In a week and four days, I’ll officially be done with my freshman year here at Gonzaga!

It’s a very strange feeling, knowing that I’ll be done with my first year of college. It’s been an interesting ride, from meeting people from totally different backgrounds to an interesting class schedule to having the freedom to use my time in a way I see fit.

However, despite the sadness that comes along with the end of a school year, I’m super excited for the summer. I’ll be remaining on campus and working, so I get to experience Spokane during the summer! I stay on campus as part of a student staff, so if you visit during the summer you might spot me around campus!

I’ll be living in Welch Hall this fall with one of my very good friends, so I’m looking forward to that as well! I was also elected an officer for La Raza Latina, so I’ll be investing time in that. My classes are also getting me pumped for the fall, and I’ll be taking the following:

• Psychology 101
• Math 121
• Religion 124
• English 201
• Music Theory III
• Theory III Ear Training
• a choir of some sort (I’m planning on auditioning for the University Choir)
• Applied Voice (private lessons)
• Applied Piano (private lessons)

I’m going to be one busy sophomore!

Anyway, it’s been great blogging for y’all and giving you guys a taste of what it’s like to be a Gonzaga student. I hope you enjoyed reading my entries, and I’ll leave y’all with this track. Good luck with your college endeavors!

Heather, Class of 2015
English and Music Education double-major

On Saturday, March 31st, La Raza Latina held their annual Festival. My friends came to see me perform, and they brought some of their friends along. Among them was Chris Gormley, a freshman Honors student. I’ve talked to him a few times before.

The next day, April 1st, I found out that Chris passed away from hypothermia, the result of a kayaking accident. He had turned 18 barely a week before his death.

I was in complete shock, and I’m still in shock.

Like Father Clancy said in his homily for Chris’s memorial service on Tuesday, April 3rd, “it’s not right for young people to mourn the loss of one of their own.”

This was especially hard for me to handle, because someone I knew passed away during my freshman year in high school. His death anniversary was on Monday, April 2nd. It felt like a replay of that time during my freshman year.

Chris’s untimely death was an intense blow to the freshman class here at Gonzaga, in particular the freshman Honors students and their friends, me included.

The way students and faculty came together to support each other during this difficult time was astounding and comforting to see.

I haven’t seen so much sadness among my fellow students since the assembly I attended in my school gym in 2008. However, to see such a large group of people bond together was amazing.

It’s difficult to handle the loss of someone in my own age group, someone I interacted with on occasion. I didn’t know him well, but I knew he was a good guy, a great friend to many, and an interesting person to talk to.

Te extrañaremos, Chris. No te vamos a olvidar. (He was a Spanish major. It means “We will miss you, Chris. We won’t forget you.”)

Until next time.

Heather, Class of 2015
English and Music Education double-major

(We sang this song at the end of Chris’s memorial service while a classmate played the ukulele.)

It’s been a busy busy time for me lately, so I apologize for not posting sooner!

I came into Gonzaga last year as a first-year English major interested in education, set on becoming a high school teacher. However, my views on other careers have broadened since last semester.

I’ve always been interested in psychology and the way people work as individuals. You know those silly quizzes in teen magazines that you could take and figure out your clothing style or your ideal celebrity best friend? (This might be more familiar to girls, so boys, I’m sorry!) Yep, as a 13-year-old I loved those quizzes!

The Myers-Briggs test is a bit like those quizzes, only this test is used to give people a general idea of careers they might be interested in pursuing. It’s a personality inventory-you answer a series of questions and you can find out what your personality type is.

I took this test twice, once last summer from a book called Please Understand Me.  At the time, I had an INFJ personality, or Introverted-Intuitive-Feeling-Judging. I’m basically a reserved person who can easily pick up on others’ emotions and works well with having a structure to her day.

