Homecoming at Mason as come and gone, and I attended a bunch of events. I went to the Alumni Student Leader Reception, The Mason Squires event, and of course the Homecoming basketball game. It was so good to see everyone again, I had a lot to catch up on with all of my friends. It was also good to see my friends that are still at Mason, and the tailgate was the place to do that. Speaking of the tailgate, the best place to be was in the Alumni tent, because it had the best food AND it was heated. I know I paid all the money to go to Mason, so that when I was an alumn I would be able to have a heated tent!

Lastly, this blizzard was crazy! Or, should I say these 2 blizzards? The federal government was closed for just about a week, which meant I didn’t have to go to work. That was good, because after I graduated I was afraid I wouldn’t get a winter break again. The only thing that was bad about the blizzard (besides being snowed in) was that it was really hard to go back to work. I had gotten used to staying up late and getting up whenever, so when I had to get up at 5am to go to work, needless to say it was painful.

But, it seems like the snow is almost gone, which is nice. I am ready for spring time to come and some warmer weather!

In other news, I have agreed to do something I never did at Mason..I have agreed to write an article in my companys newsletter.. GASP! I know..me write?!? Who knew!

Lastly but not least..

Conan VS Jay Leno..As you all know, to say I am a fan of Conan is an understatement. In short, I will support Conan in whatever he decides..as long as he stays on tv!

For starters, being stressed out with finals was an under statement. There’s that extra pressure as a senior, knowing that you really don’t have the time to take the class again. But, I also had a great distraction..I was getting ready to study abroad in Switzerland. Although, today reminds me a lot of Switzerland since there is snow everywhere! But besides that..I had no idea what I was going to be doing after school..but I didn’t really care, I more excited about going abroad. What I did care about was passing all of my finals. That is not to say that I was in danger of not passing my classes, but there is that added pressure that as a senior, you really don’t have the chance to re-take any classes. Needless to say that I passed all of my classes, but still had no idea for what I was going to do after graduation.

Fast forward a year, and how things have changed! I now get up at 4:45 during the week to get to work, that is very different from getting up for my 1:30 classes my last semester.

Something very different from last year is that for the first time, I feel like I can buy my family nice Christmas presents. I am no longer on the college student budget. And even though I am not rolling in money, I have enough that I was able to donate bags of toys and food to people in need this year and buy nice things for my family.

A lot can change in a year, from school to the real world..it’s not quite the college life, but it isn’t bad either!

This past Saturday was the annual Holiday Party. It was held at the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly. What can I say about that? More amazing food, another open bar, and we had the entire place to ourselves! I brought my roommate (my friend who I met at Freshman Orientation). We had a lot of fun, and even ran into other Mason Alums!

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, and has a great rest of the holiday season!

On the bright side, it’s almost Thanksgiving, which means..a day off But, I will have to say I didn’t have to wait for Thanksgiving to get a great meal. My company held its annual employee appreciation dinner at Bobby Vans in DC on Thursday. And if that wasn’t enough to have an amazing meal..and even an open bar. But the desserts were great, and we all got presents! Can’t go wrong with that. But the real thing I am excited for is our company Holiday Party at the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly. It’s the one event my co-workers say that I must go to. It’s nice to still get free stuff after college.

http://www.connect2mason.com/content/mason-alumnus-brian-picone-dead-22

I have been awful with keeping up with this, and I apologize! A lot has been going on, but I’ll try to narrow it down to the more exciting events.

I went back to Mason last Thursday and was one of the people from my company talking to students at the job fair. It was different being on the other side of the table this year. I knew exactly what everyone was going through, and tried to be as helpful as I could. I got asked by Career Services to come back to Mason this Wednesday to speak in JC Room C at 5:30 (in case you wanted to go). They asked me to speak to students and answer questions about the transition from being a student to being in the work force now. So, in case you all are interested come and stop by.

After the job fair, I took a little vacation to Hershey Park. I had never been before, and felt deprived. I went to Chocolate World and went to a casino, and didn’t win anything But I also went to a renaissance fair. I had a ton of fun! I figure, I’ve been working for 2 month now, and I deserve a vacation!

Besides that, just boring work stuff, but don’t take that as I don’t like my job. I really like my job, minus fighting rush hour traffic and getting up at 5:30 in the morning :-/ Every morning I remember that my last semester I didn’t have any classes on Mondays or Fridays, and my earliest class started at 1:30. That’s what I miss most about college.

I am happy with my job, I love it actually. I like where I work, and the people I work with, and the drive isn’t too bad. But, at the same time, I invested so much time and effort at Mason and to not be going back there is sad.

I know everyone says this, but it’s true. College goes by really fast. Sometimes it feels like it will never end, but when you look back it feels like it blew by. Through all the late nights cramming and early morning tours I gave at campus, and my weekends spent in Student Media. I would have changed anything about my experience at Mason. I wish everyone luck tomorrow on their first day, and I wish the freshmen even more luck.

And to end this blog with a quote from my favorite movie, and a quote that was said at graduation,

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Thanks Ferris Bueller.

In my case, my 2 friends were having one in Virginia Beach, and I decided to make the trip down there for it. I got my fill of Sonic and had some great Mexican food. The weather was perfect. We hung out on the beach with new students and threw around a football, ate food, and answered all the questions the new students had. We answered everything from questions about housing and classes to how to become an Ambassador