Homecoming 2010

Hello all,

So it has once again been a very busy and fun week! All wrapped into last weekend was Homecoming, 23rd Birthday and celebrating from mid-terms!

Homecoming 2010:

So football if you haven't figured out is culture here at the University of Iowa, but even if your not a football fan (like I was before attending the UIowa) you easily transform into Hawkeye! There is a lot more than just the football game during Homecoming weekend, including the Parade, which myself and others in the CPH participated in. The College of Public Health Student Association (CPHSA) got everything arranged and we walked as a group supporting Breast Cancer Awareness. This was decided on because it was Breast Cancer Awareness week and because it was very Public Health relevant to our mission. I will be posting pictures of the event tomorrow on our Facebook page. It was a great time to see all the community pride and how many little kids want candy! It was seriously like Halloween, but in parade kid heaven fashion, with the givers of delicious treats doing the walking, while the kids held there bags wide open! Even though it was not the most public health gift, we gave the kids Smartee candies and Breast Cancer Awareness wrist bands, so they were both getting an "IQ" boost and supporting an awesome cause! ;)

Then it was on to the next day (Saturday), which was the football game! It was held in the evening with different sections of the stadium alternating colors of Black and Gold! As you can see in the picture, it was quite a sight and amazing how so many can coordinate their outfits for such a large venue and event! It is hard not to get a school spirit high when your at a game, wich everyone eating, breathing and completely consumed with Hawkeye love, while we all waved our Black and Gold pom poms the Homecoming Organizers had handed out to everyone.

Birthday (23rd):

For my birthday, I decided to gather my friends at two locations downtown: Formosa and Brothers. Both are bars and restaurants downtown and have completely different atmospheres. Formosa has Asian inspired cuisine, while Brothers is more bar food and drink specials. It was nice to get together with a lot of the people in my department since the start of school. It can be hard sometimes in the beginning of the year to get everyone to go out on the same night since people have so many varying schedules. I danced, met new people and had a great time sharing my birthday with the Homecoming crowd that had already infiltrated the Iowa City area anticipating the game the next night.

Mid-Terms:

I guess I should end on a reality note of school. Mid-Terms were last week and they are always a stressful time of the semester but also rewarding. This term, as I previously stated in my last blog is a big learning curve, because I am taking a lot of finance class for my MHA degree, which being a Biology undergraduate, had no previous finance classes other than personal finance, which just gave someone the basics of taxes, loans and credit cards. Even though I am at a learning curve, one of the 3rd years in my department of Health Management and Policy is helping tutor anyone needing help (i.e. myself) and the professors are very understanding of everyone's backgrounds. They know we are here for a reason and won't just slack on work and really respect that some of us have learning curves and are very accommodating to say the least.

I hope to post a blog "Fun Fact" everyday and possibly a picture or video to keep things more interesting and current. Hit me up a comment or link to something fun!

Have a great weekend!

Ryan