This weekend was chock full of fun activities. Friday night, I headed down to my hometown of West Chester, PA to celebrate my friend Kate’s 23rd birthday. It was an adventure being with all of my friends from school in a city other than Scranton, and it was nice to be at home, even if it was for about ten hours. On Saturday, my friend Brian, who is a junior in high school, came to visit me and take a look at the school. As I gave him a tour, I was surprisingly at a loss as to what to tell him. There are so many awesome things about Scranton that I did not even know where to start. I wanted to just say, look around you at the beautiful trees, our new building, and the students who say hi to each other as they pass each other on the commons. The construction of our new “grassy spot” is coming along, and it was cool to show him all of the new things that are popping up all over campus. The “grassy spot” is going to have an amphitheater in it, which will be awesome for classes to be held outside in the fall and spring seasons. I am sad that I will be missing that.
On Sunday, my roommate and my friends Red and Shauna, and I went to see the production of Godspell which was put on by Liva Arts Company. Liva Arts is run by students and they put on musicals which are directed by students, acted in by students, and produced by students. My friend Greg directed the musical, and had put his heart and soul into the production. He worked so hard, and he is basically so talented that I knew I would not want to miss a play that he put together. My friend Tony, also current president of the men’s crew team, played Jesus, so that was also a reason to attend. Tickets were only five dollars for a student, which makes it well worth the entertainment, seeing as how it costs more to get into a movie in the theater. All I have to say was that the play was AWESOME. The audience was really into everything that the students were doing in the stage, and I was definitely caught up with the stories being told and the people telling them. By the end, a lot of the people in the audience had tears in their eyes, and it was really amazing to think that my peers pulled the whole thing together.
This weekend was packed with fun adventures and activities, and I am happy to say that I was able to attend Godspell and show my friend around campus.
It has happened…since my last blog, the wonderful warm days have become not so random and spring has officially arrived at the University of Scranton. Since the last time that I wrote, campus has become a flurry of activity. From construction workers, student clubs, classes, and faculty, everyone seems to be aware that spring is here and the end of the semester is upon us. This has different implications for all of the above groups.
For the construction workers…they finally can stop working in the cold and can semi-enjoy the sun…as well as attempt to meet the deadline of finishing our nice, grassy area for graduation. For student clubs, various activities have been here and gone. Specifically the justice club had a sleep out for homeless awareness and a thirty hour fasting for hunger awareness. This is an annual event held every year, and all students, even those not participating can be affected by this event, just by being in touch with the students who are. Classes and faculty are affected in a great way for students. Faculty recognizes the “spring fever” that students have…because they have it as well…it seems to be something that you never really grow out of. To help cope with this sickness, some faculty hold class outside, which is an unexpected and welcome surprise to students.
For seniors, this is a sad but anticipated time. We have been waiting for the carefree spring of senior year, but at the same time, we recognize that this is our last Scranton spring together. Trying to fit everything we want to do into the next six weeks should be an adventure, and will definitely leave me with stories for the next few blogs. So keep reading…
Spring in Scranton has finally arrived…sort of. In Scranton, spring is…well, interesting. I say interesting for a few reasons. The first being the weather, which seemingly cannot figure out that it is past March 20th, and still wants to sleet and snow. There is nothing like a gorgeous day in Scranton, but in the beginning of the spring, these days are teases. It will be 60 degrees and sunny one day and we will have a snow day the next. This is quite frustrating to students who just want to sit out on the commons all day in the sun. When I complain about the weather, my sister Susan always says, “well that’s the beauty of Scranton.” Susan, who now lives in New Orleans, misses our crazy weather and our distinct change in seasons, and keeps telling me to enjoy it while it lasts, because pretty soon I’ll be in the real world.
Another fun thing about the spring, is the time that the students spend sitting out on the commons together. The commons is what we call the area right outside our student center. Last year, my friend Adam sat outside on the commons for so long, that he ended up with what we call a “commons tan,” which is basically really tan knees and face…very attractive. The commons is a huge part of the Scranton experience. Students barbeque, play games, do schoolwork, and just hangout. This year, new things will emerge from the spring. Since the building of our new student center, DeNaples, and the destruction of our old student center, Gunster, the commons have now been obliterated. Students will have to discover a new commons, where we can enjoy the randomly warm days that the spring in Scranton offers us. Hopefully, by the next blog, those randomly warm days won’t be so random, and we will be out on the new commons getting some “commons tans.”
So, life at The University of Scranton has been incredibly busy, hence the reason that I missed my blog last week. No worries, I am back and ready to chat (cheesy, I know). I have a few things to catch you up on before I start talking about my main topic for today. First of all, we had our first real SPRING day in Scranton last week. I could have sat outside at midnight and had a conversation with someone it was so warm. Thank goodness, I am so ready for spring and all the life it brings to the campus. The construction is going well. Gunster is being knocked down as we speak, and I think everyone is doing a good job making the adjustment to DeNaples. It is weird to think that when you guys attend school here, you will not even know what Gunster was really all about. Sad, but progress is progress, and DeNaples really has a lot to offer the students.
Ok, so the point of my blog today is to talk to you about Royal Nights. Once you have gone through the admissions process here at the University and get accepted, you have the unique opportunity to attend an event called Royal Nights. Ok, so first of all, I’ll explain the name. We are the Scranton Royals…and you spend the night…easy enough. The event usually happens on three separate Sundays in Mondays in February or March. The reason I think that it is important to let you know about this event is because it really is an awesome opportunity, and if possible, you should really take advantage of it. As soon as you get invited, send your RSVP card in though, that way you get the date that you want. So, what happens is you come on a Sunday afternoon and you stay with a host (someone who lives on campus). The next day you attend classes that go along with your major and get a chance to explore the campus. It may not sound like much, but I think it is a great thing to do, especially if you are struggling with where you want to go to school and where you really see yourself. You get to be a student for the day and experience what life would be like for you as a freshman in college. I am an indecisive person, so events such as royal nights, are things that I think really help in the college selection process. If you can relate to my indecisiveness, then royal nights will be a good thing for you to consider.
