Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans: The Top 20 of Sophomore Year

Reflecting on my sophomore year of college, I outlined 20 moments, experiences or events that have defined this year and had a strong effect on my future. I've attempted to put them in chronological order, enjoy!

1. Reuniting with friends for the Mizzou-Illinois football game in St. Louis

Unfortunately, 2010 was the last year the Border Showdown for football will be held at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. It's always been an exciting addition to Labor Day weekend, and a fun road trip for my friends. After the first week of classes and two long weeks of Panhellenic sorority recruitment and preparation, attending this game and spending time in St. Louis brought our Twain friends together at the beginning of the year and built up our Mizzou spirit.

me, Sherman, Kathryn, Andrew, Laura and Shaina at the Arch

2. Experiencing mid-Missouri

A lot of people choose a college based on geographical location. Some people go to New York, Washington D.C. or California not only for an academic program, but for the place they will be and the opportunities they will have. I cannot say the same about Columbia, Missouri. I came to Mizzou for its journalism program. So because we don't have Broadway musicals to see on the weekends or political rallies to attend, my friends and I took tastes of what is around to truly experience the area. Although Columbia itself is not rural, the 90 miles between St. Louis and Columbia as well as Columbia and Kansas City have a lot. So we looked up what was around us and did fun things there.

Apple picking in Mexico, Mo. in October with Amy and Jen

Paintballing in May with Blake, Andrew, Kate, Laura, Cliff, and Shaina outside of Auxvasse, Mo.

Going to the State Capitol in Jefferson City, Mo. at the end of Labor Day Weekend

for Amy's birthday

3. Going home for Sts. Peter & Paul's 50th Anniversary

I've been blessed to grow up at a great Greek Orthodox parish where it has not only been a church, but a community. That was proven by the 1,000 people that attended SSPP's 50th Anniversary Celebration at the Westin Hotel in Wheeling. It lived up to its expectations, and was one of the most fun formal events I'll go to until my friends' weddings. Young adults came home from colleges all over and besides our immediate family, all three of my grandparents could attend. The band played both Greek and American music, so it was a fun night of dancing and celebrating our fellowship. Definitely a milestone.

Maria, Eleni and I with our hairdos

The Artemas' dancing all together!

4. Establishing my PH-amily

Living in a sorority house has been a loaded experience. One of its benefits (besides having 98 other girls to talk to at any given moment) is establishing the sorority sisters you consider your best friends, and developing relationships as more than sisters and acquaintances. I'm thankful to have one of the greatest pledge families ever, with Shelley as my "big" and Danielle as my "little." The opportunity to live in the house with both of them at the same time was amazing and something I'll always appreciate (and miss this year!). I could always depend on someone in my hallway for assistance or advice, and saw what it was like to have an entire branch of the house with positions (VP, PR, Sisterhood Relations, Sisterhood Development, Scholarship and Alumni Chairs) one one leg of the hallway. The 1st floor of the annex

My family! Shelley, me and Danielle

Rooms 303, 302 and 301 in order! Kathryn & I, Stephanie & Susan and Jamie & Katie

Dinner for Jen's birthday at the Heidelberg!

Kathryn, me, Paige, Jordin, Alex, Emily, Jen and Emilia

5. Mizzou's 99th Homecoming

Homecoming is already a huge deal at Mizzou since we invented Homecoming in 1911, and the 99th Annual Celebration and its festivities sure lived up to it! Besides campus decorations, the parade and the usual football game, we were glad to have ESPN Gameday visit Mizzou that morning (Oct. 24) and beat No. 1-ranked University of Oklahoma! Rushing the field and the array of happiness & Mizzou spirit that spread through campus was phenomenal. In addition to the football game's excitement and all the hard work put forth by my sorority's grouping, we made Talent finals and got to watch it not only in Jesse Hall Auditorium, but live-streamed online! I'm still fascinated at the possibility of doing this and look forward to how many homes across the country will watch Greektown's Talent this upcoming Homecoming!

Rushing the field

6. Semiformal

It's difficult to think of things to do after having such an exciting Homecoming, so we were glad that Phi Mu's semiformal came shortly after. No one even had time to find or ask a date, so the night of semiformal, we just ran over to AEPi and recruited some of the boys to come. It ended up being one of the most fun nights of the year, because we went as a group and everyone had a great time together. The night was characterized by dancing, spontaneity, Four Loko, and the Glee version of "Teenage Dream."

Cliff, Steve, Andrew, Sherman, Emilia, Alex, Emily, Kyle, me and Kathryn

7. Thanksgiving Break

I planned a pretty elaborate itinerary for Thanksgiving break, giving myself 3-4 days in each location. It started off with a Project Mexico trip reunion at Holy Cross/Hellenic College in Boston! Anna drove up from Pennsylvania and I flew out of St. Louis, and we stayed with Emily! We were not the only visitors at HCHC, as two other Mizzou students from OCF (Gregg and Yianni) as well as many of our friends from home came that weekend as well! We got to explore Boston and enjoyed reuniting too. After being home for Thanksgiving dinner and another day or two, I flew to Kansas City for the annual MU-KU football game. I sat next to and met the Chancellor of Mizzou and his wife on the flight, always a nice opportunity, and stayed at Laura's for the weekend. Kathryn, Laura, Asher, Andrew, Sherman and I not only conquered and explored all of Kansas City (and saw the Plaza lights!), but we also planned our first tailgate, which was a success. All of this traveling (and other extraneous factors) gave me pneumonia to end the busy week, but I don't regret any of it and was thankful for all of the adventure in my life.

