If I can give a really good piece of advice to any incoming freshman, it is this: sign up for classes early. As a Bio major, there is not only limited space, but there are awkward schedulings and labs that last 3 hours. So, go to the advisor, sign up for some classes early, and hopefully they will all fit in as you had hoped.

Other than that bit of stress, everything around here has been pretty nice, though still stressful (stress becomes every day life for an honors student and a student in biology classes, but its really not as bad as we make it to be). So on Wednessday, my de-stressor was going to see Nancy Cartwright explain her journey as a voice for all our favorite cartoons. She was funny, and inbetween reminded us to keep going for what we love. Though sometimes those words become trite, it came at a good time for me. Sometimes you have to be reminded what you are going to school for and what all this mess in life is all about. She of course showed us her talents as not only her Simpson characters (Bart, Nelson, Ralph, and Maggie), but also as Kim Possible's naked mole rat and Rugrat's Chucky. She gladly answered our questions, and in the end, when asked what her favorite episodes were, she mentions Sherry Bobbins, and we all joined in singing with her the song Bart and Lisa sing while they write their note for a nanny. I, like many of my generation, grew up with the Simpsons playing on my household television long before and long after many other shows on television, so this experience, to see someone whom I had only heard for most of my life on television was amazing.

Though I had a conflicting schedule for most of the Spring Fling this year, hosted by CAB, I was able to attend Henry Cho, a comedian. I'm not going to lie: I had never seen any of his work before in my life. But I love comedians, and laughing in general, so I thought I would go along with it. Turns out he is HILARIOUS! Many of his jokes involved us in the crowd, even my friend's small two-year-old. I will never look at cakes in boxes the same, or the double meaning of two words together (shopping-shopping). Jokes aren't funny retold, so it is just another testimony to you should have been there!

I also had the pleasure of going to the ministry play on Suday, and was pleasantly surprised to see many of my fellow bio majors singing and dancing in Once on This Island. The costuming was well done, and the dancing was amazing! I am always interested in hearing the voices of my fellow students, and they always surprise me with their intensity and vocal ability. I can't wait to see what they have for next year!

But the last full week is upon us now, and i am trying to get all those paper done in such a way that I can end the year in a good way.

Easter Break was nice after being in NJ and going back to the classes. To just be with family is very important to me, and we really enjoyed the day. Easter was a relaxing time, as we just had family over, and enjoyed good food and watching the younger ones finding the Easter eggs. It was a much needed and appreciated break from the hectic life that we all found ourselves getting into.

The next week, I was back on track, and being so close to home and still having obligations there, I decided that it was only appropriate to stay around campus for this weekend. On Thursday, I went and saw 1984. i had never actually read the book, so I could only go by what the play did, and it was very well done. The play reminded me slightly of a play i did in Highschool called The Moon is Down, showing the dramatic life of living in a totalitarian society. Yet, where my play had hope, this play stayed in despair. The set was made in black wooden stage, and soldiers wore the black outfits with the red bagdes of the facist symbol. It was very eerie, and we had the pleasure of seeing some of our teachers as Big Brother displayed on a large screen in black and white.

On Friday, it was hard not to go back to see my sisters in Tampa, as Carly and I decided to kidnap my sister Kristy to take her to get a manicure and have a nice dinner. We were all stressed because school had made us do the uphill climb, but we decided to have fun that night.

By Saturday I was back on Campus though, and I helped my friend find a nice white dress for her baptism. It didn't seem like such a hard task until we found out that none of the white dresses fit properly or were just not flattering designs. But we both were adamant on finding her a dress for her Baptism on Sunday, and after a disastrous trip to Brandon mall, we went to Citrus and found exactly what she needed. That night we celebrated our victory and went to see Horton Hears a Who, which I thought was very cute and very well done in its use of CG.

Sunday was a lazy day and i was able to just relax until seven when a few of my friends were doing their sacraments for the Catholic Church. I was happy to see them finally get to become a part of the Catholic community, and I enjoyed seeing my friend able to wear her white dress as she became Baptized into the faith.

Paola in the middle of her Sacraments

But now it is going to be busy a schedule with the season winding down. It's crunch time!

The day after the food bank, we were off to another new sight. It was a home for unwed mothers, a place that they could learn skills and be able to find jobs and have a cheaper daycare and free food. It was called Oasis, an appropriate name for such a place that could take in these women.

