February and March have turned out to be the months I thought they would be. When I planned my schedule this semester I planned on enjoying four day weekends for the last time in my life. However, it seems that every week I end up filling my Thursdays and Fridays with all sorts of random things. Not that I am complaining because most of them have been fun trips like going to Colorado or going to Florida, but the fact is I have not had time to truly just relax without any worries.

I did get the chance to go to the University of Florida last week and attend The Emerging Leaders Conference. The trip was amazing.  There were nearly 70 students from 16 different schools in attendance.  The weekend consisted of four key note speakers and many breakout sessions. In my opinion the best speaker we had was a man by the name of Steve Farber. He is an expert in business leadership and spends most of his time speaking to various business groups around the country. He is the author of two books and working on his third. I hate to do free advertising for someone, but he truly was an amazing speaker. His website has tons of great free information www.stevefarber.com.  We also had the opportunity to listen to speakers from GE, Symantec, Siemens, the CEO of Zoe’s Kitchen, and many other business leaders. All of the speakers had very interesting views on leadership and the future of business. One of the best sessions that we had at the conference did not involve any speakers. We had the opportunity to sit in a group of peers from 15 different leading business schools and discuss our culture. We were able to bounce ideas off each other and learn ways to improve our schools. We discussed different types of clubs, various extracurricular activities, teaching styles, and class room settings just to name a few. 

I was and still am honored that I was chosen by the Kelley School to represent us at the conference. Three other Kelley-Indianapolis students attended with me and we were all able to take away new ideas and great memories from the conference. I hope that the school stays involved with this type of conference and that other students get the opportunity to attend one of these in the future.

It sure is a good thing that this is a leap year because I will need an extra day at the end of this busy month.  I started this month in Denver on a little vacation to visit some friends, since I have been back it has been nothing but run, run, run for me.

This is a very interesting semester for me because I am fortunate enough to be able to work three full days a week and still take six credit hours.  This month I have had five different meetings for school and for work, I have had two job interviews, and I have had to manage work and school. I am not complaining about my busy schedule because most of the events I have been involved in have been fun learning experiences.

Last week I had the most exciting interview of my job hunt. I was fortunate enough to land an interview for an internship with the NCAA.  The position is a yearlong internship with full benefits. The interview lasted from 8am-4pm. It was a long and draining day, but very exciting.  It involved one on one interviews, group interviews, a writing sample, and many other personality observations. The day was exciting and full of some very interesting questions. I will not hear back from them for at least three-four weeks. I feel that interview went great, but I will have to wait it out just like the rest of the people that interviewed that day.

To conclude this month I have been selected to represent the Kelley School of Business at the Emerging Leadership Conference at the University of Florida. Three other students were selected to attend the conference as well. I am hoping that the conference will be a fantastic networking event and it will allow me to learn from some of the best leaders in America. I will write more about this conference after the event.

For the third time I am in my last semester of school. However, it is vastly different this time because it is confirmed that I am graduating in May. For the past two semesters I have anticipated graduating, but unforeseen soccer issues kept me in school for an extra year. However, it seems to me that this is the way it was supposed to be. I have had the opportunity to make many new networking contacts and to obtain a third degree in Supply Chain Management. Looking back on it, I am very happy at how my time here at IUPUI has been spent; IUPUI and the Kelley School have allowed me the opportunity to pursue many of my dreams.  I just recently found out I landed an interview with the NCAA for an internship position. The NCAA program is a year long and it is said to be one of the best internship programs in the country. I am very excited about this opportunity and now it is up to me to make sure I prove myself in my interview.

The IUPUI men’s soccer team is hosting our conference (The Summit League) tournament this weekend at Kuntz Stadium (off 16th Street across from the old Bush Stadium). We play Friday at 5 p.m. If we win that game we play in the championship Sunday at 1 p.m. Soccer is a lot like the NCAA basketball tournament. The winner of the conference gets an automatic bid into the “big dance” NCAA tournament.

This is the first time we have been given the chance to host the tournament in Indianapolis; it probably will not be back here for a few years. We would truly appreciate support from the community at our games. If you are a soccer or college sports fan, this is a great opportunity to catch NCAA Division I soccer. Please bring your families to support the Jaguars.

The Men’s Soccer team is tournament bound. We clinched at least the second seed in The Summit League Championships. The tournament is being held at Kuntz Stadium (off of 16th Street, here in Indy) on November 16th and 18th. The team let some hard fought games get away at the beginning of the season, but they have turned it on for conference games and now sit at 4-1 in the conference with one home game remaining. Catch the team in their last regular season match before post season action on November 9th @ 7pm at Carroll Stadium (on campus) vs. IPFW. It has been an exciting season and we are looking to be the first IUPUI team to go to the NCAA tournament since the conference changed their name to The Summit League.

 

Networking is one of the most important life skills that one can learn at a young age. Many of my business professors in college have talked about how important networking is, but it seems that it is still overlooked.Throughout my life I have always tried to represent myself in the best manor possible whenever meeting anyone new, but I never realized how important knowing people can be until recently. I am slowly starting to look for jobs and it has been shocking to talk with people and hear them say, Oh you are looking to work there, I know the owner, or I know so and so. I started to realize just how important this was last year when I was looking for an internship. All three places I interviewed at knew someone that I knew through school or soccer. My advice to everyone is simple, never take anyone for granted, every opportunity that you get to meet someone new can open new doors in your life. This is especially true in smaller cities such as Indianapolis. Many businesses owners know each other and if you work hard and prepare yourself right your name can get spread like wildfire.

 

 

Sometimes it can be tough to be a student athlete at a commuter college like IUPUI.  It can be difficult to gain recognition throughout the community. However, one way the student athletes at IUPUI have found a way to gain respect throughout Indianapolis is through community outreach programs. Last May IUPUI student athletes competed against the rest of the schools in their conference to see who could log the most community service hours. We won that challenge with ease because giving back to our community has become second nature. This year our teams have pledged to log more hours than ever before. We will not only concentrate on one month, but the entire year. Community service has always been a part of my life and I feel that it is a great way to show Indianapolis that many athletes do not take their talents for granted and they do take the time to get out in the city and give back to our community. Many people will never realize that these student athletes are very proactive in the community, but I feel that a large thank you is needed for all of the Jaguars that do partake in giving back.

