Finals Week: Discovering Durick's Den and Study Breaks

Finals week is a very stressful week. There's a lot of studying to do in order to make sure you're prepared for your exam, but it doesn't mean that there aren't fun things around campus to do for a nice study break.

For example, last Saturday, comedian John Hodgman came to SMC. He was really funny and he made sure to engage the students in his jokes. At one point, he had 4 volunteers come up to the stage to read off a script. Fortunately, I was one of the four volunteers. It was a cool experience, and since I'm in the Programming Committee for Student Association, I was able to talk to him, get his autograph, and get a picture with him after the show. It was a great break from preparing for finals!

with comedian John Hodgman

So after the comedian, it was back to studying for the finals I had. This semester, my finals schedule was pretty manageable. I had only two in class finals today and Tuesday, and I'll be taking my last final on Friday. This round of finals, I've found my new place for studying in groups: Durick's Den. Durick's Den is in the lower level of the library, and it's filled with vending machines, sofas, booths, and chairs. It just has an overall really chill feel to it. Not to mention, the school has been providing cookies, tea, coffee, and hot chocolate for free during finals week in Durick's Den. Snack breaks are the best breaks because who doesn't love food?

Speaking of food, going to Alliot keeps me sane during finals week. It's good to just de-stress and hang out with friends. There were crayons on the tables last night for de-stressing and bringing out our inner child to draw and just have fun.

what my friend Brianna drew

Hope everyone has a good rest of finals week and remember...

MJD Major: Bergeron, Classes, and More!

I had a feeling that I wanted to be a Counseling Psychologist the moment I took my first Psychology class in high school. I really liked the idea of helping people out and in a way, saving them from their problems. So, I came to Saint Michael's as a Psychology major, in the hopes that I could one day be the female version of Dr. Phil.

I took General Psychology my first semester of freshmen year, along with Media Revolutions. I was so inspired by Media Revolutions that I decided to change my major to Media Studies, Journalism, and Digital Arts.Total 180 right? Well, not necessarily. The subject of Psychology was introduced to me around my junior year of high school, but writing and designing were always constants in my life.

In my elementary school yearbook, I wrote that I wanted to be an author when I grew up. I loved reading and writing books (okay, more like jotting down some ideas). Since I was only 11, I decided that maybe it was too early to begin my career as an author. I started writing poetry instead. I never thought about sharing my poems with anyone until I saw a submission for Girls Life Magazine. Without any hesitation, I submitted my poem. Immediately, Girls Life responded back to me and told me that they were going to publish my poem in their magazine. It was great to see that girls my age could see my poem and possibly relate to it. I believed that being a psychologist was the only way I could help people, but this poem made me realize that I could help people out by writing too.

The phrase "mother like daughter" is applicable for my interest in designing. As a web designer, my mom was usually working in Adobe programs. Intrigued by the programs, I asked her to show me how to do certain things, particularly in Photoshop. While my friends were using sites like Picnik and Photobucket for pictures, I was using Photoshop to adjust color levels and re-size images.

With that, I officially changed my major second semester of last year and I also declared a minor in Psychology. The Psychology minor still allows me to take certain classes that I was interested in before coming here. Either next Fall or when I return from study abroad, I want to take Sports Psychology with Dave Landers (who I've heard is great) and Psychology of Relationships and Marriages.


I'm also excited about taking more MJD classes. So far, I've already taken Media Revolutions, Digital Media, and Media Law and Ethics.

Media Revolutions with Professor Griffth: 

• learn about the history of media like television and radio
• do a group project about scenarios as if you were a Public Relations Representative
• connect other subjects like Psychology and Sociology to media
• go to Vermont Public Television on North Campus and see the television studio

Digital Media with Professor Swope:

• learn the basics of Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and Illustrator
• read interesting articles and books about how technology plays a role in society
• create your own website in Dreamweaver
• create animations in Illustrator
• go on a technology fast for a week without your phone, e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook (it was an extra credit assignment, but it was still really interesting to see life without technology)
• combine pieces of images together to create one whole image (as seen below)

 Media Law and Ethics with Professor Griffth;

• learn about the First Amendment, specifically freedom of press
• learn about the court systems and the legal processes
• participate in discussions about ethics, libel, copyright, privacy, obscenity, etc.
• listen to guest speakers talk about their careers. Matt Valerio, the Defender General of Vermont, came this semester.
• present a project about an ethical dilemma that journalists face. We had to contact magazines and newspapers like the New York Times and ABC News to get this information.
• attend an arraignment at the Vermont District Court in Burlington for a project. It seemed like an unusual assignment, but it was fun and interesting to see law in action.
  
  

The Bergeron Center is where the MJD classes are. It is a lovely place for many reasons:
1) It is located right next to the tennis courts. 

Photoshopped image, although I do love tennis!

2) It is conveniently right near where I live this year (Pontigny Hall)
3) It is a building primarily for the Journalism Department. Whether you're there for a class or a project, you'll always see Journalism professors and students.  
4) All of the computers in the labs have the Adobe software programs installed.

another Photoshopped image of me casually standing on the tables in the labs

5) It is my second home on campus.