Anna, Emily and I in Boston

At the Mizzou-Kansas game Border Showdown

8. A Twain Christmas

With final exams at the end of the semester, it's always nice to take a break and celebrate the holiday, especially since I LOVE Christmas. If the Christmas music on repeat does not stress it enough, I wore my jingle bell hair tie as often as possible and all of our friends purchased gifts for every one of each other. We took a trip to the Magic Tree (awesomely-well-lit tree in Columbia) and opened each others' gifts at the Gazebo on a 50-degree night. It was one of those moments reminding me how thankful I am to have such amazing friends at Mizzou, showing us how well we know each other and respect our time together. Definitely made for a Merry Christmas!

Shaina, Kathryn, Amy, Andrew, Laura, Sherman and I

The eight of us at the Magic Tree at Cherry Hill

9. Orthodox Christian Fellowship

OCF is a group at school that myself and two other boys spent a lot of time developing, and one retreat we went to together to help us in this endeavor and reunite with friends from various outlets was College Conference in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. Held at Antiochian Village campgrounds, College Conference is a four-day retreat where there are various speakers, workshops and social events combined. There was a huge variety of Greek, Russian and Antiochian Orthodox college students from across the country (although this specifically was the East coast retreat), and it was fun to meet them, make connections and build our Orthodox Christian Fellowship. This characterized the rest of my winter break as we drove back home with Anna, Emily, Sotiri and Jiori (Project Mexico group), stayed in Merrillville, Indiana for New Years and spent a few days in Chicago. I love having such a strong group of Orthodox Christian friends and it was nice to introduce them all at College Conference--combining people from SSPP, Mizzou, the Chicagoland area, miscellaneous PK (priest's kid) events, Fanari Camp, Project Mexico and more!

the Chapel at Antiochian Village

The group of people I spent time with at College Conference

at the dance on the last night

10. Birthday celebrations at home and school

Having a January birthday allows me to celebrate with friends at home and at school. It's a nice way to wrap things up in Chicago, and kick off second semester at Mizzou. Laura & Andrew were in town for my "Golden Birthday," turning 20 on the 20th, where we ate at Maggianos and stayed at the Embassy Suites by Navy Pier. My school friends have become well acquainted with Northbrook friends, and it was a fun evening. Upon returning back to school, I had a nice surprise party at midnight with everyone I care about, and then the snow began. The restaurant I planned dinner at cancelled my reservation due to snow, so we made a last minute trip to Heidelberg the night of my birthday. Many of my friends made it, and it was a nice evening the first week of school.

Ben, Kara, Meredith, Kalyn, Laura, Shaina, Andrew, Jessie and I

at the "Golden Birthday Party"

Friends at the Heidelberg

(I published what I wrote already but have a lot more to say...so stay tuned after Sunday evening for the rest of this post! Thanks for reading!)

11. The Missouri School of Journalism

Being a Mizzou journalism student has characterized a lot of my college experience and defined the expectations and drive that I have today. Mizzou J-Schoolers are involved, nosy and up on everything that is going on locally and nationally. Current events quizzes and the nature of journalism got me to start my GoogleReader tablet, where I follow over 26 newspapers, magazines and blogs on a daily basis. The J-School and networking workshops inspired me to get a Twitter and LinkedIn profiles, both of which I update actively. Second semester, I entered my journalism emphasis area, Strategic Communication, which means I am enrolled in career-based courses instead of prerequisites. I can't say that if I attended any other university that I would have such a strong interest in social media and the news surrounding it. First semester prepared me for these courses by taking cross-cultural journalism and News writing, where I completed two intense group projects--one on proper language regarding reporting on people with disabilities and the second was a huge project on midwifery in the mid-Missouri area. The Missouri School of Journalism and the students and faculty in it keep me competitive and always fighting for more.

12. Snowpocolypse

This snow storm across the country singlehandedly gave Mizzou students three days off of school. It was a break not only from classes, but from extracurricular involvement, work and just about everything you can imagine. There's never really a time that everything gets cancelled, so the snow and lack of plowing on our campus provided an opportunity to do nothing but relax and enjoy leisure time and each other's company for over three days. It was cool to be on campus without a load of things to do, and to play in the snow!

My car and I in the snow

13. Mizzou Basketball Games

Basketball games provide us with something to do in the winter and builds up Mizzou's spirit and competitive nature as we play the other Big 12 teams. They are a fun routine to spend cheering and watching what Mizzou calls "the fastest 40 minutes in basketball," or what Amy and I call "the fastest...then slowest 20 minutes of basketball." I love basketball games for the fast-moving nature of the sport, the spirit at the game, and the time I get to spend catching up with friends as we all go together. I even got to bring my Dad to a game this year, and as pictured below, caught a t-shirt during the T-4-3 (three point shot) promotion!

