Finals Week & Study Abroad Goodbyes

Happy finals week!

Finals week officially started on Monday and I had my first exam today. I have two more exams on Thursday and Friday and I'll be heading home on Saturday morning. It's definitely a busy week & it's been a little sad saying goodbye to so many of my friends since I'll be studying abroad next semester.

But, it's been fun too! I had an awesome weekend because, though I have final exams all week, I didn't have any papers or homework assignments to complete. It made it easy to chill out, have a secret santa party with friends, watch holiday movies, and basically lounge around before this busy week. Check out some photos below!


Blogger Party - a group of us bloggers met up at Christian's house (our boss & the assistant director of marketing for social media at SMC). We basically ate food, made Christmas cookies, watched Home Alone, & took lots of pictures!

Me, Boates, Lauren K, & Lauren M

Me & my roomie Lauren K

Juliana, Boates, Lauren K, & Lauren M

Christmas Shopping - I went shopping on Church Street with my roomie Cait. While walking around, we found that there was a reindeer & donkey on Church Street for the day! The donkey was available for pictures, & we couldn't resist.

Winter Sunset - Went on an adventure to Walmart today & saw a gorgeous sunset. Definitely gonna miss those over winter break!

 If you have any questions, please shoot me an email or tweet at me!

Wrapping Up the Semester

Happy Sunday!

We got our first real snowfall here last night & it's absolutely beautiful!

View from my bedroom window

It's been a busy few weeks but things are starting to wind down now as we get close to the end of the semester. I still have quite a bit of work to complete before the end of the semester (homework, final papers, & final exams, of course) but it's nice to know I only have a few weeks left.

I'll be leaving Tuesday afternoon to go home for Thanksgiving. I'm pumped to see my family, get a mini-vacation, & eat some delicious food!

I also have a few fun things going on before the end of the semester. Tonight a bunch of my friends are having dinner at Dean Ellinwood's house for dinner (I won dinner with the dean at an event in September). I'll also be going to an end-of-the-semester party for all the bloggers & the mentoring program will have a holiday party during our last week of classes.

Of course, I'm also busy preparing for study abroad! I leave in less than two months for Dublin, Ireland & I couldn't be more excited!

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email! Also, a reminder to all prospective students that we'll be having our last Knight Chat of the semester on Thursday, December 5 from 7:30 - 9:00 PM. Hope you all can join us!

Why I'm Totally, Completely, Head-Over-Heels in Love with Saint Mike's

Happy Sunday!

Went for a run this morning & it is a little chilly but absolutely gorgeous and sunny and Autumn-y feeling outside. I love it!

So whenever I give a tour I usually end by saying why I love Saint Michael's. The short answer is: The community is awesome. The problem is, this answer doesn't really do SMC & the campus community justice. In reality, the community is so much more than just nice students & people holding doors open for each other.

Really, Saint Mike's is awesome because you matter here as an individual. Yes, classes are small and students are friendly. But also, there is so much support from everyone on campus.

Professor Popovich, my advisor, is the bomb and is so helpful in finding opportunities and competitions for me. Last year she recommended me for a speech contest put on by SUNY Plattsburgh. I never would have heard about it had she not told me. I competed in a preliminary speech contest at Saint Mike's, won (!) & then joined a team of seniors to go to SUNY Plattsburgh. There I had the speech contest finals (I got third overall!) and competed in a creativity contest with the team of seniors (we won that contest!). It was an incredible experience & I never would have been a part of it had it not been for my advisor. She also worked with me & my partner to help us compete in the Saint Michael's Ethics Case Competition last spring. While we didn't win overall, we did get the top paper at Saint Mike's & I plan to compete again!

I'm friends with Abid & Rosemary & Joe in dining hall & I love seeing them during meals. At the beginning of the year, the first time I saw Abid, he came over and gave me a huge hug & asked all about my summer. They're all wonderful & I miss them since I cook most of my own meals now in my town house.

My career counselor totally understands my life & career goals & could not have more awesome advice! Chris Clary is the Director of Career Development & I've been meeting with her since freshman year. She's helped me with my resume, with internship applications, with grad school research, and with connecting with alumni. She has helped me so much & she's given me so many names of alumni whom she knows personally and who really want to help me.

My professors are so dedicated, it still amazes me. They all really care & they always have great office hours & are willing to talk about any problems in class. The thing that amazes me most is when professors set up study groups before exams. I have a finance professor who comes in Sunday night at 6pm the week we have an exam just to go over questions with us. I've also had an accounting professor come study with us on Sunday and Monday nights before a Tuesday exam or bring in donuts to our 8am class as an apology for the early time slot.