Overall, I'm really happy that I am a MJD major. There are so many opportunities that are offered through the major like working for the school newspaper or doing internships around the area. Now, what exactly do I want to do as MJD major? Right now, I am thinking about possibly doing something in Social Media Marketing or Television. I am looking forward to taking Broadcast TV and Video Story and Social Media Theory (a new addition to the program) and interning over the summer to figure out more about what I want to do.


Have questions about MJD? Psych? Tweet @laurenmazzz or e-mail me at lmazzoleni@mail.smcvt.edu

When You Don't Ski or Snowboard in VT

Going to school in Vermont brings up the question: Do you ski or snowboard? Well, fun facts about myself: I'm from New England, I hate the cold, and I don't ski or snowboard. "Wait, you go to school in Vermont and you don't ski/snowboard?" is often the response I get. Yes, it is possible to avoid hitting the slopes in the winter time if it's not your thing. There are still other fun things to do on the weekend around campus and the Burlington area.

Around Campus

• Watch movies: After a long week of classes, it's great to relax and watch movies with friends. If you brought movies that you've already seen multiple times and you want something new, check out the wide selection of DVDs at the library.
• Watch SMC sports games. Basketball games are very popular to go to around campus. Also, our hockey games are at an off campus rink, but people still go a lot to cheer on our team.
• Go on a Wilderness trip. The Wilderness Program offers trips throughout the year at a very low cost. During the winter time, you learn how to snowshoe or alpine climb through the trips that they provide. 
• Attend other on campus events: There is an e-mail that is sent out that explains all the weekend events. Last Friday, there was Jibfest, which is where the Ski and Snowboard Club build a ramp in the 300s field and skiiers and snowboarders compete to show off their skills.

Jibfest

     
 Next Saturday, John Hodgman (the Mac/PC guy) is coming to SMC as our Fall comedian. There are also many other things highlighted in the e-mail like events that RAs put on and events in Burlington. 

Around Burlington

• Head over to Church Street: Church Street is perfect for shopping, dining, and seeing a movie (as you can tell, I love movies.) 
• Go Ice Skating. The rink in South Burlington occasionally has a free skate. Last year, I went with my friends and even though I'm a pretty terrible ice skater, it was still fun!

Ice skating action shot

•  Go to Higher Ground. Higher Ground is a music and comedy venue about 10-15 minutes away from campus. Artists like All American Rejects, Mumford and Sons, Macklemore, and Switchfoot have came to HG.

• Go to Flynn Center. SMC has a cultural pass for students that allows them to attend performances at the Flynn.

Even though I'm not a skiier or snowboarder, I still buy a Smuggler's Notch Pass for $30 each year just in case my mind might change.

Recent Events

Things have been pretty hectic between doing homework, planning for study abroad (hopefully Ireland!), and packing to go home for Thanksgiving break. Here are some things I've done recently when I've had the time to chill:


Pizza Putt! I wrote a blog post about how awesome Pizza Putt is. It's always a great time to embrace your inner child and play laser tag, arcade games, and mini golf. Not to mention that SMC hosts a night where you pay 5 dollars for 20 game credits, unlimited mini golf laser tag, and pizza.

Brendan and Jeremy playing games (photo cred: Lauren Loy)

Internship Meeting! It's never too early to start thinking about non-academic or academic internships. Last Tuesday, I attended an information session that provided details about specific internships. I learned a little bit more about how academic internships work and how you need to set them up with Career Development prior to beginning your internship. What was great about the session was that Career Development gave us links to reliable job sites and tips on how to go about applying for certain jobs.

Alliot Thanksgiving!!! Sooo I actually didn't attend Alliot Thanksgiving this year, which yes, was extremely sad, but instead, I got to spend a lovely time with my mom who came up to visit. Alliot Thanksgiving is one of the biggest events of the year though. It kind of reminds me of Black Friday because there's a long line outside of the dining hall as everyone is waiting to get served great food (instead of getting discounts off of items.)

Mother/Daughter bonding time! My mom spontaneously visited last Wednesday which was great! I haven't seen her since the October break, so it was good to see her again. It made me really look forward to go home for Thanksgiving break!

Pitch Perfect! It's been a while since I've been to the Roxy theater to go see a movie. Alex and I decided to go see Pitch Perfect last night and it was hilarious! I totally recommend going to see it. Without giving too too much away, below is a clip from the movie.
      Hiking Mount Philo! To switch up my Sunday routine a little bit, I went on a hike to Mount Philo with a couple of my friends.   

View at the top of the mountain!

  That about wraps up my week of fun filled events. Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving!

Schedule for Next Semester

Just thirty minutes ago, I hit the submit button to register for classes and hoped that I would get in all of them. The odds were in my favor because there were many available spots for my classes. I got all of the classes I wanted! Wooohoo!

