It’s shaping up to be another absolutely gorgeous day today – is there possibly a better way to kick it off than eating breakfast on the patio overlooking the lake?  Take it from Jason K. (’14) and Merry G. (’14)  who experienced it first hand, and took this totally awesome photo.  Only 3 more days of class, a weekend, and three days of finals remain and then most of you will be heading off campus to whatever summer adventure awaits — don’t forget to soak up the sun (and the views!!!) before you leave! 

Ellis & Myles outside of their room, with the pledge of support on their door.

In his recent submission to the blog, Adam S. (’14) quotes Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Dumbledore says to Harry, “It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.”  Being an advocate can be extraordinarily challenging at times, especially when you’re advocating for someone (or a group of people) that does not always get the “popular” vote.  Check out Adam’s message:

A few weeks ago I noticed a pledge of support for the LGBT community on Ellis M.‘s door. I asked Ellis about the sign, and he seemed really shocked that some may have thought it was placed there in jest. He insisted that it was serious, and said that he doesn’t see why someone would joke about it. He said that everyone deserves equality and respect and that’s exactly what the pledge promotes.  That night, someone ripped down Ellis’ pledge.  An anonymous supporter slipped another pledge under Ellis’ door. The next day, Ellis had reposted the pledge on his door. His roommate, Myles O., had posted one as well. When asked why he followed suit Myles responded with the same idea as Ellis, that he needed to stand for what he believed in whether his friends agree or not. 

Total awesomeness right there!  Yet another great example of the support within the Carthage community – we are all in this together!  I give huge props to both Ellis M. and Myles O. for being so awesome!

9:20pm, 24 April 2013
Outside of Johnson Hall

David G. (’16) had his Digital SLR camera out and about and decided to take some shots of the moon.  Using some time lapse techniques, he was really able to capture the distinct brightness that comes with a full moon – something I’ve typically found elusive.   Thanks for submitting the photo, David – it’s really awesome!

“On Saturday (the 20th), 60+ students volunteered to help package meals that are designed to fight malnourishment and starvation. In just under 2 hours this amazing group of people packed over 14,000 meals for children in Haiti! Thank you to all of the amazing people who came out and helped. Thank you to everyone on the Campus Missions Week team for putting together an aweome week of events! We couldn’t have done it without all you!”

What an awesome event full of awesome-awesomeosity!  Keep being incredible, Carthage!

“Once upon a time, a girl was in a wheelchair. It was raining really hard, and the girl was having a hard time steering her wheelchair. She was trying to get to her class, was running late, and almost rolled off the sidewalk. Suddenly, a guy who saw her and asked if she needed help. She said yes, and he pushed her all the way to her class, even though they had never met before.

This was me today. To the guy who helped me, Thank You from the bottom of my heart. I’m super sorry I didn’t get your name, but I want to tell you that you have given me hope for the human race. This is why I love Carthage. ♥”

So totally and incredibly awesome.

HUGE props to everyone who is a part of Colleges Against Cancer, to those that volunteered for the event, who came and walked, who raised money and raised awareness, who performed throughout the night, and so many, many more!

To find out more about this awesome event, contact Brooke Khaly (bkhaly@carthage.edu) or Shannon Keating (skeating@carthage.edu) – they’ll be able to give you full details.   You can also check out the Colleges Against Cancer Facebook page!

“Including our 15 presenters, we had 100 people from Carthage participate in the Diversity Institute!!! Of those 100 people, 27 qualified to get a mug & certificate by going to at least 5 sessions.  Many more participants were looking to learn on a topic that intrigued them and went to multiple sessions. I think that’s shows something about Carthage students: they were eager to learn and have a dialogue on these diverse topics and did not need pizza or a mug as an incentive. 

The sessions with over 40 attendees were Dani Geary’s “White Privilege in Higher Education” where she explored the inequalities that exist for students of color and Courtney Drew’s session “Taking the “T” out of  LGBT” where she presented on gender identity rather than sexual identity and how to be an ally. “

A HUGE THANK YOU to Laura for putting together this series!  Carthage students were able to learn SO MUCH about diverse topics!  I have spoken to many of the participants, each of whom have spent a good deal of time sharing their excitement for what they’ve learned.  Way to be awesome, Laura!  And way to be awesome, Carthage!!

“Yesterday (March 13) was my 22nd birthday and I was off campus until about 2pm. I came back to find my bed covered in 20+ balloons which are now all over the floor in our room! My roommate is the best and I don’t know what I would have done without her for the past three years! We sure do know how to decorate a room for a birthday! It’s a good thing she didn’t find the left over streamers I had from decorating the room for her birthday or she would have outdone me! :p I can’t believe I only have 73 more days with the best roommate in the entire world!”

Once again proves how tremendously awesome friends are – and how our Carthage community can really spark some great connections between students!

Check this out if you’re interested in learning more about the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation!