We all had to have makeup applied so we would look like 90 year olds. A group photo after the performance is next.

Once we started walking onstage at the beginning of the performance, people starting laughing because we looked so ridiculous. Can you see why?! I’m so proud. Seriously.

Anyway, the chapel is coming along nicely. The steeple was added last week and the final piece was added today. Each time a piece was lifted into place, it was such an anti-climactic event. Campus seemed to stop, because people came out of the woodwork to stop and take a chance to observe a little bit of history on the DBU campus. I took a photo the other day so I could post to the blog so you could see the progress! The new chapel should be completed sometime in the summer. All chapel services will be held in the Pilgrim Chapel beginning in Fall 2009. I’m excited to see the finished product! Don’t take my word for it, come see for yourself and how the building has revolutionized the look and feel of campus.

Student Government campaigning began this week. I must say, I am so relieved to be able to sit back and see what happens. There are three tickets running together for Student Body President and Vice President, which is the most ever in recent history of DBU. They have been campaigning competitively and creatively. It is anyone’s ballgame, and the student body will speak their voice in chapel next week when elections are held. Then, it’s one step closer to graduation. High school seniors, can you relate? Are you ready to start the next chapter of your life? It only gets better, I promise.

Stand strong. Be faithful. Have fun.

Leigha F. Caron

So this week is Spring Break. My last Spring Break. Senior Year. What am I doing for Spring Break, you ask?! Working!!! Oh yeah, I know you are jealous. Most of my friends are off getting tans on the beach or taking advantage of opportunities to go on mission trips that DBU offers its students (The Women’s Soccer and Volleyball teams at DBU are in Peru serving in orphanages and playing Peru’s national soccer and volleyball teams in huge stadiums). Such is life. I can’t wait for everyone to get back!

This is March. Graduation is in May. Time is running out for my experience as a college student. My advice. Cherish every moment: the times you are having fun, the times you are frustrated with a situation, road trips, basically everything that happens along the way when you are in college. Wow, I’m starting to get nostalgic….let’s leave that for my last blog closer to graduation. Next week I start Spring SING practice as a member of the Student Government Association for the show on April 2. Spring SING is where different organizations on campus compete for a cash prize. It’s basically creating a musical from scratch. The Student Government Association is competing for the first time ever in this event. The theme for all organizations participating is “DBU Loves the 90’s,” so it will definitely be a blast from the past. Three nights a week from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m., the SGA will be practicing for our breakout performance. I’m already going to say we are going to make a spectacle out of ourselves.

This is the calm before the storm. Finals and graduation will be here before I know it. However, I am determined to enjoy my time left at DBU. Many people say college is the best time of your life and too many times I wished it away. For these last couple months, I’m not going to to wish it away.

Leigha F. Caron

Yeah, a class. At the beginning of January, I went along with 40 other DBU students and staff on a trip sponsored by the university’s Apartment Life. In addition to the trip, students are allowed to get a Kinesiology credit if they register for the actual class (all traditional-age students have to have 2 credits of recreational Kinesiology courses to graduate). We went to Copper Mountain, Colorado which was about a 16 hour bus ride, but felt much longer. We left on a Monday night and arrived in Colorado at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Once we got settled into our condos at the resort, we all went to get fitted for our ski rentals and chilled at the resort for the evening.

Copper Mountain, Colorado

During the night, a storm had blanketed the region with snow and continued throughout the day. You must know some background before the story continues. The only time I have ever skiied was in 8th grade for 1 day when my school went to Colorado for a class trip. Needless to say, I was enrolled in ski school with other brave souls from DBU. While we were at ski school, the others went down the green and blue slopes for the morning. Ski school was a breeze. A few of us from the group had skiied before, so we went to the intermediate school. Once lunch time came, we felt like we had conquered the slopes in ski school and wanted to catch up with the rest of the group. The part of my confidence that can sometimes get me into trouble emerged and would soon provide an errrr….memorable experience.