Here's my schedule for next semester:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:00AM - 12:05PM
Christianity: Past and Present

Monday, Wednesday, Friday 12:15PM - 01:20PM
History of Modern Ireland

Tuesday, Thursday 09:45AM - 11:20AM
Perception

Tuesday, Thursday 03:00PM - 04:35PM
Global Communications

Post- LEAP & Why I Love SMC Even More

When I stepped on campus for the first time, I immediately understood why I liked Saint Mike's. I knew just by the beautiful campus and the warm, welcoming people that Saint Mike's was the right place for me.

When I arrived on campus the first day for orientation, several orientation leaders were chanting my name as me and my family were pulling in. Right away, all the fears I originally had went out the window. I no longer feared about being alone in college or missing my family because little did I know, I was going to be creating my own family here at Saint Mike's.

As a tour guide, I'm often asked, "How's the community at Saint Mike's?" What may come across as an easy question to some people is one of the most difficult questions for me to answer on a tour. Multiple instances come to my mind to explain how Saint Mike's is a great community, but it's hard to construct all of these instances into a couple of sentences. The truth is, I could probably go on for multiple hours about explaining every single instance, but I'll name a couple that really stood out to me.

1) Having my professors tell me that they read my blog. Recently. my Philosophy and Children's Literature told me that they started to read my blog. It meant a lot that my teachers were willing to get to know me in and outside of the class. It just goes to show that they care a lot, which leads me to my next two points..
2) Meeting outside of school with my professors. Professors have pretty good office hours so you can meet with them outside of class to talk with them. If you cannot meet when they have office hours, they are generous enough to set up another time that works around your schedule. I recently met with my First Year Seminar teacher to talk about Study abroad recommendations and future plans. For my first year seminar, I took the Examined Life, where we wrote memoirs to help us do some self-reflecting. My teacher and I not only talked about future plans, but he also wanted to follow up on how the things that I wrote about were doing. It was awesome to see how much he remembered about my papers and how much he cared about how I was doing.
3) Being sick and having professors and classmates/friends check up on you. Last year, it felt like I was sick so many times that Health Services basically knew me on a first and last name basis. Luckily, I wasn't sick to the extent that I had to miss a lot of classes. For the classes I did miss, I sent my teachers e-mails letting them know about my absence. Instead of a simple feel better response via e-mails, my teachers extended it further by providing me with the notes and asking me if I needed anything. When I returned back to class, my teachers and classmates continued to ask how I was feeling to make sure I was better.
4) Going to a concert at Higher Ground and getting a ride back from someone who goes to SMC. The great thing about SMC is that everyone is always so willing to help someone out no matter what it is. I went to Higher Ground last year with a couple of my friends and we all didn't have a car to drive back. We were expecting to take the cab back, but then someone from SMC, who also went to the show, offered to give me and my friends back since she knew we were from there. Just a little thing like that speaks loud volumes.
5) Losing my Knight card so many times and always having it returned back to me. This may be another silly little thing, but it's good to know how kind people are to pick up my Knight card and return it to me immediately. It's also good for me because if my Knight card never got returned back to me, I have a very, very big bill from the Knight card office to pay so it saves me a few bucks!


and the newest addition to the list, which I must thank Alex for since she sponsored me on the trip..
6) Going on LEAP. What exactly is LEAP? Well, without giving too much away (since there are a lot of great surprises), LEAP is a Christian retreat (although you don't need to be Christian) that is built upon talks and fun activities that explore your religious thoughts and feelings. To me, LEAP goes beyond that general description. I got the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and meet new friends. With no concept of time throughout the process (because we could not bring cell phones or any other technology), I focused on living life in the now. I think the best part out of the whole entire weekend is finding out that when you're never alone because you have multiple communities that will continuously care about you and help you out. The people I met this weekend are just another community that I have within my communities. To see my LEAP community care about me with only knowing me for a weekend shows just how strong the SMC community really is.

The LEAP song and just to rise everyone's spirits up:

Ambassador Housing

Eight person suites include two bathrooms, a living room with couches and tables, eight single rooms, a refrigerator and microwave, and typically, eight suitemates to fill up all the single rooms. But, with my living situation this year, it's a little bit different. As I showed you all earlier through my video tour, I am fortunate enough to live in pretty "suite" housing. Most students go through the general lottery system to get housing, but me and my friend Lhanzi went through a separate lottery system for Ambassador Housing. The Ambassador Housing Program allows American students to host International students who are currently enrolled in the Applied Linguistics Department.

I started off this year with 5 other suitemates, leaving 2 open rooms in our suite. Two of my other suitemates are American students who also went through the Ambassador Housing lottery that me and Lhanzi did. My other two suitemates are Barbara and Suyeon. Barbara is from Venezuela, and unfortunately, she only was in the program for a short specific amount of time, so she went back to Venezuela in late September. It was interesting learning about the Venezuelan culture from her (including making a Venezuelan dish in the kitchen on our floor). On the other hand, Suyeon will be living in our suite all year, which is awesome!

from left to right: Barbara, me, Lhanzi. Also, Brendan and Adam in the back photobombing the picture

 

 

 

With our suite still having open rooms, we will spontaneously be getting other suitemates through the Ambassador Program. I just received an e-mail the other day saying how we're getting a suitemate from China, so I can't wait! So far, it's been a great experience learning about other cultures. Through my suitemates, I've also had the chance to meet a lot of international students from other countries such as China and Korea. 

