Opportunities in October

Hello All,

This past month went by extremely fast but it was full of fun and diverse opportunities that Coe always has to offer. It is hard for me to believe that I will be traveling home for Thanksgiving in less than 2 weeks, but I will be happy to be home with my family and friends.  Right now I am just staying busy with studying and writing papers. My semester has been keeping me extremely busy but I am thoroughly enjoying my classes and my activities.  I was really happy to meet some prospective students this past week during a Psychology visit day.  I wanted to share some of my fun moments from October!

Le'Trice, Nina, and Alan at BSEO Alumni Event 

Ben, Dr. Barrow, Nina, Bethany, and Mackenzie
at a Habitat for Humanity Build 

Megan and I at the NAACP Banquet

Taylor and I cheering on our Kohawks
at the Homecoming football game!

Becca and I before Homecoming!

Loxley, Le'Trice, and I at the dance! 

 Best,
Nina :)

Slam Poets at Coe Again?!

Hello All!

On September 25th two great slam poets came to Coe. They are truly the Dynamic Duo. Ken Arekind and Panama Soweto both teach poetry in Colorado and they are outstanding slam poets. Have you ever seen the show Brave New Voices? They have performed there and they have also graced many other great stages.

The duo performed at Coe for the 3rd time on September 25 at 9:00 p.m. in the Pub. The performance was a lot of fun and the engaging atmosphere made the performance one of a kind. I am glad that this is the second year that I was able to work with these artists. I am the Multicultural Chair in Student Activities Committee and it is such a fun position to have on campus because I get to work with artists like this and help plan other events on campus!

SAC brings diverse events to campus to let Kohawks relax during the week. This Friday night we have pumpkin carving/decorating and on Saturday there is a comedian coming! Below there is a photo of Panama Soweto, Felicia Owen's '15 (Pub Live Co-Chair), Nina Johnson 15', and Ken Arekind:

Check out Dynamic Duo's slam poetry on YouTube, you will be impressed! 

My favorite poem of theirs is Family Values. 

Best,

Nina :) 

Hello Summer :) 9.8.13

Hello All! 

If you are reading my blog, I hope you had a wonderful summer. I started classes 2 weeks ago at Coe. I am very excited to be a junior and I am thrilled to be able to share my experiences this year with you again. This semester I am taking Statistics and Analysis in Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, History of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Gender and Art in America. I have already been keeping myself busy with late nights in the library, but that's o.k. because I am here to learn as much as I can! It is great being on campus and seeing new and familiar faces every day. The Kohawk Nation spirit never fades, and that is just one of the things that makes Coe so unique. 

Since I have been at Coe, I have had fun exploring Cedar Rapids with my friends by going to the NewBo fresh market, Art Festivals,  volunteering, and I attended a Cedar Rapids Kernels Game. Cedar Rapids has a lot of diverse and interesting opportunities to explore. I have also gone to a few sport's scrimmages and a few Women and Men's soccer games on campus. There have also been some talented acts who have come to Coe brought to you by the Student Activities Committee. 

This summer, my family and I were tourists of our own city, Chicago. I loved eating at different cafes + the Taste of Chicago, and spending endless hours in museums and at Navy Pier with friends.  During May Term, I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and helped put the roof together and worked on the basement of the Youth United Build. At the beginning of the summer I traveled to Ithaca, NY to see my older brother graduate from his University. I was extremely proud of him, and he serves as a great inspiration to me. I also had the privilege of working at the University of Chicago in a Comparative Human Development and Evolutionary Biology Lab as a Research Assistant. I learned a lot and am very glad I had that experience.  I am slightly upset that the summer went by as quickly as it did but I am grateful for all of my experiences. I am happy that I am back at my second home again, Coe. 

 Chicago from the Ferris Wheel 

Celebrating the Black Hawks Victory with my friend Ellen at the Parade :)

You can never forget about Giordano's deep dish pizza...

Ithaca, NY = Beautiful 

Betsy and I at the Bean!

Best,
Nina :)

Presidential Ball 2013

A picture before heading out for last year's Pres Ball  :)

On Saturday, April 13th, President James and wife Linnie Phifer hosted the 16th annual Presidential Ball! The ball was a blast. Everyone looked lovely in their dresses and suits, and the whole night was very elegant. Unfortunately this will be the last Presidential Ball that President Phifer hosts because he will be leaving, but everyone was happy to celebrate with him on Saturday night. Joe Photo also had a photo booth at the dance with props! William Carson's Band played jazz music throughout the night and Terrance was the D.J. of the night. I had a lot of fun with all of my friends at the dance and getting ready for the dance! 

I cannot believe that April is going by so quickly. But it's Flunking Season, therefore we all have Flunk Day to look forward to! Now I am just studying away for the last exams in my classes and I will soon be preparing for finals. 

Have a Marvelous Monday,
Nina :) 

From top left: Nina, Tamara, Diannah, Tiffany, Taylor, Becca, and Meg

Strike a pose! 

Getting ready to leave for the dance :) 

Spring 500

Spring 500 was on Sunday, April 7th from 12 p.m.-5:00 p.m. The purpose of Spring 500 is to have 100 Kohawks do 5 hours of service! Noel Rozum, an AmeriCorps Vista in the Office of Service Learning and Campus Engagement,coordinated this wonderful day of service! I am the Student Organizations Liaison in the Office of Service Learning and Campus Engagement. I got to help recruit volunteers for the Spring 500!  You can visit this office at any time and learn about community service opportunities in Cedar Rapids. I enjoy working there a lot and learning about all we can do for Cedar Rapids. On Sunday we went into the Moundview neighborhood and did a clean up. We also mulched trees with Trees Forever. Many of our neighbors said that they could see the difference after we had picked up a lot of litter! It was a sunny and successful day!

