November 21, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!



Hey everyone!

Saint Mike's is crazy right now because tomorrow after classes, we're on Thanksgiving break! Everyone can't wait to go home, see their family & friends, & have some delicious food!

Of course I'm no exception! I can't wait to see my parents & brother! Then, Thursday morning, we'll all drive to New York to visit my Grandma, Aunt, Uncles, and cousin and have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner!

And so, to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving, here is a lovely clip from 'Friends':



...now that is what Thanksgiving is all about! Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving & safe travels! Formspring me with any questions about SMC!

November 18, 2011

Spring Semester Classes



It's so strange that my first semester of college is almost over! In just three weeks, I'll be done with school until January! Ahhh!

As I mentioned last post, I just registered for classes! Although I didn't get into everything I wanted, I'm really happy with my schedule now! So here it is:



Spring Semester Schedule:


Monday/Wednesday/Friday:

9:50 - 10:50
Managerial Accounting

11:00 - 12:00
Spanish

12:10 - 1:10
Cross Cultural Psychology


Tuesday/Thursday:

1:10 - 2:40
Christiantiy: Past and Present

2:50 - 4:20
Ballet I


I'm really really happy with all of my classes! They really give me the opportunity to try out some different subjects, fulfill some LSC's, and complete some required classess for my Business Administration minor & Psychology major.

...which brings me to my next point. I'm switching to a Psychology major! This will be the third time I'm changing my major (I started with business, changed to elementary ed., and I'm now going to psych.). So as you can tell, I'm not exactly sure what I want to do! However, in changing to a psych major, I'll be able to take more psychology classes than I would otherwise be able to. That way I'll be able to explore psych a little more and decide for sure whether I'd like to major in it.

So now I'm off to Alliot's lovely weekend brunch. Waffles await! Email me to learn more about SMC, or send me a tweet and ask me anything!

November 13, 2011

Registration!



Hi guys! As I told you earlier this week, I registered for classes on Thursday! It's a bit of a complicated process, but I'll try to explain it as well as I can!

Registration is pretty stressful because, first, everyone is split up to register on different days. Seniors start, and freshmen are last. Each class is also split into two groups, for example freshmen group 1 registered on Thursday and group 2 registered on Friday.

Registration goes from 7 AM - 3 PM on your assigned day. This means that, at 7 AM, everybody clicks "submit" and tries to register. Don't wait until later in the day to register! If you do, a lot of classes will be filled up.

So for every class, a certain number of seats are set aside for each registering group. That means that, if I try to register for a Calculus I class, for example, but it's full when I register, I can try to register again after everyone else has registered. After everyone has registered, any available seats from other groups' registrations are open to everyone.

In addition to any left-over seats, there are "petition seats" for some classes. These are seats left open for students that need that particular class for their major but did not get in. These students can then go to the registrar's office, pick up a petition form, and fill in what class they need and why. Then the registrar's office decides if you should be given a petition seat or not. My friend Mary was able to petition into a class the other day for her biology major!


Now, for me, the most confusing part of all this was the actual online registration. During Summer Registration Day, I registered for classes in the same way, but I had a tempporary advisor helping me figure it all out. Down below check out myguide for how to register online through KnightVision (the online class schedule & registration system at Saint Mike's)!



How to register with KnightVision:

  1. Log in - you'll receive your user name & password the summer before you come to SMC
  2. Students Menu - on the left
  3. Register for Sections - under "registration"
  4. Search and Register
  5. Select Term & Subject - don't worry about filling in any other info.
  6. Find Class - make sure you check the days/times the class meets, who the professor is, where it meets, if it fulfills a Liberal Studies Requirement, and if there are any pre-requisites
  7. Select - click the small box to the left of the class
  8. Submit - click "submit" at the bottom of the page
  9. Repeat! - continue this until you have all your classes (four classes, plus you can take an extra two-credit class if you wish)
  10. Check - double check your selected classes; make sure you fulfill all pre-reqs and that the times don't interfere with each other (also make sure that you schedule in time to eat!)
  11. Log Out- KnightVision will log you out if you don't stay active on the site! This means that, if you forget to keep clicking on different things while waiting to register, it could log you off just before it's time to register! I prefer to log out and log back in just before registering.
  12. WAIT
  13. Log in - I suggest doing this about a minute before it's time to register. Logging in takes a couple seconds, and you can only stay in-active for a minute on KnightVision before you get logged out
  14. Student Menu
  15. Register
  16. Register for Previously Selected Sections - this will bring you to all of the classes you previously searched for
  17. Register - make sure you click "register" on the drop down menu! On Thursday I got over-excited and forgot to click this before registering. It took forever to load before I could click register and re-submit my classes!
  18. Wait until 7 AM- this is the hardest part!
  19. Submit - click submit at the bottom of the page! Wait a couple seconds after 7 AM to make sure you're not told that "registration is closed but will open at 7 AM".
  20. WAIT - for up to a minute or two! So many people are registering at once, it can sometimes take a while.
  21. Be Prepared - Always have back-up classes! You probably won't get into every single class that you want (at least not as a freshman), so make sure you have some other classes ready that you can quickly look up & register for! Make sure these classes have times that won't interfere with your other classes.
  22. BE HAPPY - ...that you just got into some great classes because you were so prepared!