When we arrived they were overjoyed by the help they could have for the day. They divided up the group, and Kristin, Maya, Jess and I all had the privilage of going to thier new building where the classrooms for the mothers and the rooms for the daycare could would be. It was right down the street, and it was an entirely new building. Construction was still being done, and so we were asked to clean up some of the new desks that were sent from a University that was not using them. The desks that were donated were in really nice shape, and we enjoyed being able to help them do such a necessary but tedious task. When we were done cleaning, we picked up the paper from the floor, and the room looked like a nice classroom.

Maya, Jess and I picking up the paper from the floor

We joined the others at the main sight after our work was done, and helped to move things from one area to the other. there were boxes of so many things, and they wanted them moved from their original location to a main location so that later it would be easier to move it to the new building. We finished surprisingly fast, and after that task, we were able to have lunch. The lunch consisted of quiche, soup and salad, a very well made lunch. when we were through, a few of us went to help them serve the food while others helped with the children. The women were grateful for thier lunch, and enjoyed food. After that, we cleaned up, and we were done for the day.

All of us at Oasis

For dinner we had the privilage of going to Jess's house and we were able to relax. They gave us a huge meal, including NY cheese cake, which was on my list of things to try. We all started to understand one another, and this was one of the ways that we could get to know one eachother in a more relaxed way. I enjoyed some time with the group, and after relaxing there, we went back to the house and started to get ready for the day ahead of us.

We were back at the soup kitchen for one more go around. The people were happy to see us back as volunteers, and there were other college students there from a nearby college that helped with breakfast. that day, a few of us helped with thier plot of garden outside, picking out weeds and clearing off leaves from the sidewalk. After that, a few of us went down, and helped with the making of the plates. There are always a lot of things to get done, and so once we had enough plates, a few of us went up to the serving area and served the food. Again the people were grateful for what they could get, and it felt good to see them get something warm in the cold day. One woman, who had sang to us before on Tuesday, sang for us again about how she wanted her spaghetti and meatballs. The sight was amazing to see, she had so much energy and love for life than some of us do.

All of us outside the soup kitchen

After cleaning up, we were on our way back to the house. After resting, we went out to a diner for dinner, and had really good diner food. We had been living off of Edimends and food that a student's parents made, so this food tasted really good. After that, we had a confession with the priest, and then we prepared for tomorrow. The next day was the big day though. The next day was NYC, our off day to see the big city.

I had never been to NYC, nor had I ever taken a train before. It was an exhilarating feeling as when we try anything new. We came off at Penn station, and then some of us went our separate ways. There was so much to see! I went with Nick, Liz, Kristin, and Moon, and we saw the two towers site, the statue of Liberty, parts of Central Park, and Time Square. At five, we all decided to go to mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, a beautiful church in the middle of NYC. One of the saints with a statue there was Don Bosco, which we thought appropriate considering our mission in NJ.

All of us in NYC!

After mass, we went to eat at Bubba Gump's Shrimp, as the group slowly came back together. We talked about all of our different adventures in NY, and after dinner, some of us stayed longer. We went down Canal St. shopping and went through parts of Little Italy, where some of the girls got a piece of NY pizza. Traveling the subway was an adventure and new experience for me, but in the large group I felt safe and the transportation got us to where we needed to go.

It was so hard to go to sleep after such a fun filled day. But the next morning we were up early, packing and having our last mass with the Salesians. It was hard to leave behind so many memories, but we had to pack our bags and go. At the airport we mingled together, knowing full well that after this everything would go back to school, work, and other jobs that belonged in our lives in Florida. Florida's heat and humidity reminded most of us of home, and though the palm trees and blue skies were nice to see, each of us will have a special place in our hearts for NJ's chilly March nights and the bright lights of Time Square.

For the start of Spring Break, I was not on my way to the beach or to the malls. I was packing for a cold spring break in New Jersey. I came back to school on Sunday, ready to leave for the my Serve trip. The time was exciting, because I only knew a few people on the trip; the rest i did not know very well. We went to the airport, and to our disappointment it was delayed, but we were all excited to be on our way.

We stayed at the Salesian House in South Orange, and came in at 10:00pm at night. We were tired, but the next day we were off to an early start. We visited the Salesian sisters and were told about thier mission to help children have an education. They followed Don Bosco's leadership to teach even the low income children get a good education. I had gone to St. Joseph's Middleschool, so I knew of them and their very down-to-earth ways of teaching and communicating to children in the way that we can understand. they showed us their school they had for young children, which also hosts a camp during the summer. After visiting with them, we went to the Salesian high school and helped them make props for thier play and paint sets.

