Building Bridges

Making connections through Mat-Su College
Student Ambassadors.

Cookie Creations

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We had such a great time sharing cookies with everyone last week!

The "Christmas Celery" was more of a hit than we anticipated.  Next year we'll be sure to have more.  Thank you to everyone who stopped by to decorate a cookie, sing a karaoke song, or spread some holiday cheer with us.  This event is all about students and giving you a chance to take a break from your hectic school lives to eat, drink, and be merry!  It's a chance for us to settle down for a little while and get to know other students as well.

How did you like the event?  Karaoke or no karaoke?  Which was your favorite frosting?  Smaller cookies next time?  More vegetables?  We'd love to hear your comments.

For now, enjoy a few snapshots from the Cookie Break.

Ambassadors Traci, Lindsey, & Kerissa
A cookie assembly line!


Karaoke with Mike!




Happy Cookie Day!

Have a GREAT CHRISTMAS holiday everyone!
By:  Lindsey

A Quick and Painful look on 2011

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As the fall semester ends and Christmas slowly creeps around the corner, promising what hopes to be a delightful and non-apocalyptic 2012, I can’t help but reflect on what this year has brought me. As a Student Ambassador, I have learned so many things about my fellow Ambassadors as well as the students around campus.  There has been a lot to learn over the course of the fall term, and to be honest, most of it has slipped my mind.  Now, In my defense, I am pregnant – and with pregnancy comes progesterone, which actually shrinks the size of a woman’s brain.  Due to this temporary disability (that’s how I see it anyway), women get what is known as the “Pregnancy Stupid’s.”

Here’s an explanation for anyone who hasn’t had the glorious opportunity of losing your mind for what is close to a year:  “Pregnancy Stupid’s” can lead to forgetfulness, tongue-tiedness (I mad that word up just now), inability to complete ones sentence or thought for that matter, inappropriate statements or “Frankness,” as well as many other things that lead to your being embarrassed on a regular basis. Now, the best part of all of this is that you also suffer from the worst cases of clumsiness; tripping over your own toes, falling up the stairs, biting down on your fork while eating (as if you haven’t practiced that maneuver for years!), and running into walls because of your ever changing eye-sight and distractibility.

I am so completely amazed that I haven’t hit someone’s car by accident yet, or forgotten to come to work, or even walked out of the house with no pants on! Being pregnant this semester has taken a hold of me and shaken me like you shouldn’t shake a baby. And as the semester comes to an end, and I get closer to my due date – I will be looking forward to the days where I have my normal-sized brain and regular eye-sight back.

So to everyone that has had to put up with all of my forgetfulness, redundancy, making-up of words, gassiness, complaining, whining, throwing-up, sleepiness, laziness, craziness (do you see where I’m going here?), I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. There were times when I would have given up on me by now and just said I was crazy! But you guys held strong and I didn’t have and crying bursts during class or work, so yay!

I hope that everyone is able to look back on their year and be as grateful to have friends and co-workers as wonderful as mine!


Traci (Steele) George

Brush off your sweet tooth!

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This is just a teaser to let you know that the frosting is getting made for our annual Cookie Break on Wednesday, December 7th!  I made a total mess in the process, but it's worth it for the smiles we get to see on your faces...see you Wednesday.

Powdered sugar gets everywhere!
Alexandra is making more flavors, too!
In case you're not into sugar cookies, we'll have "Christmas Celery" and peanut butter as well!  Be sure to take a break and come see us in the Atrium from 10am-7pm (or whenever it runs out).