I had the opportunity to take it again through The Harry Potter Club of Gonzaga, and the results were used to “Sort” us into Houses. (I was sorted into Gryffindor, booyah!) My results were almost the same, except for one letter (INFP). I’m pretty much the same, only I’ve become less disorganized!

It’s always a good idea to have some sort of idea as to what you want to do in your life career-wise. However, it’s not a bad thing to consider and even change your plans. It takes a lot of maneuvering and a little paperwork (such as changing your major).

And don’t feel like you need to choose something right now, before entering college-keep an open mind and know what you would like in a career!

Until next time! Here’s another peaceful tune I stumbled across.

Heather, Class of 2015
English and Music Education double-major

La Raza Latina, Gonzaga’s Latino club, is having their Festival on March 31st this year!

Last semester, I signed up to dance in the festival. I’ve been practicing since November 2011 for two routines: folklórico and a tango-salsa-merengue medley.

Folklórico is traditional dancing from Mexico, and the dances we’re doing originate from different areas. We also wear special shoes that have nails in the heel and tip, so when we stomp it’s extra loud! The women wear colorful dresses festooned with ribbons (although in some areas, the women wear white dresses), and the men wear charros, a special kind of suit, and a hat. The suits the men wear can vary from state to state as well. I’ve never worn a traditional Mexican dress before, so I’m excited!

^ The way she’s moving her skirt is called “faldeo.” It’s a little hard to put together with the actual footwork of the dance, but once you have it down it’s a lot of fun!

Salsa, tango, and merengue are completely new to me. The techniques are different from folklórico, which is a lot of footwork. There’s a lot more partner-requiring moves in salsa, tango, and merengue, so we have many humorous moments during practice.

Some of the other dances that other members are participating in include bachata, vallenato, and punta, so we’ll have a lot of variety!

I haven’t performed a dance routine in front of an audience since 3rd grade, so I’m a little nervous. I’ll just have to keep practicing!

Until next time! 🙂

Heather, Class of 2015
English and Music Education double-major

Spring break for us GU students starts soon, and I’m actually pretty excited to go home!

I’m planning on spending a great deal of time with my family. My mother and my sister are moving to Texas in a few weeks, and I’m going to help them pack up our house and move things into storage. Despite this significant change, I feel it’ll be a good thing for them. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to see them often, so I’m definitely taking advantage of the break to be with them and the rest of my family, like my cousins and aunts.

I’m looking forward to seeing my old friends from high school as well! Some friends I haven’t seen since August, and many things came up and altered our plans in the past few months so now I’ll have a chance to finally see them. I can’t wait!

The past few weeks have been very busy for me, with choir rehearsals, LRL meetings, RHA meetings, work, classes, and homework. This break is a blessing for me, a great time to just sit down and breathe after a busy semester.

Here’s a peaceful tune I discovered a few days ago. Enjoy, and see you guys after break is over!

Heather, Class of 2015
English and Music Education double-major

My assignment in Music Theory II last week was to write a song.

Sounds easy, right? Wrong! I’ve written poetry and attempted writing song lyrics before, but I’ve never written a melody before in my life!

Luckily for me, music on this side of the world is predictable in its makeup, so I could create a simple melody using a simple chord template and general rules about shifting into different keys. Three hours of work later, I managed to produce my first music composition ever, titled “First Try.”

I handed it in to my professor and got it back two days later. I fixed the little mistakes I had using Finale, a score-writing program. It’s pretty cool, once you get used to the controls.

It was amazing replaying it on Finale. I’m not much of a pianist, so it was difficult trying to play my own piece on my keyboard. But to hear my own original piece played on a computer program…I felt highly accomplished. The long hours of work paid off!

I plan on working on a more complex melody with lyrics in my free time. Wish me luck!

My melody was partly inspired by this song. Enjoy, and see y’all next time!

Heather, Class of 2015
English and Music Education double-major

I rarely used planners in high school, but for college they became a necessity for me!