The next day we went over to the soup kitchen. We arrived there at 8am, and started helping them to make lunch. They were making baked chicken, stuffing, soup, cranberry sauce, and dessert. The amount of food the small kitchen could produce surprised me, how diligently they worked and how dedicated they were. this was a strickly volunteer area, and so all these people working were giving up thier time and skill to service thier community. some of us helped with the food; others helped stock shelves. by 11:30, the soup was out, and by 12:00 we were serving the lunch plate to the homeless. At first I was weary, but in the end, they turned out to be very nice people. The were polite, and one thing that serprised me was how, one person could only get one dessert, but if someone didn't want their dessert and someone else wanted two, the one that didn't want it would share thier dessert. Once we finished cleaning up, we enjoyed knowing that we could help not only the volunteers, but also the homeless have a good meal.

Moon, Maya, Sarah, Nick and I all helping to make the food.

After that, we went to the Food Bank,which was an experience. it was stocking shelves and trying to place things in the same area as the other food. it was nice to see the supplies, but at the same time it was a grueling task to try and fix everything to be in their correct place. we were able to put many things in the correct placement, and did a good job of making sure that everything was put away.

Sarah and I posing after a long day of putting food on shelves.

That night, we treated ourselves to some ice cream or Starbucks. It's amazing how much sweeter things taste after a day of hard work.

The first three days were tiresome, but we still had a lot of work on our hands. We were getting to know eachother too, which was nice because some of us were in different majors, different classes, and would not have met if it weren't for the trip.

Now the tests are piling and the projects are due soon, and spring break SERVE trip is just around the corner (thank goodness I am all paid for at this point!) - it has been stressful, but good at the same time.

There are lots of ways to relax and get through the week. Though I don't live off of campus, my home is pretty close, so I have the luxury of visiting home every now and then. I saw Jersey Boys on Tuesday, a musical about the Four Seasons which was a very good play. Although Tampa's performances are off Broadway, they are still always worth the watch there and are always a joy to see. This one in particular was very good for all ages, and I enjoyed getting away from my hectic work at school.

There is also the beach that helps kids relax, and this is only so far away, which is nice to escape to some weekends. Thanks to global warming and Florida's naturally warm environment, we can basically go all year round and manage to get some sun. It's another way to get away from the stress of a week.

Nature likes its own miracles every now and then, and the lunar eclipse happened on Wednesday, a beautiful sight to see! As a science major and a writer, I love these events for their own beauty and for its fascinating scientific background. Lunar eclipses will come around again, and I enjoy watching them, reminding me that there is a bigger universe than just the one I can see everyday.

There is also family - if you are close enough to take a weekend off just to visit them. It has been hard recently as my twin sister is in UF, but she finally came down this weekend, and we went to the Renaissance Festival that MOSI holds in a lot just outside of their facilities. It unfortunately rained on us, but not before we could get some cross-bow and archery games in, plus my sister Carly and her boyfriend ended up jousting, which they did without sharp objects (thank God). It is a fun event to go to, and it is just a relaxing time.

My sisters at the Ren Fest (Cassie got into a biking accident at UF, hence the bandages, but it does make it easier to tell us apart now)

Family doesn't have to be blood related though. The student chaplains the weekend before did a retreat at the lakehouse where we reflected on Lent and on the things that weigh us down in life. Being near the lake is a great way to clear your head and to just feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. In college, we all have a tendency to get caught up in the hectic life we lead, that we rarely have time to stop and think about what we really want to do. Many people find it hard to sit down and relax and think about what is happening or just to clear their minds. I always found writing gets me there, as long as no one is criticizing my poor spelling or my use of passive voice. We all need to find those outlets to take us away from the stresses of the workplace or the schoolwork, or anything else that weighs us down to the point where we can't remember why we are here.

And now midterms are coming up and so I am feeling the calm before the storm. Papers are about to be due and tests are coming up, so it is going to be stressful, but as long as I have a way to release stress, school is usually fine, and we all make it out in the end, anyway.

The first few weeks of school have been hectic. My friend the first week of school was rushed to the emergency room on Wednessday, which had all of us worried. She is ok, though she gave us a scare. I went to all my classes and enjoyed being back, though the second semester starts up so fast. I was back in Chemistry doing equations and such and I was in zoology learning my structures of the cell all over again (I took AP Bio in highschool, so a lot of the things we are doing in the beginning is like a review). I love my honors courses, and if you ever are a student and are offered the honors program, take it. I have Professor Spoto for Academic Writing II and Professor Imperato for Christian Vision. Both classes are mainly led by discusions on what we have read and some of our philosophies on the subject. They require a lot of reading and papers, but they are worth taking.