That afternoon all the insanity began. Our trip sponsor thought it would be good for us to start on blues; on the 15 minute ride on the lift to the top, I was contemplating the imminent embarrassment of trying to get down that mountain at my current skill level. Most everyone in the group had been skiing their whole life, but I was one of the few who had experienced quite the opposite. Everyone started skiing down, but I proceeding very cautiously. I did fine at the beginning, but once we started getting to the steeper sections, falling became a favorite practice of mine (keep in mind there was an additional 25 inches of powder on the ground due to the storm). It was ridiculous; I would fall, drag myself up again, start skiing for a bit, then repeat that pattern for about 25 minutes. My body was so weak that each time I fell the option of just laying in the snow for the rest of the afternoon seemed like a good idea. Thankfully, there were some other people struggling as well, so I wasn’t the lame one holding up the group. We were so slow, the rest of the group had already made it down the mountain, and we chose to wait in a break area halfway down the mountain until another group caught back up with us. Once they arrived, we made the final ski down the mountain with few crashes. I calculated it and probably fell 15-20 times trying to get down that mountain. Pitiful. But tomorrow would be a new day…

The Lord blessed us with beautiful, sunny, and clear skies as we headed out to the slopes the next morning. They were all well groomed and ready for a full day of skiing. Even better was that we went on the green slopes. The best news I heard all week. The whole group went skiing together again. I got down the mountain with only 3 falls, a new record for me. On the way back up, we saw one of the ski patrol medics helping a girl who was injured on the slopes, and I would later find out that the girl needing medical attention was my roommate Amanda. After a trip to the emergency room, they found she tore her LCL and would not be able to ski the rest of the trip. I felt so bad for her, being confined to the room most of the time and having to endure the trip home with a hurt leg. However, she made it through like a champion! Yeah, girl!

Copper Mountain Center Village

The main village at Copper Mountain is full of shops, restaurants, and condos. We went out to eat for dinner a couple nights, the first to a pizza place and then the next to a sushi place. Sushi in Colorado, sounds a little unappetizing right? Surprisingly, the food was SO good! After Sushi, we met up with some people who were watching the 2009 BCS Championship game at another restaurant. The next morning was our last day there, and I stuck to the greens the whole time and realized skiing is fun as long as you don’t fall the whole time. Everyone was pretty much done skiing after lunch so we all took showers and packed up to leave and endured the long bus ride home. The trip was so much fun and the snow covered mountains were breathtaking. BUT, it was a relief to be back in Texas.

I leave you with a common quote heard around the great state of Texas, “God bless Texas, and God bless America!”

Leigha F. Caron

Coldplay Concert at AAC

have to mention that my roommate took me to the Coldplay:Viva La Vida Tour at American Airlines Center for my Christmas gift! It was the BEST concert I have ever been to, the lighting show was incredible and hearing Viva La Vida live with a sold out crowd was amazing! Now back to Homecoming, I was honored as a nominee for Queen on the Homecoming Court. Most of my friends were on Court as well, so it was basically a party all week. FYI, being on Court is great because you get to go to all the Homecoming events for free. And being a normal college student who is strapped for cash, it was a major plus. There was a special luncheon for all the nominees on Wednesday. We ate, had some fun, and took some pictures.

Homecoming Court Luncheon

I won’t bore you with the details. But I did include a picture from the luncheon. Wednesday kicked off the celebration with a special Coke Break in the Loft. Oreos, Chips, Coca Cola galore! Some people go for the fellowship, but most go for the food.

Thursday is the ever popular Mr. Big Chief. Big Chief is one of the most popular shows of the year. Aspiring men on campus compete in swimwear, talent, and formal wear so that they may be crowned “Mr. Big Chief.” The Burg was standing room only as people anticipated the comedic prowess that awaited them. I was one of many flapper dancers in the finale right before the top 5 contestants were announced. The finale was basically chaos with dancers and contestants doing the same thing, but fun chaos nonetheless. Corey, who is a sophomore was declared the winner out of many viable candidates. I think this was the best Big Chief ever.

