Elks National Foundation Blog

by Jim O'Kelley, Director Elks National Foundation My wife likes to say that my family has “the circus gene.” Maybe she’s right. My mom always wanted to be an actress, and my younger sister is one. (Perhaps you’ve seen her in such shows as The New Adventures of Old Christine and Devious Maids .) My sister, the actress. As for me, I’ve been known to dazzle karaoke crowds with my powerful rendition of “Wonderwall.” However, mostly I prefer to watch other people perform. Especially in the summer. One of my favorite ways to beat the heat is to take in a movie. Of course, with two small children, I don’t get to the movies as often as I’d like, nor can I always find two hours to watch one at home. Sound familiar? Well, guess what? You’re going to love our YouTube channel . The ENF has been cranking out short films this year—we’ve produced 21 since the Hoop Shoot in April. There are a couple of long-form interviews among them, but most are pretty short—between 2 a...

By 2014 Legacy Awards Recipient and Elks Scholar Advisory Board Member Anji Radakrishnan Anji Radakrishnan, 2014 Legacy scholar and freshmen representative on the Elks Scholar Advisory Board , is giving us a glimpse into life as a college freshmen. Join her each month as she blogs about her exciting new challenges and experiences at Penn State.  Hello Elks scholars! As the school year winds down for most of us, it is the perfect time to reflect on the past year. We’ve all had our ups and downs this past year, but through it all we’ve taken away lessons to remember. First, I have to elaborate on a huge highlight of my past semester: the Elks National Hoop Shoot Finals in Springfield, MA. The trip itself was incredible, and we even got to visit the Basketball Hall of Fame. The best part for me, however, was when my parents came to visit me! It was so nice to be able to spend time with my family after being away at college for so long. A major lesson that I learned thi...

By 2014 Legacy Awards Recipient and Elks Scholar Advisory Board Member Anji Radakrishnan Anji Radakrishnan, 2014 Legacy scholar and freshmen representative on the Elks Scholar Advisory Board , is giving us a glimpse into life as a college freshmen. Join her each month as she blogs about her exciting new challenges and experiences at Penn State.  I had heard for months from the upperclassmen that THON weekend would be the most life-changing experience that I would have at Penn State. Even though my expectations were set so incredibly high, THON bypassed all of them. THON is a 46 hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon that raises money for the treatment of pediatric cancer. All of the funds go to the Four Diamonds Fund at Hershey Children’s Hospital. Each organization sponsors a THON child from a Four Diamonds family who has defeated or is battling cancer. Months of preparation go into this celebratory weekend. During the year, there are three canning trips, durin...

By 2014 Legacy Awards Recipient and Elks Scholar Advisory Board Member Anji Radakrishnan Anji Radakrishnan, 2014 Legacy scholar and freshmen representative on the Elks Scholar Advisory Board , is giving us a glimpse into life as a college freshmen. Join her each month as she blogs about her exciting new challenges and experiences at Penn State.  Hi everyone! The last few weeks between Thanksgiving break and Winter Break were mostly centered on studying for finals. Studying for finals in college and high school are two completely different ballgames. In high school, I would stay at home and make my own study guides, maybe occasionally study with a friend over the phone. In college, I’ve never seen as many of my friends grouped in one place as during finals week. Whether I went to the study lounge, library, or even dining hall, there were swarms of people loudly engaging in group study. It was really the first time that I started studying in a group setting, and I learned h...

By 2014 Legacy Awards Recipient and Elks Scholar Advisory Board Member Anji Radakrishnan Anji Radakrishnan, 2014 Legacy scholar and freshmen representative on the Elks Scholar Advisory Board , is giving us a glimpse into life as a college freshmen. Join her each month as she blogs about her exciting new challenges and experiences at Penn State.  Hi everyone! Hope everything is going well for my fellow Elks scholars, and everyone is as happy as I am to finally be going home for Thanksgiving. I’d like to highlight a few important things I’ve learned this month, in the classroom setting, on the extracurricular front, and in an incredible lecture I watched from a guest speaker. In sociology class, we are learning about ethnocentrism—how we tend to see our own culture as the central crux of the world. Our teacher showed us videos of life in other countries, such as a woman eating bugs in China. I saw a video of a Chinese woman eating a live frog. My class was simply stunned,...

By 2014 Legacy Awards Recipient and Elks Scholar Advisory Board Member Anji Radakrishnan Anji Radakrishnan, 2014 Legacy scholar and freshmen representative on the Elks Scholar Advisory Board , is giving us a glimpse into life as a college freshmen. Join her each month as she blogs about her exciting new challenges and experiences at Penn State. It’s a common notion among college students that we can only pick two of the following three things: academics, extracurriculars, and social life. Here at Penn State, like people at every other university, some pick only extracurriculars and social life, trying to enjoy themselves as much as possible in the four years that we have as undergraduates. On the other hand, some pick only academics and extracurriculars, trying to build a solid resume that will bring them future success. Finally, there are some brave souls who dare to pick all three. Since coming to college, I’ve had to make some crucial decisions. The amount of in-class ...

By 2014 Legacy Awards Recipient and Elks Scholar Advisory Board Member Anji Radakrishnan   Anji Radakrishnan, 2014 Legacy scholar and freshmen representative on the Elks Scholar Advisory Board , is giving us a glimpse into life as a college freshmen. Join her each month as she blogs about her exciting new challenges and experiences at Penn State.     During this past summer, while the rest of the soon-to-be college freshman were busy hanging out with their friends and enjoying the presence of their families, I was in a small study lounge on my floor, busily typing away Biology notes, speeches, and English essays on my laptop. I attended Penn State’s summer session, a necessary component of my six year premedical-medical program through Jefferson Medical School. This summer introduced me to brand-new experiences. The most memorable of these was the 4th of July weekend.     On the 4th of July, thousands of people arrived at Beaver Stadium...