Furman University

Many Furman students value taking the time to help others and give back to the community. Whether this is through Greek Life philanthropies, the Heller Service Corps, or other miscellaneous service projects, students can always find ways to have fun while serving others! Recently, my sorority had our annual spring philanthropy event called Triple Play. Many of the other sororities and fraternities formed teams to compete in baseball games for the event. As the sorority hosting Triple Play, we served as coaches/cheerleaders for the teams (and provided plenty of snacks and baked goods for the players)! All of the money that we raised goes to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital which is Tri Delta’s national philanthropy. Many of the sororities and fraternities have service events in the spring, and many students enjoy participating and taking a break from school work.

This past weekend, I also had the opportunity to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity has started a new type of project that involves weatherizing houses to make them more energy efficient. Several students from Furman’s Shucker Leadership Institute volunteered, and we all helped to insulate an attic and lay down plastic ground cover under a house off of Poinsett Highway. We spent the afternoon in gloves, yellow jumpsuits that covered our clothes, and dust masks, and it was a true bonding experience for everyone involved – I can’t say I had ever helped with anything like this before!

It is hard to believe that this was the last full week of classes. In less than 2 weeks, I move out of my freshman dorm! A few girls from my hall and I recently went downtown for dinner and shopping, and it is hard to believe that we will all be living in different places on campus next year. I will certainly miss living on the Poteat 100 hall!

Furman fraternities and sororities are all very passionate about their philanthropies! Last night Alpha Kappa Alpha, a historically black sorority on campus, hosted an event called  ”So you think you can stroll?” to raise money for their philanthropy! The money raised goes towards a scholarship for a local high school student. Many of the other fraternities and sororities on campus register teams to compete in the stroll competition. Strolling is a synchronized dance routine that originated in historically black Greek organizations in the 1920s. All of the teams spend hours planning and practicing their routines in hopes of winning first place! I am proud to say my sorority won first place amongst the sororities for the third year in a row. Way to go to the Delta Diva (Tri Delt) team! During the week, AKA also had a penny wars competition. Members of sororities and fraternities were able to donate coins to their team, and the money raised was a an additional factor in determining the winner of the stroll competition.

The event was also considered a CLP (cultural life program) for students who attended because a Furman faculty member spoke about the history of strolling. Every Furman student has to have a 32 CLPs by the time he or she graduates.

McAllister auditorium was packed full of students (Greek and non-Greek) to support AKA and watch the great stroll routines! I can’t wait for this fun tradition to happen again next year!

I hope that everyone is enjoying time with friends and family for Easter weekend! Furman students have a long weekend, and we do not have any classes on Friday or Monday. I am spending my break in Seabrook Island with family friends. It has been an unusually chilly winter/spring across the state, but today I enjoyed spending time at the beach on this sunny day!

It is an exciting time because all of the girls who pledged a sorority this year are now officially initiated. For tri delt, this means that I no longer have to attend new member meetings and I get to go to chapter meetings. We had an initiation ceremony the week that we got back from spring break. It is a tradition in tri delt that everyone wears white to initiation. The week leading up to initiation, we had several ceremonies and funbonding activities as a chapter. Another fun tradition is that everyone in my pledge class painted wooden paddles to present to their “big sisters.” My big loved her paddle, and I had a lot of fun painting it.

Last weekend was also fun because we had tri delt formal. This year formal was held at Thornblade country club. We had to switch to this location because our chapter is growing, and we outgrew the space where we held formal the past few years. We had dinner together, and then we had fun dancing for the rest of the night. Tri delt always has a live band for formal that plays great swing dancing music!

Happy Easter!
Bridget

Look who I found at the Lady and Sons restaurant in Savannah!

Spring break is already over, and as many of the other freshman bloggers have mentioned, it is hard to believe that the school year is in the final stretch! There are only two more weeks until Easter break and then four weeks until exams when we return from Easter break. Before I know it, May 1 will be here, and it will be time for move-out.

I enjoyed spending time with my mom over spring break. We spent a day in Savannah and had dinner at Paula Deen’s famous restaurant, The Lady and Sons. Then we headed south and spent the rest of break in Florida. We have family and friends that live in Jacksonville and Boca Raton, and we even spent one day at Universal Studios in Orlando. I like that Furman is within reasonable driving distance of so many places in the South – Atlanta, Charleston, Charlotte, and Florida!

As classes are back in session, I have enjoyed seeing the recent increase in prospective students who are visiting campus. I know this is an exciting time for high school seniors, and while some of you have had your mind set on Furman for a while, others of you might still have big decisions to make. One question that I have been asked recently by prospective students is: what were the deciding factors that made you choose Furman? I think this is a great question because so many of the schools that I was considering were very similar, and so I thought it might be helpful to answer this question for blog readers!

