Homecoming Shout-Outs

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A few weekends ago was Juniata Homecoming and Family Weekend along with, of course, Halloween. It was busy, but exciting and full of lots of visits and reunions. I want to dedicate this blog to some people I encountered that weekend, a bit of a shout-out post, if you will.

1. A shout-out to one of my most faithful readers, Bruce Moyer ’74, for the comments and the complements in person on Saturday.

2. Next up, one to Mark Prins ‘10 for being a little bit intimidated by my apparent celebrity this weekend. I forgot we had included a flyer for my blog in the Homecoming folder for parents and Alumni until he sent me a lovely picture of my own face.

3. Shout-out to David Sollenberger ‘10 and his father Joseph Sollenberger’73 who also commented on my flyer in the packet and pledged to read my blog from now on.

4. Shout-out to Evan Heisman ‘09 for the lovely golf cart ride and chat this weekend.

5. To Sodexo for allowing us the use of the aforementioned golf carts this weekend; Saturday dinner was also fantastic.

6. Finally, thanks to Doug Spotts ’89 for helping out at the tailgate and bringing along his son, Ian, for a look at Juniata.

To get a look at some of the events from the weekend, visit… The Homecoming & FAmily Weekend webpage.

Coming Home

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This weekend is Homecoming and Family Weekend, something I have been looking forward to all fall. It will be great to see familiar faces as old friends come back to visit. It will also be nice to be in the presence of various years worth of alumni all at the same time. I just love seeing people who all had a great Juniata experience come back and revisit it.

It is also Halloween weekend, which means lots of exciting events and festivities. The Juniata theatre is currently putting on Twelth night, which I am seeing tonight. The Communication club, Speak is putting on the Soapbox Speeches this afternoon, and there is a very exciting Juniata Presents production called 500 Clown Frankenstein tomorrow night. For all of the other events, visit the Juniata webpage.

One last after another…

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These last few weeks have thrown at me a lot of conflicting emotions. It really doesn’t seem possible to me that I’m a senior already. Especially because friends of my mom are constantly asking me which high school I attend. I don’t necessarily look like a senior in college, and in many situations I don’t feel like a senior. The last four years have passed by so fast and suddenly a theme of lasts is really emerging in my life. Obviously first and foremost, this is my last year at Juniata. However it’s also the last year I will be taking part in many traditions.

I went to Lobsterfest at the beginning of the semester and as I was trying to crack open my lobster and having difficulty, I got frustrated and gave up. My friend David, sitting next to me, looked at me and said, “But, it’s the last one. And, anytime you complain about anything this year that will be my response.” I laughed, but at the same time started thinking about how it was my last of a lot of things.

So far, I’ve already had my last first day of classes (in a fall semester at least). I’ve had my last Lobsterfest, Storming of the Arch, Mountain Day, and Mr. Juniata. Most of the fall semester excitement has passed by now and we are left with midterms this week followed thankfully by fall break. Just a few more weeks and we’ll have Homecoming, Thanksgiving, and my last Madrigal. It’s such a bittersweet feeling, because I’m looking forward to all of these traditions obviously, but I’m also sad for them to be over when I realize that I won’t have any more.

Did you experience these same feelings during your senior year? Any advice for me on how to enjoy my last year while experiencing feelings of sadness and nostalgia?

Manning the Habitat for Humanity table in a crowded Ellis Ballroom for Lobsterfest.

Crazy Storming of the Arch shenanigans. I got totally clobbered and I was just trying to watch!

Lucy and I celebrating her first and both of our last Mountain Days.

It’s a Tricky One…

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For the past few weeks I have woken up on most mornings the worst way any Juniatian can wake up- by hearing my roommate say, “It’s NOT Mountain Day!” We’ve had multiple days we all thought it would be and on each of those incorrect days I awoke in a bad mood. Finally, this week, Tuesday night before a rumored Mountain Day, I got smart and asked Emily not to say anything in the morning. Emily only kept her promise for one day.

Wednesday night, convinced it would be Mountain Day the following day, I did something for the first time. I went to the bar with most of the senior class, praying that I wouldn’t have class the next day. And of course, the next morning at 7am I woke up to Emily saying once again, “It’s not Mountain Day!” I couldn’t believe we had all been wrong! I was shocked and disappointed. When would Mountain Day be?!?!

But, right before she left for class at 8 am, Emily checked her e-mail again. To our relief, there was a message declaring Mountain Day! We both went back to bed to enjoy the holiday fully and once we had rested up, off to Raystown we went. We took some pictures with a lion or two (cardboard cut-outs), got ourselves some lunch and enjoyed the gorgeous day. Emily and Kristine went canoeing, and I thoroughly enjoyed being outside in the nature. It was a bit cold, but the sun was shining and overall, we had a fantastic time.

I’m sad to see my last Mountain Day pass by already. Anyone out there still celebrate it somehow since their time at Juniata? Have any great stories from when you were still at JC? I’d love to hear them!

Here are some pictures from my last Mountain Day:

My roommate Lucy and I being eaten by a lion.

The ladies of Hess 5 eating lunch.

I am sad to report, the seniors lost Tug of War. It was rigged!

A group of students spent the day in the shade slacklining.

And I had to take one with the roommate who woke up so often this semester, Emily.

It’s Mountain Day!

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The time has finally come! There’s been rumors for weeks and a few canceled days due to weather but it’s finally here!  So even if you’re far away from Juniata, go celebrate Mountain day wherever you are in some way!  I’m off to the lake to enjoy the day, more to come later!