This semester I have an awesome negotiations professor who used to teach MBA students at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. He knows that I want to work in politics & that I'm interested in both business & law. He suggested I apply for a summer research grant from Saint Michael's to work with him and research an area of interest to me that involves business, politics, & law. I am so excited to start this research, even though I can tell that it will be an incredible amount of work. I can't believe my professor asked me to do research with him in order to allow me to research something that I love, try to get published, & help me get into graduate school. I definitely would not have applied to do research had he not suggested it, & i can already tell that (if I get it) the research will be so fun and really helpful in the long run.

The business department head has also been so helpful allowing me to study & share my experiences. I met Professor Letovsky last year during the SUNY Plattsburgh speech contest &, since then, he's sent me numerous links to internship and summer lectures that might interest me. I ended up applying & being accepted to a seminar on economics in South Carolina. I was able to talk with Professor Letovsky & Vice President of Academic Affairs, Karen Talentino, in order to get a travel grant so I could fly to the seminar. The seminar was awesome, & while I did not agree with most of the theories presented, I would definitely recommend the seminar to others. I'll be presenting everything that I learned from the econ seminar in one of Professor Letovsky's class later this semester.

I love Dragan & Jim, the shuttle drivers. When I lived on North Campus last year I saw them everyday, but now I only see them once every week or so. They're both so sweet & they really care about the students. Last year, Jim knew everyone's name by the second week  of school and Dragan will wait for you to get into your building at night before he drives off. I just talked to Dragan last week & he said he missed seeing me every day. I definitely miss talking to him everyday too!


So, really what I love most about Saint Mike's is that you truly matter here! It's scary coming to college & not knowing anyone, but at SMC I found that people get to know you & care about you pretty quickly. It's awesome to know that, if I'm sick, my professor will email me to make sure I'm okay or Rosemary will ask about me if she doesn't see me in a while. You might not know anyone at SMC right away, but you definitely are not all alone.


Feel free to email with any questions! Also, a reminder that we have a KnightChat for students this Wednesday at 7:30pm - 9:00pm. If you have questions about SMC, this is a great way to talk to student bloggers & hear their perspectives & advice! Hope to see you there!

Long Weekend & a Visit From My Parents

Happy Sunday!

My apologies for not blogging for a bit. I've been swamped (homework, study abroad planning, looking at grad school, various clubs, etc.) and I didn't realize how long it's been until this weekend.

So a couple weeks ago we had a long, four day weekend. My parents decided to come up and visit for the weekend, which was awesome because:

1) I love my parents
2) I got to show them around my school / the new student center
3) They took me out for delicious meals in Burlington
4) I didn't have to do homework until Monday after they left

We had a lot of fun! I got to show them my favorite spots on Church Street, they saw my townhouse, they bought me groceries and good stuff, & we walked along an awesome bike path by Lake Champlain.

Hopefully I'll be blogging again this week! Until then, email me with any questions!

Camel's Hump Hike

Hi everyone! Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

 

Although my classes have been keeping me crazy busy, I took some time last weekend to go hiking with two of my roommates, Lauren and Cara. We signed up through the Wilderness Program, a group on campus that trains interested students to be wilderness leaders. All students can then sign up to go hiking, learn how to kayak, ski, or do other fun outdoor activities. Usually a day hike costs about $5 and extended trainings or overnight hikes cost around $15.

 

This was my first trip with the Wilderness Program and it was amazing! You can actually see Camel's Hump from campus, so it was cool to climb the mountain then come back to Saint Mike's and see how high we climbed.

We met our wilderness leaders at 8:00am then drove for about a half hour to the mountain. The climb entire climb and descent took a few hours and we also hung out at the summit for about a half hour. We ended up coming home at around 3:00pm.

It was a great way to hang out with my roommates and it was amazing to get outside for the day. It was also really cool to meet some new people. I'm hoping to sign up for another hike soon and I definitely recommend getting involved in the wilderness program!

 

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email! Also, for all prospective students, we'll be having a Knightchat this Thursday at 7:30pm. It's a great place to ask any questions and to hear about a student's experience at Saint Mike's. Hope to see you there!

Loving Classes - Negotiations, Marketing, Finance, & Entrepreneurship

Happy Sunday!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I had fun hanging out with my friends and getting some homework done.

Just kidding, but I do love that show!

I thought I'd blog this week about the classes I'm taking this semester. Although I'm a business major, I usually take a range of classes to try and fulfill my LSR's (liberal studies requirements - classes like history, math, foreign language, etc.). This semester, though, I'm taking four business classes and I love it!


Negotiations:
This classes meets Monday & Wednesday at 8am, which is a little early for me. However, this is the BEST CLASS EVER so I don't even mind the early start time!

This course is taught by Professor Brosh Teucher, whom I met last year when he judged a speech contest that I competed in. I've loved his class so far; he always gets a good discussion going and I love learning how to become an effective negotiator. Professor Teucher is also very accomplished; he's taught at several colleges, but most recently taught at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

In this class, we receive "roles" which we need to review over the weekend in order to negotiate with a classmate on Monday. Then, on Wednesday the negotiation results go up on the board and we discuss our negotiation tactics and how to improve. It's been such a fun class so far and I feel like I'm learning a ton.


