Student of the Month...

I'd like to take a walk down memory lane, inspired by cousin Jenny.

Some of the best days of my childhood were spent in school, not because I was a dork (I know, I know, I still am), but because Holy Spirit School was an amazing place to be, even if you had to wear the ugliest uniforms with peach shirts and brown knee socks on a daily basis.

Just about everyone I know who attended the great H.S.S. looks back fondly on memories made while a student there. Let's recall a few memories:

-Coming to school early to sit in the gym to copy all of Debbi Dobson's homework
-Forging your mom or dad's signature in your notebook so you didn't get a checkmark
-the Christmas door decorating competition

-watching PBS shows for four-year-olds while Sister Antoinette slept at her desk

-walking to church each week on Tuesdays

-Honoring the Jesse Tree during Advent by hanging the necessary paper ornaments on the tree

-Mrs. Repko's Bingo, Christmas Jingo and flavored Tootsie Rolls

-practicing for the Passion Play at Our Lady's Church and getting to yell "Put him to death"and "We want Barrabas"

-singing "Great Day in Bethlehem" at the Christmas concert while holding your flash light with colored saran wrap for effect

-Sister Antoinette's lesson on alcoholism when she pretended to see purple elephants (b/c this happens when people are drunk, apparently)
-Miss Fedock ensuring you read Judy Blume's "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and "Are you there God, it's me, Margaret?" as part of the Pizza Hut Book It Movement
-Mr. Bobber's musical antics, including "put three fingers together and say AH"
-Mrs. Repko's son's storying about "downshifting"
-Watching Voyage of the Mimi and learning about whales, sign language, and the Mayans in Mr. Litchko's class

I mean, seriously, in just a few short moments I could recall all of this wonderful memories.

But there's always one that everyone remembers: the monthly gatherings for Student of the Month.

Sister Adrian would welcome everyone to the gathering. She would say, "Good afternoon, students" and everyone would respond "Good Afternoon, Sister Adrian." But you had to say it correctly -- as an entire school, you had to drag out the words with the correct sing-songy tone. If you went there, you're reading this now saying it in just the right fashion. This is clearly one of the best memories.

Being selected the Student of the Month was a huge deal that came with big responsibility. As a selectee, you had a role to fill and you had to do so successfully. When Sister Adrian or the Student Body President honored you for being Student of the Month in your class, you had to deliver the proper speech:

"I'd like to thank my fellow classmates for nominating me and selecting me as student of the month. I'd also like to thank (Insert Teacher Name) for his/her support. And finally, I'd like to thank Sister Adrian for making this day possible."

Failure to deliver the speech word for word, particularly, failure to thank Sister Adrian meant you were a let down to your respective class. This was a key element in the Student of the Month process as well as one's role as a Holy Spirit Spiritan.

We should take time to remember these great memories of our childhood. We should also take time to remember to thank Sister Adrian for making things possible. It only seems appropriate.

Catholic Schools: Put Faith in the Future -- Let's hope Holy Spirit School can find the support it needs to help future students create these lasting memories that I still hold to this day.

Junk Mail Comes on Tuesdays...

I lived in residence halls (aka, dorms) for 6 years of my life -- 4 years of college and 2 years of grad school. To most people, this seems insane. For me, it meant easy money (most of the time), a free meal plan (I miss Encore), and a few smaller perks. One of these smaller perks was no junk mail -- I rarely received coupons, credit card offers, missing person’s flyers, etc. Now, however, since I have entered full-fledged adulthood, junk mail is a weekly part of my existence. Most junk mail, I assure you, comes on Tuesdays.

Today was one of those Tuesdays I dreaded checking the mail. You can only get so many coupons for oil changes, Krystal “burgers” (um, ga-ross), and other random crap. You can only get so many credit card offers as well. But today, my mail was graced by the presence of some serious junk. In the name of all things holy, mail can’t get more ridiculous than this.

