Busy Week!

It has certainly been a busy week for me! Here are a few things that have been on my "radar screen."

• Exams! I had my first biology exam Wednesday and my first Cultural Anthropology exam on Thursday. Both went fairly well and I am anxious to see my scores.
• In addition to those exams I also had a quiz in Vegetations and a paper on philosophy for my communications course. But, all of this educational work is finally complete!
• I have done some nearby traveling lately. I went to Hancock Beach (10 min N.) on Tuesday for my Vegetations lab and I went to Alberta, MI (45 min S.) for my Field Techniques class. Sidenote: the fall semester of my junior year I will go to school at MTU's fall camp, located in Alberta. Today I got to see the facilities and the grounds :)
• On Wednesday, I was notified that I had been elected to USG (Undergraduate Student Government)! I was inducted Wednesday evening at the USG meeting. My name was also on the front page of the Michigan Tech Lode (our school newspaper)! I will put a picture of the paper up.
• Lastly, WEATHER! Two opposites....the rain has been just torrential lately. It has been extremely windy and wet. Yuck! But on the flip side, the fall colors are almost at peak! I have been taking lots of photos. Look for the pics soon!

Overall it has been a very busy week with school work. I am happy to say that today is Friday! I can't wait for a great weekend!

Fun Weekend!

Hello everyone! Here are the highlights of my weekend!

• To begin, I worked on Friday, entering more information about dead animals into a computer, or should I say recording autopsy records into a database for future use.
• Friday evening I went to the humane society to walk the dogs and play with the cats. Take a look at the pics!
• On Saturday I went and volunteered for the Great Northern Adventure Race (GNAR). GNAR is similar to a triathlon, where the participants have to mountain bike, run, and canoe. They have to do different challenges at each of the checkpoints as well. The race occurred throughout the city. I helped out by taking pictures and directing traffic (at one point the race crossed the road). It was really fun to be a part of! Lots of fun stories!
• Also on Saturday I went to a tie-dying social with my fellow WHSA members. Our WHSA shirts were white, so we decided to tie-dye them!
• On Sunday I did the usual things...church, laundry, and studying.
• This week is quite busy in the educational realm. I have a Biology exam, a Cultural Anthropology Exam, a Vegetation quiz, two lab reports due, and a paper on Aristotle's philosophy. Ugh!

But, when all is said and done, I get a fantastic present - the family is coming to visit! I can't wait to see them!

Wishing you a happy autumn from the north ~ Kyle

Pretty Relaxed at the Moment

Hello everyone! I am doing well and am pretty relaxed at the moment. Here are some things going on in my life.

• Well, first is the fire. There was an apparent fir in one of the stairwells of my residence hall the other night. The alarms sounded, the fire trucks and firemen came...it was pretty intense. No damage was done and no one really knows the cause (at least not at the moment). Look for pictures later.
• Monday was my first day of work. After a few more days at work I will be able to tell you all of the information we record about the moose in the order they are on the card by memory! It is the same process with each card, over and over, but its pretty interesting. To give you of an idea of the intensity and amount of info on a card, in the three hours I worked on Monday I completed 16 cards. They each take a while!
• As with every week I am learning more and more trees. I wouldn't call myself an expert yet, but I'm getting there!
• I received an email from St. Al's (the church) telling me when I am scheduled for ushering! Pretty excited to get involved!
• Today I got to go to the Otter River Cabin. The cabin is owned by Michigan Tech and is run by the School of Forestry. We went there as part of my Field Techniques class. We were running transects and then counting course woody debris (aka: all of the down wood on the forest floor, ex: sticks, stumps, down trees, etc). I also have some pictures (look later) from both the cabin as well as when I was off in the woods. The woods were extremely thick! It pretty adventurous!
• Tomorrow I work again and then I plan to go to the humane society with some friends! On Saturday I have volunteered to help out with the Great Northern Adventure Race, which is similar to a triathlon. I will be the camera man! A free shirt, free lunch, free dinner, and a day outside! Can't get much better than that!

That's what I've been up to! Hopefully I will talk to you all soon!

The past week

Hello everyone! It has been a busy few days, hence no posts since Wednesday. Here's what's been happening in my world!

FROST!!! This past week the temperatures have dipped below freezing and the highs have been about 50 degrees. That's a big change from the week prior when it was 80 degrees! As mentioned, the mornings now come with a layer of frost on everything.

