Katarina "Kate" Rosales

Major: Finance

Same Old

November 11th, 2009

Hello,

            I'm sitting here and I really haven't done anything out of the normal this past week. This week in particular has been straining and rough for a number of reasons, but we all have those. I found out I made a terrible grade on a midterm which was utterly devastating because as you can tell from my writing, I'm very concerned with my grades as well as studious young lady! Aside from classes and clubs this semester has been as eventful as in the past. Taking 6 classes has narrowed how much time I allocate for other activities. I've also made it a point to spend a lot of time with my Bryant friends this semester because I won't see them next semester when I'm abroad in Austria, I go home to Texas during the summer, and I'll possibly be in Washington, D.C. for an internship so that's an entire year away! That's also eaten up a lot of my excess free time. SIFE has been good, we're making way on the binder we were making of career opportunities for the community. Forms have been very demanding these past weeks - which unfortunately is what I have to go tend to right now!

Halloween

October 30th, 2009

Halloween really isn't my holiday of choice (that would be Thanksgiving) but a couple of my suitemates have 3 separate costumes for each evening. So, if we think about this portion-wise: Sarah and Abbie (my suitemates) consume both Halloween for them as well as for myself, so I don't feel guilty about not participating in this holiday. All my teachers had candy for the class, I'm picky about my candy though so I didn't really partake plus most of them had exams and I get nervous during exams sometimes. I probably would have just up heaved that sugary-delight.  (Just kidding). I live in the all-girl dormitory, which I love. I know, you think — All Girls + One Building = Drama, Monthly bouts of Crazed Emotional Women…plenty enough to scare this low maintenance, quiet sparrow away however it's quite the contrary! Unlike the dorms where males (and in particular male ATHLETES) reside, it never stinks in the stairwell! It's almost always quiet, perhaps a bit rowdy some weekends, and quite pleasant. Perhaps my favorite part of the hall is that we are the only one which hosts the annual trick-or-treating for the faculty and staff kiddos - which was so much fun! They were absolutely adorable. Living on a college campus you forget little people exist. There were babies in penguin costumes and Disney princesses (like Mulan, my favorite!) and easily my favorite costume of the evening was a kid who dressed up like a Lego. That was awesome. It was so much fun. I enjoy this time of the year in New England, even the air (despite being freezing cold sometimes) is filled with warmth from the holidays and changing colors of the leaves.

Midterms

October 23rd, 2009

Alright, so I half take back being glad all my midterms aren't in one week. Your choices are a one week span of intense stress or a three week period of a subtle droning stress. I'm not really sure either is for me, out with midterms? Haha, I wish. I have a couple due next week besides that though, it's alright. I know it's because six classes = many exams, quizzes, and homework assignments. The bright side is next semester I will be in a new country taking mostly liberal arts courses which I favor. I enjoy writing, and the arts (all of them, really). I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but I ADORE classical music, so going to Vienna is ten million times more amazing for a lover of classical music because of the history the city has. I've also been working on lining up internships for when I come home, so that's why this semester is extra stressful. I just have to keep organized, meet my deadlines, and push myself to do the best - I'd really like to raise my GPA this semester instead of maintain. Even though GPA doesn't define you (or you shouldn't let it) and truly isn't the most important factor because experience is equally qualifying - you can let it plague you and I know I do. I shouldn't, it's simply a number and honestly above a 3.0 is pretty good but I have a tendency to push myself. It's a Friday, I should be enjoying myself - which I think is what I will go do!

Open House & Midterms

October 20th, 2009

Hello Hello

     This past weekend was fun! For those of you I had the opportunity to meet, it was nice speaking with you and those who I didn't, I wish you the best of luck during your college search and that Open House helped you to see all the great opportunities Bryant has to offer. I love Open House, you can feel the excitement of students who are still in high school and I enjoy our presentations. I remember just how great the school I attend is, even in the middle of midterms! Haha, :-p - I really lucked out this semester. Usually midterms all arrive fairly close together but mine have been spread over a span of 3 weeks so far with one exam each week and sometimes an additional quiz which is far better than 3 all in one week. I can't believe it's the middle of the semester though, I feel like I have so many little things I wanted to get done before I leave. I've been spending time with friends while keeping up with classes before I don't see them for awhile. The weather is starting to get chilly too. I enjoy seeing the leaves change colors

Visit to Newport Biodiesel

October 8th, 2009

Hello Hello

   Earlier this week as part of my Operations Management course, my team and I visited Newport Biodiesel. The assignment was to interview a manufacturing company in order to view first-hand the concepts we've learned about from the textbook. It was really cool, especially because the work they do is 'green.' Bryant is currently working on becoming a client for them as well. NB takes the grease from restaurants and universities all throughout Rhode Island and converts it into biodiesel. It was a lot of fun and we appreciated him taking the time to meet with us so much. I love this aspect about my courses, the application of concepts. My professor is excellent and has so much operational experience too that each lecture contains stories from his previous jobs - he retired and decided to teach, the best way to give back. I took some photos from our visit

Where it begins, first with the removal of water and food scraps, as well as misc. trash.

