Recapping The Semester – Ian
Recapping The Semester – Ian
03/09/2020 1:14 AM
Happy almost end of the semester everyone! Congrats on almost being halfway done with your senior year (woo-hoo!)
I don’t know about y’all, but this semester has been a whirlwind of being busy, studying hard, and keeping on top of many, many things! I just wanted to take some time and share some of the highlights of my semester, hoping you can get a small glimpse of all the fun things Bradley has to offer.
Starting way back in August, which now feels like many moons ago, I hit the ground running having RA (Residential Advisor) training, and the 13th!! session of orientation at the same time. It was honestly crazy having to be at two places at once before the school year even began, but incredibly fun. The past two summers I was an Orientation Leader at Bradley, so I stayed at Bradley during the summer and hung out with all the incoming freshmen. Bradley has an awesome 2 ½ day orientation experience that all freshmen go through, so it was really fun to meet all the freshmen throughout the summer, all the way to leading up to the first week of school!
Once session 13 and RA training were both done, it was time for Welcome Week. Welcome Week is a SUPER fun time of the school year that happens before classes even start. It starts with move-in day on Saturday and goes all the way through the first week of classes (classes don’t start until the following week). During Welcome Week this year, I got to experience Bradley’s pep rally, Taste of Bradley, the Activities Fair, a hypnotist show, Fresh Convocation, among many, many other things. Welcome Week is a great time to hang out with friends and have some fun before the chaos of the school year really kicks in.
Once the school year got into full swing, things got quite busy, quickly! As I have shared before, I am apart of the Activities Council of Bradley University and have been a Vice President this past year. We put on a TON of events this past semester, but some of my favorites had to have been Live! On Main (featuring comedian Matt Bellassai), the Homecoming Parade, Cocoa and Cram (a fun end of the year event that had finals preparation materials, gingerbread house making, a bouncy house snow globe, and many other awesome activities), a show by comedian Sammy Obied, and Glowback Throwback (a music event with a live performance by boyband Next Town Down, which also had free mashed potatoes and chicken nuggets). It was a packed semester for ACBU, and I am super excited to be taking on the role of President next semester!
Outside of ACBU, I had some other really awesome experiences through many of the other things I am apart of on campus. I had the opportunity in October to be a leader on the Catholic Braves retreat and give a talk on the retreat, which was an INCREDIBLE experience. As a violinist in the Bradley Symphony Orchestra, we had two awesome concerts this semester, in the first one we played a Dvorak symphony, a Lalo Cello Concerto, and in the second we played with the Bradley Choir!