SMC's Radio Show: The Morning Mike

Saint Mike's has its own personal radio station, WWPV 88.7 The Mike. The station plays a variety of music and also has a variety of hosts. Each time slot available opens up the opportunity for students to host their own radio show. All you have to do is shoot a quick e-mail to the people in charge of the station (Tip: do it as soon as possible since the slots fill up quick!) The cool thing about the radio show is that you don't need any experience at all, so that's what got my friends and I interested in doing it. We ended up getting the 8am to 10am time slot on Sunday, so that's why we named our show The Morning Mike. Our first show was last Sunday. To get a better understanding of what a first show is like, or what it was like, you can hear all about it from myself, Brendan, and Tan Wai (my two co-hosts).

Tan Wai Hui
Why did you want to do the radio show ? "I originally did it to help out Brendan since he wanted to do it the most out of all of us, but then I started to have more of a personal interest after. I thought it would be a lot of fun.
What did you think of the first show? "It was our first time on air, so I didn't expect to the be the best at it right away. We struggled with the talking part of it since we were kind of nervous and didn't know what to talk about. Otherwise, we played great music, and had a good time.

Brendan Oates
Why did you want to do the radio show? "I thought of it as a different kind of activity for me, which made me jump at the opportunity. Also, my sister did it at her college and she loved it. I figured I would like it just as much as her. 
What did you think of the first show? "We had some trouble adjusting to it at first since we were new to it. We made a few mistakes, but managed to still have a fun time!

 and myself...
Lauren Mazzoleni
Why did I want to do the radio show? I wanted to do to the radio show because I thought it would be a good way of expressing my interest of music. I could show people some of my favorite bands that aren't normally shown on radio stations.  Also, I thought it would be cool activity for me, Tan Wai, and Brendan all to do together. 
What did I think of the first radio show? The first show was exactly what a first show normally is like. I expected to mess up, since we are just new at it. It was cool because none of us were frustrated when we made a small error, but rather laughed at it and knew that we could easily redeem ourselves the next time. 

You can check out WWPV's website just by clicking on the link to stream any shows and look up the playlists.

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Handling Homesickness

I remember leaving my hometown, Salem, NH, feeling like I was sick of home. I wanted to just move onto college and start up a new part of my life. With about almost a month of being here at SMC, I am not sick of home, but rather homesick. Being homesick is a hard feeling to shake off, but the feeling is so natural that sometimes you have to allow yourself to feel homesick at some point.You can't let yourself think that you are the only one feeling this way either.

Here are some tips that have helped me handle my homesickness:
1. Go out with friends. Living in the moment is what matters the most. Hang out with your college friends to help get your mind off of the way you're feeling.
2. Immerse yourself in studies. With all of my classes, I've already gotten a lot of homework to do from studying to reading to writing papers. It has kept me on task by doing my homework, and also kept my mind occupied on something else.
3. Get more involved around campus. Saint Mike's sends plenty of e-mails daily notifying us on events going on throughout the week. There's a whole range of things to do from intramural sports to clubs.
4. Talk to your friends from home and at college/family about how you're feeling. Your parents have been there through this life change that you're going through, plus they are dealing with missing you too. Your friends from home are feeling the same way since they are in college, too. It's always good to talk to someone who you can relate to, so you know you aren't alone in this process.
5. Bring pieces from your home to your new home. Make your dorm room more like a home by putting up pictures of family and friends that are reminders that they are always there.
6. Plan a trip home. This one may be hard depending on where you live, but there are bus and train stations, and an airport nearby if you ever want to go home for the weekend. I've already planned to go home two weekends in a row, the four day weekend in October and the weekend after for Pumpkinfest at Keene State College. I think planning these trips makes me feel more comfortable that I know I'll be seeing my friends and family soon.

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Birthday Bash

Hey guys!

I just realized that this has been the third Sunday in a row that I've posted, so I'm sorry about the wait of  each blog post. I've been extremely busy with schoolwork and other extra curricular activities here, but this week was even busier since my 18th birthday was on Friday. There was a lot of planning to do for it, since my two best friends from home and my mom were coming to visit during the week. My mom visited here on Thursday night, which was awesome. Not only was it great to see her, but it was also great that she brought me warmer clothes since it's been quite a cold September so far (I'm afraid to see how the winters are going to be!). My mom's presence helped with the homesickness that I was feeling on/off during the time that I've been here.
Then came Friday, where the festivities kicked off right away for my birthday. I woke up to my door with decorations on it by my friends.

