Holy cats – the semester is almost over. I have to say that overall, this past year has been my favorite at Fontbonne. It’s crazy, but honestly things just keep getting better and better for me here. My college experience so far has been just as wonderful as I ever could have imagined, and I am so thankful for that.

It’s crazy to think about all the factors that influenced my college decision way back when – how lucky I am that it all worked out and that I made the right decision. Next year will be my last here: I’ll be finishing up my undergrad in dietetics, applying for internships (probably in Texas and South Carolina, mostly), taking on my last stand as Environmental Club president, and of course running and laughing and enjoying life with my friends. I’ve met so many great people here at Fontbonne, and although some of them have moved on to other places and lives, I still think of them fondly.

It’s always a transition to move home for the summer, but although I love living here with my friends, I appreciate the relaxation and time to reconnect with myself that it brings.  On the agenda for this summer is running, tanning, baking, volunteering, organizing, crafting, and planning for next year and beyond. It will be nice to have a couple of months to enjoy the beautiful sunshine. See you in the fall!

Wow! It’s hard to believe that I am already writing the final blog for this semester. While these past 16 weeks of school have been amazing, I am really looking forward to this summer. I guess you could say pretty much everyone is, but I personally have never been this excited. I’m pretty sure this is going to be the best summer of my life thus far. Allow me to explain. First of all, I will be studying abroad in London for five weeks. I have never been out of the country before or traveled alone. This will be an entirely new experience for me that will help me grow tremendously. I have been making a long list of the things I want to do while I am in Europe.

Secondly, as soon as I get back from London, I am driving to Kansas City to go to the One Direction concert! I bought these tickets 13 months in advance, so this event has obviously been a long time coming. I love these guys beyond belief and couldn’t be happier that I get to see them live. Besides these two major events, I will also be attending a team bonding/leadership development retreat in Lake of the Ozarks with my fellow Fontbonne Activities Board officers. Any other time that I have will be spent working at Gordmans, babysitting, visiting with friends, and seeing Muny shows. My family gets season tickets to the Muny every summer. I will be missing most of them this year due to my numerous other plans. I am okay with this though considering I will be in one of the major fashion capitals of the world. I am convinced that summer 2013 will be one to go down in my personal record book. I will be sure to return next semester with many fabulous stories.

Going to college in St. Louis, you should be well aware that the weather changes quite frequently! The past couple of days the weather has been fairly bipolar. This weekend was absolutely gorgeous outside! I loved driving with my windows rolled down, and my music blaring, and being able to wear my shorts again! It was a nice break from the fall temperatures. But within the matter of hours it went from sunny and hot to raining and freezing! Then today, it was a shocking cold! I wore my Bear Paws (Knock off Uggs) yoga pants, a hoodie, and a scarf! It was too cold! If you choose any school in Missouri, be prepared for any season’s weather, not during it’s own season! Don’t be afraid of this either, cause it allows you to mix up your outfits a lot more frequently! You can have clear, blue skies one day, and snow the next and I wouldn’t change it for a thing! I love St. Louis’ bipolar weather!

Wow.  I’m exactly halfway through my time at Fontbonne.  I just finished my last final this morning, and I was out the door by 10:05.  It will take me a while to realize that I’m actually on summer break, but I’m happy for my newfound freedom.

This year was definitely far more challenging than last year.  Last year, I took a lot of challenging courses – don’t get me wrong – but they were more generalized and foundational.  This year, in addition to some sophomore-, junior-, and (I’m not going to lie) senior-level biology courses, I took on the so-called biology major’s “worst nightmare” – organic chemistry.  It was definitely difficult, but it was so worth it at the same time.  I got really close to my friends in part thanks to that class, and getting through it alive has pretty much taught me that I can get through anything if I keep at it.

