Tyler Rauch's Blog

End of the semester

   So here I am again. I know I just wrote, but I figured that if I am going to be a student blogger, I'd better write more than just about myself and include a little about my life at Queens as well! These past few weeks have been crazy crazy crazy. The end of semesters usually are and this one especially. Our Fall season/Winter conditioning ended this past week and it was by far the hardest It's been since I've been a student at QU. Our winter workouts started on Monday with 8 am lifting and then continued Tuesday-Thursday starting with conditioning at 6:45-8 am and lifting 8-9am. On Wednesdays I had individuals with Coach D which was a workout in itself and made Wednesdays my toughest. Three workouts a day with a college lacrosse team will take its toll on anybody! If there is one thing we like to guarantee on the lacrosse team here at Queens, its that we won't get beat because we were out of shape! The best part about all of these workouts is  that they were all before 9 am! On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11 I am a tutor and then go to either a meeting from 11-12 on Tuesdays or give tours 11-12 on Thursdays. Now there is classes, homework, more possible club meetings, and if there is a soccer/basketball game that night then I would more than likely be working that as well! As I mentioned the end of semesters are usually pretty crazy and this was no different. All of the clubs, sports, and internships require some sort of "wrap up" to discuss how things went this semester, what we can do next semester, or any last minute planning of events. For example, CUB plans the majority of campus traditions each year and this year I was in charge of Midnight on Ice. It just so happens that Midnight on Ice is right at the end of the year so it just adds to the  madness! Fortunately enough for me, it was a great success and couldn't have gone smoother! Now that I have successfully wrapped up the extracurricular aspect of my time here at Queens, its time for exams. I have five classes this semester and luckily one of them doesn't require a final because its a public speaking class and our speeches made up our final. The rest, however, have been taking over my life for the past week. I had one Wednesday, one Thursday, one Saturday, and my last but hardest will be Wednesday. Its nice to have some extra time on my hands to study and get things like this done, but its still nerve wracking knowing there is only one left until I go home!!!! I think I'm leaving Thursday morning and I can't wait! Its only about 7 hours or so and I dint stop but once or twice so its never too bad. I should probably start getting my oil changed, gassing up my truck, and getting packed now so I can just wake up and leave on Thursday.

     Amidst all the madness, I have still found some awesome down time. On the left is a photo of the snow day from last year at Queens and everybody who was involved in the massive snowball fight. This is the kind of downtime most students dream of and was such a great way to relieve stress when things got nuts! The past few days, however, I got to spend some downtime out of the snow and hanging out with my guys or as I like to call my brothers. There are about six of us and have been best friends since we met freshman year. Although everyone is taking their own path, we have managed to stay closer than ever. Last night we spent a combined total of about  $120 in gift cards at a nice Italian Restaurant in South park by the mall. We never get a chance to spend money on classy meals like that, so it was a nice change and treat! One of my roommates and one of my teammates celebrated birthdays this weekend so it was nice getting everyone together to celebrate those as well. Tonight I'm going to one of my best friends houses for dinner and Monday night football. His name is Cody and he comes to stay with us for most of the weekends and in return his mom cooks for an army and invites us over. It helps that she is from Long Island and man can she cook...I'd love to stay and write more, but time is valuable these days and I need to get out of here to lift and study! Later tonight I'll be starting my search for an internship with some large corporation this summer. I'm sure I'll be keeping you posted with the latest on that! I will be posting next week while on break and hope this blog finds everyone happy and healthy! Have a safe holiday!

This is a photo of the lovely Diana and Trexler Student Center around the holidays at Queens last year! Doesn't get much better than this!

First Post!! A little about me

     So here it is! I have finally found the time to get the first blog up and running. I am certainly a first timer with the whole on-line blogging thing so cut me some slack. I figure I'd start by writing a little bit about me and what I'm doing here at Queens. My name (as I'm sure you've noticed) is Tyler and I'm a Junior here at Queens. I am from Lake Mary, Florida which is about 20 minutes north of Orlando. I was born and raised in the same house my entire life until I moved to Charlotte and couldn't have asked for a better transition. I also came from a high school that had roughly 3,000 students which was quite the culture shock considering that queens has a considerably lower number of students.