 

NFL football kicked off this past week. Thousands of people packed the streets of Indy on Thursday for the NFL kickoff party. Although, I am a Bears fan I was able to enjoy the festivities. Very few college students across the country will ever get a chance to have such an amazing event “on their campus.” Before coming to IUPUI I never really though Indy had that much to offer, but wow was I wrong. In the past four years I have attended many events that I never thought I would in my life. The two that stick out the most to me were the NFL party and the NCAA Final Four.  People travel from all over the country to attend these events, but for those of us that go to IUPUI it is just a walk away. This school and this city are growing at such an alarming rate it is hard to keep up with everything all the time.

On a side note, the IUPUI soccer team opens their home schedule this Friday at 5pm at Kuntz Stadium. Students get in free with their Jag tags. What a great opportunity to see Division I athletics in your backyard.

My fifth and final year of school is underway! It is that time of year when freshman scramble about campus trying to find their classes and the upperclassman begin to think they are seasoned veterans. For me though it is the final installment of my tenure here at IUPUI. I am only taking 12 credit hours this semester three of which are online. I feel that I owe myself this last semester of enjoyment before I head out into the real world. At the completion of this semester I will have earned enough credits to graduate with two degrees and a minor, but I am taking one or two more classes next semester in order to earn a third degree. I will still be considered a student next spring, but I will be looking for employment as my classes should take up a minimal amount of my time.

The first week of school has always been an enjoyable time for me because people actually seem excited to be going to class and they have smiles on their faces. This is a big contrast to what people will look like come the first week of December when finals are among us and people are trying to just get through the last few days. I wish everyone best of luck this semester and I hope it is one for the memories.

 

Five years ago I entered IUPUI as freshman trying to find my niche in life. I had no idea what to expect here at IUPUI. I had plans of being a biology major and one day following in my father’s footsteps and becoming a doctor.  Those dreams only lasted a semester and I decided Science was not for me and that is when I stumbled upon my business career. I started looking into different possibilities and I decided I needed to be in the marketing department. Since, I entered the Kelley School I have had no second thoughts and all of my experiences have been amazing.

It feels funny saying that I am in my fifth year of school, from day one I was set to graduate in four years. However, because of unforeseen circumstances in my soccer career I have added one final collegiate year onto my life path.  I am very excited about this upcoming soccer season.  We return a very strong core of players from last year. We did lose a great senior class, but many of them are still around as fifth year senior coaches so their leadership is still felt on the team.  Our team has very high goals for this season and I feel that they are all obtainable.  If you have never been to an IUPUI soccer game this is the year to go. We are playing a very exciting style of soccer and the season looks very promising.

My internship is officially over. It was an amazing experience. I never realized how much work can go into planning a professional tennis tournament. For the first two months of my internship all we did was plan for the tournament. At times I questioned how much planning was involved, but after living through the ten days of the tournament I feel like there was so much more that I could have done.  It really is fun to look back at everything I did this summer and realize how involved I was in planning a tournament that has over 70,000 people attend.  It truly was a world class event.

I did many different tasks for the tournament including, picking up a few players from the airport, helping organize the players’ lounge and players’ party, taking players to their autograph sessions and to Riley’s Children’s Hospital, paying bills, and organizing the hotel rooms for all of our players, coaches, officials and vendors.  Although the days were very long (7am-11pm), I will be able to take my experience with me to any job that I may get in the future.  I made a lot of contacts with many different people throughout the community and nation and I am very excited about the opportunities that lie ahead of me.

Now that the internship is over I will be buckling down and concentrating on the upcoming soccer season. I am very excited about this season we have a great group of guys coming back and we are coming off our first trip to the conference tourney is over five years. Keep an eye out for the Jags in 2007.

The Indianapolis Tennis Championships is only one week away (July 20-29). For nearly three months we have been working very hard putting together a world class tennis tournament and we are about to see it all come together. I remember starting my internship wondering, “How could it possible take three months to plan for a nine day event”, but now knowing everything that we have done I feel like three months was not enough time.  I have been to many different events in my life, and been able to enjoy all of them, but I have never really thought how much planning goes into the events. It is truly amazing to see all of the behind the scene action that takes place, everything from paying bills, to getting donations, to ticket sales, and site preparation.  Six full time employees, eight interns, and over 1000 volunteers are needed to put together this event and it will take the coordination of every one of us to make sure it all turns out to be one amazing tournament.  Indianapolis has been home to professional tennis for nearly 100 years now and the people of Indianapolis are lucky to have the ability to attend such an amazing sport spectacle in their back yards. If you have the opportunity you should really try to make it to one day of the tournament and witness world class tennis right here, on the campus of IUPUI, in the heart of the Midwest.

It seems like yesterday that they school year ended and I was starting my internship, but it has been two months! My internship has proved to be amazing thus far. For those that do not know I am working at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships (formerly the RCA Championships). I have been doing management and marketing tasks and I have been extremely busy. The tournament runs from July 21-29^th. It is starting to become crunch time at work as all of our deadlines are fast approaching.  I have learned many new things from my internship and I have been able to meet many amazing people from around the city. I cannot stress enough how important internships are. The amount of networking that can be done is second to none.  I have been in charge of tasks that I never imagined I’d be working on. The experience that my internship is offering me is amazing.

This summer has been a busy one and it is only half way done. I’m working about 45-50hrs a week, playing soccer, trying to stay in shape, and still trying to find free time. Some days I find myself wishing the days were longer. 

Two weeks ago I received the Michael A. Carroll scholarship. This award is given to one student athlete who shows determination in the class room, on the field, and throughout the community. It was a true honor to receive this award and it is one I will never take for granted. I was presented this award at the annual Michael A. Carroll golf outing where I was able to meet some great people from around the community. I find it really interesting that you never know where you might make some great contacts for your future. Not only did was I able to network at the outing, but I find myself networking everyday at my internship.  I am still really enjoying my work and I have gained some great new tools for my career. I am really looking forward to the week of July 21-29^th because that is when the Indianapolis Tennis Championships conclude and it will allow me the opportunity to see everything I have been working on all summer fall in place.

This past weekend I went to St. Joseph, Michigan for a regional soccer tournament. My team played against teams from Kentucky, Ohio, and Illinois. We went 1-2, but it was a fantastic tournament and it gave me the opportunity to improve my skills for the upcoming IUPUI season. Our IUPUI soccer schedule was released a few weeks ago and it can be viewed on the IUPUI Athletics website. Coming off of a successful fall and spring season from last year should help us improve attendance this year. We have a great group of guys coming back and we have high expectations leading into the season.