From left to right: Oriana, Valentina, Johan, Barbara, Tan Wai, me, Lhanzi.

Internships and Information: Why I Love My SMC E-mail

I usually have an abundance of e-mails every day. Most e-mails are about classes, events around campus, and job opportunities around the area. It's a little bit overwhelming receiving so many e-mails, but if you take the time to read through each one, you might come across some information that you might not have ever known. For instance, I may not have known that chicken patties were on the Grill on Friday if it weren't for the weekly Weekend Events e-mail. Another instance is that I would have never known about a Web Marketing Position at Burzt Tv if I never opened an e-mail from the Career Development Office. The Career Development Office is great at sending out e-mails about nearby internship and job opportunities. As a Digital Arts, Media Studies, and Journalism major, I am particularly interested in Social Media Marketing. When I read over the job description for the Web Marketing Intern position, I immediately knew that this was a internship I wanted to apply for. After the phone interview, I received an e-mail saying that I got the position! I couldn't be more thrilled to start working for Burzt TV, and to start gaining more knowledge in my major. So, important lesson learned throughout this whole entire process.. it's important to read through every e-mail because something might just catch your eye. Check out Burzt TV and keep checking up on my blog to hear updates about my internship!

I Know I am Back in Vermont When...

Right now, I am writing to you guys while I'm on the Greyhound bus back to Saint Michael's. Today is the last day of October Break, so most students are heading back today and classes are starting back up tomorrow. From my travels back and forth from New Hampshire and Vermont, there are some things that let me know that I am back in the state of Vermont and about 100 miles closer to Saint Mike's.

 I know I am Back in Vermont When...

I see a tepee on the side of the highway 

 I see the Whale’s Tales

I get on Route 89 

I start to see the breathtaking Vermont scenery

And of course… When I see the sign for Saint Michael’s College

Last Friday Knight

Last Friday night, I did not dance on table tops like Katy Perry talks about in her hit song. Instead, the only thing I was standing on was a small platform in the Alliot lobby. This small platform was in Alliot because there was an open night mic, which was one of the many events of Friday Knight Dry. Typically, the only places you'll hear me singing are either in my car or in the shower, but my friend Tan Wai and I decided to go out on a limb and perform at the Open Mic. Tan Wai taught himself guitar over the summer, and me, well, I'm no singer, but I thought it would be a fun spontaneous thing to do. Without any practice as a duo, we performed Wake Me Up When September Ends and Wonderwall with the help from our friends, Lauren and Lizzy.

all of us singing

After our performance, the night continued on with other lively events including raffles with great prizes and performances from the three on campus singing groups (Acabellas, Sleepless Knights, and Mike Check)

Burlington Music Scene

Last semester, I made a list of my goals that I wanted to accomplish. One of my goals was to explore Burlington and the rest of the area. Whenever I hear the word Burlington, I immediately think of Church Street. Well, I took enough trips my freshmen year on the city bus (which is free with your student ID!) down to Church Street, so I wanted to see what else there is to Burlington other than Church Street. To begin this process, I looked for things around the area that would interest me. Music is a strong interest of mine, so I looked to see who was playing at Higher Ground. For those who don't know, Higher Ground is in South Burlington, which is about ten minutes from the campus. I went last Thursday to Higher Ground to see Switchfoot in concert. Also, for my birthday weekend, my parents and I went to the Grand Point North Festival to see Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Below is a clip from the performance:
  I wanted to stray away from life outside of Church Street, but there are always entertaining acts on Church Street. For example, below is a guy playing the Didgeridoo

Also, speaking of music, Brendan and I are back on the radio on Fridays 5-8PM. You can listen to us here.

Dining on North Campus

Last week, I was finally able to make my first trip to Knights of the Round Table which is a dining option on North Campus. Eating on North Campus is included on your meal plan. The only thing you have to do differently from Alliot (the dining hall on main campus) is to call ahead to make reservations. Knights of the Round Table is more like a restaurant; you get served bread and butter before your meal, you have a menu to choose from, and you have waiters that bring out your food to you. I ended up having good appetizers, a delicious entree (picture below), and of course I couldn't stay away from having the maple cheesecake for dessert!

inside the restaurant

the awesome salmon and mashed potatoes I had for an entree

Zumba Classes

At start of the school year, there is a fitness class schedule sent out through e-mails. You have the choice to sign up for either a yoga class, a zumba class, or a strength conditioning class. It's only ten dollars for 6 week sessions. Not sure what class you want to take? The first week of classes is considered free trial week, so it gives you the opportunity to try out the classes before you pay.