I was out of classes on Friday at 1:10, and that's where my friends and I started to plan out our trip to Burlington for the afternoon. We ended up shopping at the mall, then visiting Border's for the last time before it officially closed down :( For dinner, we went out to Sweetwater's.

When I got back, my two best friends from home arrived to the campus. I opened up their presents, along with my friend's presents from here. I got a Lil Wayne poster, mittens, a nerf gun (from my guy friends),  a pandora charm, and a vera bradley wristlet (comes in handy to hold room key and Knightcard). And of course, I got an awesome Nicki Minaj airbrushed shirt from my friend back home..

back of the shirt

front of the shirt

I had a great 18th birthday and I was super excited I got to spend it with a mixture of new friends and friends back home. It was hard saying good-bye to my friends back home the next day, and it brought me back to feeling a bit homesick. I think it inspired my next blog post, so be prepared to see some tips on how to deal with being homesick!

Tweet, Formspring, and also check out this awesome slideshow my friends put together for me for my birthday!

Dancin', Chillin', and Grillin'

After a long Friday night spent in Burlington shopping at the mall for the highlighter dance, shopping just to shop, and eating out at RiRa Irish Pub (a restaurant that takes knight cards), I was so tired. I was well-aware that I needed to have a lot of energy for the highlighter dance on Saturday. I took advantage of the weekends and slept until ten on Saturday, which felt awesome since four days a week I have to wake up at seven-thirty.
The Welcome Back Bash didn't start until three in the afternoon, so I chilled outside on the quad on a beautiful day with my friends. My friends and I started heading over to the bash around 5 to get some dinner. I didn't expect so much food from burgers to brownies to watermelon, it was a tasty feast. After stacking up my plate, we all just laid out on the 300s fields while listening to a student band playing.
I didn't know what to expect with the highlighter dance when I first heard about it, but it turned out to be a real good time. Basically, my clean white t-shirt turned into a piece of art due to my friends drawing all over me with a highlighter. Here are some pictures from the night!

Orientation Part Two, Classes Day One

Okay, so my last post I left off with telling you about how there was an orientation dance. Well, to say the least, the dance was bumping. It was a blast whether you were dancing with a girl/guy, or just with your group of friends. The rest of orientation went awesome, with a hypnotist, a juggler, and many other events going on!
As for the first day of classes, I went into it feeling a little bit nervous about who was in my classes, what my professors would be like, and what the homework situation would be like. The nerves went away when I saw a lot of familiar faces in all of my classes. It's actually pretty cool because in my first year seminar, The Examined Life, all of the people from my orientation group are in there. That right away gave me connections, making me feel comfortable. For the rest of my classes, I'm taking Psychology, Media Revolutions, and French. Psychology and Media Revolutions are both really interesting, and my professors are down to earth teachers that seem passionate about what they teach. On the other hand, I think French will be the most difficult class on my schedule because it requires a lot of focus since my professor only speaks in french, and the class is also at 8:40am.
As for the homework situation.... I've only been here for a little more than a week and I've noticed that the homework situation is a lot different from high school in many ways, so here are some tips on how to deal with the work:
Find a balance between homework and social life: It may be hard to deny going out with your friends to Burlington or just to hang out in the quad, but getting your homework out of the way should be your top priority. Even just working on your homework for an hour and then meeting up with your friends later will be beneficial to you. It will give you a head start on it so it's not all saved up for Sunday.
Find a study place that works for you: Depending on the hours, the dorms can or cannot be loud. If the dorms are loud, then I usually go to the library where there are computer labs and tables to sit at and do homework. The library is a great place to go to concentrate and do work. The library is open until 1am on every day but Friday and Saturday, so it's great!
 Invest in a planner: All I can say is thank god for the invention of a planner. Keeping yourself organized with assignments is crucial. You never want to fall behind in a class, because the work piles up quicker than you would expect.
Use your resources if you're struggling with an assignment: Don't hesitate to e-mail a professor about the homework assignment or ask someone in your class for help! Also, there are plenty of tutors on campus and other outlooks (such as the Writing Center) that are willing to help.

Hopefully you'll find these tips helpful! For now, I'm off to the Champlain Valley Fair to go see Sugarland and Sara Bareilles.
:) tweet or formspring