OOO so happy the race is over. As part of our fundraising for soccer we work a food booth and a couple of merchandise stands throughout the month of May at the Indy 500.  It is fun to be able to experience the race, but working from 5am trough the end of the race can really take a toll on people. Many do not realize that nearly every stand inside the track is run by volunteers trying to raise funds for their group. Each group gets a certain portion of the proceeds.  The first time we did this I thought it was a great experience, but after the rain delayed race last weekend I learned it can be tedious.  In our food sand we make hotdogs, hamburgers, brats, and many other types of hot food.  Because of the rain delay this year we sold out of nearly everything in our booth.  People were buying peanuts, crackerjacks, skittles, and anything else that they could get their hands on.  It was a very long day trying to meet the needs of thousands of people, but in the end it will be rewarding when we get new gear for or soccer team and we are able to extra trips that we have not done in the past.

It is summer time and life is fantastic.  I am enjoying my internship with the Indianapolis Tennis Championships and the weather too.  This weekend I spent some time at the race track volunteering and I also spent time playing; soccer, sand volleyball, softball, and some time just relaxing in the back yard. Every summer that I have been in school I have found many different things to do.  One summer I spent coaching day camps, one summer I took classes, last summer I went to London, and this summer I have my full time internship.  I feel that being a part of the Kelley School of Business has really allowed me to do all of these different things.  The school has opened many doors for me and I expect it to continue to do so in the years to come.

School is done for the summer and it is time to enjoy life. I start my internship this week and I am very excited about it. School ended well for me, but I am looking forward to staying away from it for the next few months. 

It is May again and for Indiana Sports that means only one thing RACE MONTH!  It all started May 5^th with the Mini Marathon and the 500 festival.  Then May 12^th is the first Pole Day and it all concludes May 27^th with the Indy 500.  For anyone that has never attended any of the race events, it really is an amazing spectacle.  I am not a true race fan, but going to the track and seeing just how massive the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is and viewing the hundreds of thousands of people that attend the actually race really can wow you.  I have taken different out of state friends to the track at least once for the last few years, none of which were race fans, but they all left in amazement at how one event can last an entire month and have so much meaning to so many people.  I know Carb Day and Race Day can get a bit out of hand and might not be the right atmosphere for everyone, but there are many other days that offer a true family experience for those who do not want to try and fight their way through massive crowds.  I really feel that anyone from Indiana must experience at least one day at the track in order to truly call themselves a Hoosier.

At the end of my eighth semester I find myself going through a very similar routine.  Checking all of my syllabi and making sure I have finished all of my assignments, I have turned in all of my papers, and I am prepared for my finals.  One new realization that I have about college is that many things really do not change.  Yes, the classes change, but in the end they all have similar structure.   I have decided that I am very happy I am not graduating yet.  I have the opportunity to enjoy one last summer and I will be working with The Indianapolis Tennis Championships (formally the RCA Tennis Championships) as a Marketing Intern.  I am excited because I will be working in the sports industry and I will be involved with many hands on activities throughout the summer.  All of my work will lead up to the tournament in July and my team and I will be able to see all of our work pay off.

The spring soccer season came to a very successful end last weekend as we finished 8-0. Our team battled through some sporadic weather this spring, but we overcame the adversity.   I have talked with many of the players and they are all excited about the fall season.  It is a weird situation for me because last year at this time I thought I was entering my last season of soccer, but because I redshirted that was not the case.  I am experiencing many of the same feelings all over again, but this time I know this is my last collegiate season ever.  I am sure I will become more anxious as August approaches, but for now I am looking forward to the summer and hopefully some random trips to who knows where.

This weekend April 20-21st Warren Central High School is hosting the 2^nd Annual Literacy Classic. The proceeds from this tournament go to local and intercity children literacy funds. This tournament will host the best soccer teams in the Mid-West. The opening game on Friday at 5pm showcases a long running intercity rival (IUPUI vs. Butler).  The following game will display IU vs. Cincinnati. Also, in the tournament on the men’s side are; Valparaiso, IPFW, University of Illinois Chicago, and Ohio State among others. There will also be a women’s side of the tournament of which I do not have the details. IUPUI will play two other matches on Saturday at 11am and 6pm. This is a great opportunity to see very high quality Division 1 soccer right in your backyard. The tournament is for a great cause and it will showcase the best talent in the Mid-West.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it" (Ferris Bueller).  This is how life has felt to me lately. I have really enjoyed the last four years of my life, but where has it gone? 

We had two soccer games this past weekend in Chicago and we won both. After the games I was able to go home for a night to spend Easter with my family. 

While at home I was able to talk with my brother and mom for a while and through our conversations I started to realize just how much has occurred in the last four years.  I had a true rush of memories, from my first drive down to campus when I got a speeding ticket, to my first soccer game, to my first college girl friend, to being a Biology major and switching to Business, and many more.  My mom and I were talking and I really cannot believe how much my life has changed in the last four years.  All of these thoughts made me think of that famous Ferris Bueller quote.  While my life has moved rather fast, I have taken the time out to look around and I cannot think of many memories that I would do different.  Yes, there are a few decisions here and there that might not have been the best, but every decision in my life has led me to where I am now and I could not be happier.  “Never take college for granted it really will be over before you know it.”  Every college student is told this a million times, but until you finally realize it, it does not seem to mean that much.

 I am very happy I will have one more semester of soccer and school ahead of me because I am not ready to give up the sport I have loved for so long and I am only almost ready to enter the real world.  The scary part about the real world is once I get there, there is no going back.

OOO, the joys of the state of Indiana are once again being enjoyed by hundreds of people. Spring is my favorite time of the year because every day is so unpredictable with the weather. This weekend however, has brought nothing but sunshine and warmth. I was able to go out and enjoy a run on the Canal downtown yesterday and there were hundreds of people walking, running, riding their bikes, and walking their dogs.
The canal seems to make people happy. I hardly ever see people on the canal without a smile on their face. The daylight savings time change seems to have gone well for most people and I feel that it really is beneficial to have the extra sunlight at the end of the day rather than the early morning hours.

The NCAA basketball tournament is winding down to the Final Four teams today. My favorite team North Carolina is still in it and they still have a great chance to win it all. I am upset though because I wanted to witness all the number one seeds in the final four. Did you know that there has never been a tournament where all the number one seeds made it to the final four?

I am still on the internship hunt. It seems to be going rather well right now I have interviewed with two companies thus far and they both seem like amazing places to work. I still have one more interview, and then I will keep my fingers crossed and hope that one of them pulls through. I have enjoyed my hunt. I really enjoy interviews they give me a rush. I enjoy the feeling of not knowing what to expect and trying to react to every situation.

