This past weekend was one of the best weekends I had in my entire college experience. The funny thing is it happened at home.

Over the summer, the pastor at my church asked me to work on a project for him. It was going to be awhile before my pastor was ready for my help and I knew I was going to need technical assistance from one of my computer major friends, so we decided I would come home in late September.

I figured if I was already going to be bringing one friend home I may as well make a party out of it. So I invited ten people home with me. Only six were able to come but we had a blast of a time. Most of them had never been to my house so this weekend was a chance for them to put into perspective all of what they have heard about for at least the past two years.

We left Friday afternoon in time to get to my house for dinner (I only live about 90 minutes away). After dinner we decided we were going to have a Disney movie marathon. Over the course of the weekend we watched 4 classic Disney animated movies. Gotta love the childhood memories!!!! We went to the beach and walked to my favorite ice cream shop called Sweetberries. I introduced them all to my home parish, St. Joseph’s, and everyone there who means so much to me. It was just a fantastic time.

One thing I think a lot of people don’t, or maybe can’t, anticipate about college is how much the friendships you make will mean to you. What is shocking, no matter who you are, about the people you meet when you move away to school is how quickly you open up to them. It stems I think from our natural need for community. When we are away from everything and everyone we've known, we reach out to those around us in order to build a community of our own again. It really is very hard to describe to someone who hasn’t experienced it because it is unbelievable the things one talks about with people one has only known for a few weeks. Things that you swore to yourself you would never tell anyone, come out in conversations within the first semester. You even get very comfortable about your bodily functions, especially because you have to use communal bathrooms!!!!

The people I brought home this weekend are some of the best friends I have ever had. These people have known me for at least two years and have heard me relate treasured memories from my town. This weekend they experienced where I grew up, the places that have meant so much to me, and are now in my memory bank associated with those places. It’s strange how just taking someone home can mean so much but it does. It really does.

Singing along to Pocahontas

Walking to Sweetberries

Reenacting Pocahontas

Mommy hugs!!!! :-D

Posted by Saint Leo University at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I love Saint Leo! One of the great things about going to a small school is that there are great opportunities for students and professors to see each other and get to know each other outside of the classroom. One such thing that I think must be unique to Leo is TimeWarp, our faculty/student rock band.

Tonight AST (one of our sororities) and TKE (one of our fraternities) hosted a TimeWarp party at the Oceola Tavern in Dade City. Amazingly enough, even though I’ve been at Leo for 3 years, this was only my second time seeing TimeWarp play. They are great!

When I first came to Leo I thought it would be weird to go to a party where the band is made up of the same faculty members you see in class Monday through Friday. It is strange for about the first 5 minutes. Then you realize that this would only happen at a school like Leo and you come to appreciate all the things that come from getting to know your professors beyond classroom material.

What’s funny is that faculty are not just in the band; they come to watch too. Tonight the chair of the Philosophy, Theology, and Religion Department, Fr. Tony, was at Oceola. I didn’t see him until after I had been out on the dance floor singing super loud and way off key. The other religion major I was with pointed him out to me. I went over to say hello. He invited me to sit down with him and proceeded to introduce me to the other faculty members at the table who I did not know. It’s neat to see your professors as real people.

Being a religion major, seeing how professors implement the ideals they teach in class into their personal lives inspires me to do the same. I would venture to say that I have learned at least as much from my faculty from seeing them live as I have from hearing them teach. This kind of personal contact would not happen at a large school.

This is me (on the right) with my roommate Laura (on the left), one of my best friends Sarah (in the middle), our friend Lucas (in the back).

Posted by Saint Leo University at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)