Busy, Busy, Busy...but in a good way!

This week has been crazy! With beginning the semester being on a Tuesday and MLK Day causing us to have last Monday off, this was the first 5 day week of the semester.  Therefore, it seemed kind of long!  I've spent a lot of this week in the studio working on ceramics and printmaking for critiques next week as well playing tennis and lifting to get ready for the upcoming season.  The women's tennis team had a team dinner this week as well.  We went to our traditional spot and hometown favorite, Zio's, just across the street from Coe.  They definitely recognize the Coe Women's tennis team there!  We made some plans and brainstormed how to redecorate the Coe Tennis "Player's Lounge", aka a classroom in Clark Racquet Center that Coach Rodgers has claimed for the men's and women's teams.  Our plans include painting, some new furniture and a Kohawk logo mural on one of the walls.  I'm sure you'll see pictures in the future of the room in progress and the completed project!  

Last Sunday was ASA's first chapter meeting of the semester.  It was so nice to get to see all of my sisters after a long break.  Now we are all beyond excited for the fun events of the semester including our Chapter's 10th Anniversary at Coe in March, Formal, the Cedar Rapids Polar Plunge, hosting the Special Olympics, Spring Retreat, and much more!  

Women's Tennis Campus Show Down

Yesterday I played in a Women's Campus Show Down hosted by the Coe Tennis Program at Clark Racquet Center on Coe's Campus.  Campus Show Downs are sponsored by the USTA (United States Tennis Association) and hosted by college tennis programs on weekends.  At these events, players from the community, the college, the conference, and high performance high schoolers from the state come and play sets.  The idea is to play A LOT of tennis against a bunch of different people and to raise money for the hosting program.  Five of Coe's players participated along with 15 other players from Iowa and even Illinois!  It was a very good experience.  I played 6 sets which is about the equivalent of playing 3 matches.  I won about half of my matches and I am happy with that.  There were some very tough players (some of them were my own teammates!) and I learned a lot throughout the day.  Today I've found that I am quite sore, which is no surprise, but I plan on being back on the court Monday!

Yesterday was also the "debut" of my new GOLD tennis shoes.  The Coe Women's Tennis team along with Assistant Coach Kris, has an obsession with tennis shoes that are different colors and kind of flashy.  For the past year and a half I've been wearing all black tennis shoes with bright green laces but for the last semester of my senior season I told Kris that I really wanted gold tennis shoes.  I might as well go out with a bang!  But, we couldn't find them anywhere.  So, a couple weeks ago we took a white pair, taped parts off, and spray painted them gold.  They are pretty flashy (the picture doesn't even begin to show you how shiny they are), but were a huge hit yesterday!  If you'd like, check out the Coe Tennis coaching staff's take on my shoes and the campus showdown (http://kohawktennis.blogspot.com/).

Overall, I think my favorite part of the entire Campus Show Down experience, along with playing tennis (and wearing my new shoes!), was spending the whole day with my teammates.  We are all even more excited to be back on the court as a team everyday when we start practice February 14th as well as to take trips to Chicago, Kalamazoo, MI and Orlando this semester.

3rd Grade Clay

Today was the opening of Third Grade Clay in the Sinclair Galleries at Coe College.  For the Third Grade Clay Exhibit, around 1,200 third graders in the Cedar Rapids School District make something out of clay to be shown in the galleries at Coe.  I am a Gallery Assistant so I assisted with making popcorn and punch for all of the kids and their families that attended the opening tonight as well as with setting up the 1,200 pieces for the last two weeks.  It was definitely exhausting.  I have never seen so many pieces of art in one place!

Each school chooses a different theme for their pieces.  This year they ranged from decorative tiles that hang on the wall to dinosaurs and self portraits.  One of my favorites was a "baby dinosaur."  The dinosaur was wearing a diaper and holding a rattle and a bottle.  The self portraits were cute too!  It is an amazing exhibit and it is very neat to see what a third grader's imagination comes up with!  You'd be surprised.  My favorite part of the whole experience was to see how excited the third graders were to show their parents which piece they made.  I would encourage anyone who likes art or kids to attend!  The Sinclair Galleries are open 7 days a week from 3 to 5pm.

Gallery Assistant Mitch Iburg is getting things ready for the opening!

The Beginning of My Last Semester at Coe...

Hello Readers,

I am very excited to have the opportunity to tell and show you about my life as a student at Coe College!  My last semester has come extremely fast.  I can't believe that I will already be graduating in May!  Classes at Coe have been back in session for a week now and things are starting to get busy again (in a good way)!  Even though my term as President of Alpha Sigma Alpha ended in December, between playing tennis, my new internship in the Office of Admission, homework, ASA events, and spending time with friends, I have definitely filled up my free time.

This semester I am taking Statistics, Printmaking III, and Advanced Art to get ready for my Senior Thesis Exhibition in Ceramics in April.  I am beyond excited for my show.  At Coe, senior art majors get the opportunity to share a gallery with another senior, put up a large body of work, and even have an opening for family, friends, and the Coe community to attend.  It is a one of a kind experience for an undergraduate student.  Below is a picture of one of my pieces from last semester. Actually, I should be heading to the studio now!

Untitled, Fall 2010