Do you ever find yourself coming home from a long trip and thinking, wow I really need a vacation? Spring break has ended and everyone I have been talking to about their trips seems to have had a wonderful time. However, there are two common themes among the trips, everyone seems to want more time off or they wish they were back on their vacation. College spring breaks have almost become an unofficial holiday. People make huge plans and look forward to their trips for months, but once it is over it can cause for depression. I do not mean depression in a bad way. I mean it in the way that I love the state of Indiana and all it has to offer, but it does not match up to waking up every morning walking out on your 13th floor balcony and seeing the ocean, the beach, and the two pools that your hotel has. My friends and I were in Florida for 10 days. We spent two days in South Beach and the other eight in Daytona. I am sad because it was my last college spring break ever, but I am looking forward to the rest of this semester because soccer will be in full swing, the NCAA basketball tourney is on right now, and I am still in internship searching mode. All these things are keeping me really busy and they will make the semester fly by.

Many times people find themselves working hard on many different tasks only to find out that the only person that notices the results is them.  I have felt this way many times and it really does not bother me, but I decided to give myself a reward and off I came to Denver, CO to visit some old friends. We have spent the weekend skiing, having bonfires, and relaxing. It has been a wonderful weekend and I still have another day of skiing ahead of me. Also, while here I received an e-mail congratulating me on making the IUPUI top 100 Students list. This is a list that is compiled every spring that consist of the top 100 juniors and seniors on campus.  I found out the hard way last year that this is a difficult list to get on.  The committee takes into consideration the students grades, extracurricular activities, and a letter of recommendation from a faculty member on campus.  I am very proud of this honor and it shows that working hard for a long time really does pay off. Also, this week I was asked to begin blogging for the Indianapolis Star. This has been a wonderful week of surprises and they have all made me very happy. Not only are all these great things making me happy, but in less than two weeks we have spring break!  I have so many things to be excited about right now I do not what is the best. When I return to school I have a paper due and some other tasks to complete, but it is going to be difficult to concentrate with spring break just around the corner. I am sure I will be able to get these things done then start letting my mind drift.

I have been in school for nearly 4 years now and I can only remember one day where we had cancellations due to bad weather. Now, in the last 2 weeks we have had 2.5 days off. Many people used the time to catch up on school work, but others used it to relax or play in the snow. I enjoyed the extra time off because it gave me time to catch up on much needed movie time. Also, I was able to catch up on some reading for my classes. The part of the weather that I did not enjoy was how terrible Indy is at cleaning side streets. The city did a good job cleaning the main roads, but the roads in my neighborhood are still not clear and it has been 5 days! The school did a fantastic job in getting the word out that school was cancelled and they made it very easy for students to gain any information that was needed. For the most parts my professors did a good job in letting us know what to expect for the upcoming classes and they seemed understanding. I was a bit upset one day because I got all dressed up to play in the snow and none of my friends would come out and play with me. So I decided to make snow angles. Ok well enough complaining about things all in all the snow was not bad and I enjoyed the extra time off. Now, we have about 3 weeks of classes and then it is spring break. After spring break soccer gets going into full swing again and I am looking forward to getting outside and having practices. We have been practicing, but it has been indoor and only about an hour long sessions 4 days a week.

They are officially opening our new blog up to the public with this round of post and I am anxious to see what kind of responses we get from people. Until next time stay warm, stay safe, and keep working hard.

Meetings, Meetings, soccer, Meetings,

That is the theme of my life right now. When entering college I was told to get involved as much as I could. At first I sat back and I was like well how do I do that? Everyday people were telling me to join this club, go to this meeting, try this out. After taking it all in a bit I decided that I was "too busy" with soccer and school, so that first semester I did not join any of them. However, after realizing that I really was not overwhelmed with work I decided to give a few clubs a try. I first joined the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC), and then I joined the Kelley Blog team, now I am a part of the Kelley Web team, and I have volunteered at and attended many other events. For many people joining clubs and teams may seem overwhelming, but I really feel that they can open up many doors. When I first entered the Kelley School of business I kind of took it for granted, but now that I am a part of many different behind the scenes events and I truly feel like we have the best school on Campus. The professors, faculty, and staff really work very hard in order for us students to reap as many benefits as we can. Many students do not realize this, but if you ever take a walk on the top floor of the business school and just listen for a minutes you can hear many conversations going on between various people and most of the time they are trying to, make this better, change that, or help this person out. Ok, now off of my tangent and back to the theme of my life.

The semester is in full swing and soccer is getting there too. Every week I sit down and write a list of things that I have to accomplish that week. I have found that this list has had two things in common every week this month, meetings and soccer. The Kelley school is working vary hard to get the new blog up and running and at the same time they are trying to give the webpage a new fresh look. Also, my SAAC committee is gearing up for our community service month in March. Along with this, we are trying to plan an Easter egg hunt, a student athlete appreciation dance/event, and many other things in order to try and give back to the people who give to us.

Ok apart from my "busy" life, last week was the Internship fair on campus. It was held at the new art building. Many interesting companies were in attendance including (Rolls Royce, Duke Reality, and Walt Disney just to name a few) it was a lot of fun to talk with various people from throughout the community. However, now time is of the essence as I try to figure out who I want to apply too and where I really want to end up.

On a closing note there was this Super Bowl thing where this team from Indianapolis won, but who remembers about that already? Basketball season is in full swing and the Chicago Bulls are doing great. Also, pitchers and catchers report soon and the Cubs get to start off 0-0 with the rest of the league.

I can not believe it, but the Bears are in the Super Bowl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has been a fun few weeks being a huge Chicago Bears fan trapped in Indianapolis. All of my roommates and a lot of my friends are bears fans, but the rest of everyone I know are Colts fans, so we have been waiting for this moment for a very long time. I can not wait until February 4th so we can settle all disputes once and for all. However, until then I will and have had a lot going on. School and soccer are in full swing keeping me very busy. Also, intramural basketball started today and it was just our luck that we had to play the best team in the league in the first game. Needless to say we came out on the losing end, but we had some bright spots and I feel confident about or team. Other than that one of my good friends came into town this weekend to see all of my friends and me, she is leaving for a semester abroad in Australia. I've been to Ausralia before and it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, she is very excited and I know she is going to have a blast.  I do not think I can ever stress enough how life changing studying abroad can be. I hope that all prospective students really take the opportunity to at least look into studying abroad. Many people look at it as a very scary task, but once all the paper work is done and you are on your way, it really is a once in a life time experience. There are a lot of great event on the horizon in my life, the Super Bowl, the IUPUI hall of fame banquet in which a former soccer player and two Kelley Alum's are being inducted, the 2007 Job Fair, and many other fun and exciting events are all coming up. Hopefully when I come back in a few weeks I will be writing about a victorious Chicago Bear Super Bowl!!!!!!!!!!!