Here’s a picture of Raystown Lake from the last time I went there for Mountain Day.

My roommate Emily and I from our sophomore year, see how exited we are for today?

King of the Nerds

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Last weekend the time came for one of my favorite Juniata traditions, Mr. Juniata. Established in 1997, and sponsored by Circle K (the collegiate branch of the Kiwanis organization), the Mr. Juniata pageant is a tongue-in-cheek spoof of beauty pageants with men from each class competing for the coveted Mr. Juniata crown. The contestants compete with a talent, formal wear, and answer a difficult interview question. This year the theme was “King of the Nerds” and eight guys (two from each class) of varying nerdiness competed.

When I found out who was competing this year, I was pleased to discover I knew most of the contestants. Other than the freshmen and one of the sophomores, I could tell you something about the five other guys. The night was highly entertaining, with some of the best laughs coming from, as per usual, the talent portion. Paul Dennehy ’10 taught us the best way to catch a moth including singing some Mariachi and reciting some poetry. Kevin Whitmire ’12, with some help from Marci Chamberlain ’10, performed a very theatrical and hilarious homage to chicken. And last but not least, Eric Dulick ’11 sang a love song to all of the Juniata girls, composed and written all by himself.

Kevin Whitmire, my fellow CWS lab leader, was awarded the crown at the end of the night and received the sash from Blake Collaine ’11, Mr. Juniata 2008. First runner-up went to Eric Dulick, and second runner-up was Paul Dennehy. It was a fun night and one of those things that make Juniata so unique year after year. Are there any past Mr. Juniata winners out there? Participants or merely audience members like myself? I’d love to hear any stories you have about previous competitions.

Most of the guys during the opening dance number.

Paul Dennehy ‘10 singing some mariachi to his moth, Megan Peterson ‘10.

The finalists waiting to hear the verdict. From left to right, Eric, Kevin, and Paul.

My First Juniata Wedding!

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Last weekend I attended my first Juniata wedding. Jenn Kendall ’08 and Derek Morris ’08 were married on Saturday in Pittsburgh. This was my first wedding for my friends instead of going to a wedding connected to my family. When I told my friends this summer at camp that two of my best friends were getting married, they all said, “Oh man, you’re an adult! You know adults!”

My roommates Emily, Kristine and I loaded in the car to Pittsburgh (my first trip there!) Saturday morning and made some pretty great time thanks to our GPS. We were the only current Juniata students except for one more senior, Kalin Shipman ’10 who actually ended up catching the bouquet! There were alumni from Jenn and Derek’s year as well as 2007 and it was great to see so many familiar faces.

I met the couple my freshman year when I joined Habitat for Humanity. Even though they graduated at the end of my sophomore year, I still consider them a part of my Juniata family. Jenn and Derek (or Rabbit, as we called him in Habitat) were two individuals I spent a lot of time around, including Habitat Spring Breaks, a Global Village trip to Thailand, and serving on the same Habitat officers group.

The Juniata Family was a big theme of the wedding. For me and many of my friends, this was the first wedding for our Juniata family. Although I’m guessing it’s not our last, it’s crazy to me how large the Juniata Wedding phenomenon is. After the bouquet toss and competition for the garter, we all gathered for the Juniata photo, an apparent requirement for any Juniata wedding. Watch for it in a future Juniata magazine!

So, what is it about Juniata that makes our ties to each other so strong? Why do so many of us have these Juniata families and have Juniata weddings? I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories.

Emily, Kristine, and I.

Jenn and Derek ‘08 cutting the cake.

Andy Adams ‘08 putting the garter on his girlfriend, Kalin Shipman ‘10.

The Juniata Photo!

Let me introduce myself:

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Before you start reading about my last year here at Juniata, here’s a bit more information about me. My name is Lizie Murphy and I’m a senior studying Communication and Media. Why Media? While abroad last fall in York, England, I studied media and fell in love with it.

I’m from Morristown, NJ, which is about 4 or 5 hours away from Juniata depending on how fast you drive. I live off-campus with three other girls: Lucy (an exchange student from Australia), Emily, and Kristine. Emily, Kristine, and I all studied abroad last year, so it’s exciting to be back together for our senior year.

While I am not in class or in the Alumni office, I’m heavily involved with Juniata’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity. I serve as the volunteer coordinator, which means I facilitate interaction between the Huntingdon affiliate and JC students for builds every week. Right now we are working on a house in downtown Huntingdon. Here is the Huntingdon Area Habitat’s website with pictures of the house. I am also a College Writing Seminar (CWS) lab leader, helping the freshman class get adjusted to life at Juniata.

Outside Juniata, I’m in love with a place called Camp Speers-Eljabar YMCA. I started going to this camp when I was 12 years old and have been back almost every year since. I’ve spent the last four summers working there and made some of the best friends I could’ve ever hoped to have. I love going home on break but since I live so far, it does not happen very often. I’m very close to my family and always happy to come home and see Maggie, my 10 year-old black Labrador.

Now that you know who I am, I hope you’ll come back each week to read and comment on my blog. If you have any questions or comments that you would like to add, feel free to click on the ‘add a comment’ link below. Let me know if there’s something at Juniata that you want to know about. Remember to check back each week or subscribe to my blog to read about my final year here at Juniata.

A group of us cramming into a Phone Booth in London.

The whole group in front of last year’s Spring Break house in Tupelo, MS.

One of my cabins of girls this summer at camp.

Hanging out on my front lawn with my black lab Maggie.