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About Me:

My name is Steph, and I am a senior Marketing major with a Communication Studies minor. Since this is my last year at Butler, my main goal is to enjoy every moment that I have left, while doing as much as humanly possible. I am a marketing analyst at the Butler Business Accelerator, a Speakers Lab tutor, and a Butler blogger (obviously). I also am an Alpha Phi, the President of the Butler University Student Foundation, a member of Alpha Kappa Psi (a professional business fraternity), and a member of the Butler American Marketing Association. In the small amount of free time that I do have, I love crafting, watching large amounts of television, and enjoying my favorite comfort foods, like sweet tea.

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Posts Tagged “500 festival”

2011 Year in Review: January – July

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Stephanie

Since tomorrow is the last day of 2011, and since it was a pretty big year in my life, I thought I would close out 2011 with a Year in Review.  I’ll be breaking the series down into January-June, my sister’s wedding, and July-December…so here we go!

Recruitment

During Recruitment 2011 (and throughout the entire Fall semester beforehand), I put away my sorority letters to be a recruitment counselor for freshmen girls.  This meant that I didn’t have any contact with my house during the week, and that I spent every day making sure that the ladies in my group knew what was going on, and helping them figure out what was the right decision for them.  Even though it was a tough week, it was so worth it to see a different side of recruitment, and most of all – to be reunited with my sorority sisters on Bid Day.  Last January Alpha Phi welcomed 41 beautiful ladies into our sisterhood as well…so it was an absolutely awesome week!

Snowpocalypse

In late January/early February of last year, Snowpocalypse hit Indiana.  We had about a foot of ice/snow, and didn’t have classes for two days…so it was heaven for all of us.  We lounged around our house, watched movies, did absolutely no homework, and loved every minute of it.  Of course, it was a truly scary world outside of the house…people were in serious wrecks and it was hazardous to even walk around campus (it would have been easier to ice skate), but we put all of those worries aside and just enjoyed ourselves.  Those two snow days were most definitely two of my favorite days of school…ever!

March Madness/Final Four/National Championship

Even though Butler didn’t end up winning the National Championship, they still had an absolutely AMAZING run.  I love that I will always be able to say that my school went to the Final Four two years in a row, especially while I was here.  And you know…if it happened again…I wouldn’t be mad.  :)   Go Dawgs!

500 Festival Princess Program

From February-May, I was fortunate enough to represent the 500 Festival as a Princess.  I had the opportunity to attend all of the 500 Festival events, do community service in the Indianapolis area and in my hometown, and to go to the Indianapolis 500 (all while wearing a beautiful tiara).  It was basically an unreal experience that I will never forget…and throughout the process I pretty much fell in love with IndyCar.  Check out all of my blogs about my time as a Princess…there are just too many good things to say!

Also…the deadline to apply for the program is rapidly approaching (January 6)…so if you are a girl attending college in Indiana and you are originally from Indiana…apply today!

Check back tomorrow for 2011 Year in Review: Wedding Edition!

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The Greatest Spectacle in Racing

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Stephanie

For the beginning of the race, we watched all of the excitement from the bleachers above our suite, which was a great place to see all of the action, but it was outrageously hot.  So once the National Anthem had been sung and the first few laps were underway, we went back inside to cool off in the extreme A/C.

Ready for the race to start!

I’ve officially decided that if you are going to go to the Indy 500, the way to watch it is from a suite.  We were cool and comfortable the entire time, and best of all…there was a pretty impressive spread of food.  There were the necessary fruits and veggies, as well as fried chicken, fried biscuits, and cheesy potatoes…my personal favorites.  After being spoiled like this for my first Indy 500 experience, I don’t know if I will ever be able to watch it like a normal person, from the stands with the other 400,000 people.

Watching the race from the comfort of the suite...

The best part of the day was at the end of the race, because we got to stand above the Winner’s Circle to see all of the excitement.  Because of this, we did miss JR Hildenbrand’s crash at the very last minute, which was pretty confusing to me when I had no idea who had won the race, and the man was waving a checkered flag at the same time as a yellow flag.  Luckily, I caught on quickly…and then we got to see the whole celebration!

The view from above the winners circle....