Entrepreneurship:
This class meets every Monday, Wednesday, & Friday at 9:45am. It's a cool class because it takes everything I've learned in other business classes and applies it to real problems. For example, lately we've been using different ratios (which measure liquidity, profitability, efficiency, etc.) to measure the financial health of a business. It's fun seeing how everything I'm learning is actually applicable.

This course it taught by Professor Birger Benson, who's also quite accomplished. He got his MBA at Harvard Business School and then owned his own business for several years before teaching at Saint Mike's.


Advanced Topics in Marketing:
This class meets every Monday & Wednesday at 1:30pm. So far this is a cool class; although I'm interested in working in politics, I'd also love to work in marketing. I love learning some some advanced marketing strategies.

This class is taught by Professor Robert Letovsky. I met Professor Letovsky last year when I went to SUNY Plattsburgh for the Free Enterprise Olympics. He also helped me get funding to attend a summer economics seminar at Clemson University. Professor Letovsky is a very fun teacher and I've heard great things about his classes.

In this class, we have a couple long-term projects. For one of them we'll be using an online marketing simulation. We'll be put into a team of students and together we'll need to decide on a marketing strategy for our company. Then, our company will earn or lose money, our stock price will increase or decrease, etc. depending on our marketing moves. For second project we'll be analyzing an actual company. For this, my group is analyzing Apple and their launch of the iPhone 5C & 5S. Both these projects sound really fun and I'm excited to get started!

Finance:
This class meets Tuesday & Thursday at 11:30am. I wasn't thrilled that I had to take finance, but so far I really like this class. It's fun using what I've learned in accounting and then branching off to learn more complex things.

This class is taught by Professor Diane Lander. She makes class fun and she's awesome about having office hours. I've already stopped by for help on a few homework problems, and she's encouraged me to keep coming by. I've heard good things about her classes, so I'm excited for the semester.


That's all for now! I'm also busy gearing up for study abroad next semester & I'm starting to look at grad schools. Besides that, I'm a weekly tour guide this semester, I'm still a mentor through MOVE, and I'm still running Her Campus with my friend & fellow blogger Lauren Mazzoleni. I've also been volunteering for Massachusetts State Senator Karen Spilka and her Campaign for Congress. I've been making phone calls to constituents, which has been fun but time-consuming! I've just been so busy this semester!


Just a reminder that we have a Knight Chat this Wednesday at 7:30pm! I definitely encourage prospective students to attend; it's a great way to ask questions about SMC and learn about our experiences here!

If you have any questions, feel free to email!

Moving in - 100's townhouse!

Hey everyone!

Just some pictures of my townhouse this semester! I live in the 100's (a series of townhouses reserved for juniors & senior) with three awesome girls and our house is adorable. I couldn't take any pictures of my bedroom because it's a mess, but here's the downstairs!

The living room!

Living room again

Dinner table & where we do most of our studying

Our kitchen! Now we cook most of our own meals

I'll be blogging again soon about some of my classes, but in the meantime, feel free to find me on Facebook or shoot me an email!

Back at Saint Mike's & Better Than Ever!

Hi everyone!

I am back at school & ready to blog again!

First, a giant apology for not blogging in so so so long! I had an awesome, busy summer and then I moved in at SMC and immediately had tons of schoolwork. Right now I'm working on figuring out a good study schedule, but at least I'm finally blogging!

So a quick review of my summer:

1. Internship - This was probably the coolest part of my entire summer! I got to intern for State Senator Richard Ross in Boston, Mass. I worked all last year applying to internships and chatting with alumni for advice. Actually getting to go to Boston and work in the State House was amazing. Also, I'm so inspired now to work in politics in some capacity in the future. I loved seeing all the hard work the State Senators are doing.

The State House is gorgeous!

2. Vacation - My family went to St. Thomas this year and took a day to visit St. John. It was incredible & absolutely gorgeous!

  

Incredible beach on St. John

3. Economic Seminar - I was accepted to a Foundation for Economic Education seminar last semester and actually got funding for travel from Saint Mike's! I got to fly to Clemson University in South Caroline for a week to hear lectures and have discussions. It was really fun to learn more about economics and to interact with other students who are as passionate about learning as I am!

4. Friends - Of course, it was awesome to see my friends. I definitely didn't see them as much as I would've liked, but it was still cool to catch up with everyone.

Some of my friends from high school & Girl Scouts

5. Camp - I also worked as a camp counselor this year, which is super fun. Since I worked at camp last year I had a bunch of friends there and the kids were just so adorable.

6. Music Festival - In early August I went to the Nines Music Festival in Devens, Mass. They had some really good bands and it was the first year they've ever held the festival, so it was fun to be a part of that.

Picture by the band Walk off the Earth

(I'm in the baseball hat on the right)

All in all, I had an awesome summer, but I'm really happy to be back at Saint Mike's. I have some really cool classes & professors this semester and I love seeing my friends. I also live in a townhouse this year and it's so cute!

