Sunday, March 25, 2012

100th post

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hi friends,

It's been almost 3 years and I just now land on my 100th post.
interesting.

well I'm totally okay with that. it's been a busy 3 years!

keeping any thought in my head straight this last month (read: 6 months) has been kind of hard. putting it down in blog form has been even harder.

I wanted to contribute more to the BSU Blogfest 2012 more than I did. last week turned into the craziest week ever for some reason. I feel like many of the coming weeks are going to end up like that.
this weekend alone was a busy one. all I wanted to do today was chill out watching youtube videos. and watch I did.
let me recap some of the weekend for you.

we all know thursday was THE night. Hunger Games night. I bought tickets and organized rides for about 23 people to go see the midnight premiere. we all sat around each other and I know everyone had a blast!

friday I had to go dress shopping but also had tickets to the Providence Bruins game. my roommate Morgan, old roommate Nicole, and I went to Providence Place mall a little earlier to shop then we went to the game. it was a lot of fun and they ended up winning!

last night I went to a dance with my friend Andrea. it was her sorority's Crush Party. we danced and had a lot of fun. then played Taboo afterwards.

this morning I went to breakfast with some friends, three of which graduated last year and I don't see them ever! then I proceeded to watch youtube videos the rest of the day (with some facetiming my parents mixed in).

busy weekend makes Meghan a tired lady.

now I'm off to start writing a paper for my psych of personality class. nothing like a paper to end your weekend right.

oh and sleep. sleep will be nice.

Monday, March 19, 2012

BSU Blogfest 2012 Day 2!

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It may be a little late (12 hours! Woops! Blame busy Tuesday) but here it is:

Today's theme for the BSU Blogfest is Community!


I could go anywhere with this topic but the wonderful Cindy Kane, Advisor, Director of OSIL, and Mentor, gave me a great idea for today's theme.

I know I've talked about it before MANY times, but I was an Orientation Leader the past two summers. I worked with 32 other students in helping to welcome the newest members of the BSU community. Being an OL is a community in and of itself and that's what I'll talk a little about.

As an OL, you move into one of the residence halls on campus roughly a week after the last day of finals. When you move back, all the OLs live in the same hallway sharing rooms for about 2 weeks during training until it comes time to move throughout the building to be available for the students when they arrive for one of six different sessions offered throughout the span of 3 weeks.

During this time the OLs are living in our own little world. We share living space, have meals together, train and do work together, and work as a team to welcome the students. Those two weeks and the weeks following, you really get to know these people. It's an amazing time.

Especially after this past summer, I have become extremely close to so many of the OLs I worked with. I can call every single one of them a good friend of mine. When we all get together or even when a few of us get together I know we can all talk about whatever, trust one another, and know we'll have each others backs.

This position is unlike any job out there. It's hard to describe to someone what this job means. There are long hours, sometimes the students don't want to cooperate, sometimes there are good sessions and sometimes there are difficult ones. There are ups and downs mentally and emotionally, but when working in a community of people who are doing the same job you're doing and have your back makes it all worth it.

We welcomed 2,600 students to Bridgewater State last summer. Would I do it a third time?

Absolutely.

BSU Blogfest 2012 Day 1

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Hi Blogging Friends!

Part of my blog return and revamp is for the BSU Blogfest! I participated in it last year. You can look at my posts from them HERE.

I figured I had an interesting time last year doing it so I thought let's do it again!

Today is day one and the theme is Why Blog?
I really like the questions posed for today so I'm going to go off of them.

"What motivated you to get started with blogging?"

Blogging was one of those things that I didn't really understand and didn't know what I was going to talk about/use it for. I was at UMASS Dartmouth in my freshmen year and by the time blogging came into my life I was just ready to get out of there. Really reading other blogs motivated me to create my own blog. I figured it would be a great way to keep my mind of things and waste time before I could leave UMD and come to Bridgewater. It was kind of a coping mechanism at the time and turned into a place to share life events and meet new people.

"Why do you continue to blog?"