Lindsey Shelley

Time isn't on my side

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For the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to have my husband, Kyle, back at home – and I must say it’s been nice.  Most of the time he’s out of town working for weeks on end, leaving my son, and very pregnant-self home to “man the deck,” so to speak.  It’s always a treat when he comes home because it means that I have the opportunity to kick back and relax while he tends to our son and my every beck and call. However, I have gotten so accustomed to him being gone and when he’s back in town, it’s like the world stops moving and I fail to get anything done that I had planned. 
You see, I have developed a very rigid schedule for our lives in the event of my husband’s absence from the household.  This schedule works perfectly when Kyle’s not home. I’ll lay it out for you, so you too can appreciate the perfection of a day in my life:
7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.: 
Wake up/ shower/ get my son up and dressed/feed him breakfast
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.:
Make coffee/drink coffee/finish getting ready/ feed the animals/ let them out/ start the car
9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.:
Dive my son to school/get more coffee from the coffee stand and lite breakfast/ go back home to finish packing my bags for class/ enjoy a little “me-time”
10:30 a.m.:
Drive to MSC
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.:
Work
2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m.:
Class
4:00 pm – 5p.m.:
Leave school/pick up my son from day care/ drive home
5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.:
Make dinner/help my son with homework/ give him a bath/ do the dishes and clean kitchen/ feed animals/ do the laundry
8:00 p.m.  – 10: p.m.:
Put the boy to bed/start my homework (and finish)/shower/put animals away/go to bed
Now, do you see how everything is planned out so perfectly each day? I know right? It’s amazing. Everything that I wanted to do gets done and I still have time in between to enjoy playing Super Mario with my son or watching a movie if I don’t have to do homework. This, however, is my complaint: whenever my husband comes home, my perfect little schedule gets all out of whack (not that I’m not completely excited about him being home – because I am).  My time management goes right out the window and I am left scrambling at around 8 pm, to get my son’s homework, put him to bed, and pray that I have enough time in the morning/afternoon before my classes to get all of my required reading and homework done. 

It seems that I lose sight of my goals and the only things I can manage to do is play video games with the family, watch TV, play with the animals, and anything other than doing my schoolwork.  This lack of time management caught up with me finally this week.  I was signed up to present to a group of middle-school students on the importance of making the right choices (ironic isn’t it?). Anyway, I had ALL last week to look over this training manual so I could be better prepared to present today. Alas, I waited until this morning to cram before the big event and hoped I could wing it somehow though the seminar.
Anyway, Karma being what it is, had me get up early, rush my son off to school, speed over to the college and start studying until it was time to go over there. All of this was done – but about a half-hour before I was supposed to leave, I found out the presentation was cancelled.  So not only did I speed my way through the morning and the training manual, I also got a friendly reminder from the fates, that I should be more attentive towards my schedule.
This brings me to my point (finally).  As the semester draws closer to the end, I am finding myself speeding through life and hoping to incorporate school while zooming by. This has left me in a full-scale cram session right before the end of the semester. I not only have many papers and presentations to write, I also have a baby girl on the way, which may not let me finish up the semester (and it’s the my last semester before I graduate! Sheesh!!!).  So, instead of following my schedule and being a little less stressed, I have to hurry up and get everything done before the semester ends, OR before the baby comes.
 
Take heed when I warn you: Don’t wait until the last minute to get your papers written, your projects presented, or your tests taken.  It’s much easier when the end doesn’t look so scary, like in my case, and the road is paved with good choices, instead of bumpy mishaps and wasted time.  We are all so close to the semester’s end – just keep your eye on the prize! Oh, and I will be there with you on December 7th, enjoying that cookie break - because I’ll be needing a break just as badly as some of you will be.
This is Traci, signing off – and off to study – till next time!

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Photo by me =). This was taken a couple years ago in Kodiak. I love it there—so pretty!

It’s close to the end of the semester, and I feel great (with the idea that I finally might have relaxation). School can be a chore at times, but I think that it can bridge a more satisfying future. I guess that’s why I keep going. Nevertheless, I would like to sleep and be outside surrounded by Alaska’s geology again (yes, even in the freezin’ weather) —at least until the next semester starts.

Speaking of freezing weather, lately the temp has been recording really chilling numbers. And I wonder, as I read through a few things on the warming cycle we are entering, did the warm weather forget about Alaska =(… now I realize that the overall warming is very apparent, but in times like this, I can’t really tell, given it’s hard to see past the frost on my glasses. -Alexandra Busk: Matsu Student Ambassador

Photo by Leroy Busk on 1/11/2009. At least some of us are staying warm…

Shelleytown Thanksgiving

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Happy Thanksgiving fellow Mat-Su College students!

Lindsey Shelley here, your veteran blogger from my solo venture the "Non-Traditional".  That blog is still up and running, though I'll be phasing it out this year as my spring graduation draws nearer.  I hope you enjoy this new blog created by the 2011-2012 Student Ambassador team.  We are all very excited to continue interacting with you via this fun medium.  There are five Ambassadors this year and they each have a unique perspective on student life.  So, check back often because we're posting new stories on a regular basis.


Now to my story about "Shelleytown".