I'll share more about my first few weeks at SMC soon. If you have any questions, feel free to email me or send me a question on Ask.fm!

Interning at the Massachusetts State House

Happy Thursday!

The MA State House with a banner for Father's Day

At Saint Mike's, I'm a business major with a concentration in marketing, but I'm also interested in working in politics. To explore my options & to find out what it would be like to work in politics, I got a summer internship with a State Senator Richard Ross at the Massachusetts State House.

This internship is part-time, which is perfect for me because it allows me to also work as a camp counselor, like I did last year. While it's not as helpful career-wise as an internship, I love working at camp because it's so much fun and I have a bunch of friends there. It's also great because my internship is unpaid but working at camp allows me to save up some money for the school year.


I first decided that I wanted to work at the State House last summer when my brother and I took a tour of the building. It's a gorgeous building that's filled with so much history. I knew I wanted to explore politics as a career option, and I thought that an internship at the State House would be a good place to start. Soon after I found that one of my friends had interned at the State House a few years ago. She connected me with the Deputy Chief Council at the State House, who was nice enough to explain all my internship options.

I ended up emailing several MA senators and representatives and later set up a phone call to talk with the Senator Ross' Communications Director. I interviewed with her over winter break and was offered the internship! I started interning in May after coming home from Vermont.


At my internship I mainly work on constituent services, so when a person from Senator Ross' district writes in with questions or concerns, I find the correct information and write back. I've also done some research and have written up some resolutions. I've only been interning for a few weeks now, but so far it's been so much fun. I love researching to assist Senator Ross in making informed decisions and it's great to help constituents. I also love the people I work with; they've all been super nice and helpful.


On an unrelated note, I'm getting excited for all the first-years to start at Saint Mike's in just a few months! I'm hoping you all will love SMC as much as I do!

If anyone has questions, please reach out! Shoot me an email or ask me on Ask.fm. I'd love to help!

New Vlog Update!

If anyone has questions, feel free to shoot me an email, tweet at me, or ask me on Ask.fm!

Why Viral Videos Are No Longer an Accident

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Friday at Saint Mike's it was 75 degrees and while it's only about 40 out today, it's nice to finally have some bright, sunny, (somewhat) warm days.

Picture of Jenna Marbles from the NYT Article

So I read a New York Times article the other day about Jenna Marbles, a YouTube personality who's gotten very popular with teenage/college girls. I'm not a huge fan because I think some of her material is a little offensive, but she can be funny and I know a lot of girls love her.

The article was interesting because it talked a lot about her "video formula." In most of her videos Jenna Marbles talks directly to the camera about various  funny topics to which girls can relate. Although she sometimes changes it up by mocking celebrities or guest-starring her (now) ex-boyfriend, the format for all Jenna Marbles videos are pretty much the same.

The New York Times article suggested that, because many YouTube personalities are getting famous by using this simple video formula (a.k.a. variations on one person talking about funny things to the camera) viral videos are actually planned and are no longer accidental. This is actually a popular belief and YouTube even opened a new production facility where popular YouTube people can film videos for free. While they have some evidence (in the form of popular YouTube videos) to back this claim up, I don't think that statement entirely true. Take, for example, some of my favorite YouTube personalities and popular viral videos:

Julian Smith:
I don't know a lot of his videos, but I found this a while ago and found it pretty random / funny. It's gotten over 16 million views and definitely doesn't use the same video formula as Jenna Marbles.

Daily Grace:
Grace has a video series similar to Jenna Marbles, except she uploads more videos throughout the week. I think she's pretty funny and awkward. She has over 1 million subscribers.

Autotune the News:
This video if from the guys that autotune the news. They've put out a few popular videos but, although they all follow the same format of taking a popular news clip and turning it into a song, not all their videos have a lot of views.

Paint:
This video is Paint's most popular video with over 13 million views. I don't love all his videos but there's no denying that he's talented. I certainly wouldn't have expected this video to go viral.

Noah:
This kid is so talented and I absolutely love his cover of the LMFAO song. Again, wouldn't expect this video to go viral, and yet it's gotten over 17 million views.


So this is what I think about the creation of viral videos: they're usually accidents!

To be fair, I'm sure that the people making viral videos want them to go viral. However, all these videos have different formats and are of different genres (comedy, skits, music). I think that, for popular YouTube personalities, it's accidental that their first video goes viral. After that, they tend to follow the same formula and their other videos may go viral too. I think that planned viral videos are an interesting idea because, if there is a particular video formula that lends itself to viral videos, marketers will definitely pick up on that to create viral ads.


I'm off to do some homework and prepare for a busy week. My brother comes on Thursday for Macklemore and P-Day so I'm very excited! If you have any questions ask me on my Ask.fm!

