Hi, all!

 The blog will be taking a break for the holidays. We have all been working very hard this semester, and are looking forward to a little rest and relaxation at home. We will return promptly at the beginning of second semester, in the third week of January some time.

 Make sure to check back with us then, to see all the new updates!

Happy Holidays,

Cara & The Blog Team

I started working in the Admissions Office over the summer, and I LOVE working here! I can’t say enough good things about having a job on campus. The staff and faculty at Edgewood are all so friendly that it makes for a great working environment. Another huge thing for me is how convenient it is – it takes me three minutes to walk from my dorm to my work. It’s hard to find a job that convenient anywhere. I also love how flexible having a job on campus is. You are able to schedule your work around your classes – whenever works best for you. In addition to that, most on-campus jobs are only during the week, so you don’t have to work on the weekends! Having a job on campus also leads to further opportunities – like learning more about the school and resources available and really getting to know staff and faculty at Edgewood.

I only wish I would have looked harder for jobs on campus last year. I am a sophomore, and as an incoming freshman I applied for only a few jobs on campus. I didn’t apply to very many because I was still working at my job in my hometown, so I figured I could just go home and work on weekends if I didn’t find a job at school. I didn’t realize how inconvenient this would be and how much I missed out on by doing this. I also usually worked the entire weekend, which meant I wasn’t even able to enjoy my days off. I really recommend applying for as many jobs on campus as you can. It is so much more convenient than having a job off campus, and it really is pretty easy to get an on-campus job if you aren’t picky where you apply!

Being in a big city like Madison there are always a million and one things to do, and the weekends are no exception. The only tough part about having all these options is deciding what to do. Personally I do not like to sit in the library all weekend, so I try to do all my studying during the week, so once Friday rolls around I am ready to have some fun! So far I do not have one specific thing I like to do every weekend. Edgewood College Activities Board (CAB) offers events every week and on the weekends. This organization has helped me to meet many people at Edgewood too along with giving me something to do on the weekends.

The second weekend I was here CAB sponsored a trip to Miller Park to see a Brewer Game. It was only $20 for awesome tickets, a coach bus ride to Milwaukee, food, and a great time!

I also am a big Wisconsin Badgers fan, and have never missed a home game this year! I really enjoy going to those games on Saturdays!

My friends and I really like to go to State Street to shop, get dinner, and ice cream! We love to dress up and go have dinner together. There’s also a Comedy Club on State Street that is hilarious-literally! There is always a million things to do on State Street. And if your into music, plays, and concerts there are two theaters just calling your name! One of my favorite rappers Mac Miller was in Madison a couple of weekends ago, and my roommate and I got tickets and it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to!

On Saturday mornings, I also enjoy going to the Farmer’s Market around the capital. Walking down to the capital is great exercise and is really fun to people watch.

I have also gone home a couple of times to watch my brother play in his first high school football game and to take pictures of my sister and brother going to Homecoming! I even brought one of my roommates back home with me to show her Chicago (where I am from) since she has never been. As much fun as every weekend is here in Madison, it is always nice to hang out with my family and sleep in my own bed for a weekend.

Whether you want to just walk around on State Street, go to a game, concert, or play, attend an Edgewood sponsored event, go home, or just hang out with friends at the residents halls there is always something to do on the weekends here at Edgewood College.

Hi, all! I will be doing a multi-post installment of the best places in Madison. Here is part one, my favorite restaurants!

Monty’s Blue Plate Diner- Located in the Atwood neighborhood, Monty’s is my favorite place to go when I’m looking for a comfortable college-free atmosphere with some delicious menu options for every taste. A quick bus ride on the ‘3’ route will get you there quickly! Monty’s is a very unique diner, in which I frequent probably too often. In fact, the staff recognizes me often because I eat there multiple times a month, and let me tell you, it’s money well spent. Monty’s is comfort food all the way, but with a twist. The options on the menu at Monty’s vary from delicious vegan sandwiches to meaty chicken pot pies, and everything in between. As a vegetarian, I have numerous options, and that’s a big reason I keep coming back to Monty’s. Some don’t-miss options include: The meatless meatloaf sandwich, the gourmet mac & cheese, the Reuben sandwich (my meat-eater friends love this option,) and the sweet potato hash is a great breakfast option. Don’t miss their deeeeeeelicious desserts as well!

