Mother’s Day Weekend

Jennifer A

May 13, 2012 - 12:00 PM

For this past Mother's Day Weekend I went home to Sisters, OR to see my Mom. I also took my roommate so she could see my hometown. What I got was a weekend to remember.

First off, Katie (my roomie) and I brought home a huge amount of laundry. Having to pay for laundry in school is a hassle and can be really expensive! In between loads of laundry Katie and I walked the town of Sisters. I took her to Sno Cap, an old-fashioned ice cream and burger joint. It is also the first place I ever worked. We got ice cream, walked by my old high school and swung in the park. Then we decided to head back to my house to shoot some BB guns in our backyard at homemade targets.

Our next day in Sisters was even more eventful. We saw my Mother, gave her presents and then headed to Suttle Lake for the day. We brought the barbeque, our dog, kayak and paddleboard. The weather could not have been more perfect. My roommate had never been on a paddleboard so that was an adventure in itself teaching her! At one point we fit both of us on there!

To say it was a great weekend would be an understatement. I had an amazing time spending it with my family and my roomie in my hometown. I just hope the weather stays this nice!

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A Terrible Loss

Jennifer A

May 12, 2012 - 12:00 PM

A tragedy had struck the University of Oregon Greek Life. Not my sorority, but one close by has just lost a member to meningitis. It was a sudden and tragic death felt by the entire community. It is something terrible like this that shows us how important our community is.

I have never met the young woman who passed away. The fact that I have reached out to women who I have never met to offer my support and condolences shows how close our community is. A memorial for this beautiful girl was set up quickly that was attended by every chapter on campus.

I know there is a stigma against Fraternity and Sorority Life. Yes, we are women and thus can be dramatic and caddy. But the thought of losing any one of my sisters is heart wrenching. I try to think of a sister, even a newly initiated sister, whose loss would have little impact on my life personally and I can't even comprehend one. I feel this sorority's pain of losing one of their own and so does the rest of Greek Life. We may all have different letters, but we are still sisters.

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Football and Baseball in the Same Day!

Jennifer A

April 28, 2012 - 10:00 PM

The one day of year where you can enjoy two great duck sports in one day has arrived! I went to Autzen bright and early in the morning then walked over to PK Park. To say it was a great day would be an understatement.

The Spring Game was a huge success this year. The stadium was nearly full with eager fans waiting to see a sneak preview of the season we are to expect in the Fall. The entrance was only three can food items donated to local shelters in Eugene. Also, the game was dedicated to the armed services. The beginning started off with a beautiful national anthem where two F-15s flew over the Stadium. Half-time had a flag folding ceremony by the National Guard and a helicopter flew over and cannons fired. After the game the players literally took the shirts off their backs and handed them to members of the military. It was very moving.

Once the game was over we took the short walk over to PK Park to watch the Oregon Ducks Baseball team beat Cal. The game had record attendance which really helped the team seal their series victory of the Golden Bears. The best part of all these games? The sun was shinning the entire time! Like I said before, to say this day full of Duck sports was fantastic is an understatement.

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Sisterhood Retreat

Jennifer A

April 27, 2012 - 11:00 PM

Last weekend I went for the night with my sorority to a Girl Scouts camp called Camp Cleowox on the Florence coast. We went to clean up the trails as community service to help out. I got more than I bargained for!

Within one hour of arriving on a bus with eighty girls we were out on the trails clearing the brush away. It was a beautiful day on the coast and we were all very excited to be outdoors. Over the winter months the trails had been covered with many branches and fallen down trees from the snowfall. It was our jobs to get it all out of the way. There was this one underbrush part where multiple trees had fallen down creating full blockage of the trail. I started climbing on them pushing things out of the way left and right and I fell out of the pile onto the ground. It was not even five feet and we all started laughing. As I start climbing again I noticed my shoe had something in it. I looked down and realized it was filling with blood! A branch on my way down had somehow impaled my leg.

As I limped back to the camp house I began to see the wound more clearly. It was only about an inch long but it was rather deep. My sisters met up with me and cleaned it out as best they could. We had been dropped off by buses and none of us had cars to drive me to the hospital so a park ranger found us and dropped us off at the ER. Four hours later (and many interesting encounters with the local staff) I gimped away with six stitches.

I went back to the camp and roasted marshmallows, told ghost stories and slept outside with my sisters. Even though I got hurt it was a great weekend. Who knew community service could be so deadly though!

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Eugene Bucket List

Jennifer A

April 15, 2012 - 3:00 PM

I am realizing rapidly that besides coming back for football, I will be in Eugene for a very small amount of time ever again. So I decided that I need to make sure I soak up as much as possible out of this city that I can. Here is a list of what I think everyone in Eugene needs to do in Eugene while they are in school here.

1) Hike Spencer's Butte
2) Visit all the places in Animal House
3) Visit the Rockslides
4) Watch a UO football game
5) Go to the Saturday market
6) Eat at Papa Soul's
7) Take a tour of Ninkasi
8) Go to the Eugene Symphony
9) Walk around the Gateway Mall
10) Run Pre's trail

There are many, many more that are not on there but it is a start. If you have never done them before then a trip to Eugene is in order to get the full experience of this place.

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