The envelope was standard white, letter sized. Addressed – “Resident – To a Friend.” On the front it said, “Two homes are about to be blessed… then it must go to another dear friend.” Some of the words were underlined in red pen. I thought this was peculiar, so rather than just throw it out, I figured I would see what this was all about.

Oh my.
The back of the envelope read (in the same writing):

“Dear Jesus,
We pray that you will bless someone in this home spiritually, physically, and financially. And please dear Lord, bless the one who’s (this is grammatically incorrect) hands open this letter. Make good changes in this one’s life and give them the desires of their heart. We pray over and bless this letter in your holy name. Amen.” Saint Matthew’s Churches – PO Box 22065 – Tulsa, OK 74121

Well, for the love of Pete (whoever he is), this has got to be good, I thought. So out came the letter opener (aka, my index finger) and more discovery followed.

Basically, inside this envelope was a “prayer rug” – that is, a piece of paper you had to unfold to reveal the face of Jesus on the picture of a purple and orange rug. The rug instructs you to kneel near the rug, close your eyes, and pray for whatever it is you need to pray for. But don’t stop there!

You must pass the prayer rug on!

Inside also was some sap story about a woman who received $46,000 after she prayed on the prayer rug. It also included a serious two-page letter addressed to “Dear… Someone Connected with this Address” with serious amounts of red underlining, instructing you to fill out the pray letter and send it back to Saint Matthew’s. You have to check a few boxes of things to pray for, such as your soul, your health, a home to call your own, a closer walk with Jesus, a new car, your family, or “for God to bless with me with money in the amount of $_____ (and you fill in the blank)”.

Can we say, SCAM ALERT! Are these people serious?

Isn’t it wrong to pray for money?

As Coleman (the most immoral person I know) asks, "When did it become socially acceptable to pray for money?"

Oh, wait, isn’t it wrong to tell people your prayers will be answered after you enclose your “seed gift to God’s work of $____ (again, fill in the blank)”?

Wow, Saint Matthew’s Churches. Wow. You have really outdone yourself this time.

Saint Matthew’s Churches – Friends of Jesus for 55 Glorious Years of Service.

Translation: Saint Matthew’s Churches – Enemies of People Who Want to Believe God Will Answer Their Prayers

I hope to God, yes, that’s right – I hope to God people are smart enough to realize this is a scam. I also hope these scammers find the error of their ways. Perhaps they should be kneeling in front of their prayer rugs asking for God to forgive them for deceiving and scamming people.

Regardless of this ridiculousness, though, it did make me laugh as I find pure joy in things of the “Bible Belt” nature. Don’t be surprised if the “prayer rug” ends up in your mailbox, friends. It is too ridiculous not to share with others, holy or not.

Grocery Efficiency...

Each week while a student at the Bucknell, I had the utmost pleasure of accompanying my good friend Coleman to the local Weis (pronounced Weis's for you locals out there) for a supermarket shopping extravaganza. This weekly rendevous through the supermarket aisles centered on one main goal: grocery efficiency. Basically, the goal of each trip was to maximize products purchased per money spent. That is, Coleman would try endlessly to ensure the average meal he purchased was no more than $5.00 per meal. Something like a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter was a good deal because these meals clearly accounted for less than $5.00. This was good because then one may choose to splurge on things like TastyCakes. Mmmmm.

Coleman spent many a moment ensuring he was getting the proverbial "bang for his buck." He is quite the artful master of grocery proficiency and could be called upon by anyone needing a lesson in such an area.

For example, I share with you a most recent voicemail from Coleman:

"For the record, I have just set the grocery shopping efficiency record. For thirty dollars, I got 7 packages of Hot Pockets. Let alone, right there, 2 Hot Pockets for a meal, you're well within the clear. Plus I got two 12 packs of Cherry Coke, a bag of Sunflower Seeds, AND an Angel Food cake, AND a half pound of imported ham, AND a loaf of bread, and Kraft Singles. I rock."