Classes got underway last week and it proved to be the first time I realized it was really 2007. I took out my notebook and wrote down the date then I looked at what I wrote and realized I had put 1/9/2006. I laughed to my self and it hit me this is the last year I will be in school. I still have two semesters, but it is amazing that this is the beginning of the end. It is fun to look back to when I entered high school and remember I was like ok I will be 16 in the year 2000, I'll graduate in 2003, then came college and I was like ok I'll be legal to go to the bars is 2005, and  I'll graduate in 2007. What do I count down for now?

I was very excited over break when my grades for last semester finally came in and I earned a 4.0. It was the first time I've done that in college and it brought my GPA above a 3.5. Thus far my classes seem very interesting. I'm taking J401 basically one of the last classes any Kelley school student will take. It was said to be very "scary", but I really enjoy it ,the teacher is fun and he presents the material in a way that makes it easy to understand.  Other than that I'm taking three other classes that I really enjoy too. It seems like it is going to be a busy semester with school and soccer, but I really enjoy it all so it makes it fun.

Soccer is underway again for me. In the winter we concentrate on team fitness and we get to play indoor once a week on our own. Also, we do some ball skills twice a week with the coaches. It is a fun time of the year because we get a little more time to our selves and we do not have the pressures of games and practices all the time. However, come the first week of March we have our spring season and it is all work again.

Finally, the intern job fair is coming up in February. I am really looking forward to finding a fun internship for this summer. I am not sure what I want to look into yet, but I plan on talking with a lot of companies and seeing what I can come up with.

Our soccer team is going BACK TO THE MID-CON tournament. This is the first time since 2001 that our team has made it to the tournament and we are thrilled about it. We beat Western, IL on Oct. 21st 2-1. They were undefeated in conference play at the time and we beat them. We are going into the tournament as the number four seed and we are playing Western again because they are the number one seed. Every one on my team is so happy and we can not wait for November 2-5. We need to win two games and two games only and we make it to the NCAA tournament. This is a very attainable goal if our team works together as we have in the past. At times I am sad that I red shirted this year, but I am so happy to see the rest of my senior friends finally get a chance to go to the tournament. Two seniors on the team I have known for many years and I could not be happier for them. If you would like to keep up with our team go to www.jags.com that is the IUPUI athletic website.

School wise life is great still. Although I just took a test for one of my online classes and I’m not really sure how that went. I enjoy online classes because they give you the freedom to watch class when it is convenient to you, but also it can be tough because there is little interaction with the professor and it can be difficult when you have questions.

I started studying for the GMAT and I am planning on taking that after finals are over in December. Today is the day of our Halloween party and we are all very excited about it. I have heard a few people say that not enough goes on around our campus, but if you are sociable or outgoing, there are many people who are always going out to various events or even just out to the bars on the weekend. Also, many people throw parties all the time and they seem to be rather fun. For the most part I have found people on our campus to be very friendly and helpful.

I am posting a few pictures from our last soccer trip to University of Kansas City Missouri. We lost the game 2-1 in overtime, but we had already clinched our spot in the conference tournament so it was not that devastating of a loss to us.

Fall semester is already at the half way point and it feels like it just started. Many people are busy taking mid-terms and getting group projects together. Soccer is going a lot better for us now. We are 7-8 and took IU into over time before eventually losing 3-2. It was a very exciting game in which our leading goal scorer Vangel Nackovski scored 2 goals in the final 10min of the game to tie it up. We took the momentum from that game into Valparaiso a place where we have never won. This is the last year that Valpo will be in our conference and it was a very important Mid-Con game for us. We won the game 1-0. However, many of our players were nicked up and may miss our next game. We are now 2-2 in the conference and things are looking fairly good for us. We have three games remaining and the next one is slated for Wednesday October 18th at Butler, 4pm kick off.


On the school side of things life is great too. I am still trying to figure out what my future holds. I am going to play soccer next year again for IUPUI, if I will be in grad school or just taking one last class to finish up my degree is still left to be determined. I am working very hard in trying to figure out a way to get into the MBA program with Kelley and I have talked with many people about it. I am going to take a GMAT prep course and hope that I do really well on the test. My classes are going well this semester and I only need to take 12credits next semester to graduate so life is exciting. I am looking into many internships and I am not sure what I am going to do. I still stay in contact with my employers from London and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I might end up there sometime in my future.

Two of my pictures are from London and one is from last week. The first one is of my last night in London of the Tower Bridge. The second is at one of the events that I worked at with my company. And the final picture is from last week when my group was working on our Marketing Strategy case.

Life has been rather interesting for me in the last few weeks. Our soccer team has been on yet another roller coaster of a season. We won a huge conference game vs. Centenary on September 30th which now makes us 5-6. We have been playing good soccer, but we had a few rough losses in a row. School is going really well, it is in full swing now and keeping me rather busy. Football season is well underway now too and that has been exciting. It is weird for me being surrounded my hundreds of Colts fans here in Indianapolis. I am originally from the Chicago land area and I am a rather faithful Bears fan. It is not that I do not like the Colts, I am just impartial to them. It really makes me mad though because if the Colts and Bears are playing at the same time then the cable company blacks out the Bears games. Our soccer team heads up to Ft. Wayne this week for a non-conference match before we play our third conference game next Saturday home at Kuntz Stadium vs. Oakland. This game is really important to us because if we win it will set us up good in the conference standings. I had a SAAC meeting on Oct. 1st and that went well. For those that do not know SAAC is the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. We are mostly student based and we discuss issues that our occurring within our athlete student body. We try to get our teams more awareness within the community and we plan events and volunteer activities for our teams.

I am adding a few more photos of my trip in London because I have not been taking my camera with me places around school lately.

I have not posted a message in a long time. Since I got back from London life has been very fast paced. Soccer season is well underway now and we are 4-3. Our conference games start next weekend when we open up at Oral Roberts (Tulsa, OK). I have actually decided to red shirt my senior year and play again next year in the best interest of me and my team. I am still planning on graduating at the end of the spring, but I am now going to take the GMAT and try very hard to get into grad school here at Kelley Indianapolis. It has always been a goal of mine to go to grad school, but now I am putting those plans into fast forward. Classes for me this semester are going great, I have no complaints. I am working very hard still at soccer practice and I am debating on where I want to try and get an internship this spring and next summer. I am still waiting on my bosses from London to find out if I will go back to Spain next summer or not.