Ok…now, I am all blogged out and I need to go and do some work…or play, seeing as how it is Wednesday and I am done classes for the week. Oh, the life of a college senior.
As the routine of the spring semester becomes normal, planning for the next year begins, and for us seniors, this is a big deal. I mean, you are always planning ahead for summer jobs and internships, but now, we have to plan where we will begin the next chapter in our lives. This is a scary prospect, but one that cannot be avoided. The University has a lot of tools and resources to help students plan efficiently, the main resource being Career Services.
I know I have talked about Career Services in the past, but I have never truly appreciated the fact that I can make an appointment and have a professional look over my resume, and help improve upon it, in order to make me a better candidate for positions that I am applying for. As many of you know, from reading my previous blogs, I am in the combined BS/MS program here at the University, so I really do not need to plan all that much for the next year and a half. This is only half true. Facing a year and a half without my core group of friends is scary, and the main question that ran through my head is where am I going to live, and who am I going to live with? That question got answered last week with the ending of the RA application process. I got accepted as an RA for the next school year, which is so awesome. I think the experience will give me some great skills for my future as a school counselor, as well as it gives me a place to live and a meal plan for next year.
I have applied to other long-term service programs in order to give myself some options, just in case at the end of this year I decide I need a break from being a full time student. It all comes down to deciding what I really want and going for it. My friend Kevin always tells me to decide what I want and then to make good choices…easier said than done. As the semester continues and options become available to me, the real question is what do I really want?
Intersession has sadly come to a close, and here we all are attempting to get back into the swing of things. It’s a lot easier said than done. I have an awesome schedule this semester. I only have class on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and then I am done for the week. The problem is, my classes are tedious and not all that easy. On Wednesday, I am in class from 3-10PM, which is a long day and it’s weird getting out of class at such an ungodly hour. On the plus side, with the end of intersession old friends return. It was nice to hang out with my roommate for a bit and catch up on all of the things that we had done over break. She had done a service trip to Appalachia, so she had a lot of fun stories and pictures to share with me. It’s weird to think that this is my last spring semester as an undergrad. This is my last semester at a school I love with people I love, and I want to make the most of it. Intersession was a good time. I managed to meet a few new, quite fun people, which is nice for a change. By the time you hit senior year, you don’t really move out of your own group of friends, so it was cool to hang out with some different people. I am pretty jealous of you potential students who are going to get to come into Scranton in the next couple of years, and form friendships and bonds with new people. College is a chance to reinvent yourself and to push yourself to new limits. That sounds really cheesy, but I hope that I live up to my potential over this marking period, and really experience all that Scranton has to offer me. For example, my roommate and I went to the new student center (DeNaples) last Monday and watched the movie Enchanted in the new movie theater on the fourth floor. It was awesome. It has actual theater style seating and a big screen that comes down from the ceiling. I thought it was such a good time; I can’t wait until they show another movie. Plus, it’s free…you can’t beat that. The spring concert was announced and Lifehouse and Matt Nathanson will be coming here in a couple of months, which is also very exciting. So, I guess what I am saying is this spring semester has the potential of being one of the best semesters that I have here at Scranton, and I can’t wait to share everything I do with you guys, and hopefully make your decision to come to Scranton that much easier.
Wow, it has been a long time, and I have so much to say. The semester ended with me continuing my bad study habits…which ultimately did hurt me, but not enough for me to be sad about it. I had too much fun to regret an A- or two. Christmas break was long, as usual, but it was nice to be home with the family for a bit before returning back to good old Scranton. From the title of my blog, I guess you can tell what I am going to talk about…yup, my service trip to Alaska.
Our group had to meet at the Avoca airport at 4:45 AM. I thought I had gotten rid of the early mornings when I handed over the captainship to Kak, but no, there I was, waking up at 4:15. Our group was amazing. Our chaperone, who we nicknames Babs had a lot to handle with us, but all in all, I think she enjoyed us. Besides Babs and myself, there were five other girls on the trip: Alexandra, Sarah, Kak, Rita, and Karen. We did not really know each other very well going into the trip, but after countless hours of traveling together and sleeping one room on mattresses…we bonded a lot.
Alaska was beautiful. I can’t even describe what it was like to wake up every morning and be surrounded by spectacular mountains. Every day was breathtaking. I can’t even believe that I have been to the place that I took pictures of. Besides the beautiful scenery, the house was stayed in was also awesome. We lived with the Jesuit Volunteers while we were there, one of whom is a recent Scranton grad. It was really interesting to live with them, and learn about the way that they life (simply).
We went to different locations to perform service: A domestic violence shelter, a home for homeless children, a soup kitchen, an old people’s home, an AIDS prevention clinic, and even to mental health court. Each location was unique, and although we could find most of those types of locations in Scranton, it was really interesting to get a different perspective on each of the areas. I really enjoyed going to the old peoples home (Providence), which is really strange foe me, because usually, I am a little uncomfortable with elderly. Going into the experience, I promised myself that I would push myself to get over some of my discomforts and hopefully learn from the experience. While at Providence, I really learned how to appreciate what the elderly have to offer. It was such a rewarding experience and I am so happy that I was able to partake in it.
There’s too much to say about the trip for me to include in this blog, but if I had some advice to offer you, it would be to take advantage of all that The University of Scranton has to offer when it comes to service. Even if you are just in Scranton, the experience will be rewarding.