This Thanksgiving I'm paying homage to the original Thanksgiving held at Jamestown, Virginia.  It seems that the famed first American colonial village has re-created itself in my own household this year.  And I'm not talking about the elementary school Jamestown of Pilgrims, fat turkeys, and friendly "Indians".  No, I mean the college American History 101 kind of Jamestown with starving colonists, failed intentions, and merciful local natives.

You see, my family landed on the shores of "Shelleytown" at the beginning of this Fall semester, when I became a full-time student with classes at Mat-Su and UAA four days (and nights) a week.  Like the original Jamestown experiment, our modern endeavor was a joint venture that my family and I knew would be challenging.  I would not be home to fulfill my usual duties as a "stay-at-home" mother and wife.  I would not be home for dinner.  And when I would be home, I would likely be enslaved by studying or writing collegiate papers most of the time.  But we faced this brave new world with optimism and dedication to each other.  Also, like the original Jamestown colonists, it soon became apparent that we might have bitten off more than we could chew. 



The colonists of Shelleytown, my husband and 10 year-old son, were immediately put out of their comfort zone.  They were foreigners in a foreign land.  Husband without a wife.  Child without a mother.  Eaters without a cook.  There were no females around to make meals, wash clothes, clean floors, or provide good cheer.  In my absence, they foraged in the refrigerator but were unfamiliar with the vegetation they found there.  Further, they lacked knowledge of recipes, food groups, and operating many kitchen appliances.  So, they fell back on their primal instincts and went in search of meat and microwave dinners.  They went into survival mode.

And, y'know, it's amazing what people can do when they have to.  My colonists adapted, unlike those poor chaps in Jamestown.  The elder one learned to cook meat and rice dishes (through constant repetition).  The young one learned to pack his own lunch with just enough food to sustain him through the school day.  Clothes and dishes got washed when they needed too, and that was alright.  The colonists problem-solved together and established a new functional level of living.  Maybe Shelleytown wasn't completely sustainable, but it got along alright through August, September, October, and most of November.  But as Thanksgiving approached, endurance waned. 

One day last week, my mother (our "local native") stopped by the Shelleytown colony unannounced.  When she discovered dirty dishes spilling out onto the counter, dust bunnies running amok across the floor, laundry bins overflowing, the dog left unattended outside, and not a human soul inside the house, she assumed the worst.  She made a call to the elder colonist and asked, "Is everything okay?"  She must have thought our colony was on the brink of collapse and needed rescuing.  The next day she asked if we had plans for Thanksgiving and invited us to her place.  Just like the Jamestown pioneers who received life-saving sustenance from the Wampanoag natives, the Shelleytown colonists have been saved from their busy lives with an offering of free food.

Hope all your Thanksgivings are as merciful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lindsey Shelley

Car trouble

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  I was checking my email and came upon Motor Trend's newsletter featuring the car of the year.  Distracting, huh?  So what would I do but see what they have for us this year.  It's a VW Passat, a Passat that will be made in the US and sold in North America and China.  Now I enjoy automobile eye candy probably more than average but it took me a while to engage with this. 

 
Styling is what they call 'restrained' and therefore conceals all the finely-engineered car-ness of a German ride.  If I were to camp on styling for a moment, I could contrast it with the new Hyundai Sonata, which reminds me of the Eclipse phase I went through a few years ago.  Over it.  I guess a little Amerian optimism is sinking in here with this winner that is busy sending smoke signals to Taurus lovers.  Oh well, I'm not looking for a new car right now.  I don't think.

    The trouble is, I'm having car trouble.  My gas-sipping Dodge Neon has been dropping its power and strutting its oil light at the worst times, once right as I was leaving for Econ (sorry, Prof! At least it's good on gas!)  Now I checked the oil a week before this all happened, put some in (well, someone else did...;) and drove into the sunset.  I also asked for a once-over when I got my snow tires on.  Not even a red herring, everything looked good.  After leaving an evening class, it dropped its power right after shifting into drive after backing out of my parking spot.  This has happened a couple times.  Sometimes the car doesn't like to stop before taking a right-hand turn.  Sometimes the car doesn't like shifting into drive.  Sometimes the car vibrates while it's idling.   At this point, what's new.  The point of all this is, I hope you have a better car than me, and I hope that a college education will help you purchase a reliable car with some style points later on.  For now I wish I could just have my old Lexus RX300 back, which I sold to pay for school.  I know my automobile tastes are fickle though, so we'll just see what's around after I graduate.  Until then, what I'll be dreaming about...oh yeah, I'll take that house in the background, as well. :)  Have a great week!
Oh yeah, I'll take that house in the background, as well. :)  Have a great week!  Grace Valley