     I am a goalie on our men's lacrosse team here and I'm very very proud of that. Playing college lacrosse on a scholarship was something that lots of people didn't seem to think was a possibility when I was in middle school. It only took one person to tell me it wouldn't happen before I knew that was exactly what I had to do. Over the years I've progressively gotten more involved with clubs and organizations around campus which I wouldn't change for the world. Some of the people I've met and some of the opportunities that have risen from my involvement are unbelievable.

     I'm the Recreational Committee Co-chair on Campus Union Board (CUB) which puts me in charge of helping to organize any recreational events like paint ball, rock climbing, midnight on ice (huge campus tradition), and white water rafting or camping trips, among other things. I'm also Vice President of the Student Ambassadors which I LOVE! We provide information to prospective students through campus tours and overnight visits. If you ever get a chance to meet me, I'm quite the talker (ANYBODY will agree with that one!) and I love meeting people. Ambassadors gives me the opportunity to do both and at the same time! The Food Service Advisory Committee is another club that only meets once a month but allows me to give an athletes feedback about what can be improved in the caf or what they are doing well. Its nice because often times students assume they aren't being heard when in reality there are students like me who are consistently giving feedback based on what I hear around campus or in the huddle. This semester was the first time that I was a Peer Resource for Orientation or more commonly known as a PRO. We are basically mentors for the freshman class and help them make the transition through orientation into their new college lives. Things get thrown at you fast in your first week here at Queens, but the PRO's try to make that much more manageable.

     I do some odd jobs around campus for work and I have a blast doing them. I am the "stat guy" and announcer at the men's and women's soccer games as well as the "shot clock guy" for the men's and women's basketball games. I don't make the big bucks, but any extra cash is nice for groceries or gas considering it costs an arm and a leg. Also on a side note I sure do have a lot more respect for anybody who has ever had to take stats or announce!! It's not as easy as it looks!!! This is also my first semester as the Financial Accounting Tutor on campus. The Academic Resource Center (ARC) provides free tutoring to students in almost every subject at NO COST! It's a great little deal that Queens offers and I love tutoring so its a win-win situation.

     As far as academics is concerned, I am a Business Admin. major with a concentration in Communications. I LOVE my major and although it's broad, I know if I work hard and do a great job that I will be able to apply to a variety of jobs and find a good fit for me. I would like to go into Sales or maybe even Marketing. Opening a business and potentially doing real estate  were also two things that really interest me. I still have plenty of time to decide and based on the internship I will do this summer, I will hopefully get a better idea of what that is. Currently I live off campus in a very popular part of town for Queens students and I think its great! I did live on campus for my first two years and loved it, but was so happy with that experience and figured it was time to move on to bigger and better things which also includes MUCH more responsibility. At the end of the day, I guess you could  say I chose Queens for a variety of reasons. I wanted to play lacrosse out of state on a scholarship, I wanted a beautiful campus with red brick and white pillars, I needed somewhere that wasn't going to be cold all the time and I could see the seasons actually change (Not like in Florida!), and I liked the idea of having potential to be a big fish in a small pond at a small school next to a big city. When you combine all of that with the education that Queens offers and the opportunity to go abroad, It's hard to say no! All in all I couldn't be happier with my experience at Queens thus far and look forward to keeping you all updated with my journey through Junior year. I'm so happy to have this opportunity and hope what I write provides some insight into what its like to be a college student at the one and only Queens University of Charlotte!

  Here are a few photos to get me started. Like I said, cut me some slack i'll get better at this in time! (from right to left) First is McEwen and Diana/Trexler in the snow. One of the many reasons why I chose Queens...picture perfect. Next is a picture of my parents and I after our victory over Lees McRae in the first round of the conference tournament. I wouldn't be where I am today without them in my life! Last, my current residence and first house! Shared with three others, its my home away from home for the next two years!