If you don’t like the sound of my title…you are most likely a very smart person and will fare well here at The University of Scranton. New study tactics, hmmm. You may think that by this title I could mean new, improved study tactics, and if you are thinking that, you are wrong. No, I did not learn how to have a photographic memory, and no, I did learn the art of meditating which made me more able to focus. My new study tactics are more like new procrastination habits.
Yeah, as my friend Kak would say, bad news bears. I am in the midst of finals week. Two more days to go, and I am a free woman, but it’s getting those two days out of the way and all the work completed that I am struggling a bit with. Today I had a final at 5:15 for my Professional Issues in School Counseling. Now, this class is no joke. It is one of my graduate classes and it is rather demanding…aka…I need to study for the final. Last night, I read over all the chapters and then turned in, planning on doing some more intense review during the day. Well, the day began with a bang. I woke up at 9 AM and got straight to work. That lasted until around noon, and I hit a wall. That was it, I was done. No more studying for Christine. What did I do instead? I downloaded music off of iTunes. Brad Paisley Christmas Album = stupendous. If you are going to go on a procrastination spending spree, I suggest the purchase. All in all, the final went quite well – meaning that my bad habits are being reinforced, and I think that if I continue along this path…studying will no longer be a necessary part of finals week for me.
Besides finals being finals, Scranton is great. Walking through campus at night is glorious, because all of the Christmas lights are up. Looking up the Commons there are lit up wreathes on every lamppost and of course, the gigantic Christmas tree on the patio, with the manger underneath. There is nothing like The University of Scranton during Christmas time. It really does sometimes seem like the “Miracle in the Mountains.?
Today was the big day…crew elections. I have been in charge of the crew team for a whole year, and it was finally time for me to step down, and let another ambitious girl attempt to run the team. The women’s team held elections and then we met up with the men’s team to play a fun-spirited game of dodgeball. In the midst of dead week it was really nice to take an hour with the team and just goof around. Dead week has once again swept in with a vengeance, making an attempt to take away the Advent/Christmas spirit with its wave of assignments and pre-finals studying. I often wonder how a week which is supposed to be about preparing for finals turned into a dreaded week where multiple hardcore assignments are all due at once…but I figure I will never be able to figure it out, so I just try to take it as it comes. My roommate, Margaret, and I have been doing a really good job of not stressing out and just staying on top of our work. Sure, we took a two hour break to watch Chuck and Larry, another 2 hour break to watch some reruns of Project Runway, and yet another break to chat with our apartment mates…but who’s counting? It may sound like slacking, but after three years of experiencing the craziness of dead week, we both know that if we don’t take time to relax, we will reach a peak of mad insanity by the middle of finals week. This mad insanity can come in different forms…eating enough chocolate to feed a family of eight for a year, crying whenever anyone looks at you, biting off someone’s head when they ask you a question. So, basically, it’s a much better idea to plan hot chocolate breaks, movie breaks, and cookie baking breaks. These breaks hold you over until the highly anticipated Christmas break, which always seems like it is never going to come, and then…it does. We had our Advent mass this Sunday, which was as beautiful as ever. I know I blogged about the mass last year, but this year, there was snow on the ground which added to the beauty of the evening. Father Pilarz gave an awesome homily on the Advent Season and living in the present. The mass and tree lighting was followed by hot chocolate, cookies, free mugs, and pictures with Santa Claus…aka…more fun pre-finals breaks (the administration is in on the procrastinating thing…joke). The following week and a half is going to be rough, but the end will come quicker than I think, it always does. Soon, I will be at home enjoying the Christmas movie season, which this year is better than ever. Before I start rambling about Oscar hopefuls, I am going to sign off, and say…I will be blogging again next Wednesday in the turmoil of finals week!
After reading my last blog I can’t help but giggle, because here I am, once again, behind. On a positive note, by not writing for a while, I tend to have more to write about. So, here it goes. Crew season is officially over. The last regatta was eventful, but nice at the same time. The captain of the men’s team, Greg, could not make it on Saturday, which does not seem like a huge deal…but it made the day a little different. Greg tends to be a little more calm, cool, and collected in stressful situations, while I, on the other hand, flip out. In other words, he tends to ground me a bit, so with him being gone, I had to ground myself. I made out ok, but I was a little relieved when he got to the hotel on Saturday night and I could hand off the cool, calm, collected role to the person who carries it well. Something happened on Sunday which made me really respect the girls on my team. I had to scratch a boat from a race, because there was a race conflict. In layman’s terms, we only have one 8-man boat, and two different sets of girls’ race in it, but their races were too close. So, I had to tell one set of girls that after all of their training, their race had to be cancelled to let another boat row. The girls were great about it, and I was really proud of them for supporting their teammates and not getting upset about the situation. This was a really hard thing for me to do as captain, and it left me very frustrated with the way the Scranton crew team has to be run. The team has so much potential, but when it is completely student-run there are so many things that have to be put aside. Hopefully, the school can do something to improve upon this. I will be handing the team over to able girls, who I hope can get the word out there about how completely amazing the sport is, and hopefully get us some more support.
So, enough preaching, it is time to explain my title. Many of you can probably automatically finish the saying with, “but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.? Lately in my life this has been true. I have so many expectations for myself, and I tend to hold myself to a pretty high standard. I struggle sometimes when it comes to giving myself a break. I worry and I stress out (as you can probably tell from my frantic speech in my other blogs). Yesterday, I got a grade in one of my classes, and I was a little disappointed with it. I come from a family where an “A? is the only acceptable grade, and I have always aimed high. Although, I did understand some of the reasoning behind my grade, there were some things that I questioned. I was venting about this to my friend Marc, who, always one to put things in perspective, played the song in my title for me. He then began to talk about looking at the bigger picture and basically not to sweat the small stuff. So, with that being said, I am going to try to not be so hard on myself…I can’t wait to see how long I can pull that off. Another big thing that happened since the last time I blogged, I made a decision to apply for one of the domestic service trips the University is offering over Intersession. I got in, and I am heading for Alaska in January. It was a big decision for me even to apply, because the trip costs $1000.00, and I do not have that money. With only a month to fundraise, I knew I could get in over my head, which is not something that I wanted for my last month of the semester. But, I decided to take a leap of faith, and I am going, and I am so excited about it.