My team members listening as our contact, Myles Standish, speaks about the Supply Chain of Newport Biodiesel. [Alec Rosenbruch, Danielle St. Jean, Evan Roberts, Paul Sartori, and Alyssa Robidoux]

My teammate, Evan Roberts, standing beside one of the large containers which filters the biodiesel.

September in a nutshell

October 7th, 2009

Hi!

      My goodness September flew by! I have been SO BUSY. With all the paperwork to get in for studying abroad in Vienna to applying to an internship program in Washington to managing six classes I have been on the go. The school year is in full swing and I can not believe it's already going so fast. I feel so much pressure to get so much done before I go at the same time as buying plane tickets (both to go home for Christmas and to Austria). I just found out my best friend from Texas will be in Europe at the same time as me, which I am so excited about.

Read More...

Vegetarian

September 30th, 2009

Hello Hello

    Wow, September is just about gone! This past month I promised my friend as a slightly silly birthday present that I wouldn't eat meat for 40 days. In the gift I included coupons for different things like unlimited websites, one freebie, one to try certain foods, one book recommendation, and one documentary recommendation. I'm about 88% of the way through the 40 days but it's been interesting to eat at Bryant from the perspective of an herbivore. I used to eat mostly in the Bryant Center but now I enjoy Salmo more. The vegetarian options are pretty good but I prefer spinach salads or our stir-fry line because I like to eat a bunch of veggies together maybe over some lo mein or a bed of rice. I've seen very positive changes in how my body functions, even when a cold went around earlier - completely by passed me. I miss meat, I'll always miss meat (I am from Texas…) but with what I've read and know, and the help of my friend I'm a happy herbivore and Bryant has plenty of friendly foods.

Healthy U @ Bryant U + Kate, even after the 5k

September 23rd, 2009

Hello Hello

    I've created this work-out schedule and it has been difficult to stick to! I wake up every morning at 6am to go to the gym at 6:30am. I enjoy this time frame because while the gym is never filled to the brim with people, I still prefer a pretty quiet predominantly empty gym. This is about the best time to find that! Haha, there are usually 10 or so people around that early in the morning. On MWF I do aerobic machines, interval training on the treadmill, different exercises to get my heart rate up. On TTH I have a personal trainer, Beth Engwall, our study abroad advisor who helps me with weight training. I enjoy working out just not walking to the gym, haha. Wish me luck on sticking to my schedule and pushing myself the way I did with the 5k!

Clubs Fall ‘09 :o)

September 17th, 2009

Hello Hello

     Clubs have begun to send out their @Bryant announcements letting the community know about their first meetings. This year I will not be participating in SASS again because I'm studying abroad and even though you can apply despite that, I just didn't feel it was right to be here half a semester and leave the group. It's such a small group, I don't want to disrupt the dynamic. I'm excited for all their events this year though, Judy Shepard is coming to speak on campus. This semester I will be participating in Pastoral Council again. We have a lot of great events we're going to hold; the construction of the Interfaith Center has increased attendance at mass and in the council. I'm glad it brought more people; it's always nice getting to know new parishioners. We plan on having a couple retreats, an Interfaith dinner, hosting a volunteer activity with Father Joe's parish and possibly attending some of Providence College's events to meet others in the state. In addition to Pastoral Council I'll be a more active member of Students in a Free Enterprise, SIFE. This club works to help the outside community through specifically business related volunteer work. I'm the co-project manager for Tech for Corliss, where we haven't chosen between two projects. One is creating technology classes for members of Corliss and another is creating a career binder for their residents, all of whom are deaf or have a cerebral handicap. I'm excited to gather a few students and begin on either of these projects. Lastly, I will be helping out Healthy U with their events albeit not as actively because of my schedule. I want to give back to them because they helped me so much last semester with their mentor program. It's going to be a busy semester!

~Classes~

September 10th, 2009

Hi,

    School is underway. This semester I'm taking 6 classes and I'm getting geared up to really stay on top of it. Each of them is 3 credits, no labs or 1 credit courses. I always start out by taking my syllabi and putting all of my test dates, assignments dates, and project due dates in my planer. I color code them and then depending on the assignment, I will write out anywhere from 1-2 weeks ahead of that date "Blah Blah due soon," etc. I know it sounds over the top but with group projects, clubs, daily schedules, and everything else on top of it - if I don't do it I will fall behind fast in the worst kind of way. This semester I'm taking Operations Management, Investments, Ecology, Financial Modeling, Managerial Accounting, and Advanced Topics in Film and Video. So far all of them have been interesting and I'm excited to get into the classes more. I'm also half nervous because when this semester ends, I'll be relieved to be done with 6 courses but nervous that I study abroad!