So what will I be doing this summer?  Well, to put it bluntly, a lot.  I will be interning at the St. Louis Science Center in the Physical Sciences Gallery.  While there, I will be presenting Amazing Science Demonstrations, which are 10-15 minute shows about different aspects of science.  This will be the perfect marriage of my two main passions in life - science and theatre!  In addition, I’ll be taking family vacations to Florida and Minnesota, and I’ll be taking a philosophy course for general education requirements.  Add in Saturday nights at The Muny and various trips to Forest Park, and there’s my summer in a nutshell.

Have a great, safe summer everyone, and I’ll see most of you again in the fall.

This week was one busy week at Fontbonne. It was my last week of class before finals! This year at Fontbonne has been great, but I am so excited for next week. My roommate and I have decided to make the week of finals “fun week” and do all the things we should have throughout the year when we were too busy doing homework. We plan on going to the zoo, doing lots (I mean lots) of shopping, visiting the art and history museum, and enjoying some of the restaurants St. Louis has to offer. We have mapped out the week and in between studying and finals will be having some fun!

Today I got to go to a Cardinals game! I have been waiting since August to go to the stadium and see the Redbirds play again. Today, me, my sister, her friend, and my roommate went. The game was amazing, except we lost and got terrible sunburns — really bad sunburns! Ouch!

This time next week I will be about to leave to go home for summer. I am ready to enjoy the next three months and not worry about anything school-related. Our floor has been having an “open door” contest since February and I won! Go me! I can’t wait to come back for my second year of Fontbonne, but having a few months off is going to be wonderful. Hello summer!

Hello Everyone,
Last post, I was supposed to have a picture of my old Beta Fish, Clark Kent, but difficulties loading prevented that from happening. SO! Without further ado, here is the late Clark Kent (sympathetic sigh here please) and here is round 2, Apollo!!!! (“Ooooh” and “Ahhh” here please).

This week is one of those weeks where I do not have much to do, but I know I will have a ton to do next week and can’t do anything about it. The end of the semester is coming up fast and summer is waiting. I don’t know about you guys, but I am ready to hit the pool and run around like a crazy person, throwing papers in the air as I do so. I am looking forward to the summer break and even for next fall semester. I don’t have a big summer planned. It will most likely involve work, work, and more work. Hopefully I get a camping trip in! If you have never been camping I implore you to try it. My family and I do a floating/camping combo near the Meramac at the Garrisons River Resort in Steelville, Missouri. It’s cheap, quaint, and you can pitch your tent right next to the river. Fishing is nice and the water is great. That will be a summer highlight for sure in my book!

I don’t have much else to say, so I will just end this post about donating blood. Today at Fontbonne the Mississippi Valley Blood Center was here, and I participated in saving 3 lives today. To anyone thinking about that needle, it is easier than people think and does not hurt. A quick pinch and you are perfectly fine. I make it a habit to donate when I can. The American Red Cross has many different facilities that take appointments every day. Just Google the nearest site near you and start reaping the benefit of feeling great for taking time to save lives. Blood is needed more than people realize, especially you O type blood people!!! So if you aren’t too busy, give a donor facility a call and set up an appointment today!!!
Thanks,
Jeanne!

Spring Break and now Easter break? It feels like summer to this former Catholic School girl. All through high school, I had no spring break and no Easter break. We were always given Holy days off leading up to Easter, and we also had Easter Monday off. Having all of these breaks so close together are making me slightly lazy. It is time to snap out of it! I have still have about a month of school left, and that means a month of hard work and concentration. I think the library and I will soon become friends. I am happy to say that I have almost survived my first year of college. Surviving is half the battle! With that I will leave you with my favorite summer song! Enjoy

It kind of creeps me out how close summer really is when you sit down and think about it.  We are just a mere 16 school days until spring break, and Fontbonne’s summer class schedules are already out.  (By the way, kudos to whoever designed the covers - I was talking to some friends about the brightly-colored design, and we were laughing about the fact that they almost actually make summer school look fun.)  And just this morning, I went to the St. Louis Science Center in order to interview for a summer internship position in the Life Science Lab.  Wish me luck!

