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Thomas Nailor
Class Year: Freshman
Major: English
Hometown: New Canaan, CT
High School: Canterbury School
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Hey folks! Today, while finishing up my Civ paper that's due tomorrow morning, I realized that I had yet to discuss professors here on my blog--don't worry I won't be mentioning any of you by name! (waiting for the collective sigh of relief) There we go.
Now I'm sure any of you reading this have heard that your professors in college are drastically different from your teachers in high school--many people will tell you that they are nowhere near as personable, that they are impossible to get help from, and that if they have tenure they could care less what happens to you. I don't know how things are at other colleges, but I can tell you that here at PC none of those things are true. While it is valid that your professors in college are not like your teachers in high school, there are just a few things that you can know to help you make the transition:
1. They won't ask you your name unless you raise your hand to answer a question, and even then, in a big class like Civ there's no guarantee they will. If you want to get to know them better, you need to go up, shake their hand, and introduce yourselves. Far from being brown-nosing, this lets them know you're interested in the class and that you want to do as well as you can!
2. If you want help/feel like you're struggling, you need to take the initiative. They won't stop you after class to talk with you, or at least very few of mine have except to congratulate me. If you need to get extra help, check what their office hours are and go to see them. Nothing helps you do better, because far from being non-plussed, all my teachers have loved it when I come to see them. As one of my older friends said, "Most of them have nothing to do during their office hours. If you go to see them, they'll think you're the greatest thing since sliced bread."
3. They DO care. Most, if not all, of the teachers here at PC are great people, and all of mine so far have been more than willing to help me with everything from classwork to essays to even getting to know more people within your major!
They are still THERE TO HELP YOU. Here at PC, we don't have Graduate Students or TA's teaching any classes, and that means that in terms of seeing your professor, you've got all the face time you need. Plus, they probably check their email more than YOU do!
4. While they won't be your best friend like many people had it in high school, they still want you to befriend them--it makes them feel great, and it'll probably help you in the class! My Civ professors are some of the best people I know here at PC, and they've all helped me in some way or another. My Intro to Lit professor helped me to figure out what class I wanted to take next semester, while my Philosophy professor has taught me plenty about the world inside and outside of the classroom. My girlfriend and I sat down to have brunch with our Theology and Magic teacher the second weekend we were here, and came out with a some great history on the school!
In the end folks, it is true that your professors won't be like your teachers in high school. You may not become best friends with them, but only if you don't make the effort. They are still here to help you, and especially on a campus like PC where there are a lot less people, you will definitely get to know them regardless. But it does take some more effort, and the rewards are infinite.
While I love all the great friendships I've made here at PC already, one of my favorite parts is that even while it's different, I haven't lost the student-teacher relationships that I enjoyed so immensely in high school.
Have a great weekend everybody!
Hey folks! I know I promised that I'd post about my new girlfriend here at PC, but I've been swamped with work this week after Monday! Tonight I've got to finish up my Introduction to Literature paper on Robert Browning's poem "Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister," along with reading the "Handbook of Epictetus" for my Western Civ Philosophy lecture tomorrow. On top of both of those things, I need to review Jean-Paul Sartes' piece "Existentialism is a Humanism" for Introduction to Philosophy class on Friday afternoon. Plus, I've got my first rehearsal for a skit comedy group here on campus called "Six Gents" that I just joined a few weeks ago after auditioning in front of the group, which consists of seniors and juniors! Very intimidating to be sure, but I'm looking forward to becoming better friends with some upperclassmen, and the group does SNL-style comedy shows, so hopefully I'll be funny as can be!
I'll be sure to post double next week to make up for this short entry, but remember that nobody said college was going to be easy!
Hope you all have a great weekend, and that whether your candidate won or lost, you participated in this weeks all-too important Presidential Election!
Happy Halloween everyone--I hope that you all had a good time this weekend, whether it was dressing up, passing out candy, going out to parties, or just enjoying some great movies. As for me, I enjoyed the night here on PC Campus with some friends of mine, dancing on the Quad and then heading back for a Halloween classic with Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker BEFORE she was on Sex and the City--I'm of course talking about "Hocus Pocus," which if you haven't watched yet I highly recommend for any time of year! I went with my girlfriend as a famous pair of people who are usually hiding--guess they found each other!
