Relay for Life 11:59 AM

Relay for Life [ree-ley fawr lahyf] noun: an annual event providing students with a good reason to stay up all night while raising awareness and money for cancer research.

Relay for Life was an amazing event this year! Luckyday was in full participation too. Along with two teams started by Luckyday Scholars, many of the volunteers throughout the night were also Luckyday. Logan Tisdale, a Luckyday Senior, served as the president of Club Relay (the campus organization helping the American Cancer Society put Relay on) this year. With some preparation, a lot of hard work, and one long night Relay was a success.

The overarching theme for Relay is "Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back", encouraging everyone to celebrate those who have beaten cancer, remember those lost, and to fight back through awareness and research. "Be A Superhero" was the theme for the year.

Melissa Ladner and Oscar Shoemaker served as the team captains for the Luckyday Team. With the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as the superhero, Luckyday team members came with 'shredding power'. The Heroes On a Half Shell walked away with two awards this year, 3rd Place in the Sunrise Award (most members still in attendance at Sunrise) and 2nd Place in Most Money Raised by a College Team. Congratulations on a job well done!

Luckyday freshman, Sammy Wise, started a team for any freshmen student to join. Being the Freshmen Flash, this team could be seen all over campus raising money and getting excited about Relay. The Freshmen Flash took home 2nd Place in Making a Cancer Connection, 2nd Place in Spirit, and 3rd Place in Most Money Raised by a College Team. A job well done by the Freshmen Flash!

Throughout the night many different events took place that anyone could participate in. From a three-legged race to the limbo finding something to do during the early morning hours was not hard. Freshman Physics and Civic Engineering major, Stradford Goins was able to out-eat a few other guys and won first place in the hot dog eating contest. He showed his talent for scarfing down 5 hot dogs faster than anyone else!

All in all a great night with lots of fun! Congratulations to all the teams! Can't wait for next year!

A Mile in HER Shoes 10:54 AM

Men in high-heel shoes? Oh my!

On Thursday, March 24 the Shafer Center on campus held an event for Sexual Assault Awareness. Organizations were encouraged to nominate a male participant to "Walk a Mile in HER Shoes". Being a participant allowed the men to wear high-heel shoes and walk from the fountain in Shoemaker Square to the Administration Building and back. Having the men walk represented all the ladies their lives and how everyone is affected by sexual assault. The men were judged by their gracefullness, creativity of the shoe, and difficulty of the shoe. A good crowd showed up to support.

Two Luckyday Scholars strutted their stuff down the Plaza. Freshman nursing major, John Causey represented the Luckyday Freshman Council during the walk, and Junior agriculture major, Austin Smith represented Southern Miss Cheerleaders. The two successfully completed the walk with no twisted ankles. Thanks guys for being such great sports!

Above, Austin and John in their heels.

UNV 310 - Senior Seminar 11:10 AM

Don't forget you have a Senior Capstone Project with Luckyday. How can you complete your capstone? We have a couple of options, but you are required to complete the capstone unless you graduate early (in less than 4 years).

The option we promote first for completion of the capstone experience is taking the Luckyday Senior Seminar, UNV 310. It is a one credit hour graded course that will meet on Thursday's only this fall from 5:10-6:25 p.m. (and is offered every fall and spring semester). In this course we cover information that is important for your transition from the undergraduate experience to whatever is next (work, graduate school, etc.). Topics have included: professional image, credit management, resume development, graduate school applications, dining etiquette, interview tips, etc.

If you choose not to take this course or are unable to, you will be required to complete a 5 page reflection on your experience at Southern Miss over the past four years. Areas to be reflected on in this paper are your service experience, academic experience, personal goals for the next 10 years, challenges overcome to persist in college, and Luckyday Program experience. One of these two capstone experiences is required before the ending of your fourth year. Senior thesis or McNair project can be accepted in place of this reflection paper. __We encourage everyone to consider the Senior Seminar due to its value for students as they transition to the next chapter in their life. To join this class contact someone in the Luckyday Office. It is available only to Luckyday Scholars.

Luckyday Welcomes New Scholars 1:05 PM

Priority Preview was this past weekend. It was a wonderful time for the incoming freshman to become oriented to the USM campus and to the Luckyday Program. We have had over 100 scholars and their parents this weekend! We played the Luckyday famous "Name-O" to get to know each other. The next day, the scholars had the opportunity to get to know potential roommates in a roundup game. This was an awesome game in which the students exchanged business cards (provided by the Luckyday Office). The students continued to get more information about living on campus.

Luckyday would like to thank all of the volunteers that helped make this event a success. We would also like to say to the new scholars that we look forward to you guys coming in the fall!