Keeping Positive After the Boston Marathon

Hi everyone! For anyone in and around Boston, hope all are safe and unaffected by the explosions. I live about an hour outside of Boston and I was shocked to hear about Monday's events.


Just wanted to share a bit of positive energy in this sad time. I've seen countless Facebook posts and tweets about Monday's events and I think that it's easy to get caught up in the negativity. I love seeing the positive, inspirational posts about all the helpers on Monday who took people into their homes and helped rescue injured runners and other people.

Mashable had an awesome article recognizing "10 Touching Acts of Kindness at the Boston Marathon." This was a beautiful way to commend those who helped others and even put themselves in danger to help people around them. The New York Times had another great article about Carlos Arredondo, a man who helped save someone's life by running towards the chaos instead of away from it all.

It's just been touching to see people from all over reach out to Boston. Right away help was sent from New York to assist in clearing out Copley Square and to investigate the explosions. The Yankees also put up a sign (shown above) to show their support for the Red Sox and for Boston in general. On the radio this morning the radio hosts talked about several things we can thank Boston for, such as popular bands. While silly, it sends a message that everyone is supporting Boston in our time of need.

At Saint Mike's there are plenty of Bostonians and students from Massachusetts. My friend Emma, who's from Albany, New York, once asked me why everyone from Mass loves Boston so much. I'd never really thought about it, or realized how loyal Massachusetts people. I think our love of Boston has a lot to do with  the history, the smallness of the city, and the people. While not always nice, the people of Boston are tough and caring. I had someone tell me once that his recent move to Boston was causing culture shock because people were often rude to him. This is something Boston and New England people hear a lot, but when I told someone about this comment later they told me that he was absolutely right, but that just means that when Bostonians are nice to you they really mean it.

I think these videos from Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart really do a great job of summing all of this up.

Praying for everyone in Boston and hoping we can all remember that there is plenty of good out there for every bit of bad that we encounter.

My (Very Long) Week in Photos

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone had a great weekend and that you all procrastinated significantly less than I did. On the plus side, although I do not have much homework done, I had a super relaxing weekend and my room is spotless.

This week was pretty busy for me (I had two tests, a big quiz, and a project due) but I actually had a lot of fun this week too. Just thought I'd share some photos from my week with you all!

1) LEAP
So last weekend I was on LEAP, one of the retreats put on my campus ministry every semester. I don't have any pictures from the weekend, but below is a link to the song "It's Your Life" by Francesca Battistelli, which was kind of our "song of the weekend." I can't share a lot from LEAP (it's all very secretive!) but I definitely suggest that all students go at least once. It was fun, relaxing, and I met so many new friends throughout the weekend.

2) Ben & Jerry's - Free Cone Day
Free cone day at Ben & Jerry's is pretty huge. I'd never heard of it before coming to Saint Mike's, but basically it's a day where all Ben & Jerry's give our free ice cream to thank their customers! I went last year with my friend Merrill but this year I went with a few of my friends from Her Campus.

Lauren & I won Ben & Jerry's bracelets for 

answering trivia questions

Huge line for Free Cone Day!

3) Horseback Riding Lesson
Friday I took my little sister (who I mentor through our MOVE volunteer program) for a horseback riding lesson! I like to do one special thing with her each year and she always talked about how much she loves horses, so I thought this would be perfect! We actually went to the farm where my 'Horses and Healing' class went (both when I was a student last year and a TA last semester).

Brianna at her lesson

4) Dinner with Ashley & Caitlin
My roommate, Caitlin, was gone for most of the weekend on a trip to Canada with the Science Club. Caitlin had planned go grab some dinner with her friend Ashley and they invited me along. I met Ashley on LEAP last weekend so I was excited to hang out with her again. We went to Chile's (for delicious fajitas!) and, on our way home, saw the most beautiful sunset! It's been rainy here this week, so seeing a bright, clear-ish sky was awesome.

Gorgeous sunset

So these next several weeks will be busy for everyone at SMC. We only have two and a half weeks of classes, then finals, then summer!

I have a lot of work to get done in those two and a half weeks, but we have a lot of fun, end-of-the-semester events coming up too. We have the Macklemore concert on April 25th and P-Day (a day of free food and fun before finals starts) on April 27th. My brother will be up for that weekend and I'm excited for him to meet all my friends.

Also, Temple Grandin will be speaking at Saint Mike'son Wednesday and I can't wait! We read a lot about Temple Grandin in my 'Horses and Healing' class and it will be very cool to see her speak in person.

As always, shoot me an email or ask me a question on ask.fm. For any prospective students - good luck in your college decision and I hope to see you at next Saturday's Accepted Student's Day!

Why I Love Economics & Statistics

Hi everyone!

This semester I'm taking four classes that all relate to my business major - marketing, management, statistics, and macroeconomics. Since I'm not exactly passionate about math, I wasn't very excited to take economics and statistics, but I've actually loved my classes this semester!