Yesterday was the start of trial week and zumba was the one class I wanted to try out the most. I have to admit I was kind of afraid of going because unlike Shakira, I think that my hips sometimes do lie and I don't have all of the best dance moves. Despite my fear of embarrassing myself, I went anyways with my friends and this is what happened...

how I felt like I was dancing..

how I actually danced..

As predicted, my dancing wasn't up to par, but it didn't quite matter as much as I thought it would. It's a class where you don't need to be this dancing expert. Instead, it's all about having a fun time and also getting a good workout.

Video Tour of The Suite Life in Pontigny

Marketing and Journalism Tips - From the Experts

The last time I blogged, I was in New York City visiting Brendan with my friend Emily. Yesterday, I was in NYC again, but this time, I was there to attend the first ever Her Campus National Intercollegiette Conference. Unfortunately, my other lovely campus correspondent, Alex, couldn't go, so I was flying solo on this one. Nonetheless, it was still an awesome opportunity to meet other HC members and get some advice from top name bloggers, journalists, and editors about the job world. The day consisted of listening to keynote speakers, attending panels, and learning more about how to

market and manage your HC Chapter. Here's how the day went and some advice I learned along the way:

Morning Keynote Speaker: Anna Post, author of Emily Post's Etiquette, 18th edition 

-with phone interviews, always ask how much time you have to talk and always smile
-log out of your Facebook to see what it looks like to a complete stranger to get an idea of how recruiters see your profile
-when you have to turn down a job, it's a better idea to do it over the phone because it's more personal
-Praise, Concern, Suggestion are three ways to correct oversharing information

I couldn't go to all the panels at once since multiple were going on at the same time, so with that came tough decisions...

1st Panel: Fashion Blogging For Beginners

On the Panel: Danielle Berstein, Gala Darling, and Megs Mahoney Dusil (if you click on their names, it will show you their blogs)

Berstein:
-Make business cards and hand the cards out at events to promote your blog
-Make an editorial calendar to keep you on schedule with what you're going to post
-Use Twitter to alert your readers when there is a new post and use Instagram to show off personality to readers

Darling:
-Give something extra on Facebook to viewers to get your page out. Something as similar as weekly contests would be an example of this.
-Have a strong voice and passion to really stand out
-Start off with a simple blog name so people remember and know what it's about

Dusil: 
-Make a business plan to get even more hits
-Start a forum and let readers comment on your blog so they can provide input on your content
-Knowing nothing was the best way to know everything. Dusil made Pursesblog with no prior knowledge to anything about purses, but she talked about how learning was the best part about blogging.

2nd panel: Journalism Jobs: 5+ Years Later

On the Panel: Julie Hochhesier Ilkovich (Digital Editorial Director at Alloy Entertainment), Sarah Khan (Freelancer at New York Times/Vogue India and Editor at Travel and Leisure), Julie Miller (Senior Editor at Alloy Entertainment), and Raakhee Mirchandani (Fashion Editor and Deputy Features Editor at New York Daily News)

Ilkovich:
- Keep in touch with past internships for references and potential job openings within the company
- Don't be afraid to ask to move up in the company
- For resume purposes, stay at your job for at least a year

Khan:
- Pitch ideas to the company to really stand out and make a name for yourself
- Ask to do anything such as taking on more responsibilities and tasks
- Have a mentor/role model to guide you through the job process

Miller:
- You're going to know when it's time to leave a company to spread your wings and fly

Mirchandani:
- If you can tell a story, you can tell any story
- Take any writing opportunity that you get to build your resume

3rd Panel: How to Break Into PR and Marketing

On the Panel: Christina Gibson (Account Supervisor of Marina Maher Communications), Stephanie Luu (Digital Strategist and Senior Account at Ogilvy, and Keeley Patterson (Director, Marketing and Client Solutions at GLAM Media)

Gibson:

- Give the job a chance even if it isn't your dream

- If you don't want to be the boss of your company, then you don't aspire to move up in the company, so move onto another job that interests you more

Luu:

-Apply everywhere you can because you DO have options. Test out what you really like.

-To find jobs, go to PR websites and also check out prweekus.com

Patterson:

-Mediabistro.com is a helpful website when it comes to looking at jobs

-Set up a Linkedin account to build networks and join groups that are related to what you want to do

-Being emotionally mature is a strong quality employers look for

After the panels wrapped up, the moment many of us were waiting for was FINALLYY happening (dun,dun,dun...) Ann Shoket, the editor-in-chief at Seventeen magazine, was in the building and ready to give her speech as the Afternoon Key Speaker. Of course, during one of the coolest experiences of my life, my phone was on low battery and it really put the pressure on me to snap the perfect picture in a mere two seconds. Well, that didn't quite work out...

Instead, I got a blurry Ann Shoket and a nice picture of the back of everyone's heads..

