Super Saturday!

This past Saturday was the biggest day of the year (& an absolutely beautiful one at that!) for not only myself, but also all the first-year students arriving on campus...to stay! I've been working with my students for the past year or two & so it brings me such a sense of accomplishment & excitement to see them all happy to be at Simpson! The College will be a better place because of these students - each of them bring something different, interesting & impressive to Simpson - I can't wait to read about them in The Simpsonian, in the athletic box scores, on performance programs and on our website! I always say it makes me feel like a "proud mom" to see them do so well. Ha! :oP

Each year Move-In does bring back memories of my first day in my new "home." I lived in Kresge Hall Room #234 back when Kresge was all women & not only freshmen. I did have a slightly different experience than most students since I roomed with my best friend, Stacy. We've been friends since kindergarten & despite the thoughts of most people, we're still friends today after rooming together. :P Thankfully we new what bugged each other & were much alike, so we survived without killing each other - Ha. It was less nervewracking to move in with someone I knew, rather than someone I had never met. We had so much fun decorating our own space! Kresge also didn't look as nice as it does now - we had old (since the 1970's) metal bunkbeds that could not be lofted, only a few rooms had a window air conditioner, the floor was not carpeted & the furniture was an ugly yellow/brown color! We ended up buying some of that sticky contact paper with a design to put all over our furniture, so it didn't feel like we were sent to prison rather than college! Kresge & Barker Halls are so nice now after being remodeled. I know the fall athletes are quite relieved that they are also air conditioned! Besides the crazy move-in day & saying our good-byes to our family, I remember my floor-mates, too! Interestingly, there were two distinct groups of friends on the floor & we had two awesome R.A.'s (now C.A.'s), Katie & Sara. Stacy & I became real good friends with two other girls across the hall from us (Brett & Alaina), who were also high school friends. I am still good friends with Alaina, who unfortunately moved to New York City after graduation. My Liberal Arts Seminar class was Intro to Art with Janet Heinicke & although I really liked her, it was challenging to have an hour & 15 minute 8:00 class with her very soft-spoken lecture voice!

I also checked out football practice Saturday & took some photos that I included in this blog...I'm very excited for the sports to start again, so I can look forward to another possible Admissions Storm Chasers Road Trip to a game or tournament! I anticipate another excellent season for our soccer teams, volleyball, women's golf, basketball & softball - GO STORM!

KUDOS to Greek Life for helping families haul there stuff in on Saturday - it made a BIG difference & was greatly appreciated!

Did You Know?
For her part in uncovering a new species, '01 Simpson graduate Emily Kissinger has a rare tropical plant named after her, known as Anthurium Kinsingeriae Croat.

"Unfortunately due to terrible weather in the Chicago area and loss of electricity in our home, my husband was unable to make the trip to Simpson and I had to bring my daughter to school by myself. I feared move in wondering how we would manage by ourselves?

However, I pulled in the parking lot and was greeted by 20 students who unloaded our car within 10 minutes! I am not sure who I should send my thanks to, but once again we were totally impressed with Simpson College! I have never seen anything like that!! Those students helped relieve a stressful situation for us!

Could you please convey our thanks to all those wonderful students who spent their day helping us out and all those other families that day. We were very touched by their motivation, energy and kindness!"

- Donna, mother of a first-year student