Racing to the finish line: Every year people travel to visit Charlottesville, Virginia to see the classic horse races. Typically organizations from multiple schools will rent space and set up tents to sip mint juleps, girls dressed in Lilly Pulitzer dresses adorned with fantastic oversized hats, and boys sporting pastel shorts with Southern Proper ties (in addition to the thousands of sponsors and families who also attend). The gates open at 9 am with the first race beginning at 1:30 pm.
This year, the race will benefit the Little Keswick Foundation for Special Education. Historically, the spring race brings in over 25,000 people to the once before local airport which was turned into one of the finest steeplechase courses and tracks in 1977. Individual invitation tickets are less expensive. Although, if you’re part of an organization, or would like to make a larger donation, you can purchase more expensive tickets for specific areas. Visit the Foxfield Races website for more information.
Take a Dip: When spring rolls around and the weather gets warm, there is no doubt JMU has a better feeling. Girls bring out the sun dresses and oversized sun glasses and the guys, no doubt, can be found playing shirtless corn hole in the streets. For the apartment complexes such as Copper Beech, students migrate to the outdoor pools to tan their sun deprived skin.
And for those feeling more adventurous, you can travel a few miles to Blue Hole. There, you can swim all day, jump off higher rocks, float in inner tubes with a drink in hand, and just relax. And to finish the day off, you and your friends can even camp out on the nearby grounds! Just add s’mores and a few crisp Coronas and voila, the perfect little get away (if you’re of age, of course)!
Beach Bums: Every year millions of college students flock to the typical Spring break areas such as Panama City, Las Vegas, Cancun, and other too hot to handle destinations. This year, JMU’s spring break starts March 5th and sadly ends March 13th. For more information about spring break destinations please read fellow JMU writer, Alexa Johnson’s article, “Spring Break Ideas for the Traveler and the Stay-at-Home Girl” . Also please read, “How To Use Spring Break To Get An Internship” on the HC national page if you’re not going away but want to get a kick start to your future!
Come together: Not in the Greek community? Wondering what they do? A great way to show your friends support and see how the Greeks come together is to attend Greek Week and Greek Sing. For an entire week, the social Greek community comes together and competes in various activities that lead up to a grand night of singing, dancing, and performing: Greek Sing.
Each sorority picks a secret theme that they elaborate on for for weeks just for that night. Some social fraternities and multi-cultural fraternities/sororities also coordinate performances such as stepping and shorter dance routines that are put on between the larger performances. It is one of the biggest events that the Greeks participate in and quite possibly the most anticipated night of the year. Greek sing starts at 7:00 pm on April 7 in Godwin. This event is open to anyone, so come and support your fellow classmates and friends!
Hats off to you: In every college girl’s life, there comes a time where she needs to move from that cushy co-dependent existence to the fast track of her future. Whether it takes some of us four years, give or take a few, to complete our education we still have to walk across that stage to receive our well deserved diploma. Eek! This may seem like the end of our lives, jumping into an incredibly competitive job market, or it may seem like the just the beginning.
Regardless, we need to make the move! If you’re not yet hired, don’t sweat it, keep the job search steady and don’t give up. If you need to take a temporary job during the summer, do so! You want to keep the up the cash flow and your work ethic strong. JMU’s graduation is on May 7th this year so throw your cap in the air, the journey is about to begin!
Go Green!: On St. Patrick’s day! We all love a good green beer, Irish car bombs, and a corned beef and cabbage dinner; and on March 17th we get to enjoy such delights! Historically, people believe that March 17th was the day that St. Patrick passed away, thus, people in Ireland would go to church in the morning and then celebrate in the afternoon.
If you’re willing to do some traveling the first weekend of spring break take a trip up north to Hoboken, NJ. They have a wildly known parade March 5th where the 21 and over crowd get completely decked out in shamrock covered accessories and bar/party hop from AM into the night. Who wouldn’t love this holiday?!
Lyrics to love: Ready for another exciting JMU sponsored concert? Saturday, April 2, Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller are coming to entertain us all with their unique rap skills. The show beings at 7:30 pm at the Convocation Center. Tickets go on sale May 2 at 8:00 am at the Warren Hall Box Office. There is a maximum of 8 tickets sold per student so make sure you get there early, these tickets will surely sell fast!
Sitting pretty: Imagine gorgeous girls lying in the bright sun, a light breeze blowing through their hair, shirt less boys throwing footballs and Frisbees around on a gorgeous grassy field surrounded by beautiful brick buildings. Oh wait, that sounds familiar? Welcome to the quad at spring time. Ahhh, finally, the trees are covered in pink flowers, the grass is soft and Kelly green, and the sun beams at just the right strength to give our skin a perfect glow! Sun bathing on the quad is the JMU way to spend your time between classes.
Bare it all: Purple, gold, and green, do you know what I mean? It is the season for Mardi Gras! Historically, France coined “Fat Tuesday” as the time before Lent where people would indulge before their religious rituals. Once the French came to America and settled in Louisiana, the holiday was rooted into our culture. Nowadays people all over the country flock to New Orleans for the craziest celebration of drinking, dancing, and nudity. It is quite the spectacle; people line the streets dressed up in elaborate masks, feathers, beads, and glitter while visitors parade around enjoying the good life.
If you can make the trip to New Orleans be sure to go with a large enough crowd you definitely trust; the immense amount of people can become seriously overwhelming. Can’t travel? Throw your own Mardi Gras inspired party; just add glitter covered masks, strings of beads, and a few good friends and you’ll have the time of your life!
*Please party responsibly :)