Lianna's Blog

sunny days, keep it up

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:33:00 GMT

Today is the last day of Fall Break, and I am entirely UNready to return to school tomorrow...However, I really appreciate that Creighton gives its students a whole week off to rest and relax after a vigorous 2 months of school and work, as not many schools have an opportunity like this. The students here make exciting plans, for example a few of my guy friends went backpacking thru New Mexico for a few days, while others took advantage of the break and drove to places such as Chicago, Colorado, and Madison. Many of the students drive or fly home for the week, and a handful stick around campus. To me, the best part about coming back together is hearing the stories they all tell and what everyone has done for the past week. Last night I met up with my friend Steve and he told me about his adventure in New Mexico backpaking and camping...two of the days it actually snowed, which made it hard to set up camp and also find the trail!

As for me, I had a fabulous time in St. Paul visiting friends. The highlight of my trip was visiting the Mall of America and going to one of my favorite grocery stores called Trader Joes, found mostly on the coasts, but St. Paul is cool enough to have one. We ate a lot of home cooked food by Lee's family, and also had the chance to try some of the restaurants well known in St. Paul. The weather was ideal there, and I had the chance to run outside and see all the yellow, orange and red trees along the Mississippi river. Minnesota is definately a beautiful place to live and visit in the fall.

Concert, Snow and MN!!

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:20:00 GMT

With the apparent cold front setting in (SNOW last saturday...what is up with that!?!?) a girl has got to keep busy to stay warm! Recently there have been a lot of things hitting my social calendar, including a trip down to The Slowdown to catch a concert this past saturday. The band featured was actually a reggae band from my homestate of Honolulu Hawaii called Pepper, and it was nice to see (and hear) some familiar tunes when out on the town in Omaha on a saturday night. A friend and I actually got asked by one of the band members to go backstage (insert excited scream here) so after about 20 plus concerts I have attended at The Slowdown, I got on the inside!!! The band members were really nice, and they chatted with us about things we both like about Hawaii and the things we miss most while being away. I have to share with you- one of the most interesting things one of the band members told me was that he missed "tako poke" which is a common hawaiian dish that features chopped octopus with various garnishes. how's that for a local boy?

The rest of my month since last hearing from me has also been full of fun, school (obviously) and work. I've recently finished a 6 week project volunteer job at Boystown National Research Hospital working with blind and low vision patients- i will miss seeing their smiling faces and miss their bountiful energy. This means time for a new project! I just cant sit still for long. This week is midterms week, I cannot wait to get out of Omaha for just a little while. I will be headed to MN to hangout with my friends Erik and Lee, and the vacation will be very very nice. Also, that means I get to take a trip to the Mall of America!!! until then...Peaaaceout!

fall into fall

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:34:00 GMT

Hello again! A New Year and here I am again, writing to you about my lovely college life! In case you haven’t been diligently following me on here for the last few years (shame on you!!) here are a few things about me...

Hawaii born and bred, attended Iolani High School and am now a senior in my fourth (FOURTH?!?) year here at Creighton. I am biology major with the hopes of attending Optometry school sometime in the very near future...loving Omaha and always keeping VERY busy. Currently I am involved in many campus organizations, as well as a lot of other off campus activities. I work almost full time off campus at an optometry practice as a doctor's assistant and definitely juggle a full plate of school, work, fun, and volunteering.

Today Id like to recap one of the more interesting experiences that I've had in Omaha as of late: I currently volunteer at Boytowns National Research Hospital (adjacent to Creighton's Medical Center) as a low vision therapist for underprivileged children. One of the children I was working with had an ocular problem that was causing him to go blind in one of his eyes. He asked me, “will I ever be able to see again in this eye?" I was forced with one of my first ethical dilemmas as a volunteer- tells him the truth? Instead I just told him that the exercises that we were working on would help him from getting worse. Instead of prying more as I feared he would, he simply hugged me and told me thanks for "hwelping him". I could not be more pleased with the sincerity and maturity that this 7 year old displayed. Although doing this volunteer work is a tough fit into my already packed schedule, this boy really showed me why I do take the time to volunteer. I have always found my Volunteer work to be very rewarding here in Omaha, which is probably the reason I continue to do it!

until next time..

home stretch

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:55:00 GMT

I see that the last entry written here from me was about the snow day, wow! I am happy to say that the weather has been a lot better, even warm enough for me to study in my yard the other day! Something about spring really brings the atmosphere here to Creighton. I love that the mall (main walk through campus) really zings right up with students lounging about with lunch, hw, or just socializing. It’s also this part of year that the student activities bring back outside what is called “Wednesday’s after Class” which includes food, crafts and free things to do relating to holidays, occasions, or the times of year. WAC, as it is called, is one of the ways that I feel Creighton really makes the effort to make people feel cared for and loved. Free snacks is the way to any college student’s heart :O).
The time of year has come again to register, and I am excited to say, I have senior status! Its always a struggle to get the classes I need but finally, I am at the top of the ladder. Exciting. I’ll be taking a heavy dose of bio in the fall, and then taking the time to apply to various optometry schools and hopefully fly around to get interviews from various places. I’ve mainly got my eye on the west coast, where I hope to one day return.
As far as the social domain, I’ve been laying low these past couple of weeks since spring break ended. I took the opportunity to jet set to California for my spring break and visit both some high school friends and my siblings, it was a refreshing change of pace from Omaha life, as it always is when you leave somewhere you’re used to and vacation somewhere fun. I mostly slept, ate and hungout, which in my opinion, is the only cure from a sick midterm ridded college student.
I hope the warm weather is enticing you to come and check out the campus. It really never is too late!