My first blog writing: Alexandra Busk

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Hello all. So this is my very first blog entry, I guess you could call me baby blogger =). However, my real name is Alexandra Busk. I am majoring in geological sciences – I LOVE geology, and I am a Mat-Su College Student Ambassador (and a mother of two boys, I LOVE them also). Accordingly, looking at the introduction above, I guess I could really be called many things: newbie, geologist, Ambassador,… mom, or Alexandra (some call me Alex).
(Photo taken from: Microsoft word 2010, art-clip key word: clouds)
Anyways, topics to talk about, huh? Well, since I love geology, let’s start there. Did you know, last week in Alaska, specifically in Nome, we had one of the largest storms on record (note: it is not the picture above, I just thought that was pretty). Starting last week, 11/8/2011, a Bering Sea Storm threatened Nome and the surrounding communities. These somewhat cyclical storms of the Bering Sea are very fierce, but they usually don’t interfere with shoreline communities too much. The difference is that this particular storm did not have a buffer, the sea ice: without the ice, these communities are left with the full force of the storm. To continue, waves were breaking 5ft above Nome’s Sea wall and reaching the shore with incredible vigor. All this activity is bound to majorly advance some erosional processes on the beach.      
Start of the big storm, gotta love this!
   (Photo taken from: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/bering-sea-storm-punishes-alaska-weather-moving-slowly/story?id=14923109)
Well, I hope you enjoyed my very condensed blog entry (giving it was not too boring). I don’t know the correct way to say bye on this (it couldn’t be: see you next time), so write you next time =). – Alexandra Busk.

Forceful Intentions

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      Hello all! My name is Kerissa Brady, and I am a Student Ambassador. This morning, at roughly 2:30am, I was standing on my deck, sipping a snow cold beer, and watching pale green lights flow across the sky. I focused on the beauty, and the silence, and allowed myself to think. There has been a heavy feeling in my chest these last few weeks, like a dull burning, that I haven’t allowed myself to focus on for more than a guilty second or two. It only took me a few minutes, standing there in the isolated cold, to push all the distractions from my mind, and focus on what has been bothering me. And this is it. 

  There is a trend in my life that frustrates me; to be honest, it’s a serious fault. I’ve been told that this fault is common among college students, and difficult to avoid, BUT (and here’s the kicker) - not impossible to conquer. My problem is this: I am not a finisher. I started this semester strong, with goals, ambition, and great grades. Eventually (say…about midterms?), I found myself without energy. I started avoiding my homework. It became increasingly difficult to write my essays. I have started to feel like I’m failing, and the notion has put me in such a grip of paralysis that eventually, if I don’t make some changes, I will actually cause myself to fail. It’s almost like watching a car skid across ice, heading toward oncoming traffic – you can see the impending crash, and you know someone’s going to get hurt, but you can’t seem to move. You don’t call 911, you don’t run toward the scene – you just stand, frozen, and watch it all fall apart.  How did this happen to my perfect semester? 

 
  When I started this semester, I was registered for 16 credits, and working part time as a Student Ambassador. Through our Ambassador diversity training, I found that Mat-Su College has no GSA (Gay Straight Alliance), and I started asking around to see if there was an interest/need to start one. I was completely taken aback at the supportive response! The GSA took off running, and I couldn’t be more proud of my fellow students, and the community building goals we are already putting into action. But, in keeping with honesty, it’s not hard to see how the sudden influx of friends and projects has joined forces with my procrastination, and inability to finish, and have snowballed into a 9-car-pileup for my education.

It would have been easy to tell myself I was a victim of social responsibilities. I know that isn’t true. I can’t put any form of blame on my friends, our club, my work, or even my 16 credit semester. What this comes down to, I realized, is the paralysis. Everyone is busy – be it friends, work, family, school, or the inimitable need for downtime, you and I each have endless amounts of projects to keep us busy.  Is it uncommon for us to fall behind in school, while trying to balance everything that pulls for our energy and time? NO. It is very common, and very treatable – as long as the problem isn’t ignored! Like silently creeping mold in your fridge – it’s only going to get uglier until you do something about it. It just took me some silence, cold wind, and a magic light show to focus on the solution. 

