What are you thankful for this holiday season? Feel free share your thoughts in the comment section!

Enjoy your time here, it doesn’t last forever

As we all know, Thursday marks a day for reflection and appreciation. It also marks the rare, once-a-term day off from classes. This Thanksgiving, as you mosey up to the dinner table to dive into that roast turkey (or duck, if you’re as die-hard a Beaver fan as I am), I encourage you not to put those classes at the back of your mind; instead, stop and give thanks for them. That may sound crazy when finals are looming and you’re wondering how to salvage your Bio 101 grade while starting research for the 10-page paper that’s due during Dead Week (which, might I complain, is never actually “dead” at OSU).

As a Class of 2008 alumna, I’m not far enough removed from those days that I can’t sympathize with your stress. I am, however, far enough removed from my OSU days to realize just how incredible my time there actually was. Now I’m out in the real world, starting my career with a notable government agency, owing every bit of my success to the people who taught me and shaped me at OSU. Perhaps that sounds like something out of a recruitment ad, but it’s true. So if you’re lucky enough to be reading this while grabbing a quick lunch at the MU or while waiting for a professor to start his lecture in Milam Hall, do me this favor: calm your stressed-out mind for a moment. Stop and smell the roses (the metaphorical kind, not just the ones being delivered to the football team this weekend). Be thankful for the people, the tools and the abundant opportunities OSU provides you, as someday soon you may be sitting in a cubicle 3,000 miles from Corvallis, wishing you could go back and relive the entire college experience.

Sara Cain
OSU Alumni 2008
Morgantown, WV

P.S. Beat the Ducks!

–mko

Well folks, it’s Civil War week! There is a ton of good will around the country directed towards the Beavers. Our guys and their run to Rose Bowl has garnered a good bit of attention. Governor Kulongoski who attended University of Missouri has declared his allegiances:

Gov. Ted Kulongoski tipped his hand today on which team he wants to win Saturday’s “Civil War” football game between the University of Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State University Beavers.
Color him black and orange.
“The Ducks won’t go to the Rose Bowl if they win,” the governor said. “I want the Beavers to go to the Rose Bowl.”
Kulongoski, a graduate of the University of Missouri, typically stays as neutral as possible in public on cross-state rivalries. Not this time.
“I’m all for the Roses,” Kulongoski said.

The Civil War is a special time in Oregon. We only have one pro team (the Trailblazers) in the state so the Division I college teams are the focus of a lot of attention. Everyone in Oregon, even those who didn’t attend OSU or UO, has an allegiance of some sort…Even the Governor.

We’ll try and check in later with some Civil War fun!

(note: the presence of roses in this post in no way is intended as a guarantee or any other offense that would result in the jinxing of my beloved Beavers. They are merely representative of the Governor’s desire to see the Beavers in the Rose Bowl…So, if the Beavers lose this Saturday, blame the governor)

GO BEAVS!
-jm