May 17th - What does Norway's independence day look like?

Hey guys, it's Silje! 

I hope you're all hanging in there, and finish off strong during dead week. Personally, it has been a hectic few weeks with school and although it is kind of bitter-sweet that my first year at PLU is coming to an end, I am looking forward to summer and what next semester has to offer (hopefully in-person classes)! 

At the end of April, I went back home to Norway to finish the rest of the semester there. This means that I got back home in time for Norway's independence day, otherwise known as May 17th (syttende mai)! Due to Covid-19 restrictions this year and last year, the recent celebrations have not exactly been traditional. For May 17th I did an Instagram-stories takeover on the PLU international account (@pluintl) to show how my friends, family, and I celebrate - if you're interested in watching, it's saved on our account as a highlight! There were only a few traditions that I was able to do this year, so I wanted to tell you guys about how May 17th would be celebrated pre-covid. 

“Skrangletog” - noisy parade

The day starts bright and early at 7.00am when the noisy parade walks around the neighborhoods. 

This is a tradition that almost every city in Norway participates in, where the whole goal is to make as 

much noise as you possibly can to wake everyone up. This is a huge thing for kids - I would know since 

that was my favorite part of May 17th when I was a kid. Just to get a representation of how noisy this is, 

I found a video on YouTube of a classic "skrangletog" which you can watch here.

Champagne breakfast

This is exactly what it sounds like! Champagne breakfast is typically a tradition between friends, where we meet around 8-10am to eat breakfast with each other, like eggs, bacon, different spreads and drink champagne before we get going for the rest of the day.

Bunad

On May 17th, people wear the nicest clothes they own. For a lot of Norwegians, their nicest piece of clothing would be their bunad. This is a national dress/suit that usually represents where they are from. For example, I am from Telemark and we have a bunad that is unique to our area. I, unfortunately, do not have a bunad yet, but I have been saving up for one for the past few years and are purchasing it this year! It is a big process to get this custom-made, but a bunad will last you for a lifetime. Here is a picture from May 17th this year (at champagne breakfast) - Pictured are Julie, Susann, me, and Aurora. They all have bunads specific to where they/their families come from. Mine will be similar to Aurora's bunad on the right, the Telemark bunad.

School parades

At noon is when the local school parades start walking. Students from grades 1-10 walk as their families watch. The schools also host games like corn holes and sack jumping, as well as there are food stands that serve hot dogs, ice creams, soda, cakes made by the local families, and snacks. I always enjoy going over to my school to see my old teachers, say hi to old classmates, and watch my younger family members walk in the parade that I used to walk in.

Citizen-parade

At 5pm, the citizen parade starts walking around the cities of Norway. It sounds like all we do is walk/watch parades, which is kind of true! The citizen parade is huge, with different schools, clubs, sportsclubs and organizations walk together. This includes this year's high school seniors who are graduating. They all wear senior overalls that they have stickers/drawings on to make them custom and unique. This has been a tradition for multiple decades and it is a fun way to celebrate your graduation. For seniors, May 17th is all about partying!

Dinner/BBQ

After the parades, people usually get together with their families and/or friends to eat dinner. A lot of people BBQ and sit outside if the weather allows for it, while some people meet out at restaurants to eat there. Those traditions are all individual, but my family is typically barbecuing with aunts, uncles and cousins. And of course, there are desserts. 

And that is pretty much it. I wouldn't say that it is anything crazy, but traditions are always sacred to any family/country! May 17th is actually one of my favorite holidays here in Norway because you really see a pride in your country, and it seems like that there are no strangers this day - we all smile, greet each other and say Happy Birthday to each other (independence day is considered Norway's birthday). The past two years have been different due to covid and a lot of celebrations were cancelled to limit gatherings, so I have not been able to see nor attend a parade these past couple of times. I am hopeful that May 17th of 2022 will be back to normal! 

I'll end with wishing you all good luck with finals, and have a great summer! Cant wait to see you all again on campus next semester :) 

- Silje 

Spring semester almost flies by-- what do we have for graduation celebrating this year?

 I couldn't believe that the Spring semester will be over within the next couple of weeks😲😲.  I believe that many students like me are turning the highest power of study mode on.  It might be exciting for most people to get things done and then enjoy the wonderful summer break, but that might not apply to our senior students or graduating this semester. 😐😐😐

I always have mixing emotions whenever the "graduation season" coming.  I am happy for those who are successfully completing their program, but I am sad because they will leave our home😢😢 and we might no longer see each other around.   Sorry, I need to leave the emotions behind and move forward to see what events we will have for graduation celebrating this year!!!🎇🎇🎇

This year, we will celebrate both Class of 2020 and Class of 2021 🎉🎊🎓.  

