Tag Archives: fall

Falling for Fall

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Hello!

I’m so, so happy that it’s finally October! I love the month of October! Even though it is the month of midterms and crazy schedules, the weather is beautiful, the Cardinals are in the playoffs, and the fall clothes finally get dusted off. Homecoming is right around the corner, and that means Parents’ Weekend! I can’t wait to see my family…it’s been almost two months since I’ve seen them! I love having them come down to TU and experience the vibrant atmosphere of the campus. They love going to football games and seeing the bonfire, and it’s always fun showing them the city of Tulsa while they’re down here, too. It’s nice bringing my family life and my school life together, because it’s like having the best of both worlds!

Lately I’ve been having a ton of fun in Tulsa! Last Friday night I went to the State Fair with a bunch of people in my research group, and we had a blast! We ate our way through all of the greasy fair food, rode all of the sketchy carnival rides, and all of the guys tried to show off by playing all of the fair games. Sadly, they didn’t win any big, oversized teddy bears for us girls, but we still had a great time! Then last night I went to my first home football game of the season because I didn’t end up attending the OSU game…I was at the game for the original kickoff time, but then the rain delay caused kickoff to be pushed back to 12:15 am, and I ended up falling asleep. =( Whoops! It was great seeing a football game, though, and I’m excited for the rest of the season! Today my sorority had a date function where we all went bowling, and that was was really fun, too! It’s been a really great weekend, and I can’t wait for the beautiful fall weekends to come. From biking on Riverside to competing in the McNellie’s Pub Run in November, the fall season has so much to offer! I can’t wait!

Talk to you again soon!

Hello TU!

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Hello all! My name is Khristen and I am a freshman Mechanical Engineer here at TU! I am very excited about getting to share some of my adventures at TU on the TU student blog! Let me use this first post just to introduce myself and talk about how I have adapted to the booming city of Tulsa!

I am from a small (but growing!) town in Southeastern Oklahoma called Durant. Durant has about 16,000 people compared to Tulsa’s almost one million! I chose to come to the University of Tulsa because I wanted to attend a college in Oklahoma and TU’s engineering program is ABET accredited, meaning it is very prestigious. One of the things that really pulled me to TU was the small class size and the personal attention of the professors, something I have already greatly felt in just the first few weeks of school.

Coming to TU, I was a little worried about adapting to college and making it without my family. However, I have met so many great people through the different organizations and church groups that I am involved in that the move to college has been surprisingly easy! Another very helpful thing is the personability of the professors. They are so eager to help me with anything I need. From showing me how to do homework problems to helping me write a resume to talking about their families, all of my professors have been so easily approachable and helpful.

Over the first four weeks of college, I have learned a few valuable lessons:

  1. No matter how much you have to get done or how busy you are, sleeping and eating are NOT optional!
  2. Do not be afraid to ask for help or advice when you have a problem. So many people would love to help out with anything you need!
  3. While studying is a huge commitment and takes up so much time, it can be so much fun! Learning with a group helps information stay better!

Thanks for reading, and until next time!

Back to School

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It’s Emily here. It’s amazing what happens in a year. Last September I was not knee deep in a new semester, I was knee deep in a new job. I was just becoming acquainted with exactly what it feels like to live a dream and had just met the people I now consider some of my closest friends.  I had just made the leap from intern to someone who oversaw an intern. Now I’m an intern once again.

As every year has since I graduated from high school, last year completely transformed me. I’m certain that my senior year at TU will be no different. Reaching senior year is awesome, but it’s also scary. I don’t know what comes next.

Still, we are experiencing a real fall season in Tulsa this year, which is a rare and wonderful thing. The crisp, cool air signals coming change and sweater weather. Maybe it’s just me, but the world seems like a better, more manageable place when I’m wearing a cozy sweater.

And now, in honor of the return to school, a campus classic:

Oktober… November!

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My “little sister” that I mentor at a local elementary school always reminds me how AWESOME it was to be a kid! Remember when you could be basically anything for Halloween, and somebody thought it was cool? Well those days are loooong gone! Halloween in college is a time to prove yourself… who can come up with the most clever costume? There were definitely some creative ones this year. My friend Craig was dressed as left-brain/right-brain. I saw a pre-Christmas season elf wandering around, as well as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a pig in a blanket, and a German exchange student in a bumblebee costume! My boyfriend Stefan and I spent 3 weeks brainstorming for costume ideas… and we had nothing until the night before the big party. Luckily, it only took us one lunch-time shopping spree to pull our costume together!