Now, I'm not sure how all of my readers feel, but Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year--something about free candy and dressing up however you want really appeals to me. I was worried that upon arriving at College, people would be a little less enthusiastic about it, but quite the contrary; here at PC everyone I saw had great costumes on, from the classic Wizard of Oz quartet and the Flinstones, to some less conventional costumes, such as a Twister Board or a Girl Scout, complete with Thin Mints! Halloween on the Quad, another example of a great PC event, involved lots of candy, a hired DJ, and at least a few renditions of Michael Jackson's
"Thriller." I enjoyed the time in with my friends, and all of the costumes were fantastic. Even some of our professors and hall directors got into the festivities and dressed up, and in the end, everyone had a fantastic time enjoying the holiday. Just because you can't go door to door doesn't mean you can't enjoy the holiday, and Providence did a great job of making sure all of us did!
Enjoy the cool November weather everyone, and of course the leftover candy!
Oh, and if you're reading closely, you'll see I finally mentioned my girlfriend--guess I'll have to tell you all more about it later this week!
Hey folks, and hope that the weather wherever you are is better than it is here! We had rain earlier this week, and now the usual New England wind is whipping across campus, but I'm still seeing plenty of smiles across campus. People are getting geared up for Halloween, and I of course have a great costume planned (but you'll have to read here next Monday to find out what it is!)
So every Tuesday I head over to the Slavin facility to one of my favorite places on campus--the WDOM station. When you walk into the station, the first thing you notice is a room with wall to wall shelves of CD's, adjacent to a hallway adorned with numerous yinyl records and another room with the usual lumpy couches and half-assembled puzzle (this semester it's a Beatles album cover.) And, of course, the radio station itself, with boom mics, turntables, CD-players, and everything else I (or any other student who applies of course) needs to put on a great show. There's of course some personality required--monikers and On-Air personas are always great, and show names really let you get creative (case in point: my show is called Nailor @ Noon!)
Here's a quick photo a friend of mine took during my show last week:
I'm sure that a picture like that has got a lot of you asking "How can I get my own Radio Show?!?" Well, it's a surprisingly easy process--you pick up an application from the station, fill it out and hand it in at an interview with the Executive Board of the show, which includes Upperclassmen in charge of Publicity, all of our Adds (more on those later), PSA's, and of course positions like Program Director and Events Coordinator. Then, later that week if they like your proposal and have the room they give you a call and work out when you'll be having a show. Then you just come in, talk some, play some music, really whatever you want within reason of course. In addition, on each 2 hour show, each DJ is required to play/read at least 4 public service announcements, announce 2 Providence College events, announce the stations name and legal ID several times, and play 10 Adds. Adds come off albums by both big and little time artists and bands that are sent in to WDOM in order to reach more people on both PC campus and around the area. I've played everything from Flight of the Conchords to Brett Dennen, from bands like The Silver Jews to Wave by Wave. As for the rest of the content for the show, it is almost completely up to the DJ! This Tuesday I did a Halloween themed show, but I usually play both classic and contemporary Rock, while other shows do sports chatter, political call-ins, Rap/Hip-Hop, and everything in between! WDOM provides yet another chance on PC's campus for students to express themselves, and since it reaches across the Providence area it gives the school a lot of great exposure. We're hoping to get all the shows streaming online within the next few weeks, so if you find yourself with some free time, definitely listen in, and if you're in the Providence area, 91.3 FM carries our shows.
Remember, Nailor @ Noon on Tuesdays from 12 to 2 pm!
Enjoy the weekend everybody! Here's another picture of me in the station for you to enjoy!
Hey folks, of course, my deepest apologies for such a lack of entries! These past few weeks I went between being very sick (I'm all better now) to midterms here at PC (I'm through all of those) and basically, got swamped with stuff to do! However, I'm back on track now, and hopefully can get back into regular postings. For my first time back, I figured I'd talk about something new I've discovered here at Providence that showed me it was still possible for me to try and find new things to do--it's called "Zumba" and it was described to me as a dance-aerobics workout that was open to both sexes. Needless to say, when I came for my first class and was surrounded by young woman, I felt a little self conscious, but I've never been one to back down. After an hour of popping my hips, doing squats, and learning at least a few new dance moves, I was sweating profusely, in desperate need of a water bottle, and smiling ear to ear! I of course returned to class the next day, and the next, and along the way convinced at least a few of my buddies to tag along. Not all of them loved it as much as I had, but they all agreed that it was a tough workout and that they weren't allowed to tease me about taking the class anymore.
