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!
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