Now, this is a better picture. (Photo cred: Meghan)

 During her speech, she gave out two key pieces of advice:
** At some point, everyone should work for a start up company and a legendary brand.
** There are three tips to getting a job that are GUARANTEED to work:
               1. Write a letter to the Editor In Chief or CEO or someone who has a say in the company, rather than just an assistant and tell them what you can bring to the company and why you want the job more than any other job out there. 
               2.  During a job interview, sit on the edge of your seat and engage in the conversation. Ask questions to show you're interested in what the job entails.
               3.  Write a thank you note, but don't just say thank you. You want to make sure that you include part of the conversation from the interview to show you paid attention and remembered it.

So, there you have it. A long day filled with panels and guest speakers, yet also, a day filled with a lot of fun! Here are some pictures from the event!

my crew for the day

Results from the emptied out goodie bag filled with a Jack Wills headband, Lord and Taylor Ipad case, Stila lip gloss, gift cards, and much much more!

Also, for the class of 2016, I've been slacking on having a special blog post to offer you some
advice on your first year, but not to worry, that's coming up sometime soon! For now, check out these helpful first year articles from both Alex and Alex, and Juliana.

New York Trip

Last weekend, me and my friend Emily decided to adventure in the spur of the moment to see our friend Brendan in New York. It was really good to see both of them since I haven't seen them since the end of the school year (crazy how it's already been two months of summer already, right?) Here are some pictures from the trip!

us chilling in the taxi

Times Square!

Central Park

Grand Central Station

inside the Toy R' Us on Times Square

me and Brendan looking normal..

Day One of Summer Internship

Initially, I was so set on doing something in my life in the field of Psychology. I often got asked if I could see myself doing anything other than Psychology and I immediately thought to myself, What else would I even do? I also heard from a lot of different people that it's really common to change to your major around, especially in your first and second year. Once again, I thought I wasn't going to be that person to do that. Psychology was what I wanted to do without a doubt. Well, things sure changed because I ended up changing my major at the end of my first semester to Digital Arts, Media Studies, and Journalism. A little bit different, right? Even though I had a lot of interest in Psychology, I didn't want it to be my primary focus, but I still wanted to take a lot of classes in it to expand my knowledge in the subject. I decided to declare Psychology as my minor.

While busy gaining experience for my MJD major by starting the HerCampus branch for Saint Michael's along with my friend Alex, I figured doing an internship dealing with Psychology would give me a chance to explore my minor. Yesterday, I started my first day at my internship where I am a co-facilitator of a group therapy session that revolves around kids from 6 to 12 years old who are dealing with divorce and loss. As a co-facilitator, I help out during group activities and discussions. Since it was the first session, there wasn't a lot of in depth discussions about why everyone was there. Instead, my instructor and I focused on icebreakers to make sure everyone felt comfortable with one another. After everyone introduced themselves, there was a fun filled activity up next that helped everyone open up. The activity first required that the group made up a name for themselves. After a lot of crazy name throwing around from The Avengers to the Cow Mooers, everyone thought the best name was The Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies (kids really are so creative as I would have never even thought of that.) Then, together the kids and I created a flag that had the group name and a personal drawing or signature on it from everyone in the group. It was interesting to see that even though the activity was fun, it showed a serious side to the kids from some of the things they ended up drawing.

Honestly, it was an awesome first day because I got to understand a lot about how counseling works. You can't expect to have someone tell you everything about their situation the first day you meet them. It's a growing process and I can't wait to see not only myself grow throughout this experience, and also the kids I am working with!

Finding Out Your Roommate

By now, you should have your New Student Guide which is almost like Saint Michael's very own encyclopedia; it informs you about everything you need to know. It lets you know about classes, dorms, room essentials, summer programs, and a lot more!

When I first got my New Student Guide last summer, I couldn't put it down. I was excited to look at all of the classes I could take and to see what summer programs I could sign up for. I was also excited, yet nervous and scared for filling out the roommate survey that is also included in the guide. I was looking forward to finding out who my roommate was going to be, but I was also scared and nervous because what if I wasn't matched up well enough? What if my roommate and I didn't get along? Well, after answering questions about what kind of music you listen to, what time you go to bed, how clean or messy you are, etc, it's all a matter of sending in your survey and waiting until early to mid July to find out who your roommate is. You'll receive an e-mail through your SMC account saying what dorm you will be living in and who your roommate is. For me, when I got that e-mail all of those initial worries I had faded away. It felt like the whole college experience was becoming real. Also, the e-mail gives you your roommates's contact information. I recommend that as soon as you find out, you get in touch so you can figure out what things you have in common and who will bring what (refrigerator, microwave, tv, etc.)