Economics:
This class meets twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday) for an hour and a half. I have Professor Reza Ramazani - I love him and his teaching style! He's very energetic and makes the classes fun.

I can't say the class is easy, but it's certainly clear. Every week we have two chapter to read, but our book is pretty interesting (or maybe I just like econ?). Then we have a writing assignment in which we read an econ-related newspaper article and write about it. We also have large homework assignments before tests to help us review.

Professor Ramazani also helped me prepare my speech for the SUNY Plattsburgh Free Enterprise Olympics speech finals. He was very excited for me and told me that he was proud when I won! Overall, I think this class is very interesting! I'm hoping to take another economics class senior year if I can fit it in my schedule.


Statistics:
I expected this class to be boring and difficult, but surprisingly, it doesn't fit either of those descriptions! This class meets three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) for an hour. I have Professor Warren Sides, who is an adjunct, which means he's not a full-time professor at Saint Mike's. He actually also teaches at a few other colleges in the area, which is pretty common for adjunct professors at Saint Mike's.

Professor Sides makes the classes pretty interesting. I can't say I look forward to learning about statistics every day, but I do enjoy our classes. We have homework due a few times a week and we also have a larger project once in a while to expand on the information we're learning. After covering about five chapter we have an exam, but we get a practice packet and have a study day in class, so we have plenty of time to prepare and ask questions. Plus, Professor Sides is funny and tries hard to entertain us during class.

Again, Professor Sides makes his class very clear. He makes sure we know what is expected of us and grades accordingly. He also has long office hours and makes himself very available if you have questions. Basically, I love my stats class!


If you have any questions, find me on Facebook or ask me on Ask.fm!

End-of-the-Semester Business & Random Shenanigans

Happy Tuesday!

This week is off to an odd start because we had Monday off for Easter break. Therefore we started classes for the week today, which makes Tuesday feel like Monday (not that that's a bad thing!).


I had an awesome Easter break! I drove home Thursday afternoon, then on Friday I had an interview for an internship in Boston. I've been busy applying and interviewing for internships and I'm really excited to intern somewhere this summer. I have a few favorite places where I hope I get the job, but overall I just love working and can't wait to get started! My Mom also came into Boston with me and we had fun walking around & shopping after my interview.

The rest of my Easter break was filled with relaxing, seeing my friends, and spending Easter with my family. We also celebrated my little cousins' birthdays so that was a lot of fun (plus we had some delicious cake!).

Lunch in Boston in the North End

 A few other miscellaneous things! The picture below was tweeted by Saint Mike's after spring break. It's a picture from the Wilderness Club's Spring break kayaking trip to Scotland! I thought it was gorgeous and it made me so excited for warmer weather!

Beautiful!

Also, last week we had a beam signing. In Alliot they put out a beam that will go in the new student center (to be completed by August) and left markers out for everyone to sign their name. I thought this was a pretty neat idea!

It was a pretty huge beam

My roommate Cait signing the beam

Now marks the really busy end of the semester. We still have about a month and a half left of the semester, but I have a lot to do before we leave in May. This weekend I'm going on LEAP, one of our Christian retreats, which is supposed to be a lot of fun. Then I have tours for Accepted Students Days for the next several weekends. I'll also be picking Fall classes soon and I need to finish my study abroad application.

Also, for all prospective SMC parents, we'll be having a Knight Chat tomorrow, Wednesday, April 3rd, from 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm. It's basically an online chat room where the bloggers will answer any questions. It will definitely be informative & fun!

If anyone has additional questions, ask me on Ask.fm. Although I just created a VYou account to replace my Formspring account (since Formspring is shutting down) VYou is also shutting down! So, now I'll be using Ask.fm, so direct any questions there!

Weekend Fun - Al's French Frys & Wii Just Dance

Happy Sunday! I have copious amounts of homework to attend to, but first an update about my fun weekend.


On Saturday I worked on some things due for various clubs and watched TV with my roommate. Then, at about 9:00 pm my friends and I played Rock Band. It was super fun and I rocked it when I sang a Vampire Weekend song.

Al's French Frys

After Rock Band we went to Al's French Frys, which is an old-school diner about 5 minutes from campus. It was delicious and I got a huge chocolate shake. When we got back to Saint Mike's we played Just Dance which was hilarious! Below is a video of my friends Jesse and Cait dancing. It was a hilarious night.

So funny!

Today I've just been working on homework and getting ready for a busy week. We have a long weekend coming up because it's Easter next Sunday, so my professors are trying to fit a lot of work into a short week.  As always, if you're curious about anything, ask me a question on VYou!

Upcoming Knight Chat & the End of Spring Break

Happy Tuesday!


This is our first week back after spring break and, sadly, it's been snowing all day! I am definitely ready for some warmer weather, but apparently I'm not going to get my wish for several weeks. Last week during spring break I went home and got to see some friends and relax. I didn't do anything exciting (no trips to Florida to go tanning) but I did get a lot of work done and it was nice to sleep in all week.