Other Tips:

  • Wake up early! - I got up around 6:30 for registration. This gave me time to wake up a bit, brush my teeth, make some tea, and log into KnightVision.
  • Have Back-ups - just another reminder that a Plan B is crucial. I definitely needed back-ups for Summer Registration Day & for Thursday's registration.
  • Know your password - you should definitely know your KnnightVision password before the day of registration. You don't want to be stuck, unable to log in or register for classes!
  • Check out KnightVision - If you're new to KnightVision, check it out! If you don't have a username or password, just skip the "logging in" step and click on "Student Menu". Check out the classes available and see how KnightVision is set up.
  • Meet with your Advisor - when you meet with your advisor before registration, not only does he/she help you decide what classes to take, but he/she also clears you for registration. Bottom line: if you don't meet with your advisor, you won't be able to register.
  • Search for Classes Before Registration - Since registration is so stressful, I logged in the week before my registration and selected all of the classes I wanted. That way, on regisration day, I simply skipped to the "Register for Previously Selected Sections" step and clicked submit!
  • Ratemyprofessor.com - Usually I'm against sites like these because they can be mean & students often don't like teachers simply because they are hard graders or give a lot of work. However, this site definitely helped me find great teachers to take classes with! When there are three different Accounting classes with three different teachers who I've never heard of, it's great to search for Saint Mike's on this site to find out who's the best!
  • Don't Worry - ...if you don't get into your classes! The day after everyone has registered, registration opens to everyone. I got into two new classes because I got up early on Saturday morning to re-register! You can also petition into classes & wait until the add/drop period in January.


SO I hope that helped! A bit of a crazy long description, I know, but registration  can be tricky!

And so, that explains all of registration! If you have any questions about it, tweet me! Or email me about anything else you'd like to know about Saint Mike's!

November 10, 2011

So many exciting things!



HEY EVERYONE! So many great things happening lately!


First of all, I registered for classes today! I'll write more about that in a second. I have much more exciting news!



TODAY MY DANCE CLASS FLASH MOBBED IN ALLIOT!!!!!



Yup, you read that right. We choreographed a dance with our teacher & performed it in the middle of a very crowded Alliot. Check out some videos of it below!

I found these first two on youtube, but I didn't take them myself. I also couldn't get them to load onto my blog (so many technical difficulties!) but find them on my twitter profile!



1. "In the Studio: Preparing for Alliot" - you can see our dance really well here. I'm the one on the left with bright blue socks who looks like she's not having any fun (but I really am!).

2. "Alliot Flash Mob SMC" - this is us in Alliot! You can't see me here, but you can see our group as a whole really well. I'm way back in the far right.

3. My Video! - this one's posted below. It's a little hard to see, but it's a view from behind us. I'm the one with blondish hair & the sweatshirt.




In other, slightly less exciting news, I registered for classes this morning! I was going to fill up the rest of this post with wonderful stories about classes & the technical challenges of registering online, but alas, I think this post is getting too long.

I'll blog all about registration Friday afternoon or this weekend (maybe while I'm watching the ALL NEW HARRY POTTER DVD with my friend Merrill?!). Hope you all enjoyed watching our flash mob, & I'll blog soon!


Tweet me with any questions you might have! :)

November 7, 2011

Higher Ground



Hello! It is a lovely, gorgeous, beautiful day out today & I am in a wonderfully happy mood!

There's a whole mess of things going on in my life right now, but I thought I'd backtrack a little & share about a concert I went to back in October with my friend Emma (who's birthday is tomorrow, so birthday shout out!)



In Burlington, there's a wonderful tiny little concert venue called Higher Ground. It's right close by and really easy to get to by bus (it's about 15 minutes away because you need to switch buses downtown). Tickets are also pretty cheap! This past summer my Uncle got me tickets to see a cool folk/bluegrass band called Crooked Still & Emma came to the show with me last month.












At Higher Ground, we got some delicious nachos for dinner (also surprisingly cheap!) and then sat down to see the show! It started at about 8 PM I believe, and it lasted until 11:30, however we left at 10:30ish because we had classes the next day!



The first band to perform was the 'warm-up act' named Mike and Ruthy. They were SO FANTASTIC! They played a billion amazing songs (the video of my favorite is down below - it's a cover of a Tom Petty song I believe), and they were also super cute. They're married & have a two year-old son who they talked about so much.





Then it was time for Crooked Still! Now, I realize that not everyone enjoys this type of music, but no matter what you have to admit that these musicians are so TALENTED. They played some amazing songs, some of which I hadn't heard before. Two of my favorites are down below. My favorite was written by the banjo player, but I couldn't actually get a video of it (but never fear, I found it on youtube!). The other is a great song called "Ain't No Grave" (which is actually a Johnny Cash cover) that I was able to record at the show.




'It'll End Too Soon'



'Ain't No Grave'


That's it for now! Expect another post later this week about class registration & all sorts of other stuff! If you have any questions in the meantime, send me an email or tweet me!

November 1, 2011

SMC Winter Beanies



Hi everyone!

Just a quick update about my BUSINESS CLASS!

A few weeks ago I blogged about my classes, including my business class. It's an intro. class, so it's pretty much an overview of business and includes marketing, finance, and management. The most exciting part is getting to create a real business on campus! My group is selling 'SMC Winter Beanies'.

This week we need to create a product pitch and show it to the class. We can do a presentation, present a skit, show a movie, etc. My group chose to do a movie starring my friend and fellow blogger Lauren. It's so funny!


And here it is!
I couldn't format it to go on my blog, so you'll have to check it out on facebook!


Hope you all like it, and I hope it makes you all want to buy some hats!

Tweet me with questions about Saint Mike's, or send me an email! Have a wonderful week! :)