I think that my time at this year’s Indy 500 was the most epic experience I could have ever had for my first trip to the race.  I had to keep reminding myself that this was my real life…and I wasn’t just dreaming, even though I thought I was almost 70% of the time!  I have always been proud to be a Hoosier, but after being exposed to this amazing tradition in such a unique way, I can hardly express how much I love our state and everyone who makes events like this possible.  It just continually blows my mind that the Greatest Spectacle in Racing (aka the Most Important Race in History or the Largest Single Day Sporting Event in the WORLD) takes place in Indiana….and even just 15 minutes from where I go to school.  How many people can say that?  Not many….and I am so glad that I have a new found respect for the every aspect of the tradition.

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Before the race began….

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Stephanie

On the morning of the Indianapolis 500, we started early, very early.  The race started at noon, and we had a lot to do before that, so we started by getting up at 5 a.m. to primp ourselves for the big day, and afterwards we traveled to the Hilton downtown for a big breakfast.  Basically, the theme for the day was hurry up and wait, because a lot of our schedule depended on traffic and our police escort to the track.  So, after breakfast we waited in the parking lot of the Hilton, with 33 BEAUTIFUL cars.

The Pace Cars all lined up and ready to go to the track!

Eventually, we made our way to the Speedway (with our police escort…passing the standstill traffic on 16th street) and it was ready for us to take our lap around the  track.  It was 2.5 hours before the race started, but there were already a decent amount of people in the stands.  This was like our little bit of special time, and I loved it, because I had never driven on the track before.  Even though I was riding on the back of the pace car, it was still so exciting and just all around amazing.  My personal favorite parts were when I saw some of my sorority sisters on turn three, and when I heard my family yelling at me (I couldn’t find them in the crowd).  The Alpha Phi girls ran down to the fence right by the track, and were screaming and jumping up and down so much that I never would have missed them.  But my family was in an area with more people, so I just heard random yelling that I figured was coming from them.

I love seeing all the cars in a row….

Ready for my lap around the track!

After our epic lap, we got to rest a little bit before our next job, escorting legend drivers out onto the track for the introduction of the 33 drivers for the 100th Anniversary Running of the Indianapolis 500.  It was so much fun walking out with them, because they all were talking with each other like they were old buddies.  And, I got to stand right beside the stage where all the drivers walked up for their introductions….which wasn’t to shabby either!

Walking the legend drivers out onto the track…

 

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The Red Carpet Life….

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Stephanie

The night before the Indianapolis 500 is always a big night for downtown Indy, because it is when all of the big pre-race parties take place.  Unfortunately, we (the 500 Festival Princesses) weren’t able to get into most of the parties, but we did get prime spots on the red carpet at the Snake Pit Ball, so we were poised and ready for any photo ops that came our way.  Fortunately, all of the stars that were in the parade that morning also came to the Ball….so we had the chance to see them up close again.

Kellie Pickler….

When we saw Kellie Pickler on the parade route, she hopped out of her car and climbed onto our float to get photos with us….all in like 6 inch heels.  Then, on the red carpet she stopped to talk to us about her pageant days, and she was by far the sweetest celebrity that I have ever met.  (Because you know…I’ve had in depth conversations with so many.)  So impressive, and so fabulous.

Oh you know, just chatting it up with Kellie…

Right after Kellie left, Anderson Cooper graced us with his presence…and I just about died.  This was only two days after my birthday, and it was the best present I could have ever gotten.  I swear that I just felt so much smarter and more articulate after he left….even though we only shook hands and exchanged  all of five words.  He just has that kind of power…it’s impressive.

Anderson Cooper…I was slightly ecstatic.

And last but not least, we met Carlos Diaz, who is actually from Greenwood (a town just south of Indianapolis).  He used to be on Extra, and now he is the sports anchor on “Morning Express with Robin Meade” on HLN.  He was so nice and introduced himself to each one of us separately…and then invited us all to the Fantasy 500 party later that night!  Basically it made my day, because when you get all dressed up, you might as well make the most of it, right?

Carlos Diaz from Extra and HLN…

I’ve officially decided that each event that I experienced as a Princess was cooler than the one I did before.  And just as a point of reference, this night was the next to last event that we had, with only the actual race after it.  And considering that our night on the red carpet and out and about in downtown Indy was absolutely unreal…in a great way…the race had an awful lot to live up to…and it did.  So once again, check back for more about the race itself, and the fabulous ending to my time as a Princess.

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So this is what it feels like to be a celebrity…

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Stephanie

On the morning before the Indy 500, there was the biggest event of the 500 Festival…the Parade.  There were 300,000 people along the parade route…and basically it was one of the most exciting parts of my entire time as a princess.  I felt like a celebrity for most of the time, and I haven’t decided yet if it was because there were celebrities in front of us and behind us and the people were confusing them with us….or if we really were celebrities to everyone.  Either way, I’m fine with it….because I loved every second of it.