Although this blog did not discuss The University of Scranton in detail, one thing that I think was a strong theme was the people in my life. The people that I have met and surrounded myself with here at The University of Scranton help to make me the person that I am. It sounds sentimental, but at the University you meet people who help you to become the best version of yourself….what more could you ask for from a University?
You may be confused about my title, but I am behind in blogging, and that is the new story of my life…being behind. November is here and with it comes a lot of things, for starters cold weather. Every year there is one more, one distinct morning, when I wake up and ask myself “Why am I here, why did I come to school in Scranton when I could be in Florida, Arizona, or California?? I hate being cold, there is nothing worse to waking up in the morning and not wanting to get out of bed because there is frost everywhere. That feeling eventually goes away when I remember all of the things I love about winter in Scranton. For starters, my favorite mass of the year is the Christmas mass followed by the tree lighting, snow days followed by 80 degree weather, skiing, hot chocolate dates with friends.
With November also comes the beginning of the end of crew season. This year, the end of the season is a little bittersweet. I feel like I had so many plans and goals for the team this year, and I was not able to accomplish them. I am also behind on paperwork…of course. So, if I am seen on campus, I am usually a blur, running from one place to another trying to get things done. After Frostbite/Bill Braxton, I will hand the team on to some other ambitious captain, who most likely will have plans and goals for the team, and who also, will probably find herself running around in November trying to keep up with paperwork/
It is now crunch time in the land of academia. Thanksgiving break is looming ahead of us…which means…dead week is soon…too soon. Staying on top of work is taking a lot of skill. I have to do lists scattered around my room. In true senior style, these lists are half finished of course. Let’s see…other senior things done: last course registration ever is over, senior portraits are taken, planning for the future is occurring.
The big event in Scranton last weekend was the Office Convention. Al Roker and the Today Show were here on Friday morning, followed by all kind of cool things happening in the city. I had a regatta to attend, so the only event I made it to was the Today Show. I was planning on going down a bit later, but at 4:30 AM, I was awakened from my beauty sleep by all the screaming students. I reluctantly gave in, and threw on a purple shirt and walked down to the insanity that is Scranton students at 4:30 AM. As I was walking, I was thinking about how much things have changed from when I was a freshmen. Freshmen year, walking down to a huge event like this alone would have been terrifying and out of the question. Plans would have been made and a group of friends gathered. As a senior, I feel comfortable walking alone to an event, confident that I will see someone I know. That is one thing that is nice about Scranton’s size. There are just enough people that you can always meet someone new, but you are always going to see a familiar face as well. Anyway, the Today Show was so much fun, we met people from the show, and I managed to get home by 10 AM. It was a packed day, because I then had to leave for a regatta that ended up being cancelled because of the rain…story of my life.
Fall break is finally here. No more tests, quizzes, papers, nothing but time to do nothing. Oh breaks, how I love them. What I don’t like is the drive home in order to get to the break time. I guess it can’t be helped though. At least this year I have company. I drove home with my sister Kathryn and her friend Karen. It was nice to have people to talk to in order to prevent sleepiness when driving. Break was so so nice. I worked at Rita’s one day over break, because my brother needed someone to cover for him. It was weird being back at work when it was not summer time. It was the last day that Rita’s was open and the customers were a little nuts. People buy quarts upon quarts because they can’t make it through the winter without their Rita’s. One man even came and bought nineteen quarts of mango…nineteen. I do not even know how someone would fit nineteen quarts of mango in a normal freezer. Who knows, maybe they have a special “Rita’s freezer? in their house. People never cease to amaze me. Anyway, it was also homecoming week at my high school. This was really exciting for Kathryn, because she still knows people in school, but for me it was just strange. The freshmen look like they are about twelve years old. They just look so little. I basically felt ancient. I was really into homecoming when I was in high school. I did the floats and hall decorations, so it was weird to see people working so hard like I used to work and looking so young. When I was in high school, I definitely did not think that I was young. Just one more thing to tack on to the long list of reasons that I feel old. I did manage to get some work done over break. I interviewed my high school guidance counselor and my cross country coach for a paper assignment that I have due in my Professional Issues class. I discussed the counseling program at my high school with both of them, and it was actually really interesting. It’s hard to get excited about an assignment that requires four interviews and a paper, but now that I have finished all the interviews, I am interested to see how the paper turns out. Too bad I did not write that yet. I managed to get a ton of sleep over break but no homework done. I need to get on that because I am heading to Notre Dame over the weekend :D
So, from my title, you can tell I am a bit excited, as I very well should be. The McAndrew Cup was on Saturday, and the team won!!! It was a long day in Wilkes-Barre, which started in the early AM hours. The team was really excited to finally be competing. This is our first race and we have been practicing since the end of August, so the team was itching to get out on the river and compete. The McAndrew Cup takes place on the river that we practice on so it was not a far drive, which is nice for a change. Past regattas have been as close as Philly or as far away as Saratoga, NY or Connecticut, so a twenty minute drive is nothing. We had gorgeous weather for a change also. The crew team has this bad habit of picking days to compete that involve heavy rain…very heavy rain. So basically, we had perfect weather in a perfect location. The races started out without any huge problems. I tend to be a bit of a spaz when I am working under pressure, which you can probably tell from my blogs, but Greg, the captain of the boys team usually manages to keep my mostly sane. I was able to race in a mixed 8 race, which was awesome, because I haven’t really been rowing, just managing and hopping in boats when I am needed. The mixed 8 race was not the smoothest to say the least, but it was nice to be in a boat with experienced rowers. Mixed races are always fun because they are a bit more relaxed. Most of the time, teams do not practice in mixed boats, so it is hard to be extremely competitive in a boat that has never