I just thought that I would reassure you all that even with all of my happenings that I write about I am continuing to do well in classes. I have aced many of my quizzes and even got over 100% on one of them (didn't know they did that in college!).

As mentioned in the previous posts, I interviewed for a job working for a researcher in her lab and had an interview on Wednesday. I was hired (hooray!) and was trained in on Friday. I will start work on Monday if all goes well!

On Friday night I went with a friend to see a play. We saw The King and I. It was really well done. The theater was extremely ornate and the acting was great! I will post some pictures! The play was 2 hours and 45 minutes, and it took 20 minutes to get there and 20 minutes back, but it was all worth it!

On Saturday morning we made our own pancakes in the kitchenette, which were delicious! Then some friends and I went downtown to the Parade of Nations. There was a parade and then afterward there was a festival where each country had a booth and was making and selling native foods. For lunch I had Mexican fried rice and flan for dessert. It was really good! Look for pictures!

This morning I went to church and then I did laundry. The rest of the day has been homework. It has been a productive weekend though! Can't wait to talk to you all soon!

BIG NEWS!

Big news in Kyle's world today! Today I had an interview for a position working in a data entry lab for a researcher studying moose and wolves and their interactions on Isle Royale. Long story short, I was hired! This job will definitely help me get acquainted with the project this researcher is working on and could open many doors! Pretty exciting!!!

I will be sure to update you about what I will specifically be doing in later posts. Hope you all are doing well!

More Doings

Here are more things I have been up to!

1. I made a second attempt to see the Northern Lights Sunday night by going up to the football field to get away from all of the lights. Unfortunately I still did not see them :( I am most definitely looking forward to seeing them at some point!

2. So, in addition to being the Excello House President and seating on WHSA, I have nominated myself to serve as a 1st year class representative on the Undergraduate Student Government (USG). USG is comprised of 6 representatives from each class (1st years, 2nd years, etc.) as well as a few other members. To attain this position, an election will be held in the coming weeks. Hopefully I will be lucky enough to be voted by my classmates into this position!

3. If anybody was wondering, walking up and down, and around campus is quite the workout itself, but in addition to that, I went and worked out Monday for the first time here. I had a great workout and really enjoyed working those not-yet-existent muscles! :)

4. Another short tidbit is that here in the UP we can really smell the smoke from the wildfires burning in the Boundary Waters.

In other BIG news....today I have my first "job" interview! Through the Earn and Learn Scholarship (ask me if you want me to explain) I hope to work with a professor on whatever research project they are doing. I have been in contact with a lady doing research on the wolf/moose interactions on Isle Royale and hope to secure a job working for her. Wish me luck!

Alright, well I'm off to breakfast!

So Much to Say!

There is so much to share with you all, but I will try to keep it brief.

1. First is that I went to my first MTU football game and we won, over Lake Erie. Hooray!

2. This weekend has been largely spent playing frisbockey, a combination of playing frisbee and hockey. You play Ultimate frisbee and there are nets that you have to get the frisbee in to score. It is very fun and a good break from school work.

3. Just because I'm that type of person, I have to point out that yesterday was 9/10/11 :)

4. Last night some friends and I drove a little was to the north to see if we could see the aurora borealis (northern lights). Unfortunately we couldn't see them, but I had a great evening with friends!

5. This morning I went to a memorial service in honor of 9/11. The ceremony was at 8:46am, the time of the first plane crash. There are a few pictures in my "photos."

6. Today's Mass was outside on the church lawn. It was a very nice morning for Mass outside. Afterward, there was a picnic lunch (always have to take advantage of homemade food!)

7. Tomorrow I have my first WHSA meeting (Wadsworth Hall Student Association). This is the meeting between all of the house presidents.

Tidbits - The fans that are on top of the cafeteria blow a greasy, mostly disgusting, smell right into my fourth floor window...most of the day. Yuck! Also, for the record, I have been keeping up on my laundry...thought you would want to know, Mom!

That is all for the moment!

Recent Adventures

So I have been on a few adventures the past day or two that I would like to share with you all!

To begin, I wanted to mention an adventure I went on with some friends the first week I was here. We walked to the other side of town to a park called Chutes and Ladders. As the name implies, there are many slides and it is quite the jungle gym! See the "photos" for some cool pics!

Another adventure was in my Field Techniques class. We were using GPS's to locate certain points out in the woods and while on the search for our point, my team and I discovered some apple trees :) I have added a few pictures to my "photos" for you all to see! We also got a beautiful look over the valley from where we were.