14. Road trips

No wonder I have put over 12,000 miles on my car--look at how many places I've driven this year! (Not counting going to Mizzou back and forth--400 miles--at least 4 times).

Iowa State- Ames, Iowa
Kansas City, Mo. for a tour of advertising agencies
Cincinnati, Ohio to pick up Yiayia for Christmas
Shawnee, Kansas to see the Davison Family
Maryville, Mo. for sorority Officer Training at Northwest Missouri State
Urbana-Champaign, Ill. to visit Meredith at University of Illinois
South Bend, Indiana to visit Kalyn at Notre Dame

It would be too much to post pictures of all of these adventures, but taking these road trips not only gave me something to do, but let me visit family and friends across the country and see their campuses or homes! Taking advantage of the time I had sophomore year to visit these places was something I'm glad I did.

15. Homecoming Steering Committee

On a Tuesday morning in early March, I was dragged out of my bed at 4 a.m. by three former steering committee members and taken on an adventure ending on the Mizzou football field (Faurot Field). This is how I was told after the two-round interview process that I'd have the opportunity to serve on Homecoming Steering Committee, which is a huge honor at Mizzou since we invented Homecoming. This year is the CENTENNIAL, so we have even more chances to create a phenomenal celebration. Homecoming Steering Committee has not only given me the chance to help brainstorm the events, but to volunteer for the Mizzou Alumni Association and complete service work around Columbia. It will be a huge part of my life in the fall during the Centennial Celebration, but has been great to develop so far. I will be designing all Homecoming merchandise that will be sold around campus and hopefully worn forever to commemorate this celebration. Read more on the Homecoming blog and website!

Committee members volunteering at the Food Bank

Some of the girls

16. Relay For Life of Mizzou

Relay For Life has been a part of my life since freshman year of high school. I went from being a team captain for three years, to a committee member for four years, and now an event chair! I will be a co-chair of Mizzou's Relay that will be on March 17-18, 2012. This 12-hour cancer awareness event requires a lot of planning, and we already interviewed and selected a new steering committee. This past year, Relay 2011 raised over $100,000 for American Cancer Society and was ran very successfully! As the chair of the Team Development subcommittee, I ran the team captain meetings and helped create a mentorship program and communication system so everyone was aware of what was going on. It was also nice to get to know the other steering committee members, because it was more difficult to do that as a freshman. I look forward to overseeing these types of things and publicizing Relay all over Mizzou next year, and raising even more money for ACS!

The Relay For Life Steering Committee at 6 a.m.

Colbey, me, Carie and Alex- Team Development subcommittee

17. Mizzou Student Foundation

MSF is an organization I became involved with freshman year, where students are ambassadors to the university advocating for alumni to become donors. The foundation recently moved from being overseen by the Office of Parent Relations to the Office of Central Development, which means we have a greater presence with the Mizzou Alumni Association to advocate for this cause. Participating in events like Mizzou Mile and networking at places like the Jefferson Club Dinner have been a fun addition to the year that I will appreciate having attended. The Jefferson Club consists of donors who contribute over $25,000 to the University, and being in MSF gave me the opportunity to have dinner and amazing conversations with these distinguished individuals. I'm excited to have one more year of MSF to establish who we are on campus and make its mission known.

MSF at Mizzou Mile, an annual run/walk around campus

MSF members who worked as ambassadors at the Jefferson Club Dinner

18. Returning home for Easter

It's difficult for me to imagine attending services for Easter (Pascha) anywhere else but Sts. Peter & Paul. It was never a question of if I would go home, regardless of my schedule at school, because being with my family and friends from church on Holy Friday, the Anastasi and Agape services is a special time and essentially, a tradition. Kathryn & Laura came home to celebrate Easter with the Artemas', and Meredith joined us for Anastasi (the Vigil service on Saturday night). It was an honor for them to join us for services and sacrifice their time, and enjoyable to see various groups of friends colliding and more. I hope I'm able to make it home for Easter in the future.

19. Celebrating America in Greektown after the death of Osama bin Laden

This wasn't too long ago so you might remember reading about it on here, but seeing Mizzou students in "Greektown" be proud to be Americans after Osama bin Laden was killed was quite the experience. It began with a parade of vehicles driving around with flags and cheering of excitement, and ended with a huge rally in the streets. This was unique to see on a college campus, in Columbia as well as in the Greek system. Everyone was somehow able to obtain patriotic attire and flags in minutes, which is pretty impressive!

Riding around school in the back of a truck cheering

What Greektown looked like

20. Hosting visitors

It's always exciting when family and friends come to visit Mizzou (or me). I was thankful this year to get to show my Dad everything at Mizzou and take him to a basketball game, and have my Mom, Maria and Helen come visit all spring semester! Although this doesn't top last year's record (Stacey, Meredith, George, Kara and more), showing people I love from home a place I love characterized the spring and I look forward to doing the same for Homecoming this year! Hosting visitors also applies to a lot of other things this year, from bringing Kathryn & Laura home for Easter to having Anna, Emily & Sotiri come over winter break.