Previous to my Aurora Borealis epiphanies, I was talking to a friend who shares my English class. I was ashamed at the time to tell him that I couldn’t do peer reviews for our 12 page essays, because I have yet to write mine. The advice that he gave me was spot on – although, at the time, I couldn’t bring myself to push past my depression and really let it soak in. To quote my friend, whose wisdom far exceeds my own:  “Experiencing is believing as they say, and in that sense we can craft and shape who we are, in a way that we would like, via the intentional experiencing of certain experiences.”

      Earlier in this conversation, my friend had told me that he recently battled his own education paralysis, due to relationship troubles. His solution? Just do it. Make it happen. Stop avoiding, and start pushing. I was told that I am living my own life, paying in time and money  for these decisions, and it is up to me, and me alone, whether I push myself to sit down and write something, or do nothing, and allow the guilt to push me into an education disaster. Thinking back to it now, he couldn’t be more correct. Everything is an experience, even this very expensive procrastination slump. Am I enjoying this side of the college experience? Nope. So it’s time to change it. With force. With focus. With intention.

  It is my intention to experience graduation this year. It is my intention to experience time with my friends, and working with the Gay Straight Alliance. It is my intention to experience good grades. It is my intention to experience the freedom to breathe, without the guilt of projects I have ignored, and assignments I have pushed aside. So? It’s time to start pushing. :)
      If any of you have felt the same this semester, I hope you can gain from what I’ve determined, and the advice my friend has given. If you feel like you’ve lost sight of your goals, or you’ve fallen so far behind that there’s no point – don’t give up! Don’t let it beat you. If you need an ally to encourage you, to help you push back, let us know – send an email to matsuambassadors@gmail.com , or stop by our info desk next week.  And if any of my fellow students happen to be taking a break from late night studying, or maybe from the healthy balance of your social/work/school life – take a peek outside in the early hours. For any of you who are lacking motivation, there’s something undeniably beautiful about that minty green film of light, which just might inspire a little strength and dedication. :)

Your fellow student,
Kerissa Brady
Student Ambassador


This Snow is Bringin' Me Down

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Now, I know I live in Alaska and all, and I'm supposed to be used to the cold weather, horrible roads, icy walk ways, blah, blah, blah...but I'm not. I refuse to do anything more than count down the days until I see the first blades of precious green grass again. I’ll be dreaming of hopping out of bed and putting on my flip-flops and shorts, and greeting those beautifully warm rays of sunshine with a smile rather than a scowl.  

Having to wake up earlier than normal so I can go out to my Jeep and warm it up – so I don’t catch hypothermia when I take my 20 minute drive to school each morning, is a real pain. Now there are some undoubtedly beautiful days when I wake up and look out my window, down onto my lake and see something that looks more like a painting rather than reality. But alas, they are few and FAR in between.

So to all my fellow students out there, my name is Traci Steele, and I hate the snow!  If you have those same feelings, I say, YES! Let’s pull out our hair dryers and get this stuff melted as soon as possible! If not, I will always settle for a nice cozy blanket beside my fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate to soothe my cold bones.  

So, until next time folks!  Take care and don't take chill out there!
Your Student Ambassador,

Traci Steele

A FRIday in the life...

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    Celebrities!  They're just like us. That's what the magazines say, but I'm not so sure.  They have delivery-food for their diets, fancy homes all over the world, and pay professionals to negotiate their contracts. Hmm.

  Once a week YOUR student ambassadors assemble in The Boardroom, discussing ways to make your life as students better: we bring connection through orientation and college events; we provide volume, taking student concerns to the next level, not unlike student government.  We will soon be serving you cookies. (You're welcome :)
  The rest of the week, we are students just like yourselves.  We eat, we sleep, we go to class, we work, we study--and I can't speak for the other ambassadors, but I buy giant colorful handbags.

  My name is Grace Valley.  At times I have gone by Eden (my middle name.)  I grew up here in the Valley and graduated from Wasilla High School a lucky number of years ago. I dream of changing the world, and am looking forward to a degree in Nutrition and attending law school after that, as well as becoming a wife and mother someday.

  That's me.  Now we want to get to know YOU!  You put your pants on one leg at a time, but once you put your pants on do you make Gold records, or something else.  What is it?  What are your dreams and goals?  How can Mat-Su College help better equip you to reach them?

I'm Oscar Uniform Tango OUT!  Have a grrrreat week! 
Grace Valley
Student Ambassador since August, 2011.

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