I realized with my Zumba class that although I am busy here at PC, I still do have the time to try new things if I'm willing to make the effort. I can admit that I ran myself ragged in high school trying to get involved, but I have to tell any readers I might have retained that you will be trying new things in college! Don't let yourself become so set in what you are already doing that you miss out on oppurtunities like this. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be doing anything too new besides having a show on the WDOM PC Radio Station here, but a free class in Concannon Fitness Center later, I can definitely say I'm a certified "Zumbi" as we like to call ourselves, and I have enjoyed every moment of it! In addition, of course, to the health benefits of the class as well as the fun new dance moves I'm learning (or at least attempting to learn,) I've made new friends, and realized a lot of new confidence I never knew I had. People will be telling you to try a lot of new things in college, and I highly reccomend that--but to take it a step further, try something you would have never dreamed of doing! You'll realize that even if something might not be your forte, it often helps you to learn a lot, and you'll probably end up enjoying it if you let go of your inhibitions. I'm not much of a dancer, and I'm also not a huge fan of aerobic workouts, but the combination of friendly people, and a good beat, has made sure that I go to Zumba class every day that I can!
Hey readers, hope you all had a great weekend! As for me, any of you that read my fellow freshman Hannah Moriggi's blog know that the two of us were on our PC Connections Retreat this past weekend. If you haven't gotten the chance to read about the first part of our great weekend, check out Hannah's blog here
After our photo scavenger hunt, the weekend continued with our 3rd delicious meal provided by the retreat center, and then another talk from one of our sophomore retreat leaders, Kelly, entitled "Freshman Year Hurdles." The talk centered around problems and difficulties she had faced during her freshman year at PC, and after we broke up into our small groups we discussed what we had seen as challenges thus far. My small group, the Awesome Armadillos as we called ourselves, discussed how oftentimes the biggest hurdle one has to face in college is yourself, that is the idea that we sometimes talk ourselves out of being who we really are and shooting for what we really want.
Following our great discussion and some Q&A with some of the adults in charge of Campus Ministry here at Providence, our leaders distributed to each team a Yellow pages ad which we had to act out in skit form--my group ended up with an ad for a Hair salon in the Providence area called "Matilda's Hair Extensions and Beauty Supplies" but I'll leave it up to the reader to guess who was cast as Matilda...well who am I kidding--it was me. After watching every group get up and perform (some highlights included our retreat leader Tim doing Zumba aerobics in short shorts and the general teasing of our Retreat Director Nate's mannerisms,) we trooped out for a wonderful campfire, in which we all joined in to sing plenty of classics from Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," to "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. Here's an image of yours truly during one such song, backed up by several of my new friends and of course earning confused stares from at least of them as well:
After a very early wake up, which my cabin-mates and I were unfortunate enough to miss, we had one of our final talks from the Senior Steve, entitled "Running the Race, Keeping the Faith." Steve, and our small group afterwards, talked about how even though it's tough when it comes to our faith, we need to ask a lot of tough questions, and even if we don't always find all the answers, we at least lead ourselves to ask BETTER questions. We also did affirmations for our small groupmates, which if you've never done them is when each member of the group takes a large piece of paper or a journal, writes their name at the top, and passes it down to each member of the group who writes whatever they think most appropriate as an affirmation, a challenge, words of gratitude or just best wishes. My affirmations are hanging on my Dorm Room wall as I'm typing this, although my camera cord is MIA at the moment, so I can't show everyone, and it's a fantastic way to sum up the weekend. Following this up with a last team Brunch, punctuated by some new games I had never played (including a group game called "Crocodili, Crocodili" which my leader Claire had to teach me,) kept our spirits high.
As the morning waned and the sun rose higher in the sky, we trooped into the main room of the Retreat center for our final talk, given by one of my group leaders Katie called "Victory Lap." It was about how even though freshman year is a huge part of our college experience, we do have 3 and a half more years to figure out what's going on with us, and to find our niche at PC. We then decorated paper "runners" to tape up to a huge paper "racetrack" our leaders had made for us, during which we all did our best to sum up the weekend, gave our thanks, and came up with some things we knew we would work on when we got back to campus. With that, we finished cleaning up, packing those few stray socks that had slipped under our temporary beds, and trouped back to campus. But our retreat wasn't over just yet--last night we, as a group, went to 10:30 PM mass in the St. Dominic Chapel, which if you have the chance to come for is something I highly recommend. Even as we parted ways with hugs and good cheer, we all could feel the connections we had made over the weekend.
As our retreat leader Nate said, though we good naturedly teased him over his phrasing, "Great friends don't just fall into your lap." The point of this weekend, in my opinion, was friendship, as well as the idea that we would need to be proactive if we wanted to find what we were missing about home and high school here at PC. The best part about it, though, is that the college offers so many amazing chances to do things like that, and it definitely starts with retreats like Transformations and Connections. If I had known that at the start of the weekend, this group of people dressed up for Olympic Games,
would become some of the best friends I'd made at school so far, I would have laughed. But in the end, we all connected as was the intent, and I am ever grateful to PC for giving me that opportunity.