There were 6 princesses from Butler…so naturally we always needed to get photos together.  And since we are Butler students, it didn’t just make sense for us to take a normal photo…so we did this instead while we were waiting around before the parade:

We spelled out Butler...if you can't tell.

After we waited around for awhile…we went outside to line up for the parade…and we started to spot all of the celebrities who were there.  We saw Anderson Cooper, Kellie Pickler, Jillian Michaels, Bridget Marquardt, and some other stars that I didn’t really recognize (sorry guys).  But really, the best part was just being a part of the parade, and realizing how many people from around the country and around the world come to Indiana, our home state, for this amazing weekend.  We always think of Indiana as the land of the farms and nothingness, but the weekend of the 500 is the perfect example of what Indiana is truly made of.

It was the perfect morning for a parade, and if I could do that all day every day, that would be the perfect job for me.  There are still more 500 events that I haven’t blogged about…so check back soon for more about the life of a 500 Princess!

Waving from the float on the parade route….

 

 

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Pole Day and Bump Day…the beginning of something great.

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Stephanie

Even though the Indianapolis 500 and my time as a 500 Festival Princess are long gone, I still have so many events that I have yet to blog about!  So….the saga continues.

The weekend before the big race is the Breakfast at the Brickyard, which is when the 500 Festival Queen is crowned.  It is also a special morning/day because all the mayors in Indiana come, and it is the first day of qualifications for the race, aka Pole Day.  So obviously, it was a pretty big day, and one that I was personally looking forward to, because my parents were going to be able to come and I was going to spend the whole day with them instead of just seeing them periodically.  To make it even more exciting, one of the banks in my hometown actually bought a table at the Breakfast, so there was great representation from my town, which meant so much to me, and it just made the day that much more fun.

Everyone who came from my hometown…

Just hanging out by a pace car....

After the breakfast was over, we got to change, and it was time for me to show my Mom and Dad around the Speedway.  I took them to the garages, and we sat and watched the qualifications, which was great because it was really the first IndyCar/Indy 500 experience for all three of us.  Sadly, it took most of the day for me to really understand what was going on, but by the end of the day….I knew what was coming….what had happened that day…and why it was all so important.  Basically…it was a big day of learning for me.

Watching the first day of actual qualifications....Pole Day!

The day after Pole Day was Bump Day, where they fill the spots for the entire field of 33 that weren’t filled the day before.  This was the day that I basically fell in love with IndyCar….because I stuck around until the very end of the day, when a couple of drivers were literally “bumped” out of the field.  Between waiting to see how the weather turned out (it rained for awhile, which held up any activity on the track, which was a serious problem for some drivers who were running out of time to actually qualify), and waiting to see if all of our favorite drivers would make it in, it was an exciting and somewhat stressful day….because we were all pulling for someone different.  But, I loved it…and from this point on I officially am an IndyCar fan.

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Outreaches…all day every day – Part II

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Stephanie

As I mentioned previously, I did quite a few outreaches in the last few weeks for the 500 Festival.  Outreaches are classified as any time that a princess goes out and meets with the public basically in any form.  I did some in the Indianapolis area, and I organized a few on my own in southern Indiana.  This way I had something to get up and do while I was at home for a whole week…ha, like I needed to find something to do..

I was most excited about just going to schools in my hometown, because unlike in Indy, we don’t hear about it all the time, and the hype doesn’t extend all the way down to the southernmost part of the state.  So, I kind of took it as my job to get the kids in the schools excited about it, and also to inform them of many of the things they just aren’t aware of.  I met with two groups of fourth graders, and focused on the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the race itself with those groups.  In Indiana, fourth grade is when you focus on Indiana history, so I gave those kids a taste of Indiana history…just in a different way.  I also spoke with the third graders from my elementary school, the kindergarteners from the school my Mom teaches at, and a variety of different classes from another school.  The biggest challenge of all was tailoring the material to each group, because they each have such different personalities, so they all respond to things very differently.  So, with the third graders I let them ask lots of questions (which were very insightful), I made sashes and pit passes with the kindergarteners, and did short and fun lessons with the variety of classes.  This way, I could switch things up quickly and easily whenever it was necessary.

Even though working with so many different groups of kids all in one week was rather overwhelming, it was so much fun to get to see how the kids reacted to the poster I had with the cars on it, or what they said when I told them that the Indy cars go over 200 miles per hour.  Sometimes you forget what it felt like to be a kid….and I loved being able to be reminded of that!