I really enjoy this time of the year. School is in full swing, soccer is keeping me busy, football season has started, and the weather is completely unpredictable.

I do not have any good pictures at this time, but I will start taking my camera out more to campus and getting some fun pictures of student life. Speaking of student life the new campus center is coming along fast and it is starting to take shape. I am excited to be staying for grad school now because I will actually get to enjoy the new building when it is finished next year.

Hello all,

I have been in London for 6 weeks now and it has been nothing short of amazing. In the last three weekends I have been to Amsterdam, Scotland, and Barcelona. Next weekend I plan on making a trip to France hopefully. Monday through Thursday I have been working with a Sport Marketing company called W2W Sports www.w2wsports.com. It is a very interesting company in that they make inflatable football (soccer) games and the people I work with are fantastic. All three places that I visited were amazing in there own right. However, I have to say that Barcelona was my favourite. I really enjoyed the scenery, the beaches, the boat trip, and the park that we visited. Oh and I had the best Salmon I ever imagined while there. This is my last week of work and I have my 5000 word paper due on Wednesday (today is Monday). One week from today I have my final and I will be heading home to Indiana on the 22nd of June. All of the people I have met have been amazing and friendly. I really feel that this trip and opened my life to many new adventures for the future. The contacts that I have made here alone will allow me to have better opportunities when starting my job search. Also, the friends I have made could last a life time. I have met many people from all over the states and many people from the UK.

I have been watching the World Cup and it has made me really miss soccer back in the states. I was happy to see Italy win last night. I have been working hard to stay in shape and I can not wait for IUPUI "football" season to start again. We start training on August 9th and our first preseason game is the following Monday the 14th at home (Kuntz Stadium) against Cincinnati. We open the season officially on Aug 25th (two days after my birthday) at the Kentucky Invitational against University of Wisconsin Green Bay. I am really excited for this season and I am scared at the same time. As I have stated before I have been playing football since I was four and this could be my last competitive season ever. I plan on working as hard as possible to make it my most memorable.

Once my trip concludes on the 22nd I will try and make another post before soccer "football" begins. Then school starts and I will be back on my every other week schedule of post.

Here are a few pics. One from Scotland, One from Work, and one from Amsterdam.

It has been a while since I last posted something on here. However, when you are living your life a million miles an hour in London it is hard to find time to sit down and type. Anyways, I have been in London for 2 weeks now and it has been nothing short of AMAZING!! I have visited places such as Windsor Castle, Westminster Abby, Hyde Park, The David Beckham Academy, and various other sites and pubs. The World Cup started last week and it has been very chaotic over here. People dressed in their team colors cheering any cheer they can make up. I have a wonderful internship with a company called W2W Sports. www.w2wsports.com the people I work with are amazing and I have even gone on trips with them to Brimingham and Bolton. I got to see cities that I would have never even though of otherwise. I have made many friends from numerous different schools throughout the states and we have all become a small little family. With nearly 2 weeks in the books already time seems to be flying by. My friends and I are in the process of planning a few trips to Paris and other places.

One thing that I have found interesting is that I was told this place (London) was always cloudy and cool. Well that is not the case since I've been here. It has been in the upper 20's (celcius) and sunny and muggy. Last week I had the oportunity to play in a football (soccer) tournament at the David Beckham academy (the Michael Jordan of soccer). I played against retired profesionals and it was a dream come true. I guess I can stop ratteling on and on for now. I'll try to make a few more post throughout this summer. I'll leave you with a few pictures of London.

3 years of college are now in the books for me and I have no idea where the time has gone. I have heard many people say it, but college life really does seem to just fly by. I am not sure how my finals went, but I feel that I will receive the grades that I worked for. I am really excited now because I leave for London in 3 WEEKS!!! Finals week for me is not usually a time of high stress like it seems to be for many others. As I stated in a previous entry it all breaks down to organization and preparation. I feel that if I attend every class throughout the semester, as I usually do, finals are never overwhelming. I am really looking forward to Monday May 8th because I am participating in the Kelley Honors academy golf outing. I was not sure if I was going to do this, but I thought about it and I can't beat playing a $40 course for $30 and getting lunch and dinner.


On Sunday the 7th I spent the entire day changing rooms in my house. When we moved in two years ago my roommates and I decided that we would change rooms once a year because each room has positives and negatives. Although it sounds like a good idea to change rooms, both times we have changed have proven to be very trying on our patients. Today it took about 7hrs from start to finish, but now that I sit back and look at my room which is the biggest of the three I am very excited.

While I am in London this summer I will try to post updates every two weeks, maybe more for any one that may be interested. If anyone has any specific questions to ask me you may do so by e-mailing me at pbrasova@iupui.edu. I hope that everyone has a safe and happy summer and best of luck to those of you that are either entering college or leaving college. The future will bring new experiences to all of us, but it is up to us to make future memories that we want to keep for ever.

When entering the Kelley School of Business I was told that once you get past I Core it is much more relaxed after words. I feel that this statement is not true. It is nice to be in more major specific classes and to be able to really concentrate more on the types of classes that I like. However, this has been a busy semester of group work. I enjoy working on a team, but when you have three group projects due at one time, it can be a very daunting task. This Wednesday I have projects due in all my classes and it is really becoming quite confusing. I can handle one group, maybe even two, but having about 13 different group members and three completely different projects, my mind can get rather stressed at times. I really do not mind the projects, but knowing that I have to turn around and study for finals next week just feels like a lot. The thing that really frustrates me is that we did not procrastinate at all; these projects just have a lot of work with them.

Ok, more positive notes. Soccer ended strong for us. We tied University of Michigan 2-2 and Butler 1-1. Our team played really well and our coach was happy with how we played. The weather here in Indy has been great and life has been fun. My friends and I have been able to play Corn Hole and hang out outside. I am really excited for my trip to London. I leave in just over a month and I have so much that I want to do. I'm sure that I will update my blog over the summer and keep it updated with my trip. I plan on making this one of the best summers of my life.