I continue blogging because I like the people I've met through blogging and the people I get to know by reading other blogs. Sometimes I feel inspired by other bloggers. I hope that I can do that for one of my readers some day.
I took a long time off from blogging recently because I've been feeling pretty stressed about life after graduation. Blogging brings the real life to light and that scares me. I've been feeling less optimistic about it and since this blog is titled Optimistic and In Denial I feel I need to keep the positive, optimistic thoughts on here and not the stressful, worried feelings I've been having the last few months. I returned from my "hiatus" I guess you could say because I thought it was time to document the next step in my life, much like I did when I started blogging during my transition between UMD and BSU. Hopefully sharing here will help me in this strange time I feel coming up.

"What do you think makes for great blogs or not-so-great blogs?"

I think a great blog is one that is honest and real. If I feel like you're making things up in your life I don't think I would be interested in reading it. On the other side of things, when you share far too much about your life or are Negative Nancy about every part of life I don't think I could follow your blog.

"Any advice for people considering getting started with a blog?"

When starting a blog you need to find your own voice. Speaking can convey one thing, writing may convey another. You need to find what fits you as a blogger.
Don't worry so much about the number of followers or comments your blog gets. Don't let low numbers deter you from continuing and don't let large numbers scare you away from that voice you've established for yourself on your blog. While I've never faced any meanness on my blog I do know it's out there. Don't let someone bully your blog. It's your place to speak, you take control of it and make it your own.

Hope you all enjoyed my view on blogging. Stay tuned for more posts this week for BSU Blogfest 2012!

How would you answer these questions?


:) Meg O

Thursday, March 15, 2012

what's 8 months in the scheme of things?

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it's almost been so long now I don't know what where to start.

so I'll start with a list because I love lists.

1. there are 58 days until I graduate

2. I'm the Class of 2012 President

3. I read 19 books last year

4. I have a couple of purple streaks in my hair

5. I'm taking 4 classes right now. my last Math class where I have to write a 15 page paper, two psychology classes for my minor and a history class for no reason.

6. I have a kindle and I love it

7. my younger brother is a marine and lives in California right now. my older brother is graduated from college (finally) and lives in Boston working full time as a computer nerd (haha I kid he maintains servers)

8. I missed blogging but lost the motivation over the last 8 months

9. I want a new simple blog layout but don't know where to get one.

10. I'm participating in the BSU Blogfest for social media week again this year. I'm using it as my jumping point to refresh and rejuvenate O&ID



hope you'll all stick around to see me through my last couple months of undergrad and my post graduation life.

until later (but not too much later)
:) Meg O

Saturday, July 2, 2011

up next in Meghan's life is...

This may be the most random post ever after I have so much to talk about from the past 2 months basically, but I got to thinking after Amanda's post..

It's hard having worked toward this degree, always knowing this was the degree I wanted to pursue, but not knowing where I'm going to go with it once I have it.

Knowing what I want to do after I graduate in a year may not be possible now, but something my mom told me was that you don't have to know what you want to do right away, most people don't know.
It's a tough statement for me to grasp.

You know when you go through elementary school you know you're going to middle school. From middle school you'll be going to big and scary high school. After high school there's always college, the military, or straight into a full time job. For me and my older brother it was always going to be college and for my younger brother it was always going to be the military. After college, what's next?

I could find a job or I could go to grad school for something. What? I have no idea. But grad school. This is where my unknown comes into play.

I've faced this question before. It's always a tough one that is always in the back of my mind.
After I graduate in a year...

What's next?

Fortunately, I have a year to figure it out.

I'm feeling very optimistic and like the sky's the limit after working Orientation for the past 6 weeks.

I hope it stays this way :)

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

hello there

well would you look at that!

i'm FINALLY on summer break!!


cue WOOOOOO and happy dance!!!

finals are DONE and everything is home. I have no plans to do anything for a week.

best feeling ever :)



you were just like "wait a week?!?"

yes a week.