The fourth graders from my elementary school...

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Outreaches…all day every day – Part I

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Stephanie

Once I finished my finals, I spent most of my time doing outreaches in the Indy area and in my hometown for the 500 Festival.  This is what the Princess Program is all about, being active in the community, and being an ambassador for the 500 Festival, the Indianapolis 500, and my hometown.  So in two weeks I did about 7 outreaches that ranged from going to a school fundraiser, to giving presentations at schools, to attending a schools “Kindy 500”.  They each were unique and special in their own way…so here is a bit about each.

Brownsburg Pup Putt

This event was a school fundraiser, and for me it was a great break from studying for finals (I went the night before my last two finals).  We got to mingle with kids, parents, and staff members while we participated in putt putt golf and other games they had.  But, the highlight of the night was when we got to meet an ice road trucker…in the flesh.  It was pretty great, and my sister is jealous.  So the event was a success.

The princesses who attended the event, and the ice road trucker…

Kindy 500

This was quite possibly the coolest/cutest thing I have ever seen.  Each kindergartener at the school made cars out of boxes or some other material with their parents, and then they had a parade and races for the kids where all the students at the school came as well.  One of the drivers, Alex Tagliani, was even there, so we were able to meet him as well.  At the time, he was the first driver that I had met, and its really cool now that he is sitting on the pole for this Sunday’s race!  He was very nice, and I hope he wins, since I do have so many photos with him now…

The princesses at the event with Alex Tagliani…
A few of us and some of the kids….cool cars and all.

To see a little bit more of the Kindy 500, check out this video.  It isn’t from this school, but it looks like a pretty similar event!

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Mini-Marathon 2011: Making me feel lazy for 13.1 miles

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Stephanie

As a 500 Festival Princess, we always help out with the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon.  It is the biggest half marathon in the country, and from start to finish…we were at our station for 7 hours, or from 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  Our job was to provide water at about mile 1 and mile 12 (the route loops around, so the group passed us twice) so we had to be ready with plenty of water….which is a pretty big task when you are providing this water for almost 40,000 people.  So we set up tables, then set out the little cups all over the tables and filled them with water.  Then, we laid cardboard on top of those cups, repeated the process, and then did that about 4 more times.  In the end, we had a lot of cups.  I’m not sure exactly how many….but it was a lot.  Check it out….

This was even after the bulk of the people had passed us twice…so imagine how many we started with.

It was a great time spending that 7 hours with the other girls, but I’m not going to lie, watching the people that ran for a couple hours straight wore me out, which made me realize that I needed to get more into working out….or maybe start working out period.  But instead of going and walking, running, or doing anything active after….I ate a big brunch and then sat down for the rest of the day.   You can always start being proactive about that kind of stuff (getting into shape…or attempting to) later…right?

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It’s official…I’m getting old.

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Stephanie

Today is my birthday.  My 22nd birthday to be exact, and I feel like I’m starting to get old.  Usually on my birthday I love hanging out with friends, doing as much as possible, and staying up late on the night before and the night of my birthday (to get as much birthday-ness in as possible of course), but this year all I want to do is sleep and be a homebody.  So either I’m starting to get old, or I’m just tired of being busy and outrageously active.  This is because I have basically been a nomad for the last 3 weeks.  With finishing school, traveling home for holidays like Mother’s Day, going to 500 Festival Events, completing my outreaches, and starting my internship for the summer, I have been spending most of the month of May living out of my car and driving all over the state of Indiana.  Luckily, I haven’t been sleeping in my car, thanks to some fabulous friends and family who I have been staying with, but I still have been packing my car basically every day to go to another place.  On the bright side, I have become a packing pro.  But, I still pack an awful lot.  Usually, my car ends up looking a little bit like this…

 

My backseat....

One of the best birthday gifts I have gotten today isn’t actually a gift….but instead it was just the chance to sleep in the same place for two nights (at home…my favorite place to stay) and to not have to pack anything for once.  This weekend I am heading back to Indianapolis for the Indianapolis 500 and all of the other events that the other Princesses and I will be attending, but luckily I get to stay in the same place twice…again!  Since this weekend is technically my birthday weekend….I’m considering all of the 500 Festival celebrations part of my birthday celebration.  Basically, it will be the biggest birthday weekend ever….and don’t worry…I will blog about it.  So you had better prepare yourself.  And of course….watch the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday May 29th at 12:00 EST!

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