Accepted Student Open Houses

Right around this time last year, I was on my way to Saint Mike's to come here for an Accepted Student Academic Day. I got to meet with professors that were in my major and do a lot of things similar to the things on the schedule for an Accepted Student Open House. In my post about why I chose SMC, I talk about how the Academic Day was also the day where I went over to Admissions to put in my deposit to officially go here. The Academic Day really helped show me what a typical day would be like here. I was immediately sold on how welcoming the community and the professors were. Unfortunately, the Accepted Student Academic Days are full, but I still suggest going to Accepted Student Open House because they can help with your overall college decision.

There are two days that you can still register for:
Saturday, April 14th
Saturday, April 21st

Here's what the schedule looks like for the day:
8:45-9:45 a.m. : Honors Program Reception (McCarthy Arts Center- by invitation)
9:30-9:45 a.m. : Registration for Tours in Ross Sports Center
9:45-10:45 a.m.: Tours leave from Ross Sports Center
11:00-11:15 a.m. : Registration in Ross Sports Center (for later arrivals)
11:15-11:45 a.m. : Opening Presentation in Ross Sports Center where Vice President of Enrollment Jerry Flanagan, college President Jack Neuhauser, and a current student speak about Saint Mike's and welcome you to the college
11:45- 12:30 p.m. : Lunch in Tarrant Recreation Center or Academic Fair (Ross Sports Center)
- At the Academic Fair, you have the opportunity to find information about MOVE, study abroad programs, internships, student resources, honor programs, athletics, multicultural events, residence life, campus ministry, wilderness program, fire and rescue program, and a lot of other programs!
12:30- 1:15 p.m. : Lunch or Academic Fair
1:30-3:00 p.m. : Student Panels
***This part was a big reason why I was also sold to come here. At the panel, you are allowed to ask any questions to current students on whatever may be a concern to you such as professors, classes, or the social scene. The students are really open and honest and they help give you more of a perspective on what Saint Mike's is like.

Even if you can't come to one of the Accepted Student Open Houses, I suggest going on a day visit, especially during the school session. It gives you a chance to see what a typical day is like for a student here!

Have anymore questions about the open house or anything else about Saint Mike's? tweet, formspring

Knightchats!

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow from 7:30-9:00PM, there is a student Knightchat that I, along with some other bloggers, will be participating in! It's a great opportunity to ask any questions that you may have been wondering for a while about Saint Mike's or even the college experience. To jump into tomorrow's chat, go to http://smcvt.edu/knightchat/ (web page shown below) and click on enter the Knightchat. If you can't attend tomorrow's, then it's fine because there are two more left after that!

Changing Majors

Hello Hello Hello!

If you guys have read my About Me section or my previous posts, you would know that I have been struggling with what to major and minor in. As of right now, I am a Psychology major with my minor as Media Studies, Digital Arts, and Journalism. I have been wondering for a while if I should flip flop the two of them or double major in both subjects. After taking more courses in Media, I've realized that I want to officially change my major to Media Studies and minor in Psychology! All I have to do is get signatures from my current advisor and the director of Media Studies and get a new advisor, then I should be all set!

Have any more questions about changing your major or any questions about Saint Mike's?
tweet, formspring

Unexpected Travels

Being sick is never really fun, especially in college. You miss classes, extracurricular activities, and school events. Luckily, professors are completely understanding when you can't make it to class, even when you give them a short notice about being sick. That is something that I learned this week from having to go home suddenly since I wasn't feeling well. To make my unexpected travels sound a little bit more exciting, I like to put it that in the past two days (Wednesday and Thursday), I went to three different states ( my home state New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont.)

Here's how my two days went and what I learned about leaving school during the middle of the week:

WEDNESDAY

•  Calling a taxi to go to the Burlington Airport, where my bus was leaving from.To be safe, always call the taxi company at least 30 minutes in advance to make sure they arrive on time. 
• Taking the Greyhound bus to Manchester, NH.  When taking a bus, it is important to have your confirmation/reservation number and/or ticket to make sure you can get on the bus. Also, most Greyhound buses offer Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi definitely made it easier for me to do homework for classes that I was missing.
• Hanging out with the family. When I finally got home, it was awesome to see my family and hang out with them.  It was also just good to get some chill time to kick it back and watch TV and movies.