👉 Due to the Covid situation, the in-person event will be limited.  Please make sure you contact the event planner to make a reservation.  The schedule of graduation events will be:

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

• Education Commencement Ceremony for Class of 2021
  The event is open to graduating students only.
  Time: 4:00-5:00 pm | Red Square
  Event Planner:  Diana Duclos
  Questions: duclosdm@plu.edu

• Education Commencement Ceremony for Class of 2020
  The event is open to graduating students only.
  Time: 6:00-7:00 pm | Red Square
  Event Planner:  Diana Duclos
  Questions: duclosdm@plu.edu

Friday, May 28, 2021

• School of Nursing DNP Hooding Ceremony
  The event is open to graduating students only.
  Time: 9:00-10:00 am | Eastvold Auditorium, Karen Hille Phillips Center
  Event Planner:  Kristi Edrington
  Questions: nursing@plu.edu

• School of Nursing BSN Pinning Ceremony
  The event is open to graduating students only.
  Time: 12:00-1:00 pm | Eastvold Auditorium, Karen Hille Phillips Center
  Event Planner:  Kristi Edrington
  Questions: nursing@plu.edu

• School of Business Celebration | Virtual Event
  The event is open to graduating students only.
  Time: 2:00-3:00 pm
  Please RSVP to attend the Celebration
  Event Planner:  Becki Torgerson
  Questions: torgerrm@plu.edu

• School of Arts & Communication Recognition Ceremony
  The event is open to graduating students only.
  Time: 3:00-5:00 pm | Eastvold Auditorium, Karen Hille Phillips Center
  Event Planner:  Helen Hickman
  Please RSVP to attend the Recognition Ceremony
  Questions: hickmahl@plu.edu

Saturday, May 29, 2021, ❌❌❌BIG DAY❌❌❌

👉It will be a different experience for our graduate fellows, but it will be so special and unforgettable 💓💓💓

• Commencement Ceremony for the Class of 2021 | Virtual Ceremony
  Time: 11:00 am
  Questions: commencement@plu.edu

• Commencement Ceremony for the Class of 2020 | Virtual Ceremony
  Time: 2:00 pm
  Questions: commencement@plu.edu

Finally, I wish you all have a great rest of your semester and congratulation to the Class of 2020 and Class of 2021 💖💖💖

Bryan is Graduating!!!

Hi guys! This is Bryan, and I am graduating this May 2021! 

It feels so surreal when writing this blog post. I can't believe, in less than a month, I will be leaving this familiar, comfortable environment and be released into the wild nature. 

My 4 years at PLU has been a blessing for me. With my last blogpost, I want to take this opportunity to thank the many wonderful encounters that I had at PLU. 

How it all began - 2017

I started in PLU in September 2017 as a biology majored student. Back in the "good old days", PLU used to have a really big new student orientations with all sorts of fun activities. And they take pictures of all incoming students on Foss field by having everyone line up and look at the cameraman on top of the Foss field hall. It was really interesting. 

I was a transfer student, so I started in South hall, 4 bedroom apartment. I still remember quite well how I first met my roommate Yohei. He popped out of his room while I was moving in to say Hi. We became friend quickly and went on many trips together later on. Without him, I might have stayed in the room all day these 4 years and didn't have the courage to explore the beautiful PNW. 

I also met some other great friends like Tiffany and Joe. We made a IM soccer team together named The Vegetables. I started participating in IM every season ever since. 

The VEGETABLES!

(Me, after two days of not showering)

2018

In Spring 2018, Yohei and I went for a trip to California by ourselves. The trip in LA was well-planned, We were gonna have a comfortable trip until we decided, at the last second, that we will take an overnight bus to San Francisco to watch a basketball game and come back at the same night by bus to catch our next day's flight. Three days without shower and sleeping on the bus. We were tired, but the trip was FUNNNNN. 

In Fall 2018, I got into the traditional BSN program and started my nursing student life - which is hw, hw, clinical, mental breakdown, play, hw, hw... Nursing school have incoming students stayed in one cohort throughout their entire program. People in my cohort are passionate, clever, and interesting. Without all the study groups and teamwork in group projects, I would've had a harder time in the program. 

Some of my amazing classmates

2019

In Spring and Fall 2019, I had two of the most difficult classes in nursing school: N280 Pathological human process or N330 Pharmacological & Therapeutic modalities. I struggled hard in those class, but I survived... at the cost of severe sleep deprivation and stress overload. 

In Spring 2019, I also started working in the International Student Center! I met the amazing staffs at PLU who were advocating for the international student populations. Heather, Hiro, Brandon, Megan, Camille, and Van. It was a pleasure working in this team, and I just wanna say... Heather is the most pleasant person that I have ever worked with!