practiced. All of the other boats competed well in front of our home crowd. This year, we had a good amount of friends and family come and check out the race. It was really nice to have other students at a race seeing what crew is all about and the work that goes into it. The races ended and the points were tallied and we came out on top. It was really really exciting because last year, we only lost by a few points, so we wanted to win the cup pretty bad, and we did! The first thing I did was call Matt, the previous boys captain, because he wanted the cup so bad last year. I wanted to let him know we redeemed ourselves. Regatta days are always long, even if they are only twenty minutes away. I was completely exhausted by the end of the day, but also completely satisfied. Our next regatta is at the end of October and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Coming off of last week…I knew I needed to prepare myself for this one. Every day I had something due, I had practice four mornings this week, and on Friday afternoon I had my first stats test. So, I dubbed this week “focus week.? All of my friends made fun of me, because my away message for an entire week said “focus week,? but I was not messing around, I was on a mission and I did not want to stray from my goals. My big issue was the stats test I had on Friday. I was scared, and when I say scared, I mean petrified. My professor had informed us that tests are usually a learning experience and most people don’t finish her, and most people do not get A’s. This was supposed to make me feel better how? Thursday afternoon comes and my brain hurt, I was itching to see the sun, because I was inside all day studying. It was getting to the point where I was not retaining anything; I was just staring at the pages wishing that I could fast-forward to Saturday, or at least Friday at 2:00PM. I went out to the courtyard outside my room, and starting to review outside. There was a lot of activity around me, and I realized that I had completely forgotten about my residence hall barbeque. All residence assistants (RA’s) are required to have a certain amount of activities planned for the dorm, and a barbeque sometime towards the beginning of the semester usually occurs. You may be thinking just what I needed…something to distract me from my focus…but really…I was thinking, just what I need, some Scranton cookies. I always joke that I came to Scranton because they have good cookies here, but you know, sometimes, I am a bit serious. They are delicious. When you come up to visit the school…steal some for later, put them in your pockets, in your mom’s purse...ok, I am getting carried away, but they are good. So, after I filled my tummy with cookies, I decided maybe I was ready for this test. Enter: smart stats student from my class, who immediately starts talking about the test. All of a sudden, I think I know nothing and begin to panic. My heart was racing. I felt so silly. Here I am a big, bad senior, and I am scared of a test. Just when I thought I would pass out from the stress, my phone rang. It was my best friend from Notre Dame, Kevin. I, of course, am always excited to talk to him, but this phone call was extremely exciting because we planned a time for me to come and visit him…which is something I should have done years ago, but of course, time got away from me and I never did. After hanging up the phone, I was calm, cool, and collected. I was ready to face statistics with a brave face…and maybe even do well. So, looking back, what did I learn? Well, I learned that one moment can be a turning point in your day. In my case two moments (the wonderful cookies and a great phone call). How did the stats test go? Well, I didn’t finish it…and I am sure I did not get an A, but all in all, I feel pretty confident (and I am praying for a curve)!
You know the week is going to be rough when you find yourself sitting in your 9 AM class on Monday thinking, “wow, I am really awake for a Friday morning.? Yeah…that is how this week started out, and it was a long one. Every day dragged on for an eternity with Friday seeming to never get here. I didn’t talk about my school schedule/work week in the last blog, so let me clue you in on what I have been up to on campus for the past couple of weeks.
As I have mentioned before, I am a counseling/theology major. This semester I am taking 18 credits: 6 counseling, 9 theology, and 3 psychology. I am used to having a heavy course load, I usually do it every semester, but this semester it has been really hard for me to adjust. The psychology class I am taking is statistics, which is a tough class, and both of my counseling classes are graduate level. I did not know what I was undertaking with the graduate classes. They require a ton of reading and a ton of projects on top of that. The classes are interesting because they are very focused on the career I want to eventually be employed in, but that doesn’t make the workload any easier to handle. On top of the classes and working in the admissions office, the crew team also requires a lot of work. I feel like I am constantly sending e-mails, filling out paperwork, and attending mandatory meetings. So to put it bluntly…I’m a little stressed.
I have always lived by the motto “work hard, play hard,? so I think this week was stressful, because I could not find time to breathe and just sit down with my friends and eat ice cream or chit chat about our favorite shows. I do still live on campus though, so all of my friends are right around the corner, which is nice. I love living on campus and I think it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Scranton guarantees housing for four consecutive years, and I took advantage of that. I love all of the maintenance people and I love being on campus surrounded by people I know and trust. My classes are really close and the more importantly…the cafeteria is right behind our dorm. You never know when you might need that late night snack to get you through a study session.
The weekend is going to come to a close very soon, and a new school week will be beginning. I am hoping on Monday morning at 9 AM, I will not be tricking myself into thinking that it is Friday and I will be fully prepared for all of my classes all week. Hey…a girl can hope right?
Wow!!! Another school year has come to a start. I cannot believe how the summer flew by, but I think that is always the case. Being back on campus is awesome, but weird also. I am a senior now, so I am doing a lot of lasts. For example, last first day of school, last Italian Festival, last Mass of the Holy Spirit, last freshmen move-in. All of these events have become a part of my life and it’s weird to start having to say goodbye…and it’s only September. The upcoming months should be interesting.
Campus has changed quite a bit over the summer. New buildings are appearing and old ones are gone. The big change is the new student center, which looked like a skeleton when we left in May. It now looks real. That seems silly to say, but its amazing to see the transformation occurring. I watched them survey the ground sophomore year, and now I will be eating in a new cafeteria next semester. Scranton is also building a new sophomore dorm, which I think is an awesome idea. The housing lottery will not be as stressful this year for upcoming sophomores.