The Final Four came and went and it did so with a bang. The weekend was full of many activities capped off with a performance by John Mellencamp and a massive thunderstorm. The storms did not affect the performance and nearly 80,000 people were in attendance. The basketball part of the Final Four was not very exciting, but the festivities were fantastic. My friends and I were very excited to be a part of one of the biggest sporting spectacles of the year. It truly was a once in a life time experience. However, I was unable to attend the concert due to soccer.

Our spring soccer season has been some what of a roller coaster thus far. We played 3 opponents last week. We started last Sunday April 2nd against Kentucky. We played four different 30 minute games tying three and losing one. There were a few negatives and many positives for our team. We then played IU on Wednesday, but it was very disappointing. We never showed any energy as a team and we came out on the losing end of the game. We concluded the week with a game against IPFW in the Indianapolis Urban Youth Showcase. We played much better in that game and won 2-1. Next weekend we play University of Michigan and Butler at Warren Central High School. Those games will conclude our spring season.

In other news, I have been very busy getting ready for London. I am leaving on May 29th and I will be gone for eight weeks. Also, the other bloggers and I finally had a chance to meet this weekend. Mary Chappell got the crew together for lunch and we were all able to talk about the blog and other aspects of school and life. The lunch was a very kind jester and it was very nice to meet everyone. There are only about three weeks of school left and they are going to be very busy. With most of my test behind me I now have many group projects that need completing and it could get hectic at times. Once soccer ends next week I should find myself to have more time to really crack down and get the projects done.

All the hype of the NCAA tournament is coming to a close. After today (March 26) there will be four teams left and they will all be coming to Indianapolis. The city is rapidly preparing for the massive crowds that are expected next week. The city has many different activities planed. There is going to be a free concert in the circle and the public will be allowed to watch the teams practice on Friday for free. Indiana has always been known as a basketball state and it is certainly showing now.
The best part of the NCAA tournament being in Indianapolis is that it is only a 10 minute walk from the IUPUI campus. The crowds should be a great boost on the surrounding economy and it will give people a good look at how great of a city Indianapolis is. It will also give IUPUI a chance to do some marketing and show how fantastic of a campus we have here.
On to more personal news, I finally got accepted to go to LONDON! I am very excited. However, now there is the job of making sure I have the funds and filling out lots of paper work. However, for 7.5 weeks in the summer the paper work is worth it. One of my roommates is going too. He is going with a different program so we will both be there but in different areas. The study abroad office and the Kelley school of business have been very helpful throughout the entire process. The program I am doing has an internship associated with it. I am still waiting to hear where I will be interning at. As more information comes along I will keep my blog updated. Also, in my next posting I will be able to update my soccer life and how the NCAA final four turns out.

Well, it is spring break, the time of the year when college students all over the nation get to make their own rules. Well the lucky ones at least. Last year I was one of the lucky ones. However, this year I am trying to save money for my anticipated trip to London. After spring break ends, our spring soccer season starts. We play at IU on March 26th then at Kentucky the next weekend. The last part of the semester is going to fly by. Many people will feel like there is no time left to get things under control. If they manage their time wisely there will be plenty of time to finish the semester strong.

Spring soccer season is our non-competitive season and it is a time for me and the rest of the team to showcase our talents to our coach. It is a time for us to really work on securing a starting spot for the fall season. It is really scary for me to talk about the fall season seeing that it is more then likely my last soccer season of my life. It seems crazy to me to talk about my last soccer season ever considering I have been playing for 17 years. As the season nears closer I am sure I will have much more to say about this. However, for now I am going to try and enjoy my week off of school and I am going to spend it with my family.

I used the word Organization in my title for two different meanings.

First, I finally sat down with a planner and wrote out all of my test days and assignment due dates. I feel that this is something I probably should have done at the beginning of the semester, nonetheless it is important for any college student to make sure they have their priorities under control. Now that I have written all of my dates out, I feel more in control of what lies ahead. Many people are getting excited for spring break along with my self, but I feel spring break is a time when many things are forgotten (for me at least). To me it is important to have all of my schedules written down so when I do get back from a week off, I can just look at my planner and get right back on track. This is especially important for me because when I get back spring soccer season gets in full swing. We play Indiana University on March 26th one week after break.

The second reason I used the word organization is because I feel it is really important for people especially freshman and new comers to become a part of a group or organization here on campus. On a campus like IUPUI which is dominated by commuter students it can be hard to meet people when you first get here. For me I was lucky that I had soccer so it was easy to make friends right away. However, for those of you that do not have sports to rely on it is important to become involved, not just because it looks good on a resume, but to make friends too. It seems to me that many times people do not want to commit to an organization because they do not feel they will have time to make all the meetings. Many groups here on campus try to work around everyone’s busy lives, or it is ok if you miss a few here and there. I know many people who have joined groups because they wanted something to put on their resume, but they have come out of the group with many new friends and experiences.

Also, last week was the Chancellor’s Report to the Community on IUPUI. I and six other student athletes were in attendance. It was a wonderful experience and I was able to meet many interesting people from the surrounding business areas. I have attached a picture of me and two other soccer teammates.

I have talked in the past about the IUPUI soccer, volleyball, and basketball teams. However, I do not know if all IUPUI new comers are a where that IUPUI athletics compete at the Division 1 level. For anyone who might not be up to date in athletics, Division 1 is the highest collegiate level. When competing for births in the end of the season tournaments it is difficult for us (IUPUI) to get what are called at large bids. At large bids are given to those schools that compete against the best schools and are at the top of the rankings. In order for our teams to make it to the "Big" tournaments, we must either lose 4 games or less, or win our conference tournament. The second of the two seems more plausible. All sports have a different type of tournament. For soccer only the best four teams from the regular season get in. However, for basketball all the teams get in, but they are seeded from their records during the regular season.

Now why have I taken the time to describe all of this? Because this past weekend our Men's Basketball team nearly wrapped up the number 1 spot in their tournament (they have 3 games left and they need to win only 1 of them). The team beat Valparaiso and Oral Roberts, two teams that are consistently a top the Mid Con standings. Both the games had crowds in excess of 2,000 people and the atmosphere was amazing. Our women's basketball team also beat Oral Roberts. Both teams have a few games left, but it is nearly time for March Madness. In a few weeks, both teams will head to Tulsa, OK to compete in the Mid-Con conference tournament. If they can win that tournament they will then play in the "Big Dance." It has been three years since our Men's team last made the big dance and our Women’s team has never been there. They are primed and ready to put it all out on the line make this year. There are a lot of pictures on the athletics website for fans to check out, so I am not going to post any this time. Best of luck to both the Men and the Women in bringing home the championships!