2020 - 2021

COVID hit all of a sudden! 

Many of my friends graduated in 2019, and some of my friends went back to China. 

2020's summer was really boring. I got stuck in the dorm and couldn't go out because of COVID. I also couldn't go back home because of nursing major. 

I drove them to Seatac airport to send them home... And I drove back alone...

2020 didn't leave me alone. When fall 2020 started, I met some other nice friends and went to many places. I love PLU, because we have a relatively small campus and a super friendly community that enables you to explore what you were not comfortable with. All the people that I met here taught me something different and pushed me to become a better person. 

What now?

Nursing school is stressful, hard, but really fun. After you learn some basics, you will start to get excited for clinical rotations, because you can actually apply what you learned in class and help some people. It was definitely not a comfortable experience, but I learned a lot from it. My senior clinical rotation was even more challenging, as the nurse let me take care of patients individually. I learned a lot under the stress, and I got comfortable with working in a clinical setting! (Plus, you can have some really good views outside of the window)

Rainbow power!

As I am about to get done with senior clinical rotations, I have to start preparing for the nursing licensing test - NCLEX and apply for a job later. While spending so much time in the clinical, I still have many homework and assignments from my classes, and they really gave me no time to panic about future. 

I hope I can work in a Medical Surgery Unit after graduation, and eventually get into a graduate school to obtain a higher degree in nursing. I will report back when I get there.

For now, let me leave you with a picture of my orientation~

Sept. 2017

Past Blog posts 

Also, here are all the blog post that I've written since I started working in the ISS in 2019. I can't believe I wrote 18 blog posts in these two years! I am not a great writer, but hopefully you can still enjoy some good pictures and funny memes. (And don't ask about why the medicine blog post doesn't have a second series)

1. About Bryan

2. Bryan's Volleyball Journey

3. Bryan's Spring Break Trip 2019

4. Chambers Bay!!!

5. 5 Things you should TRY in Kyoto, Japan

6. Commonly Used OTC Medicines (I): allergy, cold, fever

7. Bryan's Five Reasons to Visit Portland, Oregon

8. Go Skiing/Snowboarding!!!

9. How to Protect yourself from Coronavirus Disease

10. Quarantine Life!!!

11. What are some good foods around Tacoma?

12. How to Hiking up Mailbox Peak AS A BEGINNER

13. 5 Tips for PLU School of Nursing Application

14. Norse Mythology and The Vikings

15. Film, not filming, but film camera

16. 1 or 2 Things about Writing your Resume

17. Spring Intramural Season!!!

18. The Things about Owning a Car

Looking back: 7 Things I’ve Learned at PLU

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I hope you’re all doing well, and keeping up with everything during these hectic times. If not; good -- then I’m not alone!  

April turning into May marks the beginning of my last month at PLU _ever_ (!!!), and I don’t even know how to begin processing my time here coming to an end. I should be a pro by now, considering that I technically graduated last May as well with my undergraduate degree. Because I knew I’d be doing grad school at the same university, though, graduating didn’t really bring any significant changes to my life. In a way, this past year has just felt like an (extremely time consuming) senior year. But now… I have to leave??? 
 
As I am approaching the end of my PLU ~journey~, I’ve been trying to piece together a few lessons I have learned about myself and college throughout the years. Because what’s the point of paying $40+K in tuition every year if you don’t collect some life wisdom on the side? So for my last blogpost ever, I want to share 7 tips/lessons/nuggets-of-advice I’ve learned during my time at PLU. 
 
To preface, I know the majority of these “tips” have been repeated countless times, and I don’t claim any of them to be groundbreaking. But they’re clichés for a reason! So without further ado… here are seven things I’ve learned in college: 
 
1.     Time management is key, but don’t hesitate to ask for help
College is notorious for introducing the challenge of navigating a work-life balance. Balancing academics, social life, self-care, athletics, laundry, etc. etc. etc. is entirely possible – but you need to be intentional about how you manage your time. For me, time management manifests through my planner. Some weeks I like to leave things as blank as possible to give myself a lot of flexibility with my free time, and other weeks I need to schedule my days hour-by-hour in order to get everything done. 
 
While planning has been a consistent tool to manage my time while at PLU, my planner can’t predict my energy levels or mental health. Sometimes, the idea of balancing an identity of “good student” and “mentally stable student” feels like a cruel joke… and unfortunately, that’s just college (and life, lol)! This brings me to the second half of this lesson; asking for help is not only advised, sometimes it’s absolutely necessary. Don’t hesitate to lean on the community around you for help, whether that be asking for an extension because you just can’t get something done, seeking guidance from friends you look up to, or using PLU’s counseling resources when things feel particularly challenging. 
 