The crew team is also doing some rebuilding. We have relocated to Wilkes-Barre, where we now row with the Wilkes team. This is awesome for the team because in the upcoming year or so we will finally have a boat house, which is something that I did not think I would ever see. The school has purchased us a launch, which is so exciting because not only is it safer for us to be out on the water, it is also a very handy practice tool. With the new girls, the team totals 35 rowers, which is huge. The sport is growing in popularity and I see a great future for the team here.
Well, that was a short intro to the blogging. I will be writing once a week, and probably a lot more than this in blogs to come!
Well, I am so far behind on these blogs, that I cannot even “fake it? and try to catch up. So, I will just start fresh and hope that in the next couple of weeks, I can keep myself on track. Last time I blogged, I was talking about scheduling my classes and graduate school. Well, my classes are registered for, and I am still waiting to hear if I got accepted or not from the graduate school. This is a little stressful, because a few people I know have already gotten their acceptance letters, and I am still waiting for mine. It has only been a couple of days, but I am still anxious, and just want the letter to come. I am sure most of you felt that way about your top choice colleges, so you know how I am feeling.
School has been really stressful and busy. The crew team had a bit of trouble when we flipped a boat at morning practice. Everyone was ok, thank goodness. I had to meet with a lot of people in the school to file accident reports and verify what happened. I was a really busy and stressed out person for a couple of days. The school is now looking into helping us out by getting a launch for us, which is a boat that would follow behind our boats during practice. So, something positive did come out of something negative. We cancelled our next two regattas, which I know was really disappointing, because we really look forward to them every year, but I thought it was better for the team. We will just have to train hard and prove ourselves next year in the fall.
The weather has been completely ridiculous. Last Monday, it snowed here in Scranton. We got around 4 inches of snow, and school was cancelled after 2 PM. This was on April 16. I could not believe it. I had brought a lot of my winter clothes home over spring break, and once again, I was forced to bundle up to walk to class. Then, this Monday, it was 65 degrees at nine o’clock in the morning. We hit 80 in the afternoon. I could not believe that the weather changed so drastically from one Monday to the next. My older sister said that that was the beauty of Scranton. I just think it’s absurd, but I guess we can go with beauty too.
With nice weather, the campus comes alive. People sit on the commons all day, and if you are off campus, everyone is out on the roof or the porch. A few lucky classes have professors who will take them outside to teach. With the nice weather comes the tendency to want to not go to class or do any work whatsoever and just sit in the sun. It is hard to resist those urges, but I have been managing so far.
The semester is beginning to feel over, which is crazy. I do not even know what to think about that, especially since this year, I know a ton of people graduating. I think I am in denial that a lot of my friends will not be around next year. Scranton is not going to be the same without them. For the time being, I am going to continue being in denial and deal with it when it happens (true counseling major).
So that was the update on the past couple of weeks. I will be more focused on getting a blog in a week, so that there will be no need to discuss three weeks in one blog. So, expect another blog in a week!
Spring Break is over and everyone is now looking towards Easter Break, which is in about 2.5 weeks. Basically, although there is tons of work to be done, all anyone has to do is be strong and make it for 2 weeks. This is easier said than done for some. I got a good amount of work done over break, but there are always professors who like to wait until after break to give you the work schedule. They think they are helping you out, when really, for me, it prevents me from getting ahead.
What I was really focused on this week was planning for next year and for the future. It is shocking to think that in a couple of weeks, I will be registering for my classes for senior year. It seems like yesterday that I was a freshman battling with 3 other grades for good classes. Now, I am on top of the litter, which is cool, because no matter what scheduling time I get, I should get into all of my top-choice classes. With course scheduling, every class (aka frosh, soph, jun., sen.) has a different day to register. Upcoming seniors go first, and then the rest of the classes follow suit. It is hard, as a freshman, to get into all of your classes. However, if you do not get into classes that you need, all you have to do is go and see the academic advisors and they will help you either get into that class, or find another class to fulfill that requirement. The academic advisors also have a role before your class scheduling day. Every student must meet with their academic advisor with a filled out form showing the classes that you plan on taking for the next semester. The advisor will then make sure you are on track for graduation and that you are not taking classes that do not fill any requirements. This is extremely helpful to some students, especially double majors, because sometimes it is hard to figure out what classes fit well. I met with my advisor on Monday and got all of my classes approved. At this point in the game, I usually do not have any problems with the classes that I am taking, because I basically know my two majors and what is required of me, but it does help to have someone else look over them with you, just in case.
Another thing I did this week to prepare for the future is interviewed for graduate school. I know that I have probably mentioned before that I am applying for a combined MS/BS program here at the University. I will be able to take graduate classes my senior year, and they will count towards my masters. I was pretty nervous for the interview, because it was a group interview and it was two hours long. I was not sure what to expect. In order to calm my nerves, I called Career Services and made an appointment with them. Career Services is an office that offers really awesome opportunities to students. The employees there do everything from career planning, resume help, interview prepping, and helping students to get internships. Career Services helped me get my internship at the Girl Scouts at the last minutes, so I was confident that they would be able to prepare me for my interview. They went over what usually happens at a group interview and explained why it would be so long. It basically helped me prepare answers to frequently asked questions and bounce them off a professional, as well as ease my worries about the interview itself. The interview ended up going really well, and I think that Career Services played a big role helping me boost my confidence and not be so worried about the whole process.
