Halloween Costumes & Jumping in Puddles

Happy Saturday! Just thought I'd update you all on recent news here at SMC.

Yesterday, Friday, was one of my best days in a while. First of all, it was Friday (you really can't go wrong there). Also, I spent the afternoon with some of my besties planning our Halloween costumes & running errands. We started off going to a local Halloween store & bought our costumes. it's official...I'm going to be Robin! My friend Cara will be Batman.

I have a cape & everything!

After that we went grocery shopping & stopped at Walmart. My friend Merrill & I had to buy supplies for our next Dessert & Divine. As I've mentioned before, we're team leaders for VITA (campus ministry) this year and run Dessert & Divine once a month. Basically we lead a faith-based discussion & have delicious desserts! Our first D&D was a success and I'm excited for this next meeting!

A picture from our first D&D - so much fun!

We also had to buy groceries to do some baking. Our friends planned a big Fall party for Saturday, so we picked up some ingredients to bake Friday night. I made chocolate chocolate chip pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. They were so good!

Yum!

Finally, before we actually baked anything, we noticed that yesterday's rain created a giant lake of puddle. We decided to be totally immature & jumped in the puddles for a while. We got some strange looks and got totally soaked, but it was so much fun!

Not your typical Friday night, but it was the most fun I've had in a while. It reminded me just how much I love my friends! If you guys have any questions, send me an email or find me on Twitter!

Why Saint Mike's is the Happiest Place on Earth

Happy Monday!

For those of you that don't know, I'm both a blogger and a tour guide at Saint Mike's. I became a tour guide last spring and I love being able to share my experiences & love of SMC with prospective students & families. Last week, at the end of a tour, one mother asked me the best question : "Why is Saint Michael's the happiest place on earth?"

For me, the answer is simple. Saint Michael's is a place where I can grow in mind, body, & spirit. It's a place that is both incredibly supportive and amazingly beautiful. I am afforded so many opportunities here and I've made so many great friends; I feel like SMC is the place I'm supposed to be!



At Saint Mike's, the community is huge. Whenever I walk into the dining hall I say hello to Rosemary as she swipes my card and chat with Steve as he prepares the pizza. I walk to class and see Anna in the campus ministry office, say hi to Father Brian as I leave Alliot, and I talk with Jerome about choir practice as I pass the chapel. Sometimes I'll stop into Founder's to say hi to my work study bosses from last year, or I'll duck into the President's office to ask my friend Tara, the President's assistant, about her recommendations for next semester's classes. I'm also friendly with my professors who I constantly see around campus and, of course, I have an amazing group of friends, several of whom I live with this year.

My classes are difficult, but they're also surprisingly interesting and engaging. I never thought I'd enjoy learning about accounting, but Professor Doyon connects everything to real life problems and makes it easy  to understand. I've taken dance classes, psych classes, learned to love challenging myself in my two Spanish classes. I also fell in love with business in my intro class where we actually created a real business on campus. My group sold winter hats and, while our business failed, I learned so much about business already. My philosophy class is amazing - never did I ever think I'd enjoy discussing Plato. The readings are wordy and difficult to understand, but Professor L'Hote is so passionate and excited that classes are fun. We discuss the meaning of life and the definition of love, which is both funny and interesting.

My professors are excited to teach; they want us to learn and to do well. Even if their classes are difficult, they have office hours throughout the week and are readily available to go over course material. I've met with my professors to review a quiz, give me tips on improving a paper, or even just to chat or say hi. My professors know me; they know my name, they know that I'm a business major. Often when I meet with a professor about a class, they chat with me for a while after about my extracurriculars at SMC, where I'm from, or my plans to intern over the summer. All the professors at Saint Mike's love to learn and teach; they're engaged and truly care about helping their students.

Because Saint Mike's is such a small school, there are so many opportunities for students. As I said earlier, I work for the school as a blogger and tour guide. I basically get paid to brag about SMC! I've started working with the career center to secure an internship for next summer; right now I'm working on beautifying my resume and soon I'll be getting a list of alumni who work in Boston with whom I can make connections. This year, as a sophomore, I'm a TA for a first-year seminar. At most large universities a TA position is held by upperclassmen, or even graduate students, but since SMC is much smaller, sophomores and juniors are usually TAs. I'm also a team leader for one of our campus ministry programs, and I started a SMC chapter of a national online magazine with my friend Lauren, which, while it's not connected to Saint Mike's, is written by students and is so much fun.

