Kate – Page 3 – COM Ambassador Blog

Kate: We Made Our Mark

Every January, about a week before classes start, the campus fills with girls—thousands of them—all getting ready for sorority recruitment. Whether a sorority woman or a potential new member, everyone has a certain excitement and anxiousness that can only be found during recruitment.

This year, over 600 PNMs came out to the Marriot Hotel in Copley to “Make Their Mark” on Greek Life. Only five days later, the same 600+ girls received their bids and excitedly joined their new sisters!

I’ll be honest, Greek Life is not huge at BU, definitely nothing like the “Go Greek or Go Home” schools I grew up around in the Midwest. But we are a growing community and each year, more and more freshmen and sophomore women are joining the nine chapters we currently have on campus. I went through recruitment as a freshman and it was a stressful, exciting, tiring, thrilling, and completely worth it week of small talk, pictures, cheering, and lots and lots of girls. But without it, I wouldn’t have met some of my best friends on campus and future bridesmaids… yes, I went there with that cliché…but its true.

And in addition to the sisters, one thing about BU Greek Life that I really love is the support. We attend each other’s philanthropy events, help when our community is in need, and encourage each other through everything. Last year, the nine sororities worked together during Sigma Chi Derby Days, a weeklong philanthropy event to benefit cancer research, and raised almost $30,000! And when a house that members of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity live in caught on fire this semester, the entire community bought supplies and food to get them back on their feet. That service and support will always make me proud to be a member of the Greek community.

Greek Life at BU is one of those things that you get out what you put into it. If you want to get really involved, that opportunity is absolutely available to you. And if you want it to be one of the many different things you do on campus that’s fine too. But it has provided me an incredible support system over the past year and given me some of the best experiences I’ve had at BU!

For more information about Greek Life, check out www.bu.edu/greeklife or @BUGreeks on Twitter!

“TomKat”: Welcome Back!

Tom

Hey everyone! This is Tom and Kate - blogging together as "TomKat" - to bring you the launch of our blog site for 2012! This is the official Boston University College of Communication (BU COM) Ambassador Blog. This blog is written by our student COM Ambassadors for both new and prospective students to get a grasp about life at COM. If you are looking for a bit more on student life, you've come to the right place.

The CA program at COM features a select group of students who come from a variety of backgrounds and majors within the COM. We hope that no matter what your interests are, there is an ambassador that can help you out or at least point you in the right direction.

For more information on each student, check out our website: http://www.bu.edu/com/admissions/com-ambassadors/

All ambassadors are accessible directly through email, so if you're wondering about anything at all BU-related, don't be afraid to reach out. That's what we're here for!

Stay tuned for regular blog posts, videos, and BU updates. Welcome to COM!

Kate: Boston Summer Bucket List

It’s summertime, and while most of my friends from BU and high school have returned home, I am still in Boston enjoying this amazing city in warm weather (when you actually want to get out and see it)! I am still working at COM (stop in and say hello when you get here for orientation!) and am also a New Media intern for TalentCulture, a company that focuses on the world of work through blogging and social media. It has been a fantastic experience so far and I am learning a ton! But I live by the motto “Work hard, play hard” so I made myself a Bucket List of Boston activities to do this summer! Here we go:

1. Go to the beach. If you’re from a landlocked state, you will understand how excited I was to finally live closer than 10 hours from the ocean. Castle Island, the Harbor Islands, and the North Shore have all been recommended to me and I am determined to hit the beach as many times as possible this summer.

2. Buy fresh fruit and vegetables from a Farmer’s Market. There are a TON of markets all around Boston with fresh fruit, veggies, fish, cheese, bread, and all the noms you could want. There is a HUGE one down near the North End that I could shop at all day and the SoWa market in the South End every Sunday. Yumm….

3. Watch a free show in the Common. Free Movie Fridays and Shakespeare in the Park are all highlights of summer. I’ll see you all at Toy Story 3 at the end of July! J

4. Pet sharks at the New England Aquarium. Boston has a fantastic aquarium, home to penguins, sting rays, seals, and thousands of fish. It’s a little expensive but this is a must-see for me this summer.

5. See the Chihuly Exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. In case you didn’t know, we go to the best school in Boston- BU pays for its students to go to the MFA for free (that’s a $22 savings)! Chihuly glass is gorgeous so it should be a fabulous exhibit in addition to all the other awesome art in the MFA.

6. Hang out on the Greenway. Boston is definitely a busy and crowded city, but there is a great green space downtown called the Rose Kennedy Greenway. It’s a mile long set of parks with fountains, a carousel, and tons of events every weekend to enjoy! Oh and did I mention free Wi-Fi? At some point, I will be grabbing a big blanket and heading down there to enjoy the gorgeous weather!

7. Attend a festival. Boston is home to tons of different ethnic festivals and parades. While St. Patrick’s Day may have fallen during spring break keeping me from experiencing the Irish heritage, I refuse to miss the Italian celebration in the North End on August 6. Your fellow COM Ambassador Tom Schrank will be joining me for this one!

8. See a movie at the Coolidge Corner movie theater. Open since 1933, the Coolidge Corner Theater is a Boston landmark that shows everything from great old black and whites to intriguing indies, even that newly released romantic comedy you’re embarrassed to admit looks good. Coolidge Corner is only a 15 minute walk from campus so this may be happening more than once this summer.

9. Walk the Esplanade. The Esplanade is a great area along the Charles River. It goes right by campus and into downtown. There are boat houses, river landings to hang out on, and the Hatch Shell where they put on summer concerts. It should be much nicer now that it is not negative ten degrees outside.

10. Enjoy a Fenway Frank at a Red Sox game. A Boston classic, I couldn’t go the summer without entering Red Sox nation at least once. I’ll be decked in my Cardinals gear but hey, at least the colors are the same.

Let me know if there is anything I left off this list, I am looking for tons of fun things to do this summer! Can’t wait to see you guys this fall- BU is a blast!!