lauren_wappelhorst

Open House 2010

I was invited to speak on the student panel today for Open House, and I was so excited. I love being involved here on campus, but I miss being an ambassador so much! I used to be an ambassador for the school. Those students in red polos that you see when you take tours and come to visit campus are part of the organization that I am talking about. Helping out with perspective students is so excited!! I can remember searching for college, and it can be a stressful experience. When I came to UIW, everyone was so helpful. People introduced themselves to me, and they made me feel like I was already part of the family here at Incarnate Word. When I got to campus, I knew that I wanted to be a student ambassador right away. Unfortunately, between my commitment to campus ministry and residence life, my schedule is pretty busy and doesn’t leave much free time available for things that I would like to do. Thankfully, I still have a great relationship with the staff in the admissions office, so they still invite me to get involved whenever I can. Today I was on the student panel during open house. I think this is a really great way for perspective students to hear about the campus from actual students. I mean, administrators can talk all about the school, but, at least for me, I am much more interested in what students have to say. I feel like the panel had such a good representation. We had on campus and off campus students, so both of those perspectives were available. We had someone from the honors program, someone involved in Greek life, the UIW mascot, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, resident assistant, peer mentor, football player, McNair scholar, and countless student groups. I actually had a blast meeting the people on the panel and hearing what they had to say about their experiences here at Incarnate Word. Also, the highlight of my day, I got to talk to our President Dr. Agnese before the panel started. He was standing outside waiting to give his welcoming speech, and I decided to shake his hand and say hi. He was amazing!! We talked about the Spurs game and school and new things happening on campus. It’s always intimidating talking to someone that high up, but he was very welcoming. He got me pumped up for Incarnate Word all over again when he came onstage and gave his welcome speech!!

Open House 2010

I was invited to speak on the student panel today for Open House, and I was so excited. I love being involved here on campus, but I miss being an ambassador so much! I used to be an ambassador for the school. Those students in red polos that you see when you take tours and come to visit campus are part of the organization that I am talking about. Helping out with perspective students is so excited!! I can remember searching for college, and it can be a stressful experience. When I came to UIW, everyone was so helpful. People introduced themselves to me, and they made me feel like I was already part of the family here at Incarnate Word. When I got to campus, I knew that I wanted to be a student ambassador right away. Unfortunately, between my commitment to campus ministry and residence life, my schedule is pretty busy and doesn’t leave much free time available for things that I would like to do. Thankfully, I still have a great relationship with the staff in the admissions office, so they still invite me to get involved whenever I can. Today I was on the student panel during open house. I think this is a really great way for perspective students to hear about the campus from actual students. I mean, administrators can talk all about the school, but, at least for me, I am much more interested in what students have to say. I feel like the panel had such a good representation. We had on campus and off campus students, so both of those perspectives were available. We had someone from the honors program, someone involved in Greek life, the UIW mascot, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, resident assistant, peer mentor, football player, McNair scholar, and countless student groups. I actually had a blast meeting the people on the panel and hearing what they had to say about their experiences here at Incarnate Word. Also, the highlight of my day, I got to talk to our President Dr. Agnese before the panel started. He was standing outside waiting to give his welcoming speech, and I decided to shake his hand and say hi. He was amazing!! We talked about the Spurs game and school and new things happening on campus. It’s always intimidating talking to someone that high up, but he was very welcoming. He got me pumped up for Incarnate Word all over again when he came onstage and gave his welcome speech!!

Prayers for Chile

This morning I woke up to a text message from my mom telling me that I needed to check on the news right away and make sure that my Chilean family is safe. I flipped out, not knowing what was going on. I got online to see a top story about earthquakes in Chile. My heart dropped as I saw my city of Vina del Mar listed as an affected city. I got on facebook, and I was happy to see that my friend Manuel from Chile was online. He told me that there was some destruction and there were still tremors going on. He said that everyone was afraid, because there is a very high possibility that a tsunami will come through within the next few days. My host brother and sister from Chile weren’t online at the time, so I left them messages. I have heard back from both of them. The family is safe, the apartment is intact, but they haven’t heard anything from their family in the South. I am just trying to stay updated with everything that is going on. Everyone that was there last semester are trying to keep in touch and spread all of the information that we get. I was almost there this semester too, and so this is just turning out to be a godsend. I couldn’t imagine being over there in a foreign country with all of this destruction going on. Not only that, but I know that my parents would have heart attacks! If you could all just keep Chile in your prayers, that would be awesome. Hopefully no tsunamis, but now that the earthquakes have happened, we will just have to wait and see. There is no use in stressing, because everything is out of my control. I just can’t get them out of my mind. I am going to be productive and work on homework instead of focusing on this. Just keep them in mind J