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Me and Stefan: Little Bo Peep and a Sheep

pig in a blanket christian

Jordan S: Pig in a Blanket; Christian: Bumblebee

October is one of my favorite months at TU. Halloween was just the icing on the cake – we had a great football game against Notre Dame, and one of the top 10 Oktoberfests of the year was happening right across town! TU’s Student Association sponsored a shuttle service from campus to Oktoberfest so that we could avoid parking fees (and stuff). This year I even managed a SWEET discount on the ferris wheel… I got 2 people on for $1 ($7 in savings!!). Who knew you could bargain with the ride operators?


Oktoberfest

So yes, October was awesome, but November is coming in at a close second. How do I know this just 3 days into the month? Because hopefully November will bring the first big freeze!! My allergies will be put to death, I can wear all of my comfortable winter sweatshirts, and soon it will be time to decorate for Christmas. Maybe we can even outdo our holiday decor from sophomore year in La Fortune!


christmaslafortune
Aaand to update you since my last post… I’m sooo close to handing in my scholarship application for grad school in Germany! November 12 is the big day. Right now my professors are writing letters of recommendation and I’ll soon be able to put together the application packet!

Also, the job interview in Wichita went pretty well; I managed to get the internship this summer with Koch Industries! I’ll be working in the IT department as a business analyst. It seems like it will be a really good experience, so I hope I can learn a lot while I’m there!

Welp, it’s 11:14 PM, sooo… time to hit the books! Then the hay. Until next time!

The leaves are getting crunchy!!!

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BLOG TIME! Long periods with no blogging are a good sign. Senior year is still incredibly busy, but I am doing a pretty good job of still-having-a-life while keeping up with school!

The last month has a lot of highlights.

Stefan is in town! He finished his master’s thesis and is taking a vacation here in Tulsa before starting his doctorate. Last week we went to San Francisco to visit Adriana, my roommate from Spain. I had never been outside of a California airport before (eew, LAX) so the state was all new to me. We had a great time speed-touring San Francisco in 1.5 days and tromping around Yosemite National Park for the weekend. I think half of the country of Germany was in San Francisco while we were there… all I heard around me was German talk. An old couple approached us in the street with a map (we must have looked like natives) and asked, “Do you know… the crooked… strasse… ” BAM. They gave away their nationality. They were very excited to discover we could give them directions in German, haha. Missing school for a week was awesome!! …until I came back! Oops, now I am pretty behind in several classes, but it was still great timing since I didn’t miss any tests!

The weather has been awesome lately! I can now ditch the A/C and sleep with my window open, and leaves are starting to turn :D I am a proud member of the facebook group called “Yes, I will walk out of my way just to step on that crunchy-looking leaf”, and this is prime time for leaf-crunching. It’s also perfect for running (to class, since that’s the only running I’m doing these days) and reading outside!

A couple of students and I have gotten together to create the TU German Club. Every two weeks we have a dinner, Der Stammtisch, where students can come to practice their German. The dinners are really fun and a few German students show up each time, which really helps with the conversation!

I have been spending tons of time on my grad school scholarship application that’s due in mid-November. The scholarship I am applying for is funded by a German exchange organization, the DAAD, that would pay for me to do a master’s degree in Germany. Here at TU, we have a coordinator of nationally competitive scholarships who dedicates her time to helping students win these things! Every time I meet her to work on my personal statement, I leave with even more great ideas for how to strengthen my essay. My friend Craig just finished his application for the Gates scholarship to do his doctorate in Cambridge! Now I suppose we’ll hang tight and wait for him to hear back!! Mine is due in mid-November, but I won’t have news until March or April… :/ We’ll see!!

It’s also job interview season here on campus… students all over the place are decked out in suits as they have interviews in between (or sometimes instead of) classes. I recently interviewed with Koch Industries for an IT position in Wichita, Kansas. Next week I’m headed up to the big city (I guess?) for an on-site interview to see if I can snag an internship for the summer!

Thanksgiving break plans are also underway… My friends and I would like to take a small trip from Sunday-Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We are thinking about going to St. Louis, to my roommate Kay’s house. Her house is a lot like the Weasley house when everybody is home. There is always tons of good food, her parents are super friendly and people are always talking and recruiting armies to fight the dark lord. Well, normally we don’t do the last thing, but this year we’ll be in the HP spirit since Deathly Hallows part 1 comes out NOVEMBER 19!!! Woo hoo!! We can end this blog update with a picture of me in my Gryffindor robes.

tiffgryffindor
And Happy Halloween, everybody!!!

Fall is Here

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Fall has arrived! I think… Today it got up to like 85 degrees, but I wore sweats all day as a matter of principle. Things are going well here at TU. I just finished an intense two weeks of quizzes, tests, and projects, so hopefully the next couple won’t be too bad.

