Chartwells intern, Sierra Birchmeier-Salow, created the Easter Egg Hunt that started after Spring Break on Tuesday, April 6th. She planned the event, hid the eggs, and kept track of how many were found.

Sierra is an SAU Junior majoring in Business Administration. She said she is interning in Marketing at Chartwell and her responsibilities include developing events and promotions. Every month, Sierra helps Chartwell do a food event. A popular thing is doing Christmas cookies during December. Since there are no foods tied to Easter, Sierra decided to create the Easter Egg hunt.

She wanted to find a way to get students “hands on” involved within the Covid-19 season. She planned the Easter Egg Hunt with the Director of Dining, Katie and Cougar Den Manager, Barbie. “So, this was a good idea I thought since you could do it outside and just get the students involved,” Sierra said.

She bought 50 colorful plastic eggs from Meijer and hid them around campus Monday night herself. She hid them in the student center, Poling Center, Whiteman Gibbs, and outside. They had put chocolate and candy in each egg. About 25 eggs also had a $5 dollar coupon to the Cougar Den. Ten eggs had $10 coupons.

She said in the four days almost half of the eggs have come back. “More will trickle in in the next couple of weeks,” Sierra said.

Sierra thinks that event will draw enthusiasm to dine at SAU. It will give students a fun thing to look forward to as they near the end of the semester.

Sierra said Chartwell plans on doing this event again. They hope to expand it and do more eggs and bigger prizes next year.

“I think it was a really fun event and definitely one Chartwell will look forward to doing again. I think it got students more engaged than we have been able to see all year. And I would say overall it was a really positive event,” Sierra said.

Have you found an egg? Share where you found it and what your prize was.

By: Sarah Williams

Grace is something that I really want to work on for myself and I want to talk about it here first. So, what is confident grace? I would describe this as showing grace in a confident manner. This can be shown in two ways: giving grace without substituting your confidence and exhibiting confidence without substituting grace. 

In this post, I want to share the words that I hope to implement more into my everyday life. I love the idea of starting fresh and making some important and necessary changes when needed. 

GENEROUS GRACE 

What is generous grace? One of the areas that I hope to work on this year is giving the grace that I want to receive. I oftentimes find myself being quick to anger or frustrated with others when they act in a way that I don’t understand. Even when they are in the wrong, I am aiming to adjust my reactions so that I can improve my own life. I won’t have to answer for anyone else’s actions but my own, so I want to act accordingly.

Grace is something that we can give to those that might not deserve it, but it can help us from keeping all of those feelings of frustration from destroying us. There will always be people and things that frustrate us, but we don’t have to let them dictate our lives. 

I hope this post was beneficial in giving you encouragement to overcome your own frustrations as well. Choose grace, kindness, and love whenever possible. 

By: Emily Selby

Why should you join the Pulse? 

You should join the Pulse if you are interested in journalism, writing, or just broadening your experiences. As a writer on the Pulse, you will have opportunities to interview peers and faculty, write engaging stories, and get to know other like-minded writers. If any of this interests you, it may be worth your while to join our team. 

How has the Pulse helped you to use your voice? 

The Pulse has helped me use my voice by encouraging the broadening of my worldview. I am able to write about topics and events that I am interested in and can use my voice to help others. 

Feeling heard is so important. How does working on the Pulse make you feel heard? 

Working on the Pulse makes me feel heard in that I feel like I am able to speak my mind. While no one will agree with everything that is said, I have the ability to feel heard because I am encouraged to write and share. I feel as if my stance on a topic truly matters and that everyone should be able to speak up when needed. 

What opportunities has the Pulse given you that you might not have had otherwise? 

One of the opportunities that the Pulse has given me is getting out of my comfort zone. Without the Pulse, I wouldn’t necessarily talk to the different professors that I have interviewed. It is also growing my leadership skills as I work as the editor and lead short meetings every week. There are dozens of opportunities at the Pulse, from learning to be a better writer to broadening your worldview. 

What does it mean to keep our words beautiful? Is it just a pretty saying to write out and never talk about? It it just something we say so that it seems like we care? No. It is so much more than that. Words are so extremely important and they do in fact affect us deeply. Words are a direct reflection of what is on our heart. There are two parts to this conversation: what our words say about us as individuals and how our words affect others. I will be breaking these discussions down below.

WHAT DO OUR WORDS SAY ABOUT US AS INDIVIDUALS?

Words are more important than most people might think. Words make up our languages and our thought processes. Words are how we communicate to others, how we speak up for ourselves, and how we share what’s on our mind. When we lash out and say things that are not kind, it affects us inside more than we know. Have you heard the saying “hurt people hurt people?” 

That is so true. When something upsets us and our first response is to get angry and attack somebody else, our words convey that that is how we are feeling on the inside. Our words can either help or hinder our attitudes. Depending on which choice you choose, that is how you will be affected.

When we get defensive and attack other people, our insecurities are showing. When we respond with kindness and love, our confidence is showing. Which one will you choose to show?

Defensiveness is an interesting and complex facet of this discussion, partly because we all get defensive when we feel attacked or threatened. When we lash out with our insecurities, it is quite obvious and makes it very clear to the people around you what is going on. When we express kindness, it makes us appear confident in who we are. Our words have a profound effect on us and how we come across to other people.

Below are some ways to see what our words say about us and how they can affect us.

• Words define our thoughts.
• Words define what we feel on the inside.
• Words can make us look like the bigger person, or the smaller person.
• Words can convey specific messages.
• Words can affect how we feel after we say them.

HOW DO OUR WORDS AFFECT OTHERS?

This seems to be quite obvious. Hurtful words not only affect ourselves, but also the people that we say them to. Watch your words and make sure that you aren’t reacting out of anger, because that off-handed statement that you made when you were upset can stick with someone for a lifetime. I know this all too well. I’ve done it before and I’ve had it done to me. It doesn’t feel good, from either party.

Instead of just blaming the other person, use it as a time to reflect on yourself as well and how you can do better in your own statements that were unkind. After all, we don’t have to answer for other people’s words. Only our own.

IN CONCLUSION…

I truly hope this post helped you if you find yourself struggling with wanting to lash out when someone has hurt you, or if you have lashed out and hurt people with words as well. Our words are so important and it is necessary to pay attention to them. Speak with kindness, share love, and remember to keep your words beautiful.

SGA is working hard planning events for the student body. They are curating new events and bringing back some fan favorites. Erin Scroggs, the SGA Director of Events, shares what students can expect.

Scroggs mentioned that each SGA department has different event planning responsibilities. “The Events team is hoping to have some of the fan favorites like 80s Skate Night and Glow Bowl,” said Scroggs.

The Spiritual Life department is planning other events. “They are looking to host Your Gift for His Glory where people can perform their talents that they use to glorify God,” said Scroggs.

 Scroggs mentioned that the Intramural department is exploring new event ideas. “They are looking to have more tournament style events,” said Scroggs. “They plan to hopefully have a return of some of the team sports that people know and love.”

The Office of Intercultural Relations (OIR) department of SGA has been hosting movie nights that highlight different cultures and plan to continue to do so.

Scroggs hopes that these events will help students build community on campus. “The goal of all of these events is just to give students an opportunity to come together, have fun, and build community,” said Scroggs. “Our school becomes better when we are intentional to get involved and build community.”   

Scroggs said these events are still being discussed and are not necessarily set in stone yet. “My recommendation for students is to keep an eye on the events tab of the SAU app and pay attention to the posters around campus,” said Scroggs.

By: Merry Castle