While filling out my planner for the week, I realized how many things I had to keep track of every week. For example, on Mondays:

-9:00 am ~ Class. Luckily, this class is located in a building only 5 minutes away from my dorm, so I don’t have to get up too early!

-11:00 am-2:00 pm ~ Class. I have 10 minutes between this solid 3-class block, so I usually get something small and portable to eat between Music Theory and English.

-5:00 pm ~ Studio class. Students taking voice lessons from the same teacher meet up once a week as a whole class. We sing our songs for each other and receive advice on how to improve. This might sound scary, but it’s actually a very relaxed class.

-6:00 pm ~ Work. I work in the Admissions Office in College Hall for 3 hours, and part of my job is posting blogs for you guys to read. I’m an English major, so writing these is one of the most enjoyable aspects of working here.

-9:00 pm ~ La Raza Meeting. These meetings are one of the highlights of my week. They’re a great way to see friends I may not see all the time, and we always seem to be laughing about something.

Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays are more relaxed for me, Wednesdays are my busiest, and on Saturdays I have dance practice for 3 hours! However, the key is to find things to do that you actually enjoy. Then, it’ll feel more like play than work, and time will go by a lot faster!

Planners are lifesavers, and so is music, so I’ll show y’all one of the many songs I play after a long day. Enjoy, and until next time!

Heather, Class of 2015
English and Music Education double-major

I’m not much of a dancer to begin with, but I’m very fond of swing music, so why pass up the opportunity to go swing dancing with friends AND help out a charity?

The Knights and Setons of Gonzaga held their annual Charity Ball this past Friday, February 3rd, and it was held to benefit their sponsored charity, The Artisans. The Artisans is a non-profit organization with a mission to improve the employment and standing of their mentally and physically handicapped clients. If you’d like to read more and learn more about this charity, feel free to visit their website at this link.

This was the first formal dance I’ve attended since my senior prom in May 2011, so I was excited to dress up! And what better way to go about this than to get ready with your friends? The music was great-I applaud the jazz band at the dance. They even played “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got that Swing,” a song I sang for choir years ago! Overall, it was a great opportunity to hang out with friends I haven’t seen much of since last semester. 🙂

And with that, I leave y’all with a modern jazzy tune. Until next time!

Heather, Class of 2015
English and Music Education double-major

Well hello everyone! New year, new semester, new blog post!

I couldn’t wait to come back to campus after our month-long Christmas break. Many of my friends who attend other universities left about a week or so before I was due to leave, so I chilled at home with my family and little to do!

My schedule remained virtually the same for this semester, except I don’t have a proper lunch time on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays! Some of my classes are interesting and nothing like I’ve taken before, like philosophy and voice lessons.

My roommate and I decided to make some changes to our dorm room, which included bunking our beds, moving our family photos to one wall, and making room for my keyboard, which I brought back from home, along with my bass guitar. Our room feels a lot more spacious-so much room for activities! As long as I don’t fall off the top bunk…

I missed my college friends dearly, and thoroughly enjoyed eating dinner with them at the Cog, telling stories about seeing our families and visiting our old hangout spots, like our old high schools.

The transition into college life again will be easier than last August, and I have high hopes for the months to come.

I leave you all with a happy, upbeat tune! Until next time.

Heather, Class of 2015
English and Music Education double-major

Next week is Thanksgiving Break! Finally, a much-needed break from all the stress that comes with being a college student!

Although I went home for one weekend back in October, this particular trip will feel strange. I haven’t been home since the 1st weekend of October, and even then it felt strange being in my own house!

On the plus side, I get to see my family and my friends. We might even have a big get-together, which I think would be fun!

However, Gonzaga already feels like home to me. I’m pretty sure once next Friday rolls around, I’ll probably be wishing that I’m back on campus again!

We’ll see how it goes. I wish you all a snowy and good Thanksgiving! Have a great break! 🙂

Heather, Class of 2015
English and Music Education double-major