THURSDAY

• Going to Beth Israel in Boston, MA in the morning. One valuable thing I learned about the doctors is that when you are sick with a persistent issue, it's good to stay seeing one doctor. When more than one doctor gets involved, then you might be getting mixed results. When you go to school, it is important to notify your primary doctor about where you are going and how you two can stay in touch. Luckily, I was able to get a quick appointment in Boston with my doctor.
• Catching the Megabus from South Station back to Burlington. A lot of students that don't have cars use Megabus to get to Boston from Burlington because it is easy, reliable, and extremely cheap (only 13 dollars one way!).
• Arriving at Royal Tyler Theatre at UVM and taking a cab back to Saint Mike's. My bus was at 3:30 and got to Royal Tyler Theatre at 7:00! 

Overall, leaving school in the middle of the week is exhausting, but it is possible since the bus tickets can be purchased the night before.

Hope you all have an awesome Super Bowl weekend! GO PATRIOTS!

any questions? tweet, formspring

On the Air Again

 In one of my previous posts, SMC's Radio Show: The Morning Mike, I talked about how me and my friends had our own radio show. It was really fun doing it last semester, so me and my friend Brendan decided to do it again this semester. This time, instead of struggling to wake up for an 8am radio show on Sundays, we got a time slot from 12pm-1pm on Sundays. Tune into our show and other Saint Mike's students shows through WWPV's website. 

tweet or formspring if you have any questions! :)

Comedy Battle at Higher Ground

Last night, my friends and I went to Higher Ground last night for the 8th annual Comedy Battle, where 15 comedians around the Vermont area perform. After they all performed, the judges narrowed it down to the top 4, where SMC's very own Kit Rivers and three other comedians made the cut. Here are some clips from it. The first one is of the winner of the Comedy Battle, Kyle Gagnon, and the second one is of another finalist, Nathan Hartswick.

Plans for Next Semester

I hope everyone had a great time welcoming the new year! To me, the new year means making new resolutions while continuing to work on past resolutions, like eating healthier and exercising more. Similar to resolutions, I've thought of some things that I want to do for the next semester.

•  Continue to work on balancing schoolwork, while still having a good time.  I think this is the hardest part of transitioning to college. I love how there's so many things to do on and around campus, but sometimes doing too many things can dominate over other plans, such as studying for a test. I was satisfied with how I did this my Fall semester, but I still think it's something I can improve on.
• Attend performances at Higher Ground and the Flynn Center. I've always heard of people going to Higher Ground and the Flynn Center to see some musical performances. I never took the time to look up tickets to shows, until a couple of days ago. I found out that on January 21st, Higher Ground is hosting its 8th annual Comedy Battle with comedians all from the Vermont area, including Kit Rivers, a Saint Mike's student that opened for David Koechner (from "The Office" and "Anchorman) when he came here (I gotta say, both were extremely funny).  Then, to make things even better, Matt Nathanson is coming to Higher Ground the day after that. I talked with some of my friends from school and they are down to go to both of the shows. I already got my tickets, so it gives me just another reason to be excited to be going back to school.

• Keep taking classes to help decide what I want to major in. In my last post, I talk about being a Psych major, but recently, I've been contemplating on switching it to Digital Arts, Media Studies, and Journalism, which is currently my minor. I have a strong interest in each field, but I don't know if I want to take on the challenge of double majoring quite yet. I want to learn more about each field a little bit more. That's why I think it's good that I'm taking Digital Media next semester to see if my interest for it continues to grow. 
• Explore Burlington and the rest of the area more. On the weekends, I usually go to Church Street in Burlington to go out to eat, go shopping, or go to the movies, but I have yet to really find my way off of Church Street. I want to find out more events that are going on around the city and do something different to switch up my routine. I'm excited because in February, we have a three day break.  Since Montreal is only an hour and a half away from school, my friends and I have already talked about going there for three days. I loved when I went to Toronto and Niagara Falls a couple of years ago with my family, so I think exploring Montreal will be fun.
• Do more MOVE events.  MOVE, short for Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts, is a very popular program that always has new events that help out the community.  You can easily sign up for events on the MOVE board in Alliot. During orientation week, I took advantage of these events because they not only give you something fun to do, but they are also for a good cause. For my first MOVE event, I went apple picking to help provide food shelters. It felt awesome helping people out and in the process of doing so, I also met some great people during the event. 

I'll keep you all updated about these things as the semester goes on!
For now, tweet or formspring if you have any questions!