(and in a separate message)
"Oh, and I forgot about the two pounds of ground chicken. Bye."

Clearly, he is the master. This is indeed the record of grocery efficiency. Congratulations, my friend, you continue to set the highest of grocery shopping standards.

By George, I think you've got it...

Congratulations, George Mason, you made me eat my words. I really didn't think you had it in you to take down UCONN, but you have and you have made history in the process. Congratulations on being the only mid-major team in the new tournament format to make it to the Final Four. What an accomplishment. Cinderella gets to dance another dance. I guess the glass slipper fits after all.

If the glass slipper fits...

Well, here we are: the evening before the second weekend of the NCAA tournament and the "Cinderellas" out there are preparing to dance another dance. George Mason, Bradley, and Wichita State... which team, if any, will shake up the dance floor and rise victorious once again?

Now, I don't want to sound like a hard ass who isn't supportive of the mid-major teams in March Madness. If you know me or have been reading my posts, you know I love the mid-majors, I love the underdogs, and I love the "Cinderellas" when March rolls around (particularly when it's my alma mater shaking things up). But this isn't 1998 and Valparaiso isn't doing the hustle out on the dance floor. Similarly, it isn't 1999 and Gonzaga isn't doing the jitterbug on the dance floor either. I don't mean to be disrespectful to the George Mason, Bradley and Wichita State teams, staffs, and fans out there, but I just can't seem to be excited about these Cinderellas.

In the late 90s, I was enthusiastic about Valpo and the 'Zags. I had every bit of interest in their attempts at making the madness more crazy than it usually is. I was so interested that I used to tell my dad I wanted to go to Valpo or Gonzaga for college (well, until I realized these schools were in Indiana and Washington respectively - no thanks). That's how excited I was -- that's how much I wanted to get behind those teams, even if they screwed up my brackets.

There are many a expert out there who think these three teams can continue to make some headways in round three and possibly round four of the tournament. But I wouldn't stake my claim in that. I don't have any factual reasons as I normally do, it's just a gut feeling, an intuition, and I can't ignore that.

The saying goes, "If the shoe fits, wear it." And people out there will use this whimsically piece of advice in many a situation. But I have to wonder in this case, does the glass slipper fit? I think not. But if it does fit, who will wear it? And who will get tossed off the dance floor?

Nevertheless, I'm still curious and interested enough to find out. Here's to week number two of the most wonderful time of the year. Happy spectating!

Bittersweet Bison Basketball??

As an avid sports fan and an enthusiastic follower of the NCAA tournament, I look forward to March Madness each year. I can best describe it as my Christmas – for me, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year, as I wrote about on a previous post. Since I was a child, I have enjoyed the rituals of watching Selection Sunday, picking my bracket, and rooting for the underdogs. For me, the NCAA tournament is all about the upsets – watching the underdogs of the mid-major conferences knock off the big schools.

Each year, the powerhouse teams have chances to prove their might while the underdogs have chances to prove their worth. In 2005, I couldn’t have been more ecstatic that my wonderful alma mater became one of the true “Cinderella stories” of the big dance, knocking off a powerhouse in Kansas. It was with great pride that I rooted for my beloved Bison – it was nice to finally have a tie to an underdog to root for, instead of staking claim in a team just for the heck of it.

On Monday, March 13, I sat in my office. Antonio Anderson, a freshmen member the Memphis basketball team, and I have shared a bond since he discovered I went to Bucknell as an undergraduate. He has great love for Kevin Bettencourt and throughout the season repeatedly talked with me about the excitement surrounding Bucknell’s season – he was often just as enthusiastic about Bucknell’s wins as he was of his own team’s. Antonio, as always, walked into my office that Monday with a giant smile on his face – he couldn’t wait to ask how excited I was about Bucknell being a No. 9 seed and playing in the same region as Memphis. After congratulating him on his team’s No. 1 seed, he asked me if I hoped for a possible second-round match up between the Tigers and the Bison. “Of course,” I said, “but, Antonio, who would I root for?” He didn’t hesitate to say, “Carol, you gotta root for your team!”