I'm moving back to school to work Orientation next tuesday :)

I'm not mad about it at all.


my junior year of college has been the craziest one yet.

let's hope senior year is just as crazy and more amazing.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Thursday: Community

welcome to thursday of the BSU Blogfest!

today's theme is Community

what I love most about Bridgewater is the sense of community I feel in every aspect of my life here.

let's do a little compare and contrast from BSU and college #1.
at college #1 I didn't feel like I was a part of the campus. from the moment I moved in to the minute I left. I felt like a stranger at my own school.
the dorm I lived in was not a cheerful place. the RAs didn't decorate the halls with certain themes, there weren't programs for us to go to in the dorm. the only part of that dorm that felt welcoming was my room. my roommate and I decorated a large majority of our walls, we had photos and posters on the walls. it was the only place I felt comfortable.
the classrooms felt like cells. little light, little color. large shades on the windows. I did my best to learn, but I didn't feel a connection to the professors. I didn't feel like I could visit them in their offices for help.
the clubs and organizations on campus felt closed off. I didn't feel like anyone wanted me to be a part of their organization. I was a part of one organization for my first semester, but had no connections to make me want to go back for the second semester.

whereas at Bridgewater, I already had a certain connection to the school, having visited my friends on the weekends, and seeing the good in it from the start.
I like seeing the decorations hanging on the walls and the themed floors in my residence hall. I love seeing that there is a program to go to, even if I'm not always able to attend. I like knowing that they care about the building even if it means they have to charge us for some missing elevator buttons.
the classrooms are well lit. I feel comfortable being in class. I know I can rely on my professors to help. I know they want their students to succeed.
the clubs and organizations on this campus are more than welcome to accept members. I made a connection and have become very good friends with so many people through Program Committee. I spend time in OSIL because I want to be around this wonderful community of people I've met on campus.

so whether it is from living in the residence hall, to being in the classroom, or what I do when I'm not in class I have always felt like a part of the BSU community. it didn't take me very long to feel that way either. I know my experience at college #1 has made me appreciate this community 10 times more.

sometimes I wonder if everyone feels the way I do about the BSU community. I don't think everyone takes advantage of what is in front of them. there are so many different outlets for the diverse group of students we have here. I wish there was some way we could reach out to every student and find out if they feel like they are a member of the BSU community and if they don't, help them to.
my college experience became so much better after I felt like a part of this campus. I take pride in being a student at BSU and this is because I feel welcome in such a great community.

a delayed wednesday: leadership

wednesday's BSU Blogfest post is a little late. it was a little crazy yesterday, but here it is :)

so Wednesday's theme was Leadership!

being a leader has been a new concept for me in the last year.
in high school and for my first couple years of college I never really thought of myself as a leader. for a while I was content being the follower. I got along standing on the side. But I always wondered what it would be like to be a leader.

last year, when it was my first year at BSU, I was genuinely happy being at this school and really felt that I had found where I was meant to be going to college.
I made a lot of new friends, many of whom I looked up to as great leaders on campus. they urged me to apply to be an Orientation Leader. until they mentioned it to me, I hadn't really thought much about it. I wasn't sure if I was the right kind of person to be an OL. they asked me a few different times to apply and I eventually did.

now after I went through the group process interview and found out I was an alternate, I wasn't overly upset and went on with the semester.

then I had a few different people asking if I was going to apply for PC e-board when they were looking to fill a few more positions. again, I wasn't sure I was going to be right for this position, but I figured, let's try it out. it's worth a shot. I went in for an interview and found out I was the director of marketing.

so long story short (and I know I've told the story before here on the blog) I found out I was going to be an OL. last summer, I really started to feel like a leader.

I know now that anyone can become a leader. the first step is going out there and trying it out. if I had gone along telling myself that I'm "not the right kind of person" then I never would have had the best summer I think I've ever had. I never would have learned that there isn't a cookie cutter kind of leader.
I gained so much confidence in realizing that yes, I can do this. I can be that person who stands in front of a group and be the one who they look to for guidance.

leadership has definitely been an important part of my life.
I'm not afraid to say I'm not the right kind of person anymore.

:)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday- Technology

welcome to BSU Blogfest Day 2!

today's theme is Technology :)

technology has always been a love/hate thing with me.

without it I could be more productive. without it I would be able to read more than I've been able to. without it I could spend more time doing more.

but without it I wouldn't know some of the people that I do. without it I wouldn't be able to stay in touch with many people that I've met. without it I think I would be bored.

i thinking along the lines of personal technology
cellphones, smartphones, laptops, ipads, ipods
it's amazing how much our lives revolve around them.
sometimes I wish I knew what it was like without it all. technology of all sorts has its perks and uses now, but what were the days like when people use to talk face to face, not facetime to facetime.

yet I still would have trouble giving up my laptop or my cellphone or my ipod. it's frustrating to think about. are we better off without technology or is the world better off with it all?
I don't know.

I guess I wish technology wasn't so frustrating sometimes, but i wouldn't give it up for the world.

what about you? do you ever wonder if we're better off with or without it all sometimes?



not much on today's theme. I'm a little fried after my two tests today :/

Monday, March 21, 2011

Monday: Learning

welcome to BSU Blogfest Day 1!

today's theme is Learning.

I have learned a lot in my 20 (almost 21) years of life.

we could talk about what I've learned from class, what I've learned about family, what I've learned about friendships, what I've learned about myself,
I could continue going on and on.

but I think I learned the most in my first year of college.

some of you may already know that I didn't attend Bridgewater State University (aka college #2) for my first year of college. I actually went to another school. I transferred to BSU for my sophomore year.

I didn't know what to expect when I first went to college. I was a good student and did everything by the book in high school. I didn't get in trouble, got mostly As and tried hard to stay that way.

when I first got to college #1, I wasn't overly worried about living away from home. my parents raised me to be a pretty independent person, so the independence factor wasn't too troublesome for me. I've always been mature for my age. I knew I was going to school to get an education first and foremost.

what I didn't realize was the things I would learn about myself and the big world outside of the small town life I grew up in. I made a couple of friends that first month and got to know them. but when october of my freshmen year came around I learned a lot about trust. if you aren't careful about those you trust when you get to know someone, that trust you instill in them can come back and bite you in the butt.

I learned that the world is not perfect. terrible things happen to people and this can influence the way they act. when you get yourself mixed up with these people, you can be put into some difficult positions. I had to face the consequences for my so called friend's actions.

on top of this situation I faced, I also lost my grandmother in November of my freshmen year. she had been sick all my life. it was hard losing her. she was an integral part of my childhood and I learned that it doesn't do you any good to whine and complain about things in life. my grandmother had her good and her bad days, yet she never complained.

I tried not to let all of these things affect my schoolwork and finished the semester doing well in a majority of my classes.
over winter break the feelings and pressure I felt about everything that I went through during those first 4 months of school hit me all at once. I had one big anxiety attack. but luckily, I learned how to handle this anxiety I was feeling and I learned that crying is not a bad thing :)

I wasn't happy after my first semester of college. not just because of everything that had happened. I wasn't happy sitting in my room all the time. I did join college #1s version of Program Committee, but wasn't enjoying being a member.
over that winter break I learned that I did not want to stay at a school where I wasn't happy. I couldn't see myself graduating from college #1. that was the most important thing for me.

that's when I applied to BSU. I had visited my friends who went here their first year and loved it. I had applied here when I was in high school, but I wanted to try something different from my friends. to try out that independent deal.

I was accepted and made it through the second semester of college #1. after I left college #1 I never regret going there. one of the other many things I learned was how to branch out and try different things. I grew up that first year and I got a better understanding of the outside world.

but let me just say I'm thrilled to have been at BSU the last 2 years. I've learned so much and grown even more. I can see myself graduating from here next year and while it is a daunting thought, I know I'm happier now learning everything I did that first year.

so is there something that you have learned that made a big impact on you?


:)