I knew I wanted to go to a smaller, liberal arts school in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Tennessee. My college search was extensive, and in fact, I think I visited close to 16 different college campuses. However, when it came down to it, I knew Furman was my top choice when I visited campus. If you have not visited campus yet, I highly encourage you to do so! There are a series of accepted student days coming up this spring.

As soon as I set foot on campus, I was excited to find that everyone was very friendly – both students and administrators. There are a lot of outgoing, friendly people in the Furman community who want students to succeed and enjoy their college experience. I frequently explain that at Furman you are able to be independent, but if you ever need any help, there are professors, administrators, hall staff, and other students who will go out of their way to help you.

In the classroom, I think Furman stands out because students challenge each other, but there is never a negative competitive atmosphere. As a prospective students I was also impressed with how small the class sizes are at Furman (usually never more than 25-30 students in larger introductory level courses), and now I can say that all of my professors know who I am and try to help me succeed.

Lastly, it may seem trivial, but I find the campus and facilities at Furman to be above average. I find most of the dorms and housing at Furman to be spacious and up-to-date. I am also impressed with the library and the academic buildings. The dining hall is nice and has an average selection, and I also enjoy going to the physical activities center. These are all small things that make a big difference in my everyday routine! Besides, at how many other schools can you pass by several water fountains on your way to class in the beautiful South Carolina weather?

Please feel free to e-mail me if you are a prospective student and have any questions!
bridget.lorenz@furman.edu

This weekend my younger sister Maggie came to visit Furman over her long President’s Day weekend! The last time she was on campus was when I moved in in August. Since I moved in early to go on a pre-orientation sea kayaking trip, Maggie was not able to meet my roommate or any of the other girls on my hall. She has heard stories about many of my friends via text, call, and facetime, but that is nothing like witnessing our shenanigans first-hand!

This was Maggie’s first time traveling by herself (she is in 8th grade), and luckily the Greenville airport is easy to manage! I picked her up on Friday morning, and (unfortunately, or not) I had to miss my two morning classes – first time missing a class all year! I brought Maggie downtown to Brickstreet to have lunch, and of course we had the famous sweet potato cake for dessert. Friday night I had my first sorority function, Delta Disco, so Maggie stayed on campus with my friend Baylee (whose younger sister was also visiting for the weekend). While I was gone, Baylee took our sisters to Frankie’s Fun Park to play laser tag.

Baylee, her sister, Maggie, and I walking around Falls Park downtown.

On Saturday, Baylee and I took our sisters downtown to shop and walk around. Unfortunately, we did not have nice weather. We joked that our sisters brought the bad northern weather with them because it snowed during the afternoon! After some shopping, we went to our favorite ice cream place downtown, Spill the Beans. Then we went to dinner at Trio. Notice the order? Dessert first! After dinner we came back to campus, and then decided to venture out to find a bowling alley with some of the other girls on my hall. We ended up finding a bowling alley and had a ton of fun! After bowling, we had to take our sisters for a late night milkshake at Cookout. If you are not from the South, Cookout has over 40 different flavors of milkshakes. I have never had the food, but the milkshakes are great!

Sunday afternoon allowed my sister to see what college life is really like - homework, laundry, cleaning, and more homework! Sunday night I took my sister to one of my favorite casual restaurants, Tablefields. After dinner we headed back to campus to bake (check out my post for Oreo Brownie Cookie Bars on my baking blog), paint, and watch movies.

Today my sister went to my classes with me. She said she thought psychology was much more interesting than chemistry! I also took her to lunch in the dining hall. In just a few hours she will be on a plane headed back to Columbus! I am glad my sister had the chance to visit and that we got to spend a fun weekend together!

Friday was an exciting night after an exciting week. In my last post I talked about big/little reveal week for my sorority. On Friday night, we had our big/little reveal ceremony, and I got to meet the older girls who are in my tri delt “family.” At the beginning of the week, I thought I had guessed who my big (the sophomore who is assigned as my sponsor) was. Then, by the end of the week, I was confused, and I had no idea who was going to be revealed as my big. However, as it turns out, my guess at the beginning of the week was correct! I am so excited to have joined such a fun group of tri delts!

After the ceremony when I found out which family I would be joining, the four girls in my tri delt family went out to dinner in downtown Greenville. I love going downtown to eat, and it seems like there are always new places to try. On Friday, I went to Chicora Alley for the first time, and it was delicious! According to their website, the food is “a fusion of exotic island and good ol’ southern home cookin’.” It was delicious, and I highly reccomend trying it if you visit downtown Greenville. After dinner we went to Spill the Beans which is my favorite place to get ice cream! I had vanilla ice cream with cookie dough and peanut butter – such a good combo! It was fun to get off campus and get to know the older girls in my “family”.

