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Hello again everyone! I have a special entry today that is close to my heart -- the tutoring center! As you may know, or if I haven't mentioned it yet this year, I work in the tutoring center as a writing tutor. We have a space in the basement of the library dedicated to academic services. However, we are getting an upgraded space this fall! Construction is nearly finished, and we should be upstairs on the second floor by the end of October! I am so excited, so I thought I'd give you a before, during, and after glimpse into the tutoring center!
Say hello to Bryan Marinelli, our director!
This is Sister Carolyn, the assistant director of tutorial services.
Here is our tutoring center before. The first is the sort of office entrance, where we answer phones and enter info on the computers. The second area is where the actual tutoring takes place. It all seems so empty because most of our books and posters are packed up! Now take a peek into what will be a brand-spanking-new tutoring/writing center!
This will be the writing center area.
Here is a selection of rooms. We have the entrance, offices, rooms for tutoring, and the athletic study hall.
I hope this gets you all just as excited as I am for a beautiful new center! And one above ground at that!
Check back soon for pictures of the finished tutoring/writing center!
So on Wednseday night, my friend Laura wanted to try out for an a capella group. I told her I would do it with her. I know I'm not good enough. I also know I would love to be in the group. At the same time, I'm terrified -- of embarrassing myself, of actually putting myself out there, of everything that has to do with an audition. So we go. I did terribly for the first group, and not so bad on the second. I was sufficiently embarrassed. Did I know it was pointless in the fact that the means would not attain the end? Yes. The point is, despite the fact that i was so nervous that I sang much worse than I actually can, I was proud of myself. There is always time for new things -- high school isn't the end of becoming who you are! The greatest thing of all was that they were all so nice and supportive. I made my intention clear -- it wasn't to make a group, it was to just try something anyway. My RA is actually in one of the groups and my friend is in the other and they both said how proud they were -- it was a nice feeling. So, lesson learned: try new things no matter what -- PC people will support you!
Another big difference about sophomore year in comparison to freshman year is living situations. I tended to make friends with girls in my building and the guys that lived in the buildings that my friends from home lived in. This year, we're all over the place! I can't even tell you where all my friends from last year have moved to this year. The dynamic is so different. For example, last year, all my guy friends lived on one floor and I might go over to see a few of them, but I ended up at least saying hello to them all. This year, those that I was closest to live in a suite and the rest live on one floor in St. Joe's. It's interesting how so far I've mostly made the trip to suites and I see the St. Joe's guys mostly on weekends, or when they visit the suite. Not that I don't love them any less, but it's hard to make so many different trips everywhere. Also last year, my friend Beth and I saw each other every day and we hung out a ton on weekends. She lives in the building next to me in Meagher (pronounced Mar. I know, what?) and I've yet to see her room! And I'm only in Aquinas (A perk to living on first floor = conversations through the windows!). It's unfortunate that I see less of the people I was so close to and so used to seeing last year, but I suppose it just makes room for meeting more people. And the great thing is, I haven't lost their friendships, so on the few occasions I do see them during the week, it's even better!
Hey! Sorry it's been a while, but I've been doing a lot of catching up with friends! That's the great thing about being a sophomore -- you get right into the swing of things with friends and you get to avoid that awkward, nervous, scared part that comes from meeting new people. At least that's how I was but clearly everything worked out well and I have a great group of friends! Another weird thing about student life as a sophomore is that I'm no longer the youngest. When I walk through campus, I don't have to walk around knowing that I'm the newbie and everyone else is either older than me or in the same boat. It felt so much easier to distinguish freshman, but now I have no clue who is new or who is old. It's an interesting facet to moving up the ladder.
Another sophomore-y thing is civ. Now, honors seminars are from 2:30-4:20 once a week, and it always intimidates me, even if I've read all the material and I know my stuff. Last year, we had a set of reading questions that we filled out and went over in seminar. Sometimes, we'd just go around the table reading off our answers. This year is much different. For my class, the professors (no fathers this year) post discussion questions on ANGEL for you to look over. You don't have to even write out answers -- it's just something to think about. And I love that we don't base the discussion off of questions that we may find arbitrary or boring. My professors collaborated and thus the intellectual journal was born. We don't have exams or quizzes (not even finals or midterms!), but instead we write two entries per week. One is for seminar, in which we pick out a passage and talk about why we think it's important or interesting. The next is sort of like the week in review, where we connect what we've been learning about that week to other things we learned in that week and before, as well as how they relate to certain common questions of that period (such as, should the people rule themselves?) So far, I'm loving it. I don't stress over knowing every single detail, but instead I take away the important things and relate them to other things. And I think that's what DWC is all about -- learning how history and literature and philosophy and theology all intertwine and form off of each other. So A+, civ. I'm having a blast.
Check back soon -- I'm working on an entry with some pictures about the tutoring center and all the improvements going into the library for us!
It's been a busy week and a half for me at Providence! I arrived back at our beautiful campus on the morning of August 25th -- a whole week early! The great thing about moving in early is the fact that I can calmly unpack my things without worrying about getting in my roommates' ways. But then the real work began. I attended tutoring workshops and training for the next three days, and I learned a lot. I really like all the new tutors, and I missed so many of the old ones! All in all, I'm really excited to get back into it.
The first day of classes was interesting, as usual, because I didn't know what to expect. My first class was German with my friend Dan and it was a lot of fun! I'm really excited to learn the language better (my grandmother has been trying to teach me since I could speak English!). Next up was women's studies, which I was really hesitant to take. It seems like a lot of work, but I'm enjoying the discussion we've had so far.
Wednesday I had civ and lit. Civ was great because I really like my professors -- they are all so nice and personable. I was nervous about the class, but after today's seminar (2:30 - 4:20), I'm actually really excited! Medieval lit looks like it might be challenging with some texts in Old English, and just basically being different from anything I've read before. But all in all, I'm really excited for this semester, despite all the work it looks like I'm going to have.
To top it all off, the weather in Providence is gorgeous right now, and I couldn't ask for much more out of Mother Nature. Now I've got some laundry to fold and a book to read. Check back soon for more updates on classes, fall activities, and life as a sophomore!
Hello all! If you're new to this blog, let me reintroduce myself! My name is Kaitlin Searfoss and I am currently a sophomore English major Honors student here at PC. I did the blog last year documenting my freshman year experience. Now I'm back with a new perspective and growing excitement to get back to it!
Just to give you an idea of what my life is like this semester, let me give you a run down of my schedule. I am taking German 101, Intro to women's studies, Medieval lit, and Honors Development of Western Civilization this semester. I'm also a returning writing tutor, so I'll be spending a lot of time down at the library. I'll talk more about the beginning of classes and tutoring training in upcoming blogs.
I've actually already been back at PC for 8 days now doing summer tutoring training and it's so great to actually have everyone back on campus. Looking back on it, I can't believe how scary it seemed to be here with a bunch of people I've never met. This year, it's so great to see people I've been missing and to continue meeting new students.
To all PC students, welcome and welcome back! To new and old blog readers (students and parents alike), I hope you learn a lot from my experience and please feel free to ask any questions you may have!
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