Accepted Student Days Post 1

So I had the honor of being the student speaker at the Accepted Student Days this April.  Below I have copied my speech in case there are any students who wanted to relook at it, or for those of you who are prospective students and didn't attend those days.

Good morning!

My name is Mallory Wood.  I am a senior Religious Studies major, marketing and classics double minor and I am planning on graduating in 26 days… but believe me I am not counting.

Unlike most of you sitting here, hailing from New England states and might I guess many of you are the infamous 20 minutes outside

Boston

; I am actually from a tiny town in

New York

called Chateaugay.  Just to give you a taste of what my home is like… I graduated with 36 students, we have more cows than people, one stop light, and a town hall building that also serves as the town library, town auditorium, pre-k, and last but not least the basement is home to the only form of entertainment in Chateaugay… the town bar and bowling alley.

But despite the fact that we may come from very different towns… we actually have a lot in common.  We are both seniors, scared and excited that the school year is almost done, afraid and sad to leave our friends behind, but curious about what our future holds.  We are both about to make big life decisions that will have a great impact on our futures and everyone is telling us that we need to think carefully and not make the wrong choice.  We are both in (what we think) is the best year of our life and we are wondering how could anything possibly be better.  We are nervous about final exams and papers, looking forward to that “one last summer,” and hoping that in 10 years we can look back on our choices and experiences with no regrets. 

I undoubtedly spent the best 4 years of my life, and the fastest 4 years of my life, at Saint Michael’s College.  I made friends with the best people in the world and had opportunities that I could never have dreamed of 4 years ago when I was sitting in those bleachers.

So what can I say to you so that at the end of my speech you will run up to me, hug me, and tell me that you couldn’t possibly even think of considering any other college to go to? 

First of all… you are probably wondering what your “typical Saint Mikes student” is like.  They say we hug a lot here, you might have read that on

Princeton

review.  I’m here to tell you it’s true and not as weird as it might sound.  And while it is certainly hard to generalize each person, I think that we are overall friendly, outgoing, and interested in doing good for others.  We look out for each other and take care of each other.  Many of us want to live on campus, participate in sports, clubs, or campus ministry activities.  We hold doors open for each other, we support each other, and we become family.

But, we also check out email 56 times a day, we love eating Chinese food at the cafeteria on North Campus affectionately called “The Sloan Zone,” 75% of our wardrobe says “Saint Michael’s College” on it, when the temperature outside gets above 50 degrees we wear shorts, we naturally have hundreds of friends on facebook, and we believe that Wednesday nights are the equivalent of Christmas because that is when our school’s online newspaper is delivered into our inboxes.

But why should YOU chose Saint Mikes?  What makes this college stand out from all the others? And do we really bleed purple and gold?  The answers to these questions are different for everyone so before I give you my response, I think you should hear why some other current students were interested in attending Saint Michael’s.   

   

Norah, a double major in Music and Education from

New York

says, you come in here not knowing who you will meet or what your classes are going to be like.  But she can not stress enough the importance of community, not just among your fellow students but your professors… even the people in Alliot! 

Billy, a transfer student and Business major from

Massachusetts

says he transferred here because he liked how much there is to do in the local area.  Ski resorts are easily accessible and downtown

Burlington

has everything, music, shopping, restaurants, and more.  But since SMC is just outside

Burlington

, Billy likes how easy it is to get away from the busy life of downtown and just come back to school, relax and study!

Pam, a double major in Education and Psychology from

Massachusetts

says that she has become really close to the professors in her majors.  “They have all been very supportive and really have taken the time to get to know me well, I feel so comfortable with them,” she says.

For those three students, that is why they chose Saint Mikes.  And my reasons are very similar.  But why stay here?  For me it has been the opportunities.  The ENDLESS opportunities, academically, socially, and otherwise that are given to us.  This is what sets Saint Michael’s apart for me, so if you don’t mind I will share some of the most important opportunities that I have had with you.  And hopefully you can see yourself – over the next four years – having similar experiences at Saint Michael's College.

Fall of 2007 I studied abroad.  In fact, over 30% of our students take advantage of this program.  While many of my friends went to ski in

New Zealand

or do community service in

Thailand

, I spent 3 months in

England

studying at

Oxford

University

.  I went to

Oxford

knowing that I was going to be facing a rigorous academic schedule.  Imagine researching and writing 12 papers, each over 10 pages long, in 8 weeks.  In a typical semester at college we are given 8 weeks to research and write ONE paper, not TEN.  I estimate that I spent over 300 hours in the Bodleian Library.  My biggest souvenir from the studying abroad has been a British accent that my friends and I will occasionally slip into.  And when I say British accent I really mean a horrible British accent… and when I say we occasionally slip into it, I really mean that you are lucky I am not speaking to you in one right now. 

I have to give Saint Michael's College credit for academically preparing me 110% for that experience.    Freshman year I took an honors section of the first year seminar, which is focused on writing, reading, and discussion skills.  I’ve never been a confident writer and I got “C’s” on more than one paper in the class.  It took a lot of work but by the end of the semester my writing improved so much, and I ended the class with a solid B plus. 

Our professors at SMC are so supportive of their students and they often spend time outside their office hours meeting with people who have questions or need extra help.  Without that kind of support I never would have excelled in my writing at

Oxford

University

.  Their support also helped me achieve the greatest honor of being a Saint Mikes student… this year I was accepted into Phi Beta Kappa.  This is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honors society and a huge honor as less than 1% of undergraduates in our country are inducted into Phi Beta Kappa every year.