Friday was kind of a blur. I worked all day then had to be at the Burg for the Homecoming Gala, which is an evening filled music from DBU’s Grand Chorus which is a 150 person choir, and various solos from alumni. SGA assisted with helping people to their seats.

Then came Saturday! The big day we were all waiting for with the tailgate

My Family at the Tailgate Party

party and the Homecoming basketball game. My parents came in for the accouncement of the court winners at halftime. Once they got here, we went up to the tailgate party for a bit. We weren’t able to stay long because I had to be at the gym to get in place for Homecoming Court. There were tons of people at the Tailgate party with hamburgers, corn dogs, cotton candy, chips, cookies, etc. There were inflatables for small children and booths for students to visit. Once we ate, I came down to my apartment to change and then head back up to the Burg.

The gym was full of excitement for the first basketball game of the year against Ecclesia College. The tone of the game was set as the Patriots pulled ahead of Ecclesia early on. The student section was rowdy and full, but it was hard to get too crazy in a cocktail dress, but what can you do, right? Then along came halftime and the crowning of the Duke and Duchess winners from each class and then the final crowning of the King and Queen. When the freshman class nominees started being introduced, the first guy was not there for practice so he started walking on the red carpet as if he was being announced the winner. It was hilarious, everyone started motioning for him to go back to his spot and the crowd erupted in laughter. Then came the big announcement for King and Queen and Jaceson and I were announced as the winners. Crazy!

2009 DBU Homecoming King and Queen

That night was so much fun! Jaceson is the Vice President in Student Government, so it was exciting for us to both win. After cheering on the Patriots to a 100-40 victory, students headed out to an off-campus site where we had the 2nd annual Bonfire Bash. A DJ from a local radio station came out and did an amazing job

with the music. Freebirds catered, but the line was so long it almost wasn’t worth eating. Almost. It was the perfect end to my last Homecoming experience as we danced the night away!

Monday was DBU’s big fund raising dinner for scholarships called the Russell

H. Perry Free Enterprise Award Dinner. I was one of the students asked to

Hosts at Russell H. Perry

serve as a student host for the event and greet tables. As my friends and I walked into the lobby of the Hilton Anatole, it felt like we were in NYC because the atmosphere was so extravagant. Russell Perry is always exciting because we get to see our friends dressed up, meet some of the donors to the university, and enjoy a nice meal. There were about 1,200 people at the Hilton Anatole and the special honoree was Drayton McClain who is a tycoon in the distribution business and is also the owner of the Houston Astros. Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison gave the keynote speech for the event that night. Once the evening had concluded, we then had to go pick up the DBU promotional items at the tables and bring them to the load out section of the ballroom. It was a long day for us all, but well worth the experience!

We were off school Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving Holiday. I went home to Tyler, Texas on Wednesday and it was so nice to have a break from school and work. My older brother and sister came in for Thanksgiving

as well. All of my siblings live in Dallas, but we hardly ever get together with the three of us. On Thanksgiving day we went to my uncle’s ranch near Texarkana and had too much to eat, but the food was delicious! As you can tell, the past few weeks have been crazy, but it was filled with memories to last a lifetime.

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebrating this special time of year!

Blessings!

]]> http://whydbu.dbu.edu/blog/2008/11/homecoming-and-thanksgiving-festivities/feed/ 0 http://whydbu.dbu.edu/blog/2008/10/holla-ween-2008/ http://whydbu.dbu.edu/blog/2008/10/holla-ween-2008/#comments Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:45:29 +0000 Leigha http://whydbu.dbu.edu/blogs/leigha/?p=7 As promised in my previous post, I said I would talk about DBU’s annual

Brian, Ashley, Kat, Melanie, and Jacob working at one of the prize tables.