Texas After Violence Project

Today I had the unique opportunity to do an interview for the Texas After Violence Project. If you ever have any free time, you should definitely check out their website at texasafterviolence.org. They are really getting a different perspective on the death penalty by hearing the stories of people affected by it. We had a representative from the organization come to our Death Penalty class last semester, and it was incredible. We watched as people talked about the loss of their loved ones to state sanctioned murder. They talked about the trial and the grief that they struggle with today. My friend is working on a project with this organization and they asked if they could interview me about my view on the death penalty and my experience with our anti-death penalty group here on campus. I feel like I still have so much to learn about our justice system, but I managed to talk for an hour on film today. I talked about how the group got started here on campus. Basically, Rosey, a student here, realized that the death penalty was something that she didn’t agree with and as students we actually have the opportunity to take action and take a stand. We meet weekly in one of the main traffic areas on campus to say a prayer together and distribute information. One of the most eye opening experiences that has come from that is that people just don’t know the facts. People don’t realize how expensive the death penalty is, that we actually kill our mentally ill, and that is doesn’t actually deter violence. We have also written letters to representatives, which I believe in more than ever after we met with a representative here in San Antonio. We took information to present to him, and he heard us out. He told us that he understood and realized that the death penalty is something that we should work to abolish. However, he made it very clear that he could not directly help us with our efforts, because it would be a career killer for him. The pressure he gets in office is from people who support the death penalty. That means if we are truly serious about abolishing the death penalty here in Texas, we are going to have to take action and put pressure on people in office. Make them realize that we are voting for them and we want justice. I got to talk about my experience in South America and their view on our death penalty system here in the US. We also talked about other countries who have made the move to get rid of the death penalty. All in all, I feel like I talked about the death penalty from all angles that I could possibly have thought of. I feel so honored that they would want to talk to me, and now it makes me feel like I should be working harder than ever for this cause that means so much to me!

New Student in Chile

Today I had an email from a student here at Incarnate Word. She told me that she was going to study abroad in Vina Del Mar, Chile. I got so excited for her! I gave her my phone number, and we got to talk a lot tonight about things that she should expect. I was so excited that she called me, because I was able to provide insight to the city that she is leaving for on Tuesday. We talked about the weather, food, and the living conditions that she should expect. I could picture the city so vividly in my head, it was incredible! We talked about the bus system and travel and what to do about money. Even better, after I talked to her, I got to Skype with one of my best friends from last semester. I think I have mentioned Gillian before, but she goes to school in North Carolina. After our semester in Chile, she went over to Argentina. She is in Buenos Aires right now teaching English. I am so excited about the study abroad program here, and I am happy that I have the opportunity to help out someone else. Tomorrow I am going to the study abroad office, because I want to find people who need help with their English. When I went to Chile, there were some students that worked hand in hand with the international center to help us with our Spanish. I just want to provide that opportunity to others. Hopefully this will give me a chance to really practice my Spanish. Tutoring is going well, and I find myself speaking Spanish a lot more. I have become comfortable with the language again, and now I am eager to learn more words and better my grammar. This semester is so exciting, and I am just pumped to be back here on the UIW campus!!

Gym Time With Kyle

Tonight was incredible! I have Tuesday nights off, so it is a night for me to catch up on everything and really take care of myself. I went to adoration with my friend Erica at Holy Spirit which is pretty close to the school. If you guys ever come to San Antonio, you need to check out this adoration chapel! They have perpetual adoration, so people are there twenty four hours a day. I have started going to adoration now that the Lenten season has started. I have such a great time! I go and pray for a bit and then I journal. I love spending time with Jesus and being able to clear my mind. Then I came back to the dorms with a spirit and energy that I hadn’t had before. I called up my friend Kyle and asked if he wanted to go to the gym. All last year we were racquetball buddies! Yes, be impressed, because I held the championship title throughout our games. However, tonight I lost. It was a sad return, but I only lost by three points. I will bounce back next time though! I am just excited to burn off calories in a fun way instead of trying to fake excitement about running. More gym stories to come for sure!