Tex Tubb’s Taco Palace- Tubb’s Tacos is almost next door to Monty’s, which makes this neighborhood an overall joy to be in! Tubb’s has really unique options for tacos, and again, a nice variety of vegetarian options. They have a salsa bar, which I enjoy, because I am a bit of a salsa fiend. Again, the options here have a unique twist and don’t fit into what you think a taco is (in a good way!) I am also a frequent customer here.

Bluephies- Bluephies is an amazing restaurant very close to Edgewood! It’s a bit pricier than Monty’s and Tubb’s, but well worth the money! If you are looking for a place where you can dress up a bit, and have a fun night with friends, significant others, or family, Bluephies is the place for you. Bluephies is a vodkatorium as well, so if you are of age, you can enjoy the over 100 choices in vodka! The food here is American with, again, a twist! They have very yummy soups, and an incredibly sun-dried tomato spread that they bring out with bread before you order. I always end up getting the Portobello Panini, with a side of sweet potato fries. But, I have tried a lot of the menu, and I have always been very satisfied!

All three of these restaurants participate in an organization called ‘Food Fight Inc.’ So if you buy a gift card from either of these restaurants, you can use them at any of the Food Fight Inc. restaurants! Here is a link to the other restaurants that participate.

Happy eating, future Madisonians!

How I found Edgewood? Well it was a long process. When I started college searching, I wanted to major in architecture or engineering. I was looking at schools in Milwaukee like MSOE and UW Milwaukee. I did a job shadowing program and it turned out that this career was too constricting for my imagination. So I was back to square one with the big question “what do I want to do?” I was still searching in Milwaukee and looked at schools such as The Art Institute of Wisconsin and MIAD since I liked art, but not sure what field of art. I’ve always loved art; such as drawing, painting, pottery, scratch boards, and designing. They helped me realize I wanted to be a Graphic Designer.

So I looked at other schools online and discovered Edgewood in Madison. I thought it sounded cool from their website, so I decided to give it a little visit. I came and fell in love with the beauty of the campus! I met with Amelia and had a great time talking about Edgewood and myself. The application process went smoothly and turned it in. I sent my High School Transcripts and ACT scores and crossed my fingers. Before I knew it, I was accepted!

The reason why I picked Edgewood from the other schools was for many reasons. The community here is great! We have such a friendly community and great staff members and faculty, it was heartwarming. I like that the class sized were pretty small, so classes have been pretty nice. If I got lost on something or confused, my questions could get answered on the spot. Edgewood has a great art program, with a variety of majors and great professors that are professionals in their field and know what they’re doing. Overall, Edgewood is like my second home and I feel awesome being a student here in the year of truth!

Minneapolis by night.

Enjoying The Old Spaghetti Factory

The Old Spaghetti Factory, an amazing resturant downtown!

It's already Christmas time in the Mall of America

Holly & I at the theme park inside the Mall of America

Next week, I will have a ‘my favorite places in Madison’ post. Make sure to come back and check it out!

I hope you all have a fun and restful weekend.

After graduation, my plan is to find a job in Admissions, or in higher education. I love working with people, and helping them learn and expand their resources to help them achieve their goals in life. I am a Communications and Spanish double major, and I hope to, and expect that these two majors will help me find the ideal job. I have been told that I have the face of Latin women you see on Spanish news channels. I would love either job, but only the future will tell. I will see what I am offered after graduation! For now, I am concentrating on my studies and finishing my last semesters strong. I hope that all my hard work will pay off in the long run!

Hi, guys!

Can you believe it’s November already? Where did October go? This semester has been whizzing by, I tell you! Last weekend, as you all know, was Halloween. How was your Halloween weekend? Did you have a fun, safe time? I loved Halloween, the whole weekend was non-stop! On Friday, my friends and I went to a Halloween party hosted by a good friend of mine (and my old roomie in Stevie Hall!) We had such a great time, and it was awesome to see everyone dressed up in their costumes. On Friday night, I dressed up as Wednesday Addams, from the Addams family.