Great Pumpkin Chase. Student Government partnered with Student Life, which is the office on campus who is basically in charge of entertaining students, to host the event. Here’s how it all went down. Everyone came to the Great Hall dressed in their Halloween costumes, someone stamps your hand (you have to have a stamp to get a prize); and once everyone is there, the Student Life staff and Student Government members went to hide 150 small pumpkins around the top part of campus. Once they were done, the doors of the Great Hall were opened and the race was on! People ran out to see if they could find a pumpkin and turn it in for a prize! Each pumpkin had a number written on it and it coordinates with a specific prize. And I must say, the prizes were legit. We had everything from Texas Motor Speedway Tickets, Dallas Mavericks Tickets, Starbucks gift cards, DBU apparel, DVDs, etc.! The event was a huge success attracting over 380 people to make it officially the largest Great Pumpkin Chase in DBU history (what what!).

I decided to go as Jackie Kennedy when she was the First Lady with 5 secret service agents dressed to the nines. I asked 5 of my guy friends to dress up in a suit and tie, sunglasses, and have iPod earphones to put in one ear like regular agents. It was the most fun I have had at a Halloween party! I was the greeter at a table as people came in and the agents were standing behind me the whole time. They played the complete part the whole night. During the costume contest, we were standing by two guys that came as Barak Obama and John McCain. We planed an ‘assassination attempt’, for a lack of better words, on my life right after we were introduced. Before I knew it, McCain and Obama started attacking my agents, and I was swiftly rushed off the stage. I was laughing so hard I could barely walk, so one of my agents had to basically pull me while we were trying to run. It was great, the crowd LOVED it. We unfortunately didn’t make the top 5, but people had positive reactions to the costume. Everyone had a fabulous time dressing up and potentially getting an awesome prize. Here’s to my last experience at Great Pumpkin Chase. It was perfect to go out as the First Lady.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. Live. Love. Laugh. Lead.

Leigha F. Caron

I was unable to attend Rush on Saturday morning because I went to do my Christian Leadership Scholarship Ministry with Habitat for Humanity. Saturday was an early morning for us, we had to be at the BSM at 7:15 a.m. to meet up with everyone. The Habitat build was great. I got to do to some side paneling work (which it took us 3 times to get exact panels to fit correctly) with the future homeowner and she was great. This is my third semester to volunteer with Habitat, and I knew nothing about construction when I started. Let me tell you, after working all afternoon, my upper body was begging for some rest. It was all I could do to make it to my apartment and shower before I fell asleep. Once I emerged from my slumber, it was time to go to the Saturday evening portion of Spiritual Rush. It was cold; we were outside, but it was a beautiful night to spend with our Creator.

Sunday, my roommate and I went to church at First Baptist Dallas. I have been going there for a little over a year, and one of the things that drew me to it is that the pastor challenges me every week to live for Christ. One of the other perks is that it is located in Downtown Dallas (I love the city feel, by the way) and it gives me a chance to experience another part of Dallas. It is evident that the Lord is doing great things through this church and its ministries.

In SGA (Student Government Association), we have been preparing and planning for the campus-wide Great Pumpkin Chase in partnership with Student Life. What is the Great Pumpkin Chase? GPC is where students come dressed up in their costumes and over 150 small pumpkins are hidden across the top part of campus. The idea is if you find a pumpkin you can redeem it for a prize. And the prizes are good…gift certificates to restaurants, tickets to Texas Motor Speedway and the Mavs, the list goes on! Continuing on, once we give the go ahead, everyone rushes out the doors, and the race is on to find a pumpkin! The costume contest will conclude the night. It’s always fun to see what everyone comes up with. I am going to OWN the contest this year, not really, but it’s gonna be crazy! I’m going as Jackie Kennedy in her famous pink suit and having some of my guy friends dress up as Secret Service Agents. More details to come…

I’m out, but remember no matter where life takes you, it’s a rush.

Leigha F. Caron