Getting back into the swing of things means going back to work too. My sister and my father started an action photography business, CR Action Photo, and we mainly take soccer tournaments. Over the weekend I was back out there, in the cold in Fort Lauderdale, taking the DC cup, a small recreational tournament. I was freezing, but i have a lot of fun taking the pictures since soccer is one of my favorite sports. At school, I was back to work in the lab, washing glassware and preparing the laminations for zoology. Our department finally got a laminating machine, so now the zoology assistants are excitedly laminating every picture we have. Yes, we are a bit cheesey, but you have no idea how much this means to lab assistants that now we are more organized.

Overall, there is not too much going on quite yet exept a lot of work and school. But the rest of the time feels more promising, and so we will wait for things to pick up around here.

It has been a while since I have written for these blogs. So much happened over the break, especially since it was a very long break. I celebrated the usual warm Christmas in Tampa, which I have become too accustomed to, and played Guitar Hero III on my fairly new XBox (thank you Leo!). My family usually spends the day playing around with what ever it is we got, and we all gather around and watch movies together, or shows (our family has a thing for The Office and Scrubs), then we have the big dinner.

Though Christmas was going really well, I had in the back of my head a reminder: I was leaving. You see, my friend had invited me on a 2 week trip to Montana - Helena, to be specific - and I had actually accepted. This is odd, only in that this movement was so spontaneous and I normally do not go very far without my family. She was picking me up the day after Christmas, and it was odd packing on Christmas day for this long trip. My mom had already frantically tried to make sure that I would stay warm, remembering what it was like to grow up in Ohio, and she worried I was way over my head. But sure enough, Ashley and I made our way to Billings without a problem, though a really long lay-over in Denver, and an almost cancelled flight because of the Denver snow storm.

The drive from Billings to Helena couldn't have been prettier with mountain forests dusted with the white snow, and the big blue Montana sky. When we arrived to her grandparent's house, we quickly decided that the next day we would climb Mt. Helena. We being Floridians, had no idea the ice we would find on the steep slopes of the mountain side. Needless to say, we made it halfway up with the time we had, then as we were climbing down, the ice got the best of our boots and we slid down for some of the mountain. Later on, we climbed to the top, a beautiful view of Helena and the surrounding mountains. We encountered some of thier infamous deer along the side of the mountain too.

Ice skating was another adventure that we did in Montana. It was only $3 to skate, so Ashley and I decided to hone in on our skills on the ice. I have to admit, I couldn't make my Russian heritage too proud in the figure skates, but I did do pretty well considering how long it was since I had strapped on any kind of skate, let alone ice skates.

Another one of the big events was skiing. Many people have skied before, but for someone who rarely sees snow in her life - well, its a big event. Ashley had skied before when she lived in Montana and Michigan, so she was a step ahead of me. I, on the other hand, had difficulty stopping. which is not such a good problem to have, especially on the slopes of The Great Divide, which were really steep. I did fine for a while, and i had some amazing wipe-outs, but then they decided to try and get me to go to the taller slopes. That's when i hit the tree. Well, after you hit a tree ( a small sappling, but nonetheless i hit it hard) skiing is kind of hard to get into again. Ashley stayed with me the whole way, because the only way to get off of your skis is to make it down to the bottom of the hill. I made it down in double the time of many people, but i did have fun. It is just a totally different feeling than what i have ever experienced before in my life.

The lodge at the Great Divide

Its a good thing I made it down too, because after that, it started snowing really hard. we left when the storm was a little better, and made it home to see that it had even snowed in town. Later that night, more snow softly fell, powdering the ground. I was able to make my first snow angel in my life.

Overall, the two weeks were fun! I had a white new year, which is my first ever. The only wierd thing was noticing my Florida friends texting me at 10:30 at night to have a Happy New Year, and watching the ball drop three hours after the fact, but it was a good time.

I am worried about going back to school, but my break was so fulfilling that I think I am ready. I have a lot of classes that are worth taking and I can't wait to get back into the swing of things!

I have been doing a lot on campus recently between schoolwork, work, and the play.

I became involved in the ministry musical Children of Eden slightly by accident. In highschool, I was an actress, then I co-directed a one-act my senior year, but those never get you ready for tech work. I had crossed over to slightly unfamiliar territory, but still strange area. Then again, that is what college is all about. I was in charge of the lights and stage left props Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, and it was a great experience. There were mishaps (but stage crew never reveals what the audience doesn't need to know), but overall, the show was great! We had a very good turn out all nights, and we got many compliments.