With summer just around the corner, I begin to reflect on the semester.  It seems like we just started this spring semester, but, at the same time, it does feel like we’ve been working through the same classes for a while, if my contradictory statement makes any sense at all.  I’m really enjoying my classes so far, and, though they’re definitely challenging, they’re so worth it.  I’ve figured out a study schedule that has been working out pretty well, and I feel as though I’ve learned a lot. 

But, there’s still a lot more to do, so I’d better not dilly-dally any longer.  I’ll have all summer to do that.  Well, sort of – it kind of depends on if I get the internship and on which summer classes I decide to take…

School has started, classes are already back in full swing, and the feeling of fall is in the air. But, I’m probably getting ahead of myself.  For those of you who don’t know me, let me introduce myself.  My name is Courtney Iberg, and I’m a sophomore here at Fontbonne University.  I’m majoring in biotechnology and physiology and minoring in chemistry and theatre.  I’m all excited about this semester because I am the new Activities Coordinator for the Biological Sciences Organization, which we generally just call the BSO.  (For those of you who know me, you know that I’ll be putting a lot of BSO plugs in my blogs.  Here’s my first plug of the year: Be sure to join the BSO on Saturday, September 24, for our first annual campus-wide Zoo trip!  More info to come later.)

Anyways, back to my introduction.  Like I said, I’m a biology major, so I’m taking a lot of biology and biology-related classes this year.  You’ll find me in organic chemistry, anatomy and physiology, cell and molecular biology, and management principles (required for biotechnology majors).  I’m also taking an acting course for my theatre minor, and I’m doing department research with my advisor, Dr. Paine-Saunders.  It’s definitely a rigorous course load, but with the help of my amazing professors and the support of my friends, I’m sure I’ll be able to make it through the semester.   I think that these courses will definitely prepare me for entrance into my desired field, which is biomedical research in (most likely) either microbiology or neurology.

If I were to describe my summer in one word, I would definitely say my summer was “productive.”  I took two general education classes so that I could mark them off my Fontbonne 4-year to-do list, and we got new siding on our house (which was a huge project that desperately needed to be completed).   But, despite all of the progress, I also had some fun.  My parents and I went to Florida and saw the new Harry Potter park at Universal Studios (which, by the way, was absolutely amazing and realistic), and I was lucky enough to see “A Chorus Line” at Stages in addition to all seven musicals performed at The Muny.  (Props to the cast and crew of “Little Shop of Horrors,” which was definitely the most surprising show of The Muny’s season.  I never imagined that I’d become so addicted to a show about a man-eating plant!)

As I said, school is already back in full swing.  I guess that means that I’d better stop blogging and start typing up my anatomy notes for my upcoming test.  So until next time, good luck with the semester, everybody!  I can’t tell you how glad I am to be back with my Griffin family again!

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this is it – the official last blog I’ll be writing as a freshman. This year, though crazy at times, provided me with new experiences, plenty of new friends, and great memories that will surely last a lifetime.

I’m so happy that I decided to attend Fontbonne and that I decided to be a biology major. I’ve recently been in touch with old friends from high school, and many of them are switching colleges or majors next year. I am happy to say that I am not doing either of those things, and I definitely have Fontbonne to thank for that. Fontbonne is such a welcoming place with so many wonderful people, which is why switching colleges is out of the question for me. And there’s no way I’ll be switching majors because the science department here is awesome; the professors and staff in that department are the absolute best. They help us and challenge us to be the best that we can be. I owe them all so much.

As for my summer plans, I will be taking two general education classes (composition and sociology) so that way I can be closer to finishing my gen eds and then focus my time on biology and theatre (which, if you recall, is what I came here to do). My parents and I are going to Florida in a few weeks (I can’t wait to get out of Saint Louis to enjoy a little Florida sunshine for a while!), and I’ll be at The Muny every Saturday night. Other than that, I have no idea what I’ll be doing. And trust me, after a school year full of to-do lists and scheduling my life out, I’m okay with that.

So, here I go – I’m signing out for the summer. Have a great summer, everyone, and I’ll see you all next fall.