2.     You don’t have to have it all figured out
This is a phrase I have heard _a lot_ over the past few years. It speaks for itself, but I think it’s a helpful and comforting reminder for when things feel chaotic; you don’t need to have all the answers! Whether you are unsure about your major, what you want to do after college, etc., try to remind yourself that it’s okay (and super normal!!!) to not have everything figured out!
 
3.     You’re a person first, student second
THIS. You guys – 
I spent a large portion of my undergraduate years being consistently burnt out, because my sense of priority and responsibility rotated entirely around my identity as a student. Don’t get me wrong; prioritizing school and being on top of things is great, but this is where that work-life balance comes in again… you have to make time for things that “fill your cup” personally too. Sometimes I like to pencil in specific activities in my planner, as a written reminder to make time for myself, although I recognize that this is a little much for the average person. Another approach I take is to set aside an hour or two of the day where I “have to” take the time off, and when that time comes around I just do whatever I feel like in that moment. In short, try to be intentional about taking care of yourself and your free time – and this looks different for everyone!
 
4.     Critical thinking is a skill -- and it requires practice
It’s not realistic that you will only take classes that you love and are passionate about. Frankly, I did not care about most of the classes I took at PLU (sorry profs!). That said, one thing I really cherish about GenEds and other classes you might not have an affinity towards, is that it taught me to think about a number of different issues from various perspectives. I do want to note that it is perfectly fine to not like a class and have that reflect in your motivation, I definitely allocated my time and effort into classes disproportionately, based on my level of interest. My point is that some classes you just have to endure, but you can also do more than just endure them; you can enjoy them! For me, this enjoyment came from exercising my ability to think about issues I otherwise had never reflected on. Because thinking is a skill, these classes allowed me to practice and broaden my critical thinking skills, which in turn improved my performance in classes I really did care about!
 
5.     Take a class just for fun!
On a similar note, I would highly recommend taking a few classes just for fun during your time at PLU. I realize that not everyone is able to take classes outside of their major due to constraints with time and/or credit requirements, but if you have an available spot; try taking a class just because it sounds fun! My sophomore year I took a class with a professor who made going to class the highlight of my week. I would wake up in the morning and look forward to grabbing a coffee and sitting in her classroom for two hours. I loved the class (and professor) so much that every time registration came around I searched for any classes taught by that professor, evaluating whether any of them would align with my other required courses. I ended up taking four classes with this professor, and all four are ranked as my favorite classes I took at PLU. They had little/nothing to do with my major, I just really enjoyed the topics and how this professor taught her class. Long story short: take a class just for fun!
 
6.     Things rarely go as planned
Once again, I’m sure we’ve all heard this one before – so no need to elaborate. As a self-proclaimed control freak, I found it difficult to deal with unforeseen changes in my life, whether that be a project for school, a friendship growing distant, a relationship ending, or what have you. Even though we all know that things don’t go as planned, I still think it’s an important reminder. This pandemic has resulted in a lot of sudden and startling changes for most people, so this lesson is still really fresh. That said, I find that “smaller” changes in plans can feel just as unsettling, making this lesson applicable to a lot of circumstances where things don’t go as you’d hoped or planned. 
 
7.     It’s okay to not always feel put together, but be mindful of how certain behaviors can fuel a negative loop
College is a time when many people are living “alone” for the first time, and it can be a tricky transition. If you’re used to having a lot of routine chores taken care of by your parents, like cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc., the addition of these small, everyday tasks can feel disproportionately challenging. Pairing that with the general stress of being a college student, it’s easy to get off-track and neglect essential activities. For me, making regular meals for myself was the first thing to go whenever I got stressed. If I was feeling really overwhelmed, I would justify that I didn’t have time for cooking, and would wait to eat dinner until it was “convenient” (i.e., McDonalds at 11pm). Aside from eating, there are many other things that can make us feel like we’re not put together, like falling asleep with our clothes on from the day before, not getting ready for the day, etc. I want to emphasize that these behaviors are perfectly okay in moderation, because nobody feels put together all the time. The problem is when the lack of routine becomes self-perpetuating, fueling a negative loop of behaviors that only make you more stressed and tapped for energy.
 
 
And that’s it! I was originally aiming for a clean “10 tips I’ve learned at PLU”… but my list ran dry after seven – so there you go! All of these tips reflect challenges that I faced personally while going to PLU, and many are things that I still need to remind myself of. I’m hoping that my reflections can resonate with current/prospective students, or at least make you feel better about the whole adulting thing. With that said, this post marks the end of my blogging career! 
 
I’ll end with a quick thank you to PLU & Co. for the memories; it’s been (mostly) a blast!
 
-- Megan