Andrea

even crazier weather

I just realized this morning that this is my second to last break as a college student - and the upcoming Spring Break isn't anything to look forward to as it will be full of doctors appointments, errands and working on the job search as graduation inches closer and I join this "real world" - I have a feeling it's not nearly as exciting as the popular TV show.  Although President's Day Break is really only Monday and Tuesday off from classes, I don't have classes on Fridays, and my only class on Wednesday (my senior seminar) is canceled, so I had a nice week long break.  Last semester I had so much going on with my classes and the Innovating Incubator project that each time I was home was spent writing papers and studying for tests, so for the first time I've actually been able to enjoy a break from school -- I've spent the past two days skiing and spent Saturday night with all my family celebrating my grandmother's 80th birthday.  My family is incredibly close (we spend summers together), so it was great to see everyone for only the second time since August. 

After FREEZING ski on Saturday (it was a very cold 5 degrees at the top of the mountain), it's nearly 50 degrees and pouring today.  However, because the roads are so cold, everything has turned into a glazed sheet of ice around here - which means my parents (both teachers at the local high school) have the day off.  It was nice to wake up to a pot of coffee made and a delicious breakfast.  Hopefully the roads will clear up by tomorrow, when I plan to head back to school.  I figure after today's weather there's no sense in me sticking around here for another day of skiing.  Plus, two of my roommates spent the weekend at school, so people will be around there as well.  I'll have to go grocery shopping when I get back, put my sheets back on my bed, help clean the house for another week - oh the joys of living on our own. 

And in the meantime, I'll continue on the job search.  I know I say it nearly every week, but I can't say enough about Donna Atwater and the entire Career Services department.  They really are great.  I met with Donna last week for the first real time since practicum - it was great to finally see her again.  She's always reassuring that things will work out in the end - and I'll meet with her again when I get back to make some more changes to my resume (we're struggling with a spacing issue) and continue to hunt down jobs in the athletic communications area (preferably in the Northeast).  Looking for jobs has allowed me to stumble upon on these great internship opportunities - although I had two great internship opportunities, there really are some great national programs out there to look into after your sophomore year.  It's never too early to get started in the job search process, and there's always opportunity for the always-important networking!  Even as a first year on campus, you can take advantage of Career Services and all they have to offer!

I'm off to watch a documentary for my film group for my Business Communications class.  Enjoy your week!

the essence of smc

I had a very St. Mike's filled few days this past weekend! On Friday night my roommates headed up to our friend Ashley's house for a night of home cooked food and relaxing.  It was great -- and some much needed time away from campus.  On Saturday morning, some people headed back to school while three of us headed off for a day of skiing at Smuggs.  The mountain was packed, but the skiing was AMAZING.  Definitely a result of the storm from last week.  We left around 2:30 when it started snowing quite heavy again and were back on campus in time for the men's basketball team.  The honored the 1957-1958 men's basketball team which traveled to the NCAA semifinals during halftime.  It was a really great ceremony - and neat to see the players and assistant coach who made it back to campus.  And perhaps the best part was, the men's teams snapped their 13-game losing streak with a win over Southern Connecticut.  Considering they were a game away from tying the longest losing streak in program history, I was still impressed with how many students and other fans were there in the stands.  It was also "Think Pink" day, raising money and support for the breast cancer foundation.  A great turnout for a great cause.  On Saturday night we headed downtown to meet another roommate and her boyfriend for dinner - we ate at one of my favorite local restaurants right off of Church Street called American Flatbread.  It's this great flatbread pizza that's made with all local and organic product.  Delicious! 

On Sunday a couple of us woke up early again to head back to Smuggs for a morning of skiing.  It was snowing pretty hard in the mountains but it was a great morning nonetheless.  I continue to be thankful for our $30 ski pass there.  You really can't beat it.  We left early because we knew it might be a hairy ride home, and we had to be back at school by 3 p.m. to go see Chicago at the Flynn.  It was one of the three Broadway shows we will be seeing there this semester - and it was fantastic (and Nick and Josh were sitting right behind me)!  The costumes, the singing, the choreography, everything was meticulously presented.  Although I was exhausted from two days of skiing, the show was totally worth it.  The cultural pass - the reason we get to see such great shows for a one-time purchase of $30 - is another win-win situation for SMC!

Working on our senior seminar project in the lab last night, we discovered how few weeks are left until our project is due - and how few weeks we really have left at St.Mike's.  It makes you appreciate weekends like this past one - nothing crazy, but just quality time spent with some really great friends and being able to take advantage of everything that SMC and Vermont has to offer.  I know Mallory and I probably say it with each post we write ... but these next few months are really going to pass too far!

 

finally what i've been waiting for

Well after a wonderfully warm Monday and a dreary Tuesday, the snow has been falling on campus since I woke up this morning and hasn't let up ... we're expected to get 3-5 more inches by morning and another 1-3 during the day tomorrow. Schedules for tomorrow morning are already being changed around in my townhouse in anticipation of an early morning trip to the mountain.  I hope it stops snowing and the roads clear up so we can make it there for the first runs of the day!

I have my first exam of the  semester tomorrow. It's in my Media & Iraq class.  It's an open note exam, but we've covered so much material, and there is just so much general background information on the war and Iraq in general that you're expected to know, that it actually turns out to be be more than expected.  One of my roommates is also in the class with me, so we sat down tonight and outlined the study guide and looked up a lot of things we had confusion about.  Sometimes it's really nice to study with a roommate and bounce ideas off each other.

After that it was a very relaxing night in our house.  While a couple of my friends were in bed early (the campus flu has hit our house hard and one of my roommates is up early to student teach everyday), the rest of us hung out together downstairs.  Two of us are taking Calligraphy this semester, and our homework assignment for the night was just general practice, so the two of us sat down there writing out quotes and everyone's names over and over and over again.  Another roommate worked on making some homemade Valentine's.  It was relaxing though - and one of those nights that you just enjoy  everyone's company.  Plus we're all like little kids when it comes to snow!

Everyone's starting to (slowly) recover from the shock of the Pats' loss (although I was surprised by the  number of Giants fans on this campus) and I think a lot of eyes were on college basketball tonight.  Syracuse lost a close game to UConn earlier, and I'm off to watch the end of the Duke/UNC game in bed.  It's great to have Dick Vitale back announcing - he really is the voice  of college basketball, albeit  an opinionated voice. I just saw UVM picked up a big win tonight, too.  If only some of this  luck could spread to our men's basketball team - keep your fingers crossed for them this weekend!