Tyler Rauch's Blog

I got it!

     How late am I??? This bad boy should have been up a few days ago but I've been so busy with so much that getting to a computer on campus long enough to type was not in the cards. My apologies! The main reason for me being so busy was a number of reasons. First and foremost, I GOT THE INTERNSHIP AT FORD! Ford Motor Company offered me a position in their summer internship program for 2008. This is awesome because Ford is not only such a widely recognized company but because of the competitiveness regarding the internship. Ford is very particular about who they select and to be very honest I did not see myself as someone they would accept. On that note I'd like to add that I was up against three other VERY qualified students from Queens. Needless to say the odds were against me. After the interview process, however,  I was happy just to have the opportunity to even get that far and figured I'd take what I learned and apply it to future interviews. To my surprise they not only took me, but another student as well. I'd like to attribute this to the outstanding job our business school and career/internship center has done. I felt so prepared from the training I've had over the last two and a half years and can't say enough about the help that was offered to me. I am a firm believer this is the reason why a small community like Queens is so helpful. I'm in the process now of finalizing offers and getting some plans squared away. As they progress I will keep you all posted!

     Next, I was recently voted Secretary of the Campus Union Board and on Friday I will run for the Presidency of Student Ambassadors. I am currently VP and want more than anything to take over President very soon. The number of qualified Ambassadors and candidates for the position have grown tremendously over the last few months and winning won't be any easy task. I will keep you posted on that as well.

     I recently volunteered with our Alpha Delta Pi's (1 of 4 sororities on campus) at the Room at the Inn. It is a program put on by a number of groups on campus that basically houses homeless or people who just need a warm place to sleep and a hot meal. They are put up in groups of six in one of our empty fraternity houses for a night. This includes dinner, movies/games/company, breakfast and a hot shower. Upon departure they are given a bag lunch for the road. Every group has a number of workers that take turns and work in shifts to get it all done. It really is great and can't say enough about the job everyone does.

     Last, we lost 9-3 to the #2 team in the nation on Sunday which was a heart breaker because it was the silliest mistakes that cost us the game. Holding a team like that to 9 goals should guarantee a victory. We look to beat our in region and in conference opponent Limestone who is also ranked very high in the polls. I will let you know :)

     I have to get going now because I've got some tours to give and homework to take care of. We will be conducting our interviews for our Co-Chair positions on Sunday for Campus Union Board and I will be interviewing from about 1-6. Now if that isn't fun then I don't know what is! I will let you know how that turns out and continue to inform you on Ford. Hope all is well wherever you are and everyone is staying as healthy as possible! I know the flu and cold is running Queens at this point! Sorry again for the last post and have a great day!

Big week!

     OK so usually I'd say "big week" and it would specifically pertain to how many large events I have in the next few days. This time, however, it includes not only the big events coming up but the fact that I'm finally going to get a little break and ANY time I get a break I consider it a big week!

     In the past week and a half or so, I have had my interview with Ford (which went really well!), delivered my brothers best man speech, done my presentation for my JBIP class, had my O-board interview, been the MC at the "dating game" during homecoming week, taken all but one midterm AND spent time with my folks. Now these are all things that I was at one time worried about because they were all going on during the week or weekend and took significant amounts of time to prepare for and execute. Now that they are all over and all went really well, these next few days should give me a chance to relax. phew!

     Now, the stuff that has yet to happen which makes this a big week includes our second game of the season against Belmont Abbey College on Wednesday at 7pm (our hometown rival!), our third game of the season against Mercyhurst College on Sunday who played for the National Championship last season, my roommates father's birthday (he's like a father to me as well) at the Psalm, my last midterm, and I find out if I got the Ford internship this week as well. So far this week has gone pretty well and I can't say enough about how excited I am to get a little more sleep and a little more time to relax. I think this is going to shape up to be a great week!