And a little side note.. for those who also read Alex's blog may have seen that we have been working on a super top secret project together. Well, we just received the good news the other day so I thought I would share it with you all! We have officially started a Saint Michael's chapter on hercampus.com. The Saint Michael's chapter most likely won't be launched until the Fall, but meanwhile check out the site to see what it's like!

any questions? formspring, tweet

Transitioning to College

 As an active member on the class of 2016 Facebook page, I'm seeing that everyone is excited about the Fall! It's still hard to believe that my first year is over, but I'm looking forward to meeting the incoming class and starting off my second year. Granted that my first year flew by quickly, I still remember everything I felt when moving in the first day. Transitioning to college is a huge huge change that is exciting and scary at the same time. Before going into college, I knew it was already going to be different from high school for a lot of reasons: different class schedules, living with a roommate, no parents around, flexible dining hall hours, etc. Since it was a whole new lifestyle for me, I initially thought I was going to struggle a lot with transitioning from home to college. That turned out to be true for the first couple of weeks of school. I had trouble from being away from home and that led to the natural homesickness most students feel their first year. At first I was afraid the feeling of homesickness was never going to pass, but to my surprise, it faded quickly.

Homesickness is one of the many things that incoming freshmen worry about when leaving their home and entering college. For me, staying busy at school with work and hanging out with people helped the most to avoid feeling homesick. It took my mind off from thinking about how I missed my friends and family. I remember how in the beginning of the year I had a bundle of mixed emotions. I was excited about having a sense of sudden freedom, but at the same time, it felt really weird to go from seeing and talking to my parents everyday to talking to them here and there.

That being said, calling your parents is an okay thing to do. If anything, your parents want to hear all about your new classes, new friends, and new experiences. I called my parents almost every day the first couple of weeks of school to let them know how I was doing. After a while, I noticed that the busier I got with my school and social life, the less phone calls were made. Instead of the phone calls, texts from each other were another form of communication that seemed to be more convenient for both of us with our busy schedules. My parents understood my reasons because it's just a part of transitioning from home to college. You start to grow a sense of independence while being away from home.

Orientation week is where the whole experience starts. What I found was most helpful throughout orientation week was just being open to introduce yourself. Most of the conversations seemed to start out with, "What's your name?" "Where are you from?" Being that person who lives 40 or so minutes from Boston worked well in my favor because most New Englander's know where it is (see this funny interpretation of it for fans of The Office here). It's something that started up the conversation and led it to finding out what similar things I had in common with people. The first day of orientation you'll be able to tell by that orientation week is full of icebreakers to make you feel comfortable. I mean, you'll see a bunch of orientation leaders shouting your name and hear them blowing whistles. Finding people who have similar interests will help you stay in your comfort zone and branching out will help you feel ready to join different clubs and organizations to make the transition easier.

any questions on transitioning to college or anything else? tweet or formspring :)

Summer Jam 2012

In April, it was a month away from summer and my friends and I knew that exactly what we needed to buy-- a ticket to summer jam. We all went last year and it was such a fun time. What's cool about Summer Jam is that multiple artists come to it. Last year, I was looking forward to seeing Chris Brown, Big Sean, and Lupe Fiasco performing. This year, I wanted to see Big Sean again and other artists like B.o.B and Tyga, but once I heard that Nicki Minaj was going, I was pumped to see her performance the most since I'm such a big fan of hers. Needless to say, she was really good live. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera to bring to the concert to take videos, but here's who else performed at Summer Jam and pictures from both years!

Line up of this year's Summer Jam, which also includes Kid Ink

Last year's Summer Jam

Despite the bad weather this year, me and my friends still were determined to go.

Coldplay/Mike Check

At the end of the year, the three a cappella groups on campus had their last concert. To get a nice break from studying for finals, my friends and I went to Mike check, the all guys a cappella group. I was looking through my phone today and totally forgot to post the video that I took of them performing. A little late on the posting, but enjoy Mike check singing a cover of Coldplay's "Fix You" :)

Video Blog of Summer Plans

Inspired by my friend, Alex, I've decided it's about time that I made a video blog, so here's my first one about my summer plans! Enjoy :)

Aftermath from Moving Out

Happy Summer to those who are out of school! It feels weird to start the summer in May since I've been used to getting out of school in mid-June. I guess one of the many perks of college is that you have a long summer!

Anyways, last Thursday was pretty hectic because it was move out day. Honestly, it was pretty surprising to see how much stuff I had in my room even with my parents coming up for Family Weekend and taking some of my stuff back with them. My mom and I managed to somehow fit everything into the back of the car, and then 3 hours later, we were on route back to NH.

Since I've been home, I've only unpacked three full bags and somehow there's still a lot more to go!

the amount of stuff that is never-ending

Anyways, to lighten up the sometimes dreadful, but necessary unpacking process, you always need some good music to listen to during it. I kind of like a little of everything for music, so below are some songs that some songs that have been on my unofficial unpacking playlist.  Stay tuned for the next blog post about what my summer plans are looking like :)


    




 and from one of my favorite movies..

Top Moments from Freshmen Year

As I take a break from designing my final website for Digital Media and studying for my Statistics final, I want to take some time to reflect on my freshmen year. First off, it is CRAZY how fast this year went by. It literally feels like move in day was yesterday. I have no idea where the year went, but I'm so happy to say that it was an awesome first year! Here are some of my favorite moments from the year:

Becoming a Tour Guide and Blogger: I love sharing all of my experiences with you all! Blogging has been something I have done since last summer and being a tour guide was something that I just got chosen to about a month ago. Even though the whole tour guide process just started, I'm already addicted to it! I enjoy helping out prospective students a lot and I'm looking forward to keep blogging and giving out tours next year!