And that’s what I did.

But it wasn’t necessarily easy.

The sports world is crazy in this way because it pits friends against foes and friends against friends. Each play during the Bucknell-Memphis game brought about some inner conflict for me. While watching Memphis throughout the season, I always got excited when Antonio entered the game and knocked down big three pointers – he’s a great kid and a great player, and I enjoy his successes. But this time, particular plays by Antonio or his teammates made life difficult for Bucknell’s players. It was hard to be excited for Antonio and Memphis, but also hard not to be. Nevertheless, I held back my cheers for Memphis, and held on for Bucknell’s hopes at victory. But it just wasn’t meant to be.

On Monday, March 20, I waited for Antonio’s visit to my office – I knew he would take the chance to show me his giant smile about the win over Bucknell. I congratulated him and asked if he was excited about the Sweet Sixteen. He politely said, “Carol, I’m sorry we had to knock your team out, but we gotta do what we gotta do.” I told him that I was excited for him and his teammates. I swallowed my pride and responded, “I guess if Bucknell had to lose, I’m glad Memphis won and not some other team I don’t really want to root for later in the tournament.” Antonio seemed to agree.

I always want Bucknell to continue to make strides throughout Division I college hoops. In a similar way, I want Memphis to experience the success they work for as well. As excited as I am for Memphis, however, my heart is in Lewisburg and my heart bleeds orange and blue. I believe my feelings of sadness are warranted as I am reminder that another wonderful Bucknell season has come to an end and I have to wait almost nine months to root for more Bison success. But, I still have a team to root for and hope for the best in the remainder of the tournament. And while Memphis may provide some excitement as I watch the remainder of the tournament, they cannot provide the feeling of pride I have in and the feeling of respect I have for Bucknell’s players and staff. This team has continually made me proud of Bucknell more and more each day. And for that, my feelings of the season coming to an end for the Bison aren’t bittersweet but that of pride and honor. Thanks, Bucknell, for an amazing season!

Brackets, brackets, and more brackets...

March Madness is upon us -- grab your pencil and fill out your brackets -- it's OK to become obsessed with it, keep telling yourself that. Seriously, obsess away -- the madness is the best time of the year.

The chatter has already started with my friends and the students I work with:

"Carol, wouldn't it be awesome if you get to watch Bucknell play Memphis in the second round?"
-- Answer: Yes, but more awesome if I could actually be in Dallas to see it happen.

"Carol, what number 5 seed should I pick to lose?"
-- Answer: That's a great question. Only two times in the new format has a 12 seed failed to beat a 5 seed.

"Carol, who will win it all?"
-- Answer: Also a great question. My job tells me I should root for Memphis since I work here but I just am not ready to say out loud who I'm going with; wouldn't want to offend anyone.


My email has been flooded since yesterday with updates, news, and stories about the tournament.

First, there's the story that comes out each year at this time (and also during football bowl season) to see how the tournament teams (or bowl teams) measure up academically. I am proud to announce the wonderful Bucknell is atop the list. Educate yourself: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=ajy4Ov5.HU7I&refer=us


Educate yourself some more: http://www.ncasports.org/images/Release%20FINAL%202005%20NCAA%20Basketball%20Tournament%20Grad%20Rates%20Study.pdf

(Maybe someday I can work for this organization.)


Second, there's the advice columns by the bracketology "experts" telling you how to make the most of your picks. We don't need to go into detail here -- trust me, if you really want someone to help you, you'll figure out where to find it. (Digger, Dickie V, Jay Bilas... who do you trust????)


Third, there's the humor surrounding these events, as best depicted by the one Bill Simmons:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/blog/index?name=simmons

You should read this article. It's funny. Go ahead, read it now.