Some of the Cast

On Friday, I went to Winter Formal, which is a little like prom. I had so much fun, probably more fun than I did at many dances in high school. The dance took place at the A La Carte Pavilion in Tampa, a very nice hall. The food was amazing, and the music was pretty good. But, just like all dances, it really depends on who you go with whether you have a good time, and I had so much fun dancing with my friends. It was a lot of fun.

Winter Formal with some friends

Now, it is crunch time, trying to do lab exams, last week projects and grade raisers. The weeks are as stressful as they are fulfilling, and I am counting down the days to winter break with a little hesitance. A part of me doesn't want to leave everything behind for a month, but I guess that's another part of college life: leaving things behind and letting things end.

The nice thing about St. Leo: you get a whole week off for that great Thanksgiving holiday. How does one enjoy so much time off? Well...

First, you try let off steam by going to dinner and a movie with friends. I went to Hot Rod's in Lutz near Tampa, and had bat for the first time. Okay, so a lot of people probably think thats gross or too country, But I'll have you know that bat was actually pretty delicious and more tender than chicken. We then were off to the movie theatres, where I knew I would get sucked into watching Beowulf. I enjoyed learing about it in school my senior year, but I must say the movie confused me and I didn't really enjoy the distracting Grendal fight scene or the Jolie sexy mother representation. But, to each his own.

The disappointing part about school being off for a week is that its a perfect opportunity for teachers to give papers and homework, so I had the pleasure of doing that work in between vegging out and shopping (not spending of course, because every college student knows this close to Christmas someone is bound to help buy something for us anyway).

Finally on Wednesday, my family started to load the trailer. We were going camping, which we have been doing on and off for years. This year, we were going to the State Park Lake Griffin, a beautiful lake only marred by recent building of the land and hoards of mosquitos. Our Thanksgiving was rainy, but that didn't stop us from exploring the grounds. We took our two labradors out and looked around the small park area before deciding that a game of cards would be easier to do in the trailer than exploring in the rain.

The next day after the earth was purged by the rain, we went canoeing on the lake. My sister Carly and I were in one canoe, and we ran into some lilies while we tried to remember the physics of steering. After that, we saw some wildlife: two alligators sunning, a turtle, and a few birds. It was very beautiful and rewarding.

Cassie and I standing next to one of the largest oaks in Florida

Kristy and I on our canoe

Thanksgiving is always the time when my family tries to come back together. I think that is why it is my favorite holiday. Christmas tends to be slightly materialistic anywhere you go, but the Thanksgiving week is just about family and good food. I figure this is a good time for people to really see what matters in our lives, the sustenance of not only the foods we eat but the relationships we share with those we love. We get away from work and school and concentrate on what really matters. Some people experience unpleasant times with their relationships during this time, and that is also a reason to decide what is going on in relationships around us.

Well, the end is near, and I have a lot to do before the Christmas vacation.

Where did i leave you off?
O, yes, Halloween trick-or-treaters came over to Marmion-Snyder and we were able to give out candy the day before the 31st. Halloween night I usually celebrate my sister's birthday, so she came up for her 22nd and I enjoyed a dinner at Applebees (you will learn to love thier half-off appetizers) with her and some of her friends.

For the most part, I have been immersed in school activities. Chemistry tests take a while to study for, and there are papers to write and books to read, etc, that they just take up so much of your time. But there are always ways to unwind! On Friday was Jen Duffy's birthday, and a few of us went to Grand Prix and rode go-karts and golfed. It was a lot of fun and a great way to not only celebrate a birthday but to unwind after a hard chemistry test I had had earlier that day. I have to admit, no one was keeping score, though I do believe I came in 4th both times around the track, which I was pretty proud of for my first time, and I didn't get into a really bad pile-up.

All of us at Grand Prix

On Sunday I volunteered for Tri-Beta to go to the Leadership Conference. Every club and group on campus sends so many people to this and they enjoy a speaker and lunch and free gifts. This year, Andrea Mosby talked to us about her key to success, her DECISIONS method. she believes in the determination, energy, courage, intuition, serious, imagination, open, never give up and success. She explained some of her life stories of being a teenage mom and trying to raise a son on her own. She was very insightful and very funny, mentioning to us first hand that she WILL laugh at her own jokes. She was honest with us, and that made for a great presentation.

The next day was community service day. I chose to go to the battered woman's home with Jen Duffy as leader. We were going to do yard work and such for the home, which had neglected the job due to more interest in taking care of the women in the home. We pulled up vines and weeds, raked leaves and tidied up the area. Although we didn't have much direction from the people about what exactly they wanted, we did our best to give them the care their yard deserved.

My community service group

This next week is Thanksgiving, and I am excited! A whole week off with family and friends to enjoy.