Hey Guys.

I hope you all had a great Halloween. I know I did! On Monday night, Laura, Liz, and I hosted a pumpkin carving contest. This was the first time that I ever carved a pumpkin. It was disgusting, but I still had a blast. My design turned out to be the Steelers Logo, and I really thought I did a great job on it for my first time. There were a lot of traditional carvings, as well as some unique ones...A firefighter fighting a burning blaze, the MAC Horse logo, a face of a man...Afterward, we put them up for display in Cosgrave.

Today, we celebrated Halloween, but we also held our first annual Pink Out Day. For a few weeks, the Colleges Against Cancer committee sold pink t-shirts for everyone to wear. The event was to raise awareness for breast cancer. In my opinion, it was a huge success. We had over 400 people participating. I even dyed my hair pink with some of my friends. I will have to share some pictures later...

Tonight the Residence Hall Association held a Halloween Dance. I went with the original idea and went as myself...I really liked Laura's Jack Sparrow costume, but Justin's was the best. He was an Oompa Loompa. It was awesome.

Well I am going to do my final round before I head to bed...Later

Posted by John Porter at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey Guys.

I just learned how to put pictures up on my blogs, so from now on, there could be some pictures along with my thoughts in the future...

The weather these past few days have been dark and damp...Although we needed some rain, I do miss the warm and sunny days from a few days ago. To brighten up my day, I decided to look at some of the pictures that I took last year and this year of the beautiful fall colors. It's amazing the beauty I found on campus. Hope you enjoy.

Posted by John Porter at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey All!

Today was a great and productive day. In my Introduction to Theology class, we watched a movie about the search for the Ark of the Covenant. The film was intriguing and interesting. I would love to get a job traveling the world in search for hidden treasures.

After my classes were over for the day, I headed to several meetings...

My first meeting was with my advisor, Dr. Julie Smith. We sat down to discuss and schedule my classes for next semester. I am going to take one more religion class, one more international studies class, and another history class. These classes will help me to fulfill my major requirements and help me finish the last two of my three minors. I will also be taking an elective in either Natural Disasters or Environmental Art. We also discussed possible internships for the spring.

After my meeting, I headed to the Belltower Office for another meeting about the upcoming issues. After that, Jenna and I headed to Academic Hall for an Honor Society meeting. There, we disucssed possible ideas for a panel discussion to take place in the Spring. We also elected officers for the society, which I am now one of. After that, we all had some pizza. So far, things are looking good.

Now, I am off to do some of my rounds as RA. I'll catch you later, when I get warm again...

John

Posted by John Porter at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It has been a busy week so far...

On Sunday, Justin and I headed to the Galleria Mall to go shopping. I got a couple of shirts, but I have to go back to the store, because they forgot to take one of the ink-tags off of one of my purchases, lol. After shopping, we headed to JCPenney's to help with the second session of Project Bundle-Up. On our way back to the Mount, we stopped at Taco Bell for some nice Mexican cuisine...

On Tuesday, Dr. Kevin Reilly, the author of the CLS book, came and gave a lecture on Anti-semitism in the Middle Ages. Afterward, a couple of my fellow Honors students and I had the chance to eat dinner with him. The food was amazing, but the Cheesecake was the best I ever had. :P

After our dinner, I headed back to my room for some nice peace and quiet. After that, I busted out my Nintendo and played some Goldeneye...I am thinking about having a tournament later on in the semester.

-John

Posted by John Porter at 1:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's finally Friday, and do you know what that means? I am done with classes...well, for the week that is.

Last night was a blast. The reason for the fun was because Laura and Amanda were hosting a Mock-Tail Happy Hour for resident students. There were snacks and a variety of frozen drinks. My favorite was the non-alcoholic strawberry margarita. The event was to promote alcohol awarness and to inform students about the dangers of alcohol.

The Smiths and I played some water pong after some of the people left. It was so much fun. I've never played before, but I started to get the hang of it after awhile. Justin and I were a team, and we were rockin' it. I think we won the most games that night. When Laura and Amanda joined in on the action, things got heated. It was a close game and people were diving for ping-pong balls. I think I may have pulled a muscle...lol

Tonight I plan on gonig to work, get some of my book review done, and watch some movies...

Later

Posted by John Porter at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am officially home! It's been a great couple of days. I got to see my family. My mom's birthday was on Saturday, so we went out to celebrate. We spent the day shopping for some "moose" things. (That is what she really likes) We then went to Wal-Mart for some groceries and the mall for some more shopping. Afterwards, we headed to the Ponderosa for a birthday dinner. It was a pretty great night.