     Recently my buddies and I made the decision to spend Spring Break in Hilton Head this year. We've got a place to stay and will save LOTS of money that way. We spent it in Daytona last Spring Break after spending two nights at my house and flying back a few days later. I'm certainly looking forward to that trip! I will certainly keep you all posted on the newest updates as they come in :)

     Homecoming week was a great success and I think everyone had a BLAST like usual! It's quite the week of events followed by a big win for our basketball teams! Campus Union Board is the sponsor for the events during HC week and they always do a great job. It always makes me proud to be part of a group that does such a great job!

     That is going to pretty much wrap it up for me this week. I know this post is pretty short, but outside of what I've mentioned above, there isn't anything really exciting that has happened. My life never stays this way for long, so expect a better post next week. Who knows maybe I'll be able to write about upsetting the second best team in the country! Until then be safe and I look forward to writing to you all very soon!

p.s. Computer is still broken...Please continue cutting me some slack with these photos!   

Better late than never...First week back in the real world!

     I would like to apologize for the late post this week. I know I should have them up once a week and I usually take care of that on Sunday, however, this was a hectic couple of days.

     Friday morning I had an Ambassadors Exec. meeting at 8:45 (I got to sleep in!) and a CUB meeting at 9:30 to discuss the laser tag event that we were planning. Unfortunately my co-chair Claire did most of the planning on this particular event because so much was going on in the meantime on my end. She did an amazing job and from what I was told the event was a great success (they generally are ;) ! After that I had an Orientation Board interview at 10am which would put me in one of three positions for planning orientation this summer. I was a Peer Resource for Orientation (PRO) this past year and loved it, but wanted to step it up and take on a little more responsibility. Unfortunately I am uncertain about my summer plans because of some internship opportunities and there is no word on whether I'll be in Charlotte or not. I think that hurt me and I did not get one of the three positions. I was pretty bummed because I take my involvement at Queens very seriously and don't like to think that I'm underqualified. Anyhow, after the 10am interview with residence life, I had THE BIG ONE! whats that you ask? I had an interview with Ford. I had met with two of their employees at a networking reception that was held by the career and internships dept. here at Queens (I HIGHLY recommend using them as a resource)! After meeting, the two asked for a resume and after looking over the resume, they decided to ask for an interview on Friday at 10:30. Before the interview could be conducted, I was asked to complete a Case Study for them which involved roughly 4-6 hours of work. Needness to say I wanted to be prepared and take advantage of such a great opportunity. Ford Motor Company is one of the biggest internships out there and top three along with Wachovia and Proctor & Gamble. 45 interns are taken out of the entire country for the summer and I'd be working in the finance field. They interviewed four Queens students and each is VERY qualified. I would be so happy with whoever got it but would be ECSTATIC if more than one got the position. Either way I hear back in a few days and I'm sooo nervous! The hardest part (the interview/case study presentation) is over and now its up to them. Certainly a big load off my shoulders.

     After the interview I caught a flight home for my brothers wedding! I'd be lying if I said it wasn't EXACTLY what I needed. I flew in and got home around 4pm just to change and leave for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at 6pm. As one of two best men, I felt pretty important with my role in the wedding and couldn't wait for the real thing. I had a blast at the rehearsal dinner sitting with the family and meeting so many great people from my sister-in-law's family. Having a few drinks with family and friends took so much stress off my shoulders and put a huge smile back on my face!

     Saturday the big day finally came and as we all prepared for the wedding, my oldest brother and I (the two best men) couldn't get enough of telling my middle brother (the groom) how he was doomed! I know its awful but what are brothers for? The best part is that my dad even chimed in which made my day! Either way it was all in good fun and I loved it. Around noon it was show time. Escorting a beautiful bridesmaid that attends the University of Florida (as shown in the photo) and having the 3 Rauch boys standing in their tuxes at the alter was amazing. The wedding was executed PERFECTLY and we were soon on our way to the reception at the Ritz Carlton in Orlando, Florida. That too went perfect and was more fun than I've had in soooo long! Not only did I get introduced doing the tango with a little spin action, but I caught the guarder and acted like a complete ham! Did I mention the wedding toast that went PERFECT! I thought my brother and I killed it so I am so pleased with that result. Now, the part about me being a ham was pretty much consistent for the entire night. I was a dancing, talking, laughing machine and just had such a relaxed good time. Sunday when I woke up I headed back to the house with the family only to fly back to Queens a few hours later. Luckily I got a chance to relax in my spa enjoying the 73 degree weather!