Spring 500 volunteers! Courtesy of Rod Pritchard 

I got to ride in the ROTC golf cart all day and take pictures of all of the Kohawks serving! None of us had eaten lunch yet, so we went through the Wendy's drive thru in a golf cart! Overall this day taught me that Kohawks do love to serve and our time serving in the community does matter. It is very simple to get involved with service at Coe. You can do many things such as joining Greek Life, participating in Dance Marathon, joining Habitat for Humanity, participating with Children of Promise, or just coming to the Office of Service Learning and Campus Engagement to find out about the endless opportunities!

Golf cart fun! 

Have a Marvelous Monday,
Nina :)

Why can't Dance Marathon be everyday?

On Saturday, April 6th I stood for 12 hours for those who can't stand anymore. Cedar Rapids Dance Marathon is a movement to support Children's Miracle Network and University of Iowa's Children Hospital. We dance for those who are suffering from illnesses that we cannot even fathom. We also dance for those children who are not with us anymore. Over 100 Kohawks, Mt. Mercy, and Kirkwood students danced from 1:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. on Saturday. We all spent time fundraising and recruiting students to make this event possible. The executive team worked extremely hard as always to make this event memorable and successful.

It is wonderful to meet the families that we are sponsoring at Dance Marathon. This year I was given the great opportunity to be a Morale Captain. My job was to be a motivator for my group of 7 dancers. I made sure that they were doing o.k. and were energized for 12 hours! I also had two families I was able to be in contact with. Although my two children were not able to attend the event, we had bracelets that had their picture, age, disease, so that we could always remember to stay standing.

Words cannot express how much all of the children and their families impact and inspire all of us. All we can do is hope for the best and continue on in having Dance Marathons!

For prospective students: Participate in Dance Marathon when you come to Coe! It will be an experience you'll never forget!

For Coe students: Were you there? If you answered yes, you rock! If you answered no: you still rock, but you should have been there. Make sure to register next year!

CRDM= FOR THE KIDS!

Emma Ambrose '15, me, Ashley Jipp '15 -Coe Morale Captains 

Coe Executive Team and Morale Captains: From Top: TJ, Jake, Mackenzie, Mara
Ashley, Carly, Heather, Kalais, Emma, Coley, and Nina 

Allie and Nina :)

Ashley, Emma, and I posing for Sports theme hour! 

Nina and Mila :) 

We raised over $20,000! 

Always remember: FTK!! 

A Habitat Spring Break

 On March 3rd, ten students, our staff adviser, and I took a long 12 hour drive to Cookeville, Tennessee.  I was lucky enough to be the leader of this unforgettable Spring Break Trip. We arrived to smiling faces and the construction coordinator Bob who explained our schedule for the week. During this trip we worked with Putnam County Habitat for Humanity. We also had the pleasure to work with awesome students from Georgia. We stayed at a youth church building and we had a lot of fun! 

On Monday we volunteered at an apartment complex where women who are recovering from substance addiction live. We all worked on various projects. Some people repainted a living room of an apartment while others fixed the gutters on the main house. We were also able to listen to the story of a woman recovering from an addiction. There is a part time worker who usually took care of these tasks, and he said that with our help we put him a month ahead of work. Our days started at 8:00 a.m. and usually ended around 4:30 p.m. 

From Left: Nina, Adam, Tim, Shawna, Le'Trice, Sharrell, Haley, Carly, Felicia, Devin,and Coley
Habitat for Humanity Spring Break 2013

Devin Bain '16 painting! 

Tyler and Nina posing for the camera! 

Adam Knatz and Gary! 

Holden, Chris, Tim, Chad, Adam, Shawna, Coley, and Devin :) 

On Tuesday we worked at the Putnam County Habitat for Humanity ReStore warehouse. On this day we moved one room warehouse items to the other side of the warehouse. This task took a lot of time and required teamwork! Some people also built a shelf to hold large ladders, and others built smaller shelves for tools. This experience was great because we were able to learn a lot of new skills! 

Tyler with everything that we moved in the warehouse!

Carly Fraher '14 and Felicia Owens  '15 working hard! 

Sharrell '16 using the saw! 

Le'Trice '15 showing off the shelves she helped build! 

Carly, Haley, Sharrell, Adam, and Andrew :) 

Carly Fraher '14 and Haley Welby '14 :) 

Coley Genger  '13, Tyler, and Bob! :) 

On Wednesday we had the pleasure of working in the ReStore again and we continued to build saw horses,shelves, and more! Again, many people, including myself, learned how to use many different power tools. We were also able to learn a lot about this aspect of Habitat for Humanity. Although these days were long and at times tiring, we had a blast doing all of this work! 

Andrew and I built this! 

Thursday was our free day, and we took a day trip to Nashville! We ate delicious food at Jack's Barbeque! Then we explored the town and went shopping! The weather was lovely, and we had a lot of fun exploring this city and listening to country music! :) 

 Friday we were able to work on the house! We had the honor to meet the mother of the family we were building the home for. We started putting insulation in the basement and then we built the floor! When we finished the floor we walked all over it and we signed our names on the floor with a quote. This was a day that I will never forget. Team work was essential, and knowing who we were building for was inspiring! 

Beginning of the day 

Tim Salis '15

Holden, Chris, and Alex :) 

Spring Break 2013! 

We finished the floor!! 

Saturday we were headed back to Coe and no one wanted to leave Tennessee! We developed friendships and memories that will last forever. We all took the Collegiate Challenge this Spring Break and we made a difference! We all went able to contribute our personalities and work ethic, but the people we met and the experiences we had offered a lot to us. Thank you to Putnam County, the men from Georgia, and everyone who helped us grow on this trip!