Happy Mother’s Day

Week in Review: A Reflection of May 6 – 12

First of all, Happy belated Mother’s Day to all the moms, soon-to-be moms, the Mr. Moms who take on the role as both parents, and the surrogate moms who provide the same love, support, and advice to others. I spent my Mother’s Day with my extended family. Twenty of us, including the two babies in the family, went out for brunch. When did our family get so big?

I was looking through emails in my old email account I rarely use anymore, and one of them caught my attention. It was an email from one of my friends, and in the subject line it said, “It’s Last Blast here.” It jumped out at me because when I think of the words, “Last Blast,” I think about the end-of-semester parties we have at MPTC. I opened it up and sure enough, she was talking about MPTC’s Last Blast all the way back in 2006. They had free cappuccinos, caricature drawings, massages, henna tattoos, a DJ, and a grill out. It sounded like a lot of fun. She’s a graduate from MPTC, but she was a student way before I was a student here. Who knew that a few years later I’d be going to those kinds of events? I caught up with her recently and she just got an award at her work. Congratulations, Diana!

During the last week of class, we’re having a Jeopardy day in my Team Building and Problem Solving class. I’ll be going to the bookstore for the book buyback to see if I can get some cash back on books I no longer need. Our last Web Developer Club meeting is this week, and we’re going out for dinner afterword. Saturday is graduation, and then I’m officially done with my education at MPTC. How bittersweet it is to leave a place I’ve spent so much time learning, growing, meeting people, and enjoying new experiences.

Implementing New Ideas

Week in Review: A Reflection of April 8 – 14

Wear your sports jersey on April 23

Last week Thursday was my opportunity to share some new ideas and give my entertainment recommendations from the 2013 NACA conference to the rest of the West Bend Student Senate.

I shared three ideas I learned from the educational sessions at the conference. One of them was a student senate recruitment suggestion. The members really liked the idea. One member took that idea and altered it so we could use it this semester. I’m so happy that we don’t have to wait until next semester to start implementing new ideas.

My suggestions of possible entertainment acts to bring to campus sparked a discussion, and another good idea from one of the members emerged. Instead of spending a lot of money on one or two events, we thought we should look for local speakers and entertainment acts. MPTC is very good about working with the community, so why wouldn’t student life do the same when it comes to planning entertainment and educational events? There are plenty of great options in Southeastern Wisconsin. Is there anybody located in our area you’d like to speak or perform on campus?

The last thing I had to share with Student Senate was the college swag I brought back from the school swap.  There were a few types of items we’d like to give away in the future including a magnet with event dates. What kind of freebees, like T-shirts, would you like Student Senate to give away?

There isn’t much time left for campus activities since we have only about a month left until the end of the semester. Our Last Blast event is Tuesday, April 23, 2013. Come down to the cafeteria at 11 a.m. for a free lunch (with student ID) and watch Comedy Ventriloquist James Wedgewood. We’ll be giving away awesome door prizes. If you’re on campus later that day, play bingo at 4:30 p.m. for a chance to win more prizes. All the events for the day will be in the MPTC West Bend Cafeteria.

Don’t forget to wear your sports jersey because this Last Blast is sports themed!

Fun with Balloons

During the Last Blast event at Moraine Park’s West Bend campus I saw a unicorn balloon and a Rainbow Brite blowtorch.  It’s all because John Cassidy, an entertainer that incorporates comedy, magic, and “really weird things with balloons,” was the entertainment for our end of the year celebration.

John did some amazing tricks with fire, cards, and, of course, balloons. He made a giant poodle, monkeys hanging from trees holding bananas, giant flowers, and even a fruit hat. The cafeteria was practically covered in balloon shapes at the end of the show. He’s earned several Guinness World Records for his incredible speed. I’m certain he could have literally filled the cafeteria.

Sundaes on Tuesday

 

To promote our Last Blast, which is Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at the West Bend campus, the Student Senate had a build your own sundae bar.

 

 

There were strawberries, caramel, chocolate, tons of sprinkles, and more!

Along with the ice cream, we gave away hats and sunglasses.

Last Blast: Casino in the Cafeteria

On Wednesday, the West Bend Student Senate and Activities Committee sponsored a casino event to celebrate the near end of the spring semester. It was held in the Moraine Park Technical College cafeteria. There was free food, live music, casino games, a large raffle and a door prize. It was definitely a big event. The cafeteria was packed with students!

For lunch I had a pulled-pork sandwich, corn and a soda. There were cheesy hash browns too, but I don’t really like those so I didn’t have any. While I was eating, a band named BOS performed http://www.sonicbids.com/bos2. They sang current hits like a song by Bruno Mars, some classics like Michael Jackson and some of their own music.

There were a bunch of dealer tables in the cafeteria and professional dealers from Casino Events, Inc., were at the

tables. I played roulette. Steve, the dealer, taught me how to play. We played with real chips that we purchased with

fake money they called “funny money.” I wasn’t a big winner, but I really enjoyed watching that ball spin around and land on numbers.

A Student Senate member gave me a raffle ticket just for playing. The “funny money” that people won could be turned in for more raffle tickets. There were some big winners who got to put a lot of tickets into the raffle.

Fortunately for people like me who only had three tickets in the raffle drawing, a person could only win one prize. At the end of the event, they did the raffle drawing. There was a whole table of prizes! There were things like a printer, microwave, digital camera, gas grills, MP3 player, coolers and lawn chairs just to name a few. They also had gift cards for gas, the grocery store, restaurants and department stores. I was lucky enough to win a $25 gift card to Pick ‘n Save!

The door prize was a 32” LED TV. The person who won was in class during the drawing. I’m sure she was happy to know she won the big prize after her class let out.

This event was so much fun. I learned how to play roulette, and I won a raffle prize. I hope they do this again next year. If you were at the event, please share your story in the comment area of this blog.