First Year Seminar:

The people in my first year seminar class were also in my orientation group. Here's a picture of all of us during orientation!

For my first year seminar, I took the Examined Life with Professor Lair. The class is about analyzing your life through writing, reading, and sharing your work with the other students. It was the best class I've taken here so far because I got to learn so much about myself as a writer and as a person in general. Robert Lair, my professor, helped me a lot in and out of the class with any papers I was struggling with and never hesitated to provide me with feedback. Lair also made sure that we developed a strong connection with our classmates outside of the class too. He scheduled some weekend events where we went out to eat or went hiking up Mount Mansfield. Even though I took this class my first semester, I still keep in touch with Lair about my current classes.

Roommate bonding:

Jaycie and I on move in day

I think most people come into freshmen year with some worry about what their roommate is going to be like. I wasn't stressing about it too much since I talked with my roommate, Jaycie, over the summer and she didn't seem to display any of those crazy roommate symptoms from stories that I've heard or movies that I've seen (does the movie The Roommate ring a bell?) Anyways, me and Jaycie ended up getting along really well and I'm glad to say that we are not only roommates, but also very good friends!

Deciding my major: I started off my first semester as a Psychology major because I was interested in doing something with clinical counseling, but once I started taking more media classes, I realized that I had more of a passion for media. I'm still interested in Psychology, so it's my minor right now. What I love about the MJD (Media Studies, Journalism, and Digital Arts) major is that you have the opportunity to explore a lot of options within the major.

Adventures:
Even though first years can bring up their car second semester, not having a car my first year was fine by me since I usually just took the free bus transportation or sometimes if it was a nice enough day, I would walk places with my friends. Some places that are all pretty enjoyable places to walk are Cumbie's, Dunkins, Rite Aid, the Essex Junction County Fair, North Campus, Pizza Putt, and even downtown Burlington if you're feeling adventurous. Also, during one of the three day weekends, me and my friends went to our friend Brianna's house, saw her alpacas (shown below), and then went to New York for the day!


casually chilling with an alpaca

Celebrating my 18th Birthday: It was awesome enough finally turning 18 (since I'm the youngest out of the majority of my friends) but it was even more awesome celebrating it with my two friends from home and my friends I made in the first couple of weeks (and all who I am friends with today).

Brendan, my two friends Jamie and Joanna from home, Tan Wai, Katie, and Dennis

Living in the Quad and Ryan Hall: The first year students all live in the quad. I really liked living in the quad because it's close to everything on campus and it also gave me the chance to meet a lot of people in my grade. I especially loved living in Ryan because I met a ton of my friends there so whenever I wanted to hang out, they were only footsteps away. Here are some of the awesome people who I lived with in Ryan this year: 

Me and Morgan

Me and Dennis

Sarah, Me, and Brendan

Brianna, Emily, me, and Sophie

                                          



Finding my second home: I'm happy to call Saint Mike's my second home. I've met so many great people and I've already made some pretty awesome memories during my first year here. This is going to be a long summer, but I'm super excited to come back home for sophomore year!

Stress Free Knight

Well, today marks the beginning of finals week. It is inevitable that there is going to be some sort of stress involved during this entire week. Tonight, there is Stress Free Knight in Alliot to relieve all the stress. Here's a rundown of what the schedule looks like:

5:30-6:00: Sign up for Healthy Ways to Handle Stress and Massages
6:00-8:00: FREE massages, henna, reiki, and snacks

I went to Stress Free Knight during my finals last semester and the lines filled up fast for all these events. It's never a bad thing to be intense and show up at 5:30 to sign up, so that's what I'll probably be doing. Sometime next week, my top moments of freshmen year post will finally be coming so stay tuned for that!

tweet, formspring with any questions!

Final Art Project

To cover my art requirement, I chose to take an Observational Drawing class. Why did I take drawing out of choosing from either a drawing, theater, or dance class to cover the requirement? I wanted to learn how to draw because before this class, the only thing that I could probably draw was a stick figure, and even I don't think it was that good of a drawing. Maybe I'm over exaggerating a little bit, but I really took the class to better my drawing skills and I also wanted to prove to myself that I am capable of drawing something more legitimate than stick figures. After a whole semester's worth of going through some difficult obstacles, I'm glad that I took this course to challenge myself and to find out that art is something that just takes time and patience.

For our final project, we could choose about just anything to draw. I wanted to do something that was meaningful to me. Earlier in the semester, we did an assignment that is a format of art called a triptych. Basically, it is when you draw three things side by side to compare them to each other. I wanted to show my life in one drawing, so I decided my three drawings would show high school, college, and post-college.


Here's the final product below:

Left, graduation hat and diploma from high school. Middle, Saint Michael's Purple Knight logo. Right, an ESPN notebook to show I might be interested in doing something with sports journalism in the future.