On Saturday, my roommates and I decided to have a little get together of our own! We had a few friends come over, and it was such an amazing time. I like having different costumes for different nights, so on Saturday I went as a zombie. So did one of my roommates! It’s such an easy costume to pull off if you don’t have a lot of time. I did our zombie-makeup, and I must say, I think we pulled off the look!
Halloween is pretty big in the city of Madison. Every year, we host the annual Freak Fest, on State Street. Hundreds of people flood to the city to walk amongst the costumed Madisonians. I, personally, am not a fan of Freak Fest, but I do think you should experience it at least once!

For those of you who wouldn’t want to go out to celebrate the Holiday, Edgewood provides a lot of options here on campus for you to participate in. The RA’s and C.A.B put together a trip to Fright Fest (at a discounted student price, of course!) on Friday night, and on Saturday night there was a Halloween dance in the Multi-purpose room in Dominican Hall. Supplement that with pumpkin carving, and a scary movie marathon, and I’d say that is one amazing non-going out Halloween weekend.

Whatever you ended up doing, I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween.

Here are some pictures from my weekend!

Carving pumpkins with my buddy Ryan.

Friday night, dressed as Wednesday Addams with friends!

Me & my roommate as zombies!

This weekend, I am off to Minneapolis!

After two years of living on campus, first as a resident, then as an RA, I decided to move back home for a year and be a commuter. I loved living on campus and would not have changed the past two years, however with my family situation and financial circumstances, I knew it was a wise decision to move back. Let me tell ya though it’s a bit of an adjustment.

There are several things that I really miss about living right here on campus. More than anything, I just miss the convenience. When you live on campus, you don’t have to worry about finding parking (which can really be a hassle), you have a room to go to between classes (although the library or Wingra are always options, they aren’t nearly as convenient), you have a seemingly endless food account to rely on (which I miss way more than I ever would have thought), and you are in Madison (always a fun place to be!).

Living at home though really has its benefits too. The biggest advantage is I am saving lots of money! Not having to worry about paying for housing or food is so nice and reduces a lot of stress. It’s also great to be able to be with my family more often and help out at home as necessary. Additionally, I’ve really enjoyed having a car again and having the ability to go places easily whenever I want. Needless to say then, living at home has worked out.

Although this year has been quite different from what I had been used to, it is really going well so far. Commuting is definitely a great option to consider if ever in a similar situation.

Over the weekend, I traveled to Chicago to visit an old high school friend. On the way down, I was thinking about where I was in high school, and how I thought I would never be able to live without my high school friends. Back in the day, I had a very tight-knit group of friends, who now go to college all across the Midwest. Luckily, there are a few that go to UW-Madison, so I am still able to see them on a regular basis, but a lot of my friends aren’t so close by.

Though it may seem impossible to be away from your friends, or maintain a long distance friendship when you are away at college, I am here to tell you it is very possible. My long-distance friends and I try to Skype each other once a week, or at least get in a good phone call. I also try to visit my friends in the Midwest once a semester and they come to Madison to visit me once a semester. That’s four times over the school year, and when I include Thanksgiving, Christmas and Spring Break, I end up seeing my friends plenty! Yes, it is different and strange not being with the same people every day, but if you are willing to, it is easy to maintain a very strong friendship with your buds that go to school all across the map.

A great resource for Edgewood students is the Megabus or Badger bus. This service provides you with a bus ride to cities and campuses a all around the Midwest. The buses pick up right in front of the Union, which is only a quick five-minute bus ride from Edgewood, and for me a quick one minute walk from my apartment! Plus, if you do your planning in advance, it can be really inexpensive. My round trip cost to Chicago was only eight dollars! Can you imagine how expensive it would be to drive down there? Way more than eight dollars, I can tell you that! The weekend after Halloween I am going to visit my friend in Minneapolis. That round trip only cost me eleven dollars! It’s a steal, I tell you!

So if you have friends leaving to go to schools that are a few hours away, don’t fret. You have some great options as a student in Madison to get around. You just have to find the time and put in the effort, and you will be able to balance your high school friends and your new college friends no problem.