Until next time readers, remember to keep on connecting, and realize that PC will make it easy for you to do so here if you're willing to open up with the people around you. And some face-paint doesn't hurt either!
Welcome back to my blog readers, I hope everyone is doing well as we draw closer to Friday--it's great that now I can say TGIF tomorrow, whereas at Canterbury all I had to look forward to was class on Saturday! I figured since I am just finishing up my homework that tonight would be a great chance for me to make a post about one aspect of PC that makes the school what it is for the academic in all of us. I am talking of course, about the required course for all PC freshman and sophomores, Development of Western Civilization.
Anywhere you go on PC's campus, you'll find some inkling of Western Civ's presence--whether it is the Juniors and Seniors wearing the famous "Done with Civ" shirts, or listening to most of us freshman being able to reference epics like Gilgamesh and The Odyssey with ease, it certainly makes a big impact for all of us. In case you haven't taken the time to look into what Civ is, here's a basic rundown: it's a required class, like I mentioned, and unlike most college courses, it meets every single day. Four professors run each section from four different departments: history, theology, literature, and philosophy. Each day, one of these teachers will lecture on their personal subject and how it relates to the section of study--for example, on Monday I had a lecture about Sophocles' play "Antigone", Wednesday I had a lecture on the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars and the rise of Athenian imperialism, today we discussed Aristophanes' "Lysistrata" and finally, tomorrow, my philosophy professor is lecturing on the Sophists, along with an overview of Socrates and Plato's work concerning him, "The Apology." In addition, once every week you will have your seminar class, in which a smaller group of students assigned to one of the four professors will discuss things in more depth. This week, my seminar with my theology professor Father Keegan involved us dwelling more on several important topics in "Antigone," and trust me, if you've never seen a Dominican Friar teach a group of sleepy eyed freshman at 8:30 in the morning, it's quite an experience!
There are other elements to Western Civ, of course, but you'll have to research more on your own for that--I heartily recommend checking it out on the other parts of the PC website, or better yet, ask your tour guide when you come visit! Every upperclassman I've met has great things to say about Civ, and it's clear that they have taken a great deal out of it, especially when they still reference it in class up to 2 years later!
I believe that Civ, more than anything else, shows Providence for what it is--a place where yes, students do choose a major and a focus of study, but more importantly, they learn to bring information from very different disciplines together. Not a class goes by that one of my professors doesn't reference something that another has said in the past, and there is nothing better when one of them decides to chime in on a lecture, especially in the wee hours of the morning when I get to enjoy Western Civ. In addition, when all of us take Western Civ, even with different teachers and slightly different materials (ex. some of us read the entirety of Homer's "The Iliad" while others concentrate more heartily on "The Odyssey,") we are all drawn together by the shared experience. No matter whether you are one of the vast majority who falls in Civ, or of the minority that might not enjoy it as much, it is a great experience, and I believe it draws together the class of 2012 than we might be otherwise. It provides a great question to start a conversation, and I can't tell you how many friends I've made when I'm strolling around campus and someone I bump into turns out to be in my class, or working out in the Concannon fitness center the person who's spotting me on the bench press decides to ask me about the "Epic of Gilgamesh." Especially now, when all of us are still getting our feet wet, I think that this shared experience draws all of the Freshman class together in a way that will continue to develop over the years.
Almost all of the upperclassmen I have talked with about Western Civ have said that they miss it--many say that it adds a certain amount of centrality to their schedule, while others miss seeing the same people every day for an entire year. Still others reminisce about how close they were with seminar professors they may have met on the first day, and still others still have funny stories to tell from class. I recommend to any of you who have yet to stay on campus for any classes to see what Western Civ is all about--it is certainly a vital part to the Providence College experience, and if I can say that after only a few weeks, I can only hope it gets even better!
Hey everyone! Welcome to new readers, and welcome back to those of you who read my introductory blog last week, I hope that at least a few of you did come back around to check out what I was all about. For my first entry of the year, I decided to write about something that many of my fellow college bound friends were at the very least apprehensive about on their way to move in day: Roommates. Those people who you, obviously share a living space with for (hopefully) the remainder of the school year. However, more importantly, they are your safety net for your first few tumultuous weeks. Providence College, like nearly every University, does a roommate survey that they send out during the early spring with your housing application, and which you are expected to fill out truthfully to assist them in picking a good roommate, or roommates in many cases.
Most parents, especially mothers (at least in my case) are very worried about roommates. Naturally so, because their children are leaving home for an extended period of time, and a parent can only hope that the people their child shares a living space with are ‘good kids’ in every sense of the word. What I can say, parents, is that while not everyone can have a perfect match, the Providence College makes a great effort to make sure your children are living with someone they’ll like. Moreover, as for the kids, remember: these could be the best friends you make at PC, so keep an open mind!