Ok, so that’s all of my planning for the future for this week, thank goodness. I don’t want to leave school too soon! Until Next time…
Well, I am alive, but barely. Midterm week was absolutely horrible. My last midterm was on Friday at eleven. By the time I got to the midterm, I did not want to study anymore, I just wanted to take it and be done. I wanted to be able to say “I am finished and am on Spring Break.? I think most of my classmates felt that way, because the usual quiet that fills a classroom before a big test was not there at all. We were all talking and acting like we didn’t have a midterm in .4 minutes…I think we were in denial. I took the test and when I was done, I basically sprinted out of the classroom. I did not want to look over things and check my answers…you know why? Because I was finished and did not care. I was forced to drive my friend Nick’s car home for break, because my car, which is a 1986 VW Bus, decided it would be a good idea to die over the big Valentine’s Day snow. The car ride home was fun, because I drove three other people home, and we had a pretty good time singing along to tunes and talking about the previous week. When I got home, I took a long, much needed nap, and then headed to work. I have been working at Rita’s Water Ice since I was a sophomore in high school, and it is a pretty decent job. My boss is really flexible, and when she found out that I was really broke, she scheduled me for as many hours as possible. By the end of the week, I ended up working a little over forty hours, which was great for my negative eighteen cents bank account, but very tiring as well. It was not all that busy, since we did just open, but it is a long time to be standing on your feet all day, and by the time I get off work, I am usually pretty tired. I like to utilize my breaks to get ahead in all of my classes, because it is always really nice to come back to Scranton and have no schoolwork at all to do. Wednesday was really hot, and we almost hit eighty degrees, so Rita’s was packed. I always think its funny when people come to Rita’s for the first time all season. They are all like little kids in candy stores. They just get so excited, which is funny to me, maybe because I am basically made of water ice over the summer, so if I don’t have the winter break, I would probably turn into a gelati. Even more entertaining than Wednesday for me was Friday. On Friday, we had a sleeting ice storm. I went into Rita’s at 10:00 AM and made three buckets of water ice, put away the orders that came in, and then did schoolwork. True, we did not have lines…but…we did have a few customers. When I would open the window, gusts of snow/ice would come into the store and me. The customer’s would be shivering violently and would hardly be able to order…yet…they were still there. Those are true water ice fans. I do not think I will ever understand why people would want water ice when it is snowing, but they do. So, my break was basically filled with water ice and homework. Not all that exciting, but I did get a lot done. One of the biggest mistakes college students, and other students in general make, is not using their breaks properly. True, you should relax over break and sleep in, but, who wants to be frantically doing work on the Sunday before classes start and be swamped for the next week because they did nothing? Most college students lounge for a week and then come back to school and start on their work. If I can offer one piece of advice that you actually listen to, it would be to utilize your breaks. If you are successful in this, you will be a much happier, better rested student by the end of your break.
Well, we went from a snow day to a recovery week…and now, midterms. Midterm week is almost as bad as finals week for one reason, classes are still going on while you are taking tests. This week was so draining for me, because besides studying for four midterms and writing two papers, I also had to finish planning and go to my internship. Time becomes a precious commodity and good time management is key. This week, I went to a counseling session for my Crisis Intervention class. The class has a requirement that you go to four burnout prevention counseling sessions. This is my second counseling class that has required me, as a student, to actually go to counseling. I think this is great experience for professional life, because I get a chance to see what it is like to be counseled and how it feels to be the one in the client’s chair. Usually, the people the school has counseling you are grad students who need to actually counsel people for their classes. So, it is basically students helping other students fulfill class requirements while gaining experience in their field. Burnout is a huge topic discussed in my Crisis Intervention class, because it is an important thing to avoid in your professional life, and it can be avoided by knowing the specific signs and how to manage them. My burnout sessions are going to focus on time management and assertiveness training. I am hoping that by the end of these four sessions, I will be able to schedule my time well enough to get all of my work done, crew stuff, and have some time to myself to spare. I think that is my big problem most of the time. I like to chill out with my friends and relax, and if I don’t have that chill time, I get burnt out. I don’t really have time to chill out though, which results in me either doing work at the last minute or getting burnt out because I did not chill. I think that the requirement to go to counseling illustrates the University’s understanding that to survive in the professional world; you need to really experience your job. For this reason, many majors are required to do field training, student teaching, internships, and the like in order to see your job in action and really discern if this is what you want to do with your life. It was really nice to have my first session during such a stressful week. I basically just want to get out of this week alive and head home for break. I have never needed a break so much, and I feel like a lot of my peers feel the same way. We are all drained and cannot wait for it to be over. A lot of my friends will be heading to different, fun locations over break. I will be heading home to good old West Chester, PA to work at Rita’s Water Ice…still, I am ready to get there.
Well, the snow days are over and school is, regretfully, back in session. Of course, I did not use the snow days to my advantage, I fooled around with my friends and slept my life away. So, now I have tons of work to do to catch myself up. We are still responsible for all the homework that was assigned over the break, so it is almost like have 3 days of schoolwork due in one day. I loved the snow days, but they did get me a little off track, but it was worth it. There is nothing like looking out your window and seeing two feet of snow. Now, though, it is dirty snow, which I hate and wish they would just cart it away, but where would they put all that snow? Oh well, we are stuck with it until it melts, which I am sure will not be for a long while. This concerns me for one major reason, the crew team. With this much snow, it is going to take a long time until we are able to get out on the water. It is really important in the spring for the team to get on the water as soon as possible, because the season is really only a month long. We work out all semester for one month on the water, so this snow really kills the short practice time that we have. I am going to try not to stress about it until it is time, but its hard. Another thing that is hard about getting back in the routine is getting up early for class and work. I am not going to lie, this week I did not do such a hot job getting to all my classes and work shifts on time. I just did not want to drag myself out of bed. The professors are very driven to stay on task and not fall behind before spring break, which is in a couple of weeks. So, they are stuffing information into our heads, and it is really hard to keep up with them sometimes. Also, because of the snow, my internship hours are a little off skew. I am going to have to make those up at some point this semester. Hopefully by next week I will be back on track.