Yesterday, I spent some time working on some projects that are coming up in the next couple of weeks. I also went for a walk with my dog in the woods. I just love being in the outdoors, especially when it has been this nice out. Later on, I watched some football games with my dad.

Today, I headed to the bank to pay some bills. I think I may head outside to relax in my hammock. Tomorrow, I am going to head back to school, but until then...Peace

John

Posted by John Porter at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey There!

It's almost time for me to go back home for a long weekend, but I wanted to quickly fill you in on my week...

It is officially Midterms here at Mount Aloysius, but it doesn't really feel like it. I can't believe that I only have one and a half semester left of my senior year. I really think I am going to miss this place. On Tuesday, Laura, Sue, and I held another Relay meeting to discuss some of our ideas for the upcoming year. We are going to have a Pink-Out Day on October 31st. All you have to do is purchase a T-Shirt for $5 and wear it proudly on the 31st. All the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. I can't wait, I might even dye my hair pink...

Yesterday, we had another SGA meeting. This one was short, however, because we didn't have much to talk about. Today was pretty fun, I got my paycheck, which gave me some extra money for shopping this weekend. I definetely need some new threads...lol

Well, I am going to go help some of the Smith's close the Residence Halls, so that I can get home early.

Ciao

Posted by John Porter at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night was a blast!!! I played a game called Guitar Hero for my first time. You have a guitar that is plugged into a game system, then you try and play the correct chords at the correct time. Although I was terrible at it, I still had a lot of fun.

Today, Justin and I headed down into Cresson for Cresson Heritage Days. It is an annual event that brings the entire community together for a three day extravaganza. As Mount Aloysius students, Justin and I volunteered some of our time to help with the Kids Carnival. After our shift was over, we went shopping. I bought some peanut butter fudge. I also bought my mother a birthday present.

On Sunday, Justin and I headed to Johnstown for another volunteering opportunity. We helped with the Salvation Army's Project Bundle Up. With enough support through donations from the community, it is a project aimed to help disadvantaged children and senior citizens by helping them purchase coats and other accessories for winter. Just seeing the smiles and the gratefullness of the children made it worth the time...

Oh Yeah...Steelers are 4-1.

Later

Posted by John Porter at 9:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This has been a pretty busy week. On Tuesday, I had a small test for my Introduction to Theology class. Since I studied for it, I thought it went fairly well. In my Overview of Public Administration class, we broke up into groups and worked on some case studies. We also started reviewing for our test that will take place next Thursday.

Thursday was the exciting day of the week. At noon, I met some of my fellow campus leaders and had lunch with the amazing Frank Crouse and Heather Low. We discussed some of the different aspects of Mount Aloysius College, like our growing population and what areas we need to focus on for the future. It was a great discussion and I am glad that my input is appreciated by the college.

That evening, Justin, Laura, and I hosted a Coffee House. We brewed some various flavors of coffee, hot water for tea and hot chocolate, and we provided some cookies and chips. My favorite flavor of coffee was the Caramel Drizzle...yummmy. In addition to the refreshments, we also had entertainment. John Rush, also known as the Human Ipod, sang some covers and played some of his own songs. At the end of the night, he improvised a song about some of the audience members. It was hilarious...Afterwards, Justin and I watched 300, a movie about Spartan warriors and their defense against the Persian Empire.

Today, I worked a couple of hours down in Cosgrave. I am on RA duty later tonight, so I am going to head out to dinner...

Later

Posted by John Porter at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This weekend was a pretty busy one...

On Friday, I worked in Cosgrave, assisting with the Clearly Crystal program. During this event, you get your picture taken alone, or with a friend, then a laser guided system etches it into a crystal. After working that event, Tony and I watched Crounching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Then I headed to bed, so I could rest for Saturday's activities.

On Saturday, I worked around 10 hours. The first five hours were spent outside in the warm and beautiful weather. I can't believe that it is almost October, but still in the 70's and 80's. Anyways, I helped again with the SAAC concession stand. The Mount Aloysius Baseball team played a double header exhibition game with Penn State Altoona. The baseball team did really well, I think they are going to have a great season!

After working outside, I headed inside to get some of my homework done. I then headed to work in Cosgrave. Keeping with our Chinese theme, Tony and I watched Hero, a movie starring Jet Li. It was a pretty weird, but interesting movie...

On Sunday, we had our first open house for the 2007-2008 year. Overall, it was a pretty nice event. I can't wait for the next admissions event...I love meeting new people, especially prospective students.

Well, I am going to read some work for my Capstone Seminar class...

Later

Posted by John Porter at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)