Homecoming Week at Coe

Cheering on Coe's Win at the Football Game! We look really enthusiastic!

My Tie Looks REAL Cute.  Right?

This past week Coe celebrated Homecoming.  Some of the big parts of the celebration included; sidewalk drawing competitions, (the track team took 2nd <3)  a giant pep rally, the annual follies celebration with the Homecoming Court, crowning the Homecoming King and Queen, the football game (we beat Simpson), and the Homecoming Dance.  For all of you high school students out there who think you know what a Homecoming Celebration looks like, think again!  This dance was so much better than anything that a high school could put on!  (And I did go to a high school that puts lots of time and effort into Homecoming.)  I was considering not going to the Homecoming Dance but, in the end, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to suit up.  I'm so glad I ended up going; it was so much better than I expected and I met lots of awesome new friends!  Unlike high school, everyone goes to the dance together, instead of having to go with one specific date.  The thing that really amazed me about Homecoming week was that, even in high school (my high school was bigger than Coe), everyone kind of did their own things during homecoming week but here at Coe, everyone was together the whole week and I've grown so much closer to my classmates and friends.  That's something that I really don't think happens at big state schools.  Overall, it's been a great first month at Coe; thank you so much for reading my blog.  To all the Kohawks reading this, thanks for letting me be a part of your family!  Until the next adventure.......Ryan Rey

P.S. -  Just realized how lame my tag line sounds, any suggestions for a new one?  Please email me at rcrey@coe.edu

First Couple Weeks of Classes

Working on Time Management......

I'm finally getting into the swing of things here at Coe, after having completed my first couple weeks of classes!  I am taking four classes, and so far my favorite class is definitely my FYS (First Year Seminar) course with Professor Hayes.  I am interested in my FYS class because we are learning about sustainability, which I think is something that we all should care about.  One of my first assignments was to take an inventory of everything I brought to college, which made me realize that lots of things I use on a daily basis aren't that great for the environment.  (It also made me realize that bringing 60 t-shirts might have been a little bit of overkill!)  So far everyone here at Coe has been really awesome with helping me adjust from the high school to the college workload.  It is definitely different in college; there is much more homework, but, at a small school like Coe, they do everything they can to help you stay comfortable and focused.  A little over a month ago, I never thought I'd be in a completely new place, with a completely new group of friends, managing to balance running 70 miles a week, working 8 hours a week for my work-study job, working another 6 hours a week in the Writing Center, taking 4 full classes, and doing endless amounts of homework, while still finding time to eat and sleep.  Thanks to all of the amazing new friends and professors I've met, and some short nap breaks (see picture), college is definitely manageable and a ton of fun!  Keep reading!  Until the next adventure......Ryan Rey

P.S. - I'm still waiting for some emails with questions about life at Coe!

Classes Begin for the Kohawk Class of 2015.........SCARY!

(Above:  Our Freshman Class on our first day here at Coe!)

Classes Begin:  The last thing our freshman class did as a part of Orientation was to individually meet with our Advisors about choosing our classes.  My Advisor was super-awesome and told me which classes I would definitely need to take in order to graduate, even though I'm not completely sure what I plan to major in yet.  After we picked our classes, we got to enjoy our last weekend together as a class before the "real world" started and classes began.  I am taking a politics class, an accounting class, my FYS class about Sustainability, an English class, and a Writing Class.  (for the writing center)  Most of my classes fall on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, so I originally thought that maybe Tuesdays and Thursdays would be my days off.....boy was I WRONG!  It turns out between homework, writing center, my work study job, eating, Cross Country practice and doing my own laundry there's no such thing as that "day off."  But I love it anyway!  College is a great experience so far and I look forward to the rest of the year for sure!  I love the fact that everyone at Coe is already like family; from the Cross Country Team, to the staff in charge of my work study, to all the other freshman, to my awesome CAP group (the extreme heat), to our CAP leader brooke, to my random new friends, to the whole Writing Center staff and Dr. Bob, to my advisor, Professor Hayes.   Everyone here in Iowa is so friendly and I know I've made the right choice!   Thanks for reading my blog, and if you are a prospective student or parent or a friend of Coe that would like to see any specific questions answered, please email me at rcrey@coe.edu.  If not, I may be forced to make up my own ridiculous questions and answer them, so please consider emailing me!  Until the next adventure......Ryan Rey

My First Two Weeks as a Kohawk!

Last Few Weeks of August 2011:
Welcome to my blog!  My name is Ryan Rey and I am a freshman from Plainfield, Illinois.  I hope that reading my blog will tell you a little bit about Coe College, and about my adventures as a new student here!  I got to Coe a week before the rest of the freshmen, for Cross Country practice.  I think this was a good thing, because it gave me plenty of time to move into my dorm and get settled before everyone else got there.  The Cross Country team is awesome!  I have only been at Coe for a couple weeks, and the team already feels like family!  I also attended Writing Center Orientation during my first week here, and I am enjoying being part of the Writing Center Staff already.  If you're not a runner or a writer, I highly recommend you get involved in whatever activities interest you, because there are so many fun things to do here!  After my initial week here, my parents came back so we could all be part of the first day of orientation and the actual move-in day for students.  The picture above is of me ringing the Victory Bell on the first day of Freshman Orientation, which is a big tradition here at Coe, that students get to do when they enter as a freshman, and again on their graduation day.  The orientation for freshman lasted about half a week, and was full of awesome activities!  We got to play kickball, paint the windows in Gage Memorial Union (where the cafeteria and bookstore are, among other things), go Ice Skating at the Rough Riders stadium, see a Hypnotist, go to all kinds of presentations, and - best of all - participate in the Dragon Boat Races.  (Extreme heat, sorry we couldn't pull out the win, but it doesn't matter, because we're still the best CAP group<3)  In case you were wondering, your CAP group is a group of freshman that you spend your whole orientation week with and that are all in your First Year Seminar Course.  Each group has a CAP leader who is an upperclassman that is with you the whole time.  In any case, it was a very busy but great week and I'm looking forward to more fun activities at Coe!