A few updates:

1) We have a Knight Chat this Thursday from 7:30 - 9:00 pm. Knight Chats are essentially IM chat rooms where bloggers and admissions staff log on to answer any questions. You should definitely consider joining us, especially if you want to hear more about the student experience at Saint Mike's. Click on this link Thursday night to join!

2) Formspring is shutting down, so I created a VYou account where you can ask me questions (anonymously) about Saint Mike's, about the college application process, or about whatever else piques your interest.

3) I have a bit of a busy week (I have some major homework assignments, preparation for exams, finishing my study abroad application, and beginning a paper due for my management class in two weeks) so if you don't hear from me, don't fret! I'll blog this weekend for sure.


If you have any questions, use my new VYou account!

Winning the First Annual SUNY Plattsburgh Free Enterprise Olympics

Hi everyone! This week is our spring break at SMC. I'm just chilling at home for the week, catching up on some work, applying to more internships, and seeing my friends and family.

So a couple weeks ago I mentioned that I had won a speech contest at Saint Mike's on the subject "Free Enterprise & Entrepreneurship: The Formula for a Stronger Economy." The speech contest was part of a larger competition put on by SUNY Plattsburgh. As the speech contest winner, I got to join the SMC team, comprised of three senior business students, to go to SUNY Plattsburgh on Friday, March 1st. At SUNY Plattsburgh I participated in the speech contest finals as well as a a team creativity and innovation competition between eight schools.

The team! Tom Fergus, Michelle McGuinness, myself, & Patrick McFetridge

On Friday I had to skip two of my classes, but my professors were understanding and were excited for me. The day started fairly early, with the business department head, Robert Letovsky, picking us up at 8:00 AM. We then drove to Plattsburgh and I got to take the Plattsburgh ferry for the first time. We arrived at SUNY Plattsburgh around 9:30 AM to check in and grab some breakfast. At 10:00 AM we heard some introductions from two of the deans and from the director of the competition, then the speech finals started at about 10:30 AM.

For the speech contest I went 6 out of 8 which gave me a bit of time before my speech to sit around and get nervous. Over all, however, I did a good job with my speech. After the speeches we were assigned the case, which was to create a new product for a company called Muller's Smart Carts. The company specializes in these very heavy duty, easy to use wheelbarrows. Every team was assigned a a conference room to work in and we got about an hour in the morning to work on the case.

Presenting our new product to the judges

At 12:30 PM we got lunch then went back to work on the case from 1:30 PM until 4:00 PM. At that time we presented our new product to a group of judges, including the CEO of Muller's Smart Carts. We went 2 out of 8 so we got to watch most of the presentations. After presentations we had an hour break while the judges deliberated, then had dinner before finding out the winners.

Having dinner with the CEO of Muller's Smart Carts

Now the exciting news - we won first in the team contest and I won third in the speech contest! I had a great day, and I think I learned a lot. I was so excited to have won and I was proud of our team! It was such a fun experience and I hope I get to be a part of it again.

The speech contest winners

After winning the team contest with the CEO of Muller's Smart Carts

and the SMC department head

I'll be relaxing now for the rest of the week, but if you have any questions feel free to email me!

Google Glass, Oakley Goggles, & Wearable Computers

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!


We've been hearing a lot lately about Google Glass, Google's new product that merges the wear-ability of glasses and the mobile computer concept of an IPhone. The technology here is pretty incredible, and there has been a lot of buzz over this product, but I'm curious - is this product really practical?

Google Glass commercial

I did a little research and found out a bit more about Google Glass, including its functions and design. I had seen the video in marketing class but, as one student pointed out, the video doesn't actually show the glasses. This is interesting because the glasses look pretty funky. They don't contain actual eyeglasses and instead are composed only of a glasses frame, with one side containing a thicker, colored portion housing all of the technology. In front, where the glass would normally go, is one small square glass screen.

Google did a great job creating their video ad - it makes the glasses look innovative, efficient, and fun. Plus, the glasses can surf the Internet, record a video, take a picture, text, find directions, and post to Facebook, all by simply speaking to it. That sounds pretty cool! However, the glasses are also pretty expensive (prospective buyers had to enter a contest and pay $1,500) and I think that many interested customers will shy aware due to the design.


As I was researching, I found several competitors to Google Glass, including these Vuzix Smart Glasses by Andriod, set to premiere this year. These glasses perform essentially the same functions as Google Glass but are designed without the entire glasses frame. Instead they only use the piece housing the technology and the glass frame, like a take on a phone headset or Bluetooth. I think Vuzix Smart Glasses look nicer than Google Glass, but is still a little odd.

IBM commercial

I was very surprised to find that IBM had previously premiered this exact technology years ago! It looked exactly like Android's version and completed similar functions. I found the preceding video advertisement online and, after looking into this, I found that IBM's model failed for a couple reasons - 1) the voice recognition software was not great, and 2) users did not like that everyone could hear them speaking to the product.