     Now to end this little post, I'd like to say that OUR SEASON OPENER IS FINALLY HERE! I can't wait and we play CW Post who is a top ten team from Long Island. For those of you who know anything about lacrosse, Long Island is a hot bed for the sport so its always a challenge when they come down. Fortunately we are coming off of a BIG scrimmage win last weekend against a top 3 Division III program from Salem, Virginia. We have been preparing and I am so excited to see how it ends up. It is also the homecoming weekend and scholars weekend so it will be NUTS around campus.

     At the end of the day, it's still great to be alive and great to know that there is some great stuff coming up! I am getting my computer fixed (hopefully) and I'll get a chance to upload so many great photos from the snow day, lax stuff, wedding, etc...Until then a few from here and there will have to do. Bare with me!!!! Have a great week!

The week of memorable events!

     So I start this post the day after the Super Bowl. Needless to say I am as excited as the next guy to see the Patriots not claim the title (sorry if you're a Pats fan!). I've been raised as an underdog kinda guy and always liked rooting for/playing on teams that were considered the underdogs. If you read one of my last posts you'll certainly see that for yourself. Perfect seasons are awesome, but so are upsets! I think at the end of the game, everybody wanted to try and do something that was considered impossible, simply because of the fact that the Giants did what no one expected or thought was possible. I watched the game at the Common Grounds Coffee House which is a student run coffee house on the ground level of the Wallace Residence Hall. CUB (Campus Union Board) hosted a Super Bowl party there and had pizza, wings, Moes, drinks and more. It was soooooooo good but I felt like a pig. For someone who doesn't eat much junk food and rarely drinks soda, last night was my night to be bad! Some of the prospective students that were visiting for Experience Queens came down and hung out so it was nice to see some new faces. All in all, quite the production from the game to the Super Bowl party!

     On Saturday the lacrosse team spent the day in Clinton, South Carolina at Presbyterian College playing in two scrimmages. We didn't fare as well as we would have liked, but despite the losses, we certainly saw some really good improvement and hard work out of a team that is hurting from injury and sickness. The saddest part was that the thing that hurt us the most was the stupid mental mistakes that shouldn't happen and WILL be corrected this week at practice. Lastly, the two games were simply a scrimmage so at the end of the day, our record is still 0-0 (until Feb. 16th at 1pm when it will be 1-0!). We have put it past us and we're going to move on to bigger and better things now.

     This is going to be the typical busy week, however, I have quite the reward at the end of the week. On Saturday my middle brother Patrick is getting married to his High School sweetheart Meredith. This marks the 2nd of three boys who has married their High School sweethearts. Unfortunately that will not be the case with me, but someone has to mix it up right? I am the best man along with my oldest brother Rob and I can't wait! Not only because I love Meredith and her family, but because I rarely see my entire family (including brothers) in the same place at the same time. Between Patrick (the architect) and Rob (the Soldier) its awfully difficult. I fly out Friday at 1:50 after an interview with Ford at 9:30 (wish me luck!) and will fly back Sunday late. It should be a great trip and look for pictures as soon as my lap top is FIXED! ah! I have some great snow pictures, some great Super Bowl party pictures, and I'll hopefully have some great wedding pictures that I'd love to share.

     Until then, I have a Case Study to complete before my Ford interview and a paper for my John Belk International Program Class (JBIP). I'll keep everyone posted on any new updates and I'll talk to you all Sunday :)

Stay Warm!