Another trip was out to McLain State Park, where the K-Day, or Keweenaw Day, festivities were occurring. We stood in line for an hour and twenty minutes just to get on the bus to take us there! It was very warm today and quite unpleasant to stand around in :( While there, we walked around to all of the different tables representing the different student organizations you can join. I had a hamburger (which was pretty good!) and a cookie made with the peanut butter M&M's - it was delicious! We went to down by the water, played frisbee, and slacklined. FYI - Slack-lining is where you set up a tight rope between two trees and walk (or attempt to walk) across it. We then caught the bus back. Then I played the card game Euchre with some friends before my next adventure!

This evening a group of us went to the local animal shelter, Copper Country Humane Society, and walked the dogs and played with the cats. They were all pretty cute! (see the pics) We couldn't stay for more than an hour and half or so because some of us were getting pretty attached to the animals :)

Overall I have had a great start to my weekend! Tomorrow there is a football game and Sunday, on the anniversary of 9/11, I will be attending a ceremony put on by the ROTC.

Hope all is well with you all and I certainly enjoy sharing my happenings and look forward to talking to you soon about what you have been up to! ~ Kyle

College Life

Alrighty - So here are a few bits and pieces of my college experience thus far.

1. I made my first college bowl of easy mac yesterday. It wasn't half bad. It could have used a little bit more water, but other than that, it tasted pretty good :)

2. The COUCH!! I love having the couch to study and relax on...and so does everyone else! :)

3. At this point in time I have written my first paper, had my first quiz in each of my classes (except Field Tech., which is tomorrow) and have been keeping up on my homework!

4. A note on professors: When you have a professor that is almost 80 years old and wears bright green pants, you know it is going to be a great class! FYI - I am referring to my professor for my Communicating for Success class.

5. As with every Wednesday in Excello House, its Grilled Cheese Wednesday! Grilled Cheese down the hall in the kitchenette; 1 for 25 cents or unlimited for 75 cents!

That's what's happening in Kyle's college world!!

Spelling and grammar

I realized that my spelling and grammar or lacking on my posts :) I will be sure to be more careful in the future :)

Today...

- Today was a fairly exhausting *day.

- I *had Cultural Anthropology early *this* morning....

Welcome to da UP!

- Beautiful

Today...

Today was a fairly exhausting today. Tuesday is my longest day. I have Cultural Anthropology early morning (where I was assigned a paper due Thursday) then I went right off to Veg (vegatation of North America) Lecture. After that I had a quick break for lunch, then back up the hill to Veg lab. I had my first Veg quiz today. I believe I only got one wrong - so that's good! We learned 9 new trees to add to our repartuer. So now I know 16 trees (we learned 7 last week) out of the 135 or so that we will be learning. We also have an assignment for Veg were we have to press leaves and then label them and such so I am currently in the process of pressing leaves under my printer paper :) I then had dinner and am now off to a study session!

More things...

Alright. So I few things I forget to mention in my first blog.

1. As of yesterday I officially became the House president for Excello house. This means that I represent my hallway (also called a house), or about 40 guys, on the Hall Council.

2. I had my first nosebleed today :( I can definitely feel the seasons changing!

3. Today I discovered that I have 60 paces in a tally and ~13 paces in a chain. Interesting right? These are terms for my Field Techniques class where we are learning how to take land measurements.

4. Everyday my roommate and I have an inpirational quote out on our white board. I will be taking pictures of the quote on the board and posting them so take a look!

I think that's all for now!

Welcome to da UP!

Hello y'all!

This is my first post! I intend to keep you all up-to-date on life in the U.P. I hope you will enjoy my blog and get a glimpse of the beuatiful UP of Michigan.

On a different note, to bring you all up to speed - I have been in school now for a week and am enjoying it. I have lots of school work to do, but that doesn't come without some fun too! Last weekend I traveled to the Porcupine Mountains and went hiking and this past weekend I went camping at Agate Beach on Lake Superior!

This week is a three and half day week for me - Today is Labor Day and then on Friday classes let out at noon and we celebrate K-Day. K-Day stands for Keweenaw Day. It is a day where the locals, and of course the students, celebrate where we live (the Keweenaw Peninsula). There is a big celebration at a state park nearby. It should be fun!

Overall, life is good. Keep in touch and I will keep you posted!