my hands on them!