PEAceee

snow day

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:46:00 GMT

i could have taken the liberty to use my friday off (can you say, snow day???) to write this blog but being the typical college student that i am, of course i didnt. this friday omaha had a ridiculous out pouring of snow which let to the closure of the school (potentially the first and last of the winter season). i took the liberty of taking off work from my job out west (no way i was going to attempt the interstate) and thus taking my first friday off since july. boy did that feel nice. i took the time to relax, catch up on some episodes of the Office ive just been too busy to watch, and hangout in my house while watching those bg fluffy flakes stick to my window. i did manage to make it back to school for a quick workout and noticed that many of the creighton students were taking some time outside to play in the snow by building snowmen, having snowball fights, and i even saw some of the students sledding on the HL courtyard slopes! it was nice to see everyone outside and enjoying themselves on that very very snowy day. as always, the school also had a crew clearing all the roads and sidewalks so students were able to nativage the campus and were headed to the dorms, library, gym or just plain outside to play! valentines weekend at creighton was full of white wonderland- a perfect romantic touch for all the saps out there!

the start of something new

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:20:00 GMT

hi again!

well its the start of second semester and a chance to start fresh with classes and activities. Omaha has been suffering from a cold cold winter this year but this past week has been clearing up a little. i'm enjoying walking to school and bundling up to go outside. err, at least kinda enjoying it. for you prospective sudents, the hard work should be mostly over. applications in, and now what? maybe plans to visit the campus, or logging on to our chats we have frequently to talk live with admissions reps and current students. you'll often find me there. there are so many ways to get your questions answered and everyone is happy to help.

as a second semester junior, the hard work is just beginning. for the first time, i have a very heavy load for my major (biology) and am starting to make futuristic plans for grad school post graduation. As ive mentioned before in previous posts, i am pre-optometry and i do various activities around campus and outside of campus to gain experience and keep myself busy, one thing that i have done since i was a freshman and and continuing to do is volunteer in the CUMC (creighton university medical center) in the ER, where i do helpful things like work to make patients comfortable and transport them, as well as cleaning, stocking and running errands for nurses and doctors. iv also found a job outside of the school as a doctor's assistant for an optometry practice, where i work up patients and am able to work one on one with optometrists.

as for my recent social scene, with all i am doing i still manage to get out and have a good time. some cool things i have done recently was ice skate at the old market (they freeze over a section in the winter), watch slumdog millionare at a nearby indie theater, go to dinner at Upstream Brewing Co. down in the old market, and recently i saw a concert down at the slow down.

right now, life is sweet!

fall into winter

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:07:00 GMT

I definitely feel that we've been falling into winter. it seems that Omaha plays little tricks on you. One day cold, and then next so gorgeous that you almost want to stay outside all day. Well ALMOST. Life for me is always speeding up and slowing down. I don’t know which one I like better! This past weekend the music scene in Omaha was “bumping” you could say. I got to see two of my favorite singers at The Slowdown, a music/bar/restaurant venue just 4 blocks from the east edge of campus. The two artists that I watched this weekend were Matt Nathanson and Ingrid Michaelson. I love the slowdown because besides the crowds of interesting people it draws, it also creates a kind of low key intimate setting with the musicians. No screaming teens here! I think that most of the crowd was college aged and above, which make it nice that my toes were still intact when the night was over. Also no silly girls that push and shove, which was a nice reprieve from other venues. I know I’ve said it before but music scene in Omaha is actually really great. Compared to the concerts that we get in Hawaii. Omaha is like heaven. I mean, just about a month ago Creighton brought in Third Eye Blind and that concert was great I heard! I was unable to make it, but I think my friends had enough fun for all of us.

Campus at Creighton is looking a little dull these days without all the beautiful flowers but I see that they have begun to decorate the campus for it’s annual Christmas lighting. I love when the whole campus is lit with beautiful glowing Christmas light! I cant wait for the holidays. With thanksgiving coming up- get a nice 4 day weekend. Hmmm. I’m so excited!

election day

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:21:00 GMT

today is election day! are you an obama or mccain supporter?? seems like some people on campus were sporting their gear today. its nice to know that here at creighton we can be ourselves and be able to express ourselves without fearing that our peers are judging us and keeping us from believing in what we want. that is one of things that i appreciate most about Creighton.

midterm madness and other little things

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:08:00 GMT

weather has taken an interesting twist here in omaha. being from hawaii- i remember it being a little bit of a shock when i was a freshman. however, with a couple of years under my belt, i can successfully say that i managed to deal with the weather changes very well! I even avoided my usual “fall cold”- a sneeze and mild headache due to the fact that my body has had 18 blissful years in the warm Hawaii sunshine and is not used to the sub 60 degree weather in Omaha. With fall break coming up, the campus is in such a flurry of activity. My roommate remarked to me that she didn’t want to go library to study on a Sunday night because the “social scene” that exists there. Social scene? Sunday? Oh man. You must know at that point- its got to be midterms week. On that note- I wish the best of luck to all those who have lots of midterms, I somehow got lucky with only 2! Also, ive decided to be nice and not give my lab students ( iam a biology TA) a quiz this week. Lucky them!

homecoming!

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:16:00 GMT

Homecoming week has come and gone, and in the midst of it all i find myself wondering why i had so many tests! I was able to sneak away for a bit and watch the hyponotist, which was funny as they usually are. It's great that Creighton provides it's students for so many things to do during homecoming week. The community is small enough that it is easy to get involved and participate, or just sit and enjoy some of the things going on around you.

i did also get to catch the golf cart parade, which is a parade that features student decorated carts from various clubs, sororoties, and fraternities, along with other Creighton groups. i think one of my favorites was the Delta Zeta cart, which had a turtle on a magic carpet!