GO JAGS!!!!
Good Luck!!!!

Three weeks into the semester and things are rally starting to get going. To me it always seems that the semesters are going to be easy and fun, but then the test start to come. I have two this week and one next week. This has been an interesting semester though. I have learned of a few new resources that the Kelley School of business has to offer me and the other students. In marketing research we learned about Mediamark and RDS, two search engines that have allow marketers to view information about millions of products. I have also been introduced to the Kelley Career center. I recommend, to any Kelley Student, that you find out more about the career center earlier then I did. They offer so much help on all different types of issues. The can help you with small things like just narrowing down what your interest are, or bigger things like finding internships or a job. As an underclassman, I never took advantage of what IUPUI had to offer. During this semester I have really starting to understand what IUPUI and the Kelley school really has to offer.

It was nice to be able to go home for winter break and see some old friends and family. However, we are now a week back into school and this semester is getting into full swing already. I was able to take advantage of the class scheduling that IUPUI offers and I managed to find a way to take 17 credits, but still have no class on Thursday or Friday.

I finished I core with a bang. My group ended up getting B +'s on all parts of our project and we were satisfied with our result. It is now time for me to really focus on my marketing classes and learn what it will be like to have a degree in Marketing.

I am also in the final steps of completing my application to study abroad in London this summer. The study abroad office and a few people from the Kelley school have been very helpful in the process. I am very excited to send this application in and I hope I get accepted into the program.

Coming back from break not only signaled the start of school for me and many other athletes, but it also was the start of our spring sport season. The basketball team is in full swing and they are doing well. They have had some bumps in there schedule, but they are still among the top in the Mid-con. For me and the rest of the men's and women's soccer teams it has been a fun week of getting some of our soreness out. We all started team conditioning and indoor play last week. This semester has the potential to be a great one!

It is amazing for me to be able to look back on the past two and a half years and realize I am more than half way done. College truly can fly by.

I have posted some pictures from a few of the basketball games that my friends and I have attend this year. They have been fun to watch so far this season.

For many students around the country it is the most dreaded time of the semester. Here at IUPUI it is no different, it is finals week! I am lucky in the sense that I have no true finals. However, my group and I have been working on our I-Core project that is worth 20% of our grades in three different classes. And wow it has been a busy couple of weeks. We have spent nearly 30 hours in the library this last week. The worse part about it is that we really did not procrastinate. The actually class part of I-core turned out pretty good and actually it was kind of fun. I just keep telling my self it is all over on Friday.

Last Friday 7 soccer players and I all went to Kittles Furniture store and played "elves" for Santa for some underprivileged children. This is the third year in a row that I have participated in the program and it was just as fun as the other two. We took 3 girls from the girls team and 4 guys. We take soccer balls, t-shirts, and pictures for the children and hand them out. Also, each child is sponsored by a family and given lots of good toys, clothes, and winter apparel. It is so fun to see the smiles on the children’s faces and watch them run and play.

Also, last week the Kelley School adopted me and many other student athletes. They have taken us in and they are doing things for us to make the campus no more about us. It was really exciting to for me and others to be adopted and we are really happy to be able to work with them in the future. I have attached some pictures for the Kittles day and my player card that Kelley School has made for us.

Soccer season made this semester fly by. One week after the season ended, Thanksgiving break came. I was fortunate enough to have a 10 day break. My I-CORE class and Organizational Behavior class both had group work days last week. My groups worked around this so that we could have the week off. Some friends and I took advantage of the week. We made a trip to yet another Big 10 school. This time we decided to visit some friends at University of Wisconsin Madison. It was a lot of fun, but I still do enjoy being able to have a good size city like Indy in my back yard.

However, the fun is over now and it is time to buckle down and prepare for a busy three weeks. On the 29th I have a group project due and two weeks later my I-CORE project is due. I have decided that the scary I-CORE stories we just that, stories. As long as you stay with the work and attend class, I-Core is no harder then any other class.

My classes all end on Dec. 5th and then my group and I have the week off to work on our I-CORE project and prepare it to turn in.

Although soccer did not go as great as expected, this has been an enjoyable semester. I am looking forward to next semester because I get to start taking courses that are more directed towards Marketing.

Our soccer season ended last weekend. While we had some great times this year, our record was rather disappointing. We ended up with 5 wins and 11 losses. It was a rough season becasue 9 of the 11 losses were by 1 goal. It shows that we were very competitive, but no one really likes losing so it is frustrating. We had a great team and a lot of friendships were made, but it is tough to go from a 10 win season to a 5 win season. We are losing 3 great seniors, but we are returning nearly 25 guys, so our team next year has great expectations.

While it is very dissapointing that our season is over, I actually find myself having a bit of free time. It is not much, but there is some. This last weekend my roomate and I went to IU we had a great time. We visited some old friends and it was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to Thankgiving break next week, I have not been home since August 1st and I am really excited. Although after break it is crunch time as the deadline for our I-Core project draws neerer.

One of the best parts about playing a sport is now that it is over there is only about a month left in the semester. It really makes time fly bye.

I put a picture from last year of a bunch of the soccer guys at a volleyball game. All the athletes at our school really try and support each other it is a lot of fun. Also, our volleyball team just qualified for the Conference Tourny next weekend, so best of luck to them.

Mid Terms are coming to an end and it couldn't have come at a better time. Soccer is at its apex and school was proving to be rather difficult. I along with many other student athletes am in the Kelley School of Business. Playing a sport and finding time for school work can prove to be very difficult, but it is always manageable, with some sacrifices, even if it means sleeping for less than five hours some nights. I along with many other student athletes have found it helpful to try and take classes together this way when times get tough we are able to move each other along. Also, with our busy schedules we are forced to miss some classes. However, by having good friends in the class it is always easy to catch up.

This has proved to be the most difficult year of being a Student-Athlete thus far. I am taking ICORE, the set of, Marketing, Finance, and Operations that most Kelley students fear. I have been told many horror stories from upper class students about how dreadful the classes can be. I have found however that as long as you keep up with the work the classes are not that bad. It is time for my group to really crack down on our project so I do fear that the hardest days are ahead of me.

I have attached some pictures of our soccer trip to Shreveport, Louisiana. We took a sleeper bus it was a 12 hour drive(one way). We left Friday, played Saturday, and drove back that night. We arrived back in Indy at 8am Sunday. The drive home was not so pleasant as we came out on the bad end of a 3-2 game.

Also attached, we found some time to go bowling on a trip earlier in the year.