Over the weekend I took a little trip to the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas to go backpacking with some friends. It was great, we left right after class on Friday, drove a couple hours, hiked over 15 miles in two days, camped, enjoyed the best weather we could’ve asked for, and got back Sunday night for the best part of the weekend – cramming for Statistics. Oh yeah…

Good news is I think I did really well on the Stat exam. Speaking of exams, I believe I promised in my last post that I’d tell you how I did on my recent Microeconomics test. I know it’s been hard to wait all this time with such an important matter up in the air, but without further adieu…I got a 93%. Considering how confused I get in that class, I was ecstatic to get a 93. As for Accounting, let’s just say I got the same grade, give or take 6 percentage points.

This is the first weekend I’m not going anywhere in awhile, and I can’t wait. Friday night I’m going to go see The Social Network with some of my buddies and some friends from the Tulsa Ballet. I know – random, but it’s a long story. Saturday is Theta World Cup, a soccer tournament put on by one of the sororities. I have no doubt my team will dominate. After that I think I’m going to go to the Philbrook Museum with a few friends to see the mummies and stuff they have on a special exhibit there right now. Sunday I will be spending the entire day doing the Spanish homework I have failed to do for the past two weeks before she picks up portfolios on Monday. Really now, don’t be jealous.

As for now, I’m going to the gym to shoot some hoops. Intramural 3-on-3 starts tomorrow, and saying that I’m rusty is a MAJOR understatement, so I’m gonna go try and sharpen up my skills before our first game. With that said, have a good one.

Until next time!

Fall!

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Cool weather has arrived, and it has been a much needed relief from the former Summer heat. Although I’m enjoying everything at school, I hope October goes by quick so Thanksgiving Break can come. I survived my first shotgun experience at the skeet shoot, but received a couple bruises before realizing proper form was pertainent to pain free shooting. It was great fun to get taught gun safety, and spend a saturday morning with TEMSA students. School has kicked into full gear with Tests and quizzes seemingly every week, but I am looking foward to a field trip with my Intro to Petroleum Engineering class. It is weird thinking there are still field trips after high school, but were going to an oil rig, and the north campus on Saturday. I am excited to see how it all works, and gain knowledge for the field of work I am pursuing.
Flag football is getting more intense, with practice twice a week now, one being tonight at 9 PM!! On Sunday were playing the team the law school has put together, so we’ll see if they put the same amount of practice in as they do for the BAR exam.
Oh, I almost forgot something super important. I started visiting the local high school, Will Rogers, and it has been awesome. TU has created a partnership with the school, in order to place good influences in student’s lives to encourage the completion of high school, and college in their future. I think it is an equally rewarding program for both the TU mentors, and the high school students.

Here We Go Again!

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As you (hopefully) gathered from my profile, my name’s Taber Hunt from Arkansas, and I’m a sophomore here at TU studying Economics and Spanish.

Boy, summer flew by. I’ve only been back in the States for two weeks, but it feels like just a few days. Packing, moving into my apartment, and now working on the fraternity house have absolutely ate up my time. I’ve enjoyed it all, though. I can’t believe another awesome year is about to begin here in Tulsa. I’m starting to feel old! Speaking of that, I turn the big 2-0 tomorrow. Happy early birthday, me.

I’m excited for this fall – Golden Hurricane football (opener against Notre Dame should be pretty good!), John Mayer concert at the BOK center in a few weeks, hanging out with friends way too late every night, subsequently studying until even way later at night, and a little sleep where I can fit it in. I have to admit, after a year in college and two months in Spain with siesta-time (Yes, they really take siestas.), I’ve become quite a napper. Oh yeah, Spain…how could I have forgotten?

SPAIN WAS SO COOL. For two months this summer I studied Spanish in San Sebastian, Spain. What an experience. I’m not even going to attempt to summarize it here, though. If you’re interested in reading more about it, go to viajesdetaber@blogspot.com. If you’re not interested, well, don’t.

Right now I’m sitting on the balcony of my apartment contemplating whether or not to walk the 30 feet to the swimming pool…either way I’ve got to order some books online tonight. On that note, I’ve got some pretty good classes lined up this semester. They all SOUND awful, like “Economic Development,” but I’m pretty sure they’ll mostly be pretty interesting.

Well, I’ve decided I will, in fact, go take a dip. Adios, amigos! Check back in in a few weeks once school’s started and I have more to talk about!

Oh, one more thing. If you get the chance, you should totally schedule a tour of campus sometime in October. The weather’s perfect and campus is absolutely gorgeous.

Until next time!