I find this interesting because, for one, IBM's video shows the complications of their voice recognition software. To me, that means this advertisement, and the product itself, wasn't very good. Also, when I first heard of Google Glass, I thought about the fact that everyone can hear what you're doing. While this may not be a problem for some people, I certainly don't like that feature (I hate using Siri on my IPhone while in public). Then again people walk around talking to their Bluetooth all the time.

Oakley Airwave Goggles

Last but not least, the ski industry is jumping on the wearable computer bandwagon. or, Oakley is at least. The company recently introduced its Airwave Goggles, which uses the same technology as the glasses but in a ski goggle. The design is the same (except partially covered by the goggle) and comes with a thick arm band with large buttons that seem easy to use while wearing ski gloves. It seems less focused on using voice recognition and instead marketers are pushing the wearable computer functions (which is still very cool).

I think this product looks much better and its technology is very much applicable to skiers. These goggles can track the air time and speed, and can locate your friends. Plus, the price is much cheaper at about $600. I think that the video, however, is a bit lacking. It has some incredible views which will appeal to hardcore skiers & snowboarders, and it clearly explains the functions of the goggles, but I think it's a little long without adding much.


So okay, this wearable computer technology is uber exciting. But, it's obviously expensive and some of the designs aren't very aesthetically pleasing. I'm curious to see if these products will sell and, I think that successful sales will be hugely dependent on how they're marketed.


Look for a post soon about the outcome of Friday's speech and creativity competition at SUNY Plattsburgh (spoiler alert - we won!). As always, email with questions!

Learning to Snowboard at Smugg's

Hope everyone is having a good week! I'm having a fun but slightly stressful week. Right now I'm busy preparing for the "Free Enterprise Olympics" on Friday as well as juggling homework and various meeting.

After Falling On the Bunny Slope

But, on an unrelated note, last weekend I learned how to snowboard at Smuggler's Notch! I've talked before about the $30 season pass Saint Mike's students can get through our wilderness program. It's a pretty amazing deal (it costs less than a normal half day pass!) and I've enjoyed skiing a lot this winter.

My roommate, Cait, has been wanting to teach me to snowboard for a while, and I always thought snowboarding looked so cool. One of the shuttle drivers, Dragon, lent me his daughter's snowboard, and I already have a helmet and giant ski jacket, so all I had to do was rent boots. Our SMC Smugg's pass also gets us discounts on rentals so it was pretty cheap to rent boots for a half day!

Cait had so much fun narrating this video

This is the funniest video because the little girl

snowboards right around me

So after gearing up, Cait brought me to the bunny slope and tried to teach me how to snowboard. The first couple runs I was horrible! I fell a lot and I was so grumpy, but after I stopped falling on my butt so much I had some fun. Cait took a video (and narrated it) of my oh-so-graceful snowboarding skills.

Last run of the day after some minor improvements

The day after snowboarding my arms were so sore from having to pick myself off so many times. But, all in all, I had a fun day! This weekend I plan on skiing with my friend Lindy, but hopefully I'll try snowboarding again soon!

Feel free to email me with any questions!

Exciting Events in the Business Department!

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone's had a fun weekend!


Last weekend I got to go home to see my parents then had a pretty busy week back at SMC with lots of tests and class projects.


I've also been gearing up for the "Free Enterprise Olympics" at SUNY Plattsburgh which will be this Friday! I got to meet my teammates last week and I'll be getting together with them this Wednesday to practice again. The team consists of three senior business majors; they all seem super nice. Then, on Friday, we'll be gone all day at the competition! This weekend I've been editing my speech a bit and I'll be practicing that all week in anticipation of the speak off finals Friday morning.


Now some more exciting news - last post I mentioned that I was busy writing a case study analysis. Every year the Saint Michael's Business Department puts on a "Business Ethics Case Competition" in which business students can receive an ethics case to analyze. Six schools compete, and each school chooses a top paper to submit. Then, three outside judges choose the three best papers to be presented. While I don't yet have a lot of experience in analyzing case studies, I competed in this challenge last year and again this year with a friend of mine, Tim, who's a business and religious studies double major. This year's case was about Facebook and Greenpeace and was a lot of fun to write. And the super exciting news, Tim and I won best case analysis at SMC!

Disappointingly, our paper wasn't chosen to be presented, but I'm so excited that we won at SMC! The top three schools will be presenting at Saint Mike's this Tuesday and I'm looking forward to hearing their arguments.


Besides that, I gave several tours this week and participated in a Parent Knight Chat on Wednesday. I love talking with prospective students and parents so it was fun to get back into tours! Plus, Knight Chats are always fun because I get to hang out with a bunch of the bloggers and parents always have great questions.


So now I'm off to work on a massive amount of homework (I have a huge test Monday for my marketing class - wish me luck!). As always, if you have questions shoot me an email!