The winter is finally beginning. This week we had our first snow days of the semester. Two snow days to be exact, which, believe it or not, is quite rare for the University. Snow days are just as awesome in college as they are in high school, with one major difference…you can actually get to your friends houses without having to drive. I was really excited for the break, because school was starting to take a toll, and I was tired and starting to fall behind a bit on work. These two days off should be an awesome break. The campus is so pretty in the snow. One thing that becomes apparent in really bad weather is the awesome maintenance staff we have. They are here bright and early, shoveling and salting, making it easier for the students to get around. Even though we have off, they do not. These snow days were insane too. We got 2 feet of snow. After a while, Paul (our main maintenance guy), had to just stop shoveling because it was accumulating so quickly. I think Scranton is one of the only schools I have heard of that spoils its students with people such as Paul. Every building has a maintenance staff and they come in every day and empty our garbage, vacuum our floor, clean the bathroom. It is like living in a hotel. They don’t pick up after you, obviously, if your floor is a mess, they just won’t vacuum. But for people who are fairly clean, this service is awesome. ANYWAY. The snow…yeah, it’s exciting. I have been lounging around, not doing the work I am supposed to, and enjoying the break. Snow men are up around campus, and today, a bunch of guys were playing football in the snow, which was pretty funny. It has been a while since I have seen this much snow, and it is interesting to try to get around. I walked to my friends’ house which is basically 20 feet away, and I was breathing heavy and soaked by the time I got there. I guess I need to relearn how to dress appropriately for the weather, but I think snow shoes would have been the only solution for this particular storm. So, right now, the city of Scranton is shut down, and I am lounging around my room. This is where I leave you until next time.
Well, it’s over, and by it, I mean the first full week of school. This week was very trying. Adjusting to a new schedule can be somewhat taxing on your body when it is so used to being on break, especially because we have such a long one.
The weather this week was especially teasing. There was a constant snow flurry at all times, but no real storm or blizzard. It is funny that I was hoping for a snow day all week, when really, classes have just begun, and I don’t really need that mental break yet. The thing with snow days is…they’re awesome. Hoping for a snow day is something kids start doing in elementary school and I guess it’s something that sticks with you. I am even willing to bet that adults love snow days too. The weather is one of the mysteries of Scranton. I do not understand it and I doubt I ever will. Last year, in February, I was walking around in a t-shirt one day, and the next day it was below zero! The weather here does what it wants, when it wants. Blizzards in the spring…been there done that, 65 degree weather in January, been there, done that. This can be incredibly annoying, especially in the winter, because nobody knows how to dress, which results in the entire campus getting colds.
This winter in particular has been especially warm. One of Scranton’s biggest attractions is the skiing. This season, the slopes did not open until mid-January. For the skiers and snowboarders this is incredibly depressing. I have only been skiing while in school once, which is horrible, but I have a hard time finding a whole day that I can devote to it. The school does have a bus that runs from the University to Montage (Now Sno Mountain). It leaves in the evening and students can ski at a discounted ski rate. When my older sister attending the University, she did this quite often, and really enjoyed it.
Ok, so I spent a whole blog talking about the weather, but really…weather is important when picking a college. Scranton gets the reputation of being a rainy city where the sun never comes out. I am not going to lie…yes, it rains, and sometimes it rains a lot, but to me, nothing compares to a sunny day at Scranton.
I sit here at my computer and the only thing I can really think of to write is BAH! It happened, as it happens every year: intersession ended and the spring semester is under way. Gone are the days of America's Top Model and hot buffalo dip. No more working and then going straight to the gym. Real life is back, and it hit me like a brick wall.
Ok, maybe all of that was an exaggeration. Intersession is a tease. I always think it's summer without the heat, and every year, I am proven wrong. I thought I had made myself an easy schedule for this semester. I am only taking 15 credits, as opposed to the normal 18. One less class = less stress…right? Well, I didn't really take into account my 18 hour work week, my internship, service learning, and the crew team with its paperwork/constant emails/practices. I was really drained after the first week of school, and it was only three days long!!! Thank goodness for that. I guess it is nice to get back into a real schedule, but it is also very hard.
One fun thing about school starting is that the campus is once again full of people. I love the quiet that encompasses the campus during intersession, but after a while, I miss the hustle and bustle of the semester. I missed seeing tons of people outside on the Gunster patio. It is exciting to talk to people for the first time. Some of them I haven't seen or talked to since mid-December, so conversations are always stimulating. Also, new classes mean new people. I always get excited to go into a class and see who I know and who I do not know. This goes for the crew team as well. We always get a few new recruits, which is fun.
I mentioned service learning a little earlier and never really explained it. Some classes at the University, mostly in the Panuska College of Professional Studies (PCPS), which is counseling, nursing, education to name a few majors, require you to do service work in the city of Scranton. This sometimes can be a pain and it seems like one more thing to add to an already busy schedule. On the flip side, it is an awesome opportunity to do some good in the community while honing the skills you possess. In the past, I have volunteered with the Amigos program (working with Spanish youth), Trick or Treating, Easter Basket making, the Jewish Home, and multiple other locations. This semester, I want to try something different. I am looking into programs where you can read to the blind or help lower class women get suits, so that when they go on professional interviews, they are not overlooked because of their appearance. Although not all classes require service learning, it is an awesome way that the campus can give back to the community. Many times, students find organizations that they really enjoy working with and become full-time volunteers, and sometimes end up interning there as well. I know I have talked about Scranton's love of service before, but this is just another way that I think illustrates the type of student that attends the University.
On that note, I am going to read some poetry (blah), and then watch some cartoons, followed by sleep. Long Monday tomorrow….
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