Having gone to boarding school, I had lived in a double for at least one year, so I knew somewhat to expect when I got here. I can confidently say, however, that I was blown away. My roommates, Marc and Mike, are two of my best friends here at Providence, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. While our music tastes may not always be the same, while we may not always have the cleanest room in McDermott Hall (well my area at least!) and while we are not together 24/7, they are definitely some of the coolest guys I know. Both of them are hardworking individuals, with a knack for making me laugh in very different ways, and they are both very understanding of someone like me who, even I’ll admit, is not always easy to live with, for whatever reason. But more than that, I think that the best aspect of our room is that we are all the type of person who wants to make friends, which means that we are more than willing to share our stuff, to spend time together and finally to talk through anything that might happen to us. Communication is a skill that, if you aren't already, you should work on quite a bit before you come to any college, and here at PC if you communicate well, I think you will find that your roommates are great people to live with when you give them a chance.
I find that my fast friendship with my roommates isn't out of the ordinary here at PC--it's something that I notice all around the dorm really. The people you live with become your friends, and therefore your friends become your family. And if your friends are your family, well then Marc and Mike are the brothers I always wish I had.
In the end folks, what I'm trying to get across is that you shouldn't go in apprehensive about your roommates. If you keep an open-mind, and if you are willing to communicate, you will have a great experience. Providence College goes to great lengths, from your summer questionnaire to your roommate agreements and beyond, to make sure that all of the folks who you live with are, if not your best friends, at least on the same page as you. Be ready for a great new experience, and be ready to make some new friends along the way come move-in day--I know I sure got both!
My name is Thomas Halsey Nailor, usually Tom for short and most of my friends call me Nailor. I’m originally from New Canaan, a small town in Fairfield County, Connecticut. As for my place on the Providence College campus, I live in the McDermott dorm on the basement floor along with my two roommates Mike and Marc--I'm sure I’ll reference them quite extensively in future blog entries.
Before coming to the Providence College, I attended the Canterbury School, a smaller Catholic college preparatory school located in New Milford, CT. New Milford is about an hour away from my hometown, so I naturally boarded which was a fantastic experience that I think more than prepared me to live in the dorm here on campus. As much as I don’t like to toot my own horn, I was quite the big fish in a little pond at Canterbury, so it’s quite a shock being in such a big place as Providence. However I have always relished a challenge, and I think if anything it will be at least interesting to not see the same 350 faces every day.
Here at PC, I’m hoping to become involved in numerous activities but some that I’ve seen around campus that I’ll do my best to tell you all about when I’m more deeply ingrained are The Cowl (our newspaper,) Rejects on the Rise (an improvisational sketch comedy group I saw on campus this past Saturday) and Campus Ministry. Other than that I’m sure I’ll find some new things to try (my roommates and I are thinking of starting a 3 on 3 basketball team for instance) but I’ll keep everyone posted on that front. I like to think of myself as an active member of whatever community I am a part of, so hopefully I’ll have quite a few stories to tell.
Other than whatever I may be involved in, I enjoy a wide variety of things in my spare time. When asked, I usually quote writing and lifting weights as my two favorite activities, which I think surprises many people. As I like to say, I am a firm believer in “Mens Sana in Corpore Sano” which is Latin for “A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body.” That is to say, I think that neither pure physical nor pure mental ability can get you anywhere--you have to have balance in my opinion. Other than these two things, I also enjoy reading, listening to lots of different types of music, and of course just messing around with my friends, as I’m always up for a laugh.
Finally, I guess I had better answer the most basic questions people ask when it comes to describing myself. I am Roman Catholic, as well as being a Conservative when it comes to the political race, though I try not to let either of those define me to others. I enjoy a wide variety of music but my two favorite bands are the Red Hot Chili Peppers and anything by Bruce Springsteen. I have a great passion for movies, and my favorites are comedies, especially “Caddyshack” and “Spaceballs.” I wish I could list all of my favorite books, but I think it would end up taking far too much room here--if you would like to know some of them, just ask away readers! My favorite TV shows include “Scrubs” and “Law and Order” (surprising for a declared English major, no?) and my favorite sport is hockey, more specifically the New York Rangers.
I hope I’ve given you at least a small glimpse into who I am, and I hope that as you read my blog this year you’ll be able to not only get a great idea of what an amazing place Providence College is, in addition to a more accurate portrait of who I am. Hope you all keep reading and best of luck with the college process to those of you who are going through it!
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