Last but not least, campus is beautiful. I love walking into Alliot and seeing the mountains in the distance or noticing the sun set over the library at the end of the day. I honestly can't believe that I go to such a beautiful school! At Saint Mike's, I feel like I'm finding out who I am and I'm learning so much. I love being challenged in class, I've deepened my faith as I've gotten involved in campus ministry activities, and I've made some awesome friends. I sometimes think about what it'd be like to go to a larger college or university, but I don't think I would enjoy it. Saint Mike's has allowed me to be me and to really find myself. There's no where else I'd rather be!

Health Services & Changing Majors & Other Fun Things

Hello! Hope you've all had a wonderful, relaxing weekend!


This past week I've been sick (basically everyone at school has a cold and it's no fun!). I cannot stand being sick, so all last week I was exhausted and tried to sleep as much as possible. I also went to Health Services early in the week to get some cold medicine. Health Services is amazing! I went there a couple times last year, but I so appreciate their help! When you're sick and you're away from home, it feels like you don't have much help. Health Services gave me some cold medicine (for free! beats buying medicine at Rite Aid) and basically recommended I get a ton of sleep. They're just incredibly nice and helpful.


Last week I also decided to change my major again. This will be my fourth time changing my major and I've decided to switch back to business administration (I originally came in as a business major so I've now come full circle!). I've been debating between psych and business for a while, and I've finally decided that I love business & marketing. I'm actually really excited for the business classes I'll be taking and I love my new business advisor. I feel like I made a great decision and it couldn't have been easier to get my change of major form signed and switch majors!

Shopping at Walmart! I tried on some Halloween costumes.

(Photo Credit goes to my roomie Cait!)

On a totally unrelated topic, this weekend my friends & I went out to Walmart to buy a birthday present for our friend Vick, who went to Saint Mike's last year but ended up switching to Keane State to pursue a nursing degree, which SMC doesn't offer. We may have gotten a little distracted in the Halloween section. (Disclaimer: I am not being a witch for Halloween).

Hope you all have a great week! If you have any questions feel free to email me!

Roomie Love!

Roomates! They're awesome. They give you someone to chat with when avoiding homework, they share in your miseries over the end of this week's Glee, and they make you feel like you're not alone. No matter what, you always have your roomie to go home to at the end of the day.


I have been fortunate enough to have some awesome roommates. Last year Student Life did an awesome job of pairing me up with my first-year roommate, Lhanzi. We got along super well and had a lot of great discussions. I love her & we're still friends this year. This year I'm rooming with my friend Cait who is a great roommate. Besides some initial tension when we couldn't agree on how to set up our room, Cait & I have gotten along very well!

Cait & I!

Fun Fact: I'm 4'11" & Cait's about 6'1". Craziness!

This is (hopefully!) how most of you are feeling about your roommate. Uh...unless you have some major roomie troubles. Sadly, yes, roommate problems come up sometimes. But they should be easy to solve! Here's some tips about how I've gotten along so well with my roommates!


- We're pretty similar. So if you're a first-year, you couldn't really control this (beyond filling out the roommate survey this summer). But, if you're a sophomore, junior, or senior, just be sure that you pick a roommate that has similar sleep/study patterns as you do. I decided to room with Cait because we're friends, but turns out Cait likes to go to bed about 2 hours before I do. Lucky for us, she wears a sleep mask to bed so as long as I'm quiet, I can study after she's asleep!

- We're respectful. This should be a no-brainer, but it's actually kind of a hard rule to follow, especially if you've never shared a room before. Just be sure you keep your side of the room fairly neat and to be quiet if you roommate is studying or sleeping.

-We talk. Again, doesn't sound very hard, but it can be, especially if you're friends with your roommate. If something's bothering you, talk about it! Especially if you need to study or sleep and your roommate's being noisy. Be sure you two have clear rules about cleaning dishes right away, whether you need the lights off to sleep, if you like music when you study, etc.

-We're nice! In order to really bond with your roommate, set time aside to hang out together. Last year my roomie and I watched Christmas movies together and exchanged presents before the end of first semester. I like to bring home little treats for my roommates sometimes, like a mini Ben & Jerry's from the bookstore or some candy. Also, if you go to the store or run some errands, ask your roommate if they need anything! Just be courteous & friendly.

- If all else fails, switch! If you and your roommate really don't get along, feel free to switch rooms! There's no point in having a miserable semester all because you dread going back to your room!