On another family note, my younger sister (this time, biological!) will be coming to visit me this weekend! I can’t wait to have her on campus and show her all around my “home away from home”! After a fun weekend, I have been doing homework all day, so it is time to get back to the books!

Have a great week!
Bridget

This week is full of fun activities sponsored by the Greek community!

The Greek Week T-shirts!

This is an especially exciting week for the tri delta pledge class because it is big/little reveal week. Each of the pledges is assigned a sophomore to serve as her sponsor/mentor (a.k.a. “big”). Every morning this week, the members of my tri delta family have left surprises outside my dorm room. In the Greek community, big/little reveal week feels like Christmas, and I love all of the crafts, t-shirts, and baked goods that my tri delta family has surprised me with. I do not know who my big is yet, but I will find out on Friday when we have our big/little reveal ceremony!

Gifts from my big today!

For the official Greek week, all of the sororities and fraternities are paired up into three different teams. My team is made up of Sigma Nu, Delta Gamma, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Greek weeks is a fun way to show spirit for your sorority or fraternity, but it is also a time to get involved in different service activities that benefit our philanthropies! Today there is a blood drive on campus, and if you give blood, your team gets points. There is also a canned food drive, and the team that brings in the most cans gets money to donate towards their philanthropy. Later in the week, there is going to be a sculpture contest to see who can make the best sculpture out of the cans that were donated. Finally, teams will have to pull together to win points in the trivia night and a Furman scavenger hunt!

Go Greek!

After two weeks of sorority rush, I am happy to have joined the delta delta delta pledge class. I have enjoyed going through sorority recruitment at Furman, and I have had the opportunity to meet women from all of the different sororities on campus. Furman does delayed recruitment (everyone rushes second semester), which has given me the chance to make good friends on my hall who are now going to be members of many different sororities on campus. The first weekend we came back from winter break, we participated in rounds one and two of rush. This past weekend we went to rounds three and four, and yesterday was finally bid day!

Each of the rounds had different themes, for example, round two focused on learning about the sorority’s philanthropy and round three focused on learning about the sisterhood of each sorority. I am looking forward to being in a sorority because it is a great outlet to get involved in many different activities and service projects. I can’t wait to meet more of the upperclassmen in tri delta who have gone above and beyond to welcome my pledge class! For the next few weeks, the new pledge class participates in new member training before we are formally initiated! Go ΔΔΔ!

After a relaxing three weeks of winter vacation, many holiday parties, and enjoying time at home, I am happy to be back at Furman. I think this is the first year when I have not been dreading going back to school after winter break. I was excited to make the drive from Ohio back to South Carolina for many reasons: the warmer weather, to see my Furman friends, to start all new classes, and to get ready for sorority rush. In my opinion, yesterday and today are the best days of the semester! I went to all of my new classes for the first time, and I met the professors and students that I will be spending time with this semester, but the workload has not reached full intensity yet!

This semester, my schedule is a little different. Last semester, I did not have classes on Tuesdays or Thursdays. While it was nice to have two days off during the week, it was stressful to have all of my classes back to back on the same days. This semester I decided to schedule two classes on each day. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I have Intro. to Psychology at 10:30 and Chemistry 115 at 11:30. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Philosophy at 10:00 and my Secret Codes freshman seminar at 11:30. I can already tell that it is going to be a busy and challenging semester, but I am looking forward to my new classes!

I can tell students have come back ready for the new semester. The dining hall has been unusually crowded the past two days as friends reconnect during meals! Sorority rush starts this weekend, and many freshman girls (including myself!) are planning their outfits and getting excited for the first two rounds of rush which are this weekend!

Happy New Year!
Bridget

As first semester wraps up, I would like to introduce you to my wonderful roommate Micaela!

Hometown: Wilbraham, Massachusetts
Classes: Earth Systems, French, Wellness Concepts, Death and the Afterlife
Intended Major: Communications
Favorite food in the dining hall: I am pretty sure it is cereal? She eats it with almost every meal.
Favorite Song: I Will Follow You Into the Dark
Favorite Possession: Her pillow that has a picture of her dog on it

This fall Micaela auditioned for the campus A capella group on campus, FUtones, and she was selected to participate. I was very excited because today was the FUtones holiday concert, and this was the first time I was able to hear Micaela sing with the group. The concert was so much fun, and everyone sang really well. Micaela even had a solo!

Here is what Micaela has to say about her experience in FUtones:
Being in FUtones has truly been my favorite part about college thus far.  Everyone in the group is incredibly talented, and I love being around all of them.  I am so grateful to be a part of the FUtones family and to be able to sing with a group of such amazing people.  We have so much fun together whether we are practicing, getting a meal together, or putting on a concert.  I cannot wait to go to Nashville and record our next album in February and to perform in our next concert in the spring!

You should check out the FUtones YouTube Channel! This was the last song in the concert, and it was definitely a crowd favorite (Fix You, by Coldplay).