I have some observations regarding the humor described by Bill Simmons:

First of all, I truly agree wholeheartedly that people out there pick their brackets much like he described in his mother and his friend the sportsgal. Some people don't follow college hoops and they have no other means for making their selections. These people are often hysterical and may often win the office pool by nothing but pure dumb luck.

Second of all, though, I cannot help but be a little irritated by this said humor. You see, Bill Simmons may imply here that only women have crazy non-sports related rituals for picking their brackets. This is clearly not the case. As a sports-obsessed, March Madness junkie, I am proud of my abilities to pick brackets each year beyond strategies like "I went to school there" or "my friend went to school there" or "the Catholics are good people". I know the ins and outs of the so called bracketology and I am indeed a female. There are many females out there like myself who do not need to resort to ridiculous criteria for one's selections. And seriously, there are many a male species out there who know a great deal less about the madness than many females I know. So, Bill Simmons, while I appreciate your humor, I would have appreciated it more if you mocked a male and a female instead of two females. It seems only fair in brackets and basketball.

For all of you wonderful people out there who will do nothing but sit on your asses and watch minute after minute of the tournament this weekend, enjoy it -- I know I did in my previous life as a student/non-adult. Now, I must find a way to sneak into the conference room at work just so I can take in as much as possible.

At least my boss won't be around to yell at me. Oh wait, he'll be watching Bucknell/Arkansas and Memphis/Oral Roberts in person. Yes, I am indeed jealous.

March Madness...

March Madness comes in various forms.

This March for me, there was the Memphis Madness experienced by myself and three visiting friends over this past weekend -- madness did ensue in the many forms of over-eating, over-drinking, over-sight seeing, over-farting, and over-spending, but the details of these events shall not be recapped here.

In addition, this March for me brings the most busy time of the semester at work -- I am certain it will prove to reach a level of insanity, but I will make it through.

But most importantly, of course, March Madness is best known for the most wonderful sports-spectating time of the year -- the NCAA tournament. (I will argue to the death with someone who diasgrees with this statement -- there is no sporting event that can top the tournament -- none, whatsoever. ) If you know me well or if you barely know me at all, you do know for sure that my obsession with March Madness runs deep.

March Madness is enjoyable in part because of its many traditions.

There's watching Selection Sunday so as to be first informed about which teams' bubbles have burst or which teams have squeaked into a tournament spot.

There's the printing and selecting of one's bracket, so as to predict as best as possible the outcomes of each and every game.

There's the weekend ritual of sitting in one's own stink so as to not miss a minute of the madness -- you never know when a magical moment will be created and thus, you must watch religiously every minute as humanly possible.

There's the constant rooting for one's Cinderella team -- hoping an underdog makes a go of it, topples the powerhouses and shocks the country -- for me, this is what the tournament is all about -- the rise of the underdog, the glory of the upset.

And sometimes, there are new traditions to be made, like getting in your car, driving to various cities, scalping tickets and watching your great alma mater take chances at making history.

March Madness 2005 was truly magical for me, as Bucknell (my wonderful alma mater) made history in Oklahoma City -- Bucknell represented everything I like about March Madness -- a team not well known to the rest of the country who pulled off an amazing upset and finally got some respect as a well-developed basketball program. Perhaps this year, Bucknell can continue to turn a Cinderella story into a historical event.

It is with great pleasure that I look forward to the upcoming weekend -- first, watching Bucknell play in the Patriot League Tournament Championship on Friday, hoping to clutch an automatic bid into the field of 65. Second, watching Selection Sunday to see how the bracket comes together and then making my selections for the madness that will ensue (know your bracketology, friends -- use your knowledge wisely). And finally, to see who makes the month interesting:

What powerhouses will fall?

What Cinderellas story will be written?

What magical shots will make history?

Who will fall?

Who will rise victorious?

None of this can be known at this time, but soon, dear friends, soon the madness will unfold. Will you be watching?