Tyler Rauch's Blog

I love this place!

    I need to start this off by first apologizing for being a little behind on my blogging. Unfortunately, without a laptop at home and limited use of my roommates computers, I have very limited time to get these up so bare with me!

    Now, I'd like to point out that this weekend was exactly what I needed and just reinforced why I love Queens so much. These past few days have been stellar to say the least and not because I won anything special or because we had any sort of break or long weekend. This past week at Queens was just plain old fun. I, along with many others spend quite a bit of time staying involved, attending meetings, brainstorming, volunteering our time and to finally see the end result of our hard work is so satisfying for so many reasons.

    Allow me to explain. After an extremely relaxing and well needed Fall break in Hilton Head with a few of my roommates/teammates, I came back expecting another crazy week and crazystart to the second half of the semester. To be completely honest, that's exactly what it was. That is of course until I was approached by a member of our men's soccer team and asked to be the MC at our upcoming Fantastic Friday event. See, what was formally known as Midnight Madness and officially kicks off our 2008-2009 basketball season has been modified and switched to what we now refer to as Fantastic Friday. This is a day full of music and food in the quad followed by a night full of dunk contests, relays and prizes among many other things. Both the mens' and women's basketball teams get just as involved as the MC and it's just a blast (not to mention absolutely hilarious). With all that being said, I had the opportunity to dress up and just act like a fool in front of the entire school for about an hour and a half while I hosted this event. It couldn't have gone better! Maybe dressing up like one of the Charlotte Hornets (our OLD basketball team) and wearing SHORT shorts with a giant afro wig had something to do with it, but everyone had a good time nonetheless.

    Another reason why I had such a great couple of days is because we had our first Discover Queens weekend! Now, for those of you who know me, will completely understand why I can't get enough of these weekends. A) I get to meet and show around tons of prospective students B) Food in the caf is free and extra delicious C) It gives the Ambassadors a chance to shine D) I get to meet and give talks to a whole bunch of parents (probably my favorite part of the day because we all know I LOVE parents)! We switched up the order of the event this year and wanted to make the best use of the day without boring or wasting the time of anyone who came to visit. This weekend couldn't have gone better! The only thing I would have changed is the weather which managed to hold out while we were giving our tours...Thank god!

    Anytime you combine a weekend of being a goof ball, kicking off our basketball season, meeting tons of new parents...annnnd students ;) along with some much needed R and R you really can't go wrong. I got to see tons of hard work from a number of folks come together and create something big. There isn't anything better than that and just epitomizes why Queens is so special to me. You don't find many schools that utilize the students and faculty together as one team as much as we do here at Queens.

    Before I get out of here, I also want to say that our winter conditioning for lacrosse starts tomorrow morning at 6:30am. Now, we have been lifting at 6:30 for quite some time, however, starting this week it becomes 5 mornings a week plus our afternoon runs on Wednesdays and my individual workout on Monday afternoons. If you ever need to spot a lacrosse player on campus, just look for the zombies who look like they are very very sore. It's certainly perfect for a good laugh.

    I will probably have a busy schedule tutoring this upcoming week, but anytime I can help it always feels good. Our Center for Academic Success is always stepping up it's game and providing students with more resources than ever. Also, at the end of the week our Board of Trustees will be on campus and I have been invited to help out around campus which is soo much fun! Our trustees are some of the nicest and funniest people I know!

    Last but not least, I can't wait for Boar's Head to happen! In just a few weeks I will have the opportunity to dress up in a full costume, carry in the actual Boar's Head AND do a few words in old English for this awesome campus tradition. It will be a good time, but also another great opportunity for a laugh! As the event approaches I will go into a little more detail about what it is and why we do it. Until then I have some lifting to do and then a date with my bed!

    I hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy with the temperature changes and all. I look forward to seeing some more new faces as the year progresses and again if you have any questions please don't' hesitate to contact me! My e-mail is tyler.rauch@qmail.queens.edu . Have a great week!

p.s. The leaves are changing again and for some reason after living in Florida for 18 years, this will NEVER get old. Ah I love it!

What a week!

     From sporting events to a visit from mom and dad all the way to a week full of mid-terms and meetings, this past week was something else! Granted, us seniors need a crazy week once in a while to keep our senioritis in check so I really can't complain. Besides, after having three years under my belt, I'm getting pretty good at this college thing ;)

     As far as athletics are concerned, we had quite the full week. Our men's and women's soccer teams took on our hometown rival Belmont Abbey College the other day at the Marion Diehl Athletic Facility. Playing Belmont is always a big deal, but playing Belmont at home is an even bigger one. Needless to say there was a great crowd and the weather ended up being beautiful. Unfortunately, despite the atmosphere neither one of our teams came out with a "W". Our girls tied 1-1 in a great game and after a long hard fought battle, our guys lost 1-0.

     Just a few days later, our men's lacrosse team had our last Fall scrimmage to end our Fall pre-season. We had two games against Greensboro College and Guilford College who are both DIII programs. We spent the better part of the day on a bus or on the field and didn't return till late because of the 5pm and 7pm game times. Also, with the games both being played in Greensboro we had to account for travel and our post game meal :) I was pleased, however, to see my parents who made the trip up to watch their youngest son's last Fall scrimmage. Although bittersweet, it was a lot of fun, no one got hurt and we saw where we needed to improve. All in all, it was a great weekend with lacrosse, good meals, great company and a little extra MUCH needed sleep! I really do have the best parents in the world!

     Now, with the fun stuff out of the way, it's time to talk about all those wonderful mid-terms that us college students love oh so much. After having a Marketing Research exam just the week prior, I had three exams in two days. Starting with a Consumer Behavior exam on Wed., I then managed a Interpersonal Communications and Business Systems exam on Thursday. Combine that with Student Ambassador, Campus Union Board (CUB) and Peer Mentor meetings on top of regular classes and lacrosse practice. Needless to say, I wasn't getting much sleep and was doing my very best not to get too stressed! Luckily I took it one step at a time, managed to do well on my exams and got all the things on my agenda or "to do" list done! It's not everyday this happens, but once in a while it's always good to test yourself and see how much you can handle.

     Now I am getting a few of the smaller "housekeeping" items out of the way with a little extra time on my hands. I'd also be a liar if I didn't say how excited I was for Fall Break. It's right around the corner and I am looking forward to going home with my roommate who lives on Hilton Head Island. His family is like a set of second parents to me so it's always a pleasure seeing them.

     We have some great events coming up in the next few days as well as a couple of great sporting events that I am looking forward to attending. Later in the month, we have ghost stories and other fun campus traditions that I am looking forward to! This semester is only going to get crazier and more memorable for me, but I welcome all challenges.There are so many exciting things that happen your senior year and it's really hard to believe it is here. With that being said, I am going to get out of here and go support our volleyball team against Belmont Abbey. I'll do my best to get back on here soon and hope this semester is treating everyone well! Be good, be safe and have a great day!