Willy Velasquez Institute

Today I had a meeting with my boss in campus ministry for Alternative Spring Break. I have a lot on my plate this week as we get everything prepared for our event. I think I might have mentioned this in my prior blogs. Basically, Incarnate Word students can spend their spring break giving back to their community. You can build bonds with the San Antonio Community, meet other UIW students, and earn your community service hours for graduation. This year we are going to be helping out the Willy Velasquez Foundation. This organization is located on the other side on Bandera, which serves a quite different population than our Alamo Heights. Drugs are prevalent in this area, and this foundation has a community center that helps meet the needs of the community. We will be spending our week doing neighborhood clean-ups. There are so many run down areas, and broken windows theory shows that the look of a neighborhood actually has an impact on the residents. If we work to keep the streets clean, others will follow. We will also be able to connect with the staff and meet people who use this community center on a regular basis. This will be a week immersion here in San Antonio during our spring break. It’s our first year to work with this organization, and we are excited to start up some great relationships. Ideally, this community center will become a focus point for Incarnate Word students, and we will be able to send volunteers out on a regular basis. I will keep you informed as we learn more, but it is shaping out to be an incredible experience!

Second Annual 24 Hour Prayathon

There was an increase of college students sleeping all day yesterday. Why is that? They had stayed up all night in the grotto here at UIW. Nine am Thursday morning started the beginning of the second annual 24 Hour Prayathon. This is an event with 24 hours straight of activities to Praise God! The event included Liturgy of the Hours, Rosary around the world, Confession, Mass, Lenten Lunch, Prayer and Healing Service, Nondenominational worship service, Christian concert, Taize prayer, and all night adoration. I was only in charge of volunteers this year, but it was amazing how many people wanted to help out! We had free tshirts for the first 50 volunteers and that filled up right away!! However, even without incentive, people still wanted to help out! I was super happy! We had emails and phone calls all the way up until the actual event! I went to a bunch of the events throughout the day, but I was truly touched at adoration! I signed up to go to the grotto and pray between two and three am. I walked up from the wooden bridge and saw a glowing coming from the grotto. Last year we had adoration on Dubuis Lawn, so this was new to me. They had set the Blessed Sacrament up under a tent so guard it from the elements. Then all over the steps there were candles. It was beautiful. Not only that, but there were a lot of people there. I hadn’t expected it. Some people were praying alone, some were sitting with friends, and some were singing along with the band playing music on the side. I sang and prayed and got to journal, and I felt a peace that I only find when I go to adoration. I was so happy to be a part of it. I know a lot of work goes into this event, but now I am excited all over again for next year!!

Happy Valentines Day

As I said before, yesterday my friend Travis took me out to chocolate day at the botanical gardens. It was amazing! If you ever come to San Antonio, you have to check out the gardens. They are gorgeous!! On top of that, they brought in chocolate specialists to rock tables all over the garden. They showed you have to decorate chocolate, dip chocolate, and different foods that mix with chocolate that you would never have guessed before. Today I have the most amazing double date in the history of Valentines Day. My friends Katie, Matt, and Kyle, and I are going to the Magnolia pancake house. I have never been, but I heard that it is incredible!! Katie and I are sporting dresses and the boys have totally suited up. Yes, everyone should be jealous. Of course later tonight I will be in my room working on homework, but for now I am going to enjoy the best afternoon ever! Happy Valentines Day to everyone out there! Whether you are celebrating with a significant other or not, make sure to show your love to your friends and famile. It’s kind of sad that in our country the emphasis is on romatic relationships, because c ountries all over the world celebrate all forms of love on this day. Friends and family join together to spend quality time that we so rapidly lose in our fast paced society. Remember to take time out of your busy schedule to show others that you care!!

WWOOF

I think I have finally decided on what I want to do with my summer. I really want to focus on my Spanish, so I wanted to get back out of the country. However, travelling is very expensive. I don’t have that kind of money. One of my best friends last semester was Gillian, whom I might have written about before. She spent the semester with us in Chile, and now she is in Argentina working on a farm. She talks about it all time. She absolutely loves the lifestyle, and she is having one of the most incredible experiences of her entire life. I finally decided that this is something I need to explore. She is working through WWOOF, which are worldwide opportunities for organic farming. You can go check them out online. They have organic farms all over the world, and you choose a country that you want to go to. By paying a minimal fee, you get a list of all the farms within that country. Then you can decide what kind of farm would be the best fit for you. Housing and food is provided, though quite differently within each farm. Some places have community life, while others are secluded. If you are vegan or vegetarian, you can find a family would provide those meals for you. It’s an incredible organization, and I am very excited to get involved!!