Hey, Honors MCG’s!! I hope everyone is doing well this new semester and that we are all getting acclimated with our new classes!  We often never fully get back into it until we’ve had our first tests and papers due and that is usually when the reality TRULY sinks in 🙂 I wanted to use this time to remind you guys of what’s coming up and what lies ahead for the semester. I know we get loads of emails from everyone about everything, but if you’re like me, you forget about the emails and then once the time has already passed and you have forgotten about it, you get frustrated and wonder why you never remembered it: Monday, February 9th – All Honors contracts/thesis proposals are due!  I’m really excited because I chose to contract my ENG-200 class for Honors credit and I’m doing a transcendentalist-themed project.  When choosing your projects and collaborating with your professors, get creative!!  There is really nothing better than doing an assignment you actually love and enjoy and if you choose something that you’re passionate about, you’re going to want to do a great job on it – and your work will reflect that! Scholars’ Weekend – Scholars’ Weekend is next weekend, y’all!!  Can you believe it?! For us freshmen, it has already been a full year since we came up here for our Honors interviews.  We spent the night here with people who once felt like complete strangers and are now people we see almost every day.  How crazy is that?!  I think it’s really important that we all remember who we are as Honors students and that we represent our program with class and with pride. We stand out from our peers because we have gone the extra mile and done even more than we thought we were capable of, and we need to continue to resonate positive energy to all who enter our campus — those upcoming freshmen will be seeking us for advice and as leaders, we need to put ourselves in their shoes and remember how we felt when we were nervous about coming to college in order to give them reassurance. Fall Trip Planning Committee – I’m pleased to announce that I, along with several other freshman Honors scholars, have begun the process of discussing thoughts/ideas for our 2015 Fall Trip!  I won’t reveal anything now, but we had a great first meeting this past Monday and a lot of great ideas were discussed as we narrowed down possible destinations; now we are in the beginning stages of working out logistics in terms of food, lodging, activities, honors mini-courses, etc.  I personally loved our 2014 Fall Trip and as a first-year student, I am still so amazed at the opportunities we are given in this program; consider yourselves very fortunate to be where you are at right now! Those are our top 3 things that we have going on — I hope all of you ladies continue doing great things with managing your time and excelling both academically and socially.  You all are the reason why staff and other members of our community have something good to talk about when our Honors program is discussed.  We are a distinct group of scholars who have something truly remarkable to offer in this world and I hope all of you continue to remember your worth and potential when things become difficult, as college is not an easy task to fulfill! Keep working hard and Going Strong, ladies! S