The Greatness of Saint Mike's Professors

As a MJD major, I've learned that technology can be both a good and bad thing. Unfortunately, this semester I learned how bad technology can be. My external hard drive got corrupted after only using it three times. Because it was corrupted, it meant that all my files saved on my hard drive were lost and I had to reformat my hard drive. While the IT office on campus was doing everything to recover the files, I was freaking out because I needed my hard drive to work on my documentary. 

Because I didn't have a hard drive for a while, I felt really behind in my Digital TV/Film class. During this time, I was communicating a lot with IT office and my professor. Understanding how stressed I was, my teacher gave me an extension on my documentary. Reason #738384 why Saint Mike's professors are awesome. They understand what you're going through and do as much as they can to help you out.  They make the time for you to make sure that you're keeping up with work. With that extension, I felt like a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders and I had time to just try to relax and complete my documentary.

Along with doing my documentary, I've also been doing a lot of group presentations this semester. I have to admit that I have an EXTREME fear of presenting in front of a big group of people, so it looked like this was the semester I was going to have to get over my fear.

I've already had two group presentations for my Sports Psychology class. Coincidentally, my first presentation for that class was on mental training. While I was researching mental training, I was learning how athletes prepare themselves before a game and I started to see how those tips could calm me down during my presentation. Needless to say, the presentation that was supposed to be an hour long only ended up being 30 minutes long. I hit the fast forward button a little bit too much when I was speaking, and that was something that my professor noticed. When he came up to me afterwards, I was worried he was going to say how bad the presentation was. Instead, he came up to me and pointed out that I did talk fast, but I had a lot of great information and he's excited to see my other group presentation. Professors are able to see that you have the ability to do whatever you can, and they push you to be a better student and in my case, a better presenter. They give you feedback that's extremely necessary.

Another thing that was helpful was that my professor recorded our presentation on Tegrity, so we could watch ourselves afterwards. After watching myself and absorbing the feedback from my professor, I was a lot more confident during my second presentation. I actually spoke with real words!! Afterwards, my professor came up to me and this time, he said I did awesome. Professors want to help you grow as a student and as a person. The extra push that they give encourages students to work harder.

I think the most important part to remember is that classes don't really end after the semester. The thing is that if you ever need to reach out to professors about a different class or if you just want to catch up in general, then you can always reach out through e-mail and schedule to meet up in person. I remember for my Global Comm class last semester, I had to do a website about two different cultures and their media. After attending a panel on the men and women of South Sudan, I was immediately intrigued. The panel included Professor Robert Lair, who was my Examined Life professor freshman year. I connected with him through e-mail and he was more than eager to meet up and discuss more about the website. When we met up, we talked about more than just the website. He asked me if I was liking my classes and if I was enjoying my sophomore year overall. It was good to be reminded that professors don't stop caring after classes. If anything, they want to see you grow and hear about your experiences along the way of the growth.

It's true that I do live in the Ethan Allen apartments, but this semester, I have also found myself living in Bergeron and the library. It sure has been one busy semester, but luckily, I've had great support from my professors to keep me pushing through it.

Happy Halloween!
 

Ethan Allen Livin'

Hey everyone!

This year, I've been living in the Ethan Allen apartments, which are a part of North Campus. North Campus has dorms, a restaurant styled dining hall, and art studios. 

This is my first time living on North, and so far I like it a lot. Some people might worry that it's a mile away from main campus, where classes are, but the distance isn't bad at all. The shuttles run on the :15 and :45 and they take you near the dining hall, Bergeron, the library, and the gym, hitting some of the popular places on campus. It's also been pretty convenient for me because I've had my bike and car too, just in case I feel like getting in a work out or going on a drive to class. 

There's a lot to love about North Campus . 

There's the tennis courts if the ones on main campus are ever full or if you feel like it's more convenient to walk over and play. 

the tennis courts

There's the Ethan Allen apartments that come with a common room, a kitchen, and two doubles.

panorama of my common room

the kitchen area

Along with the dining option on main, there's an alternative dining hall on North campus called Sloane. Sloane is home of the restaurant styled dining hall and art studios. Since it is restaurant styled, reservations have to be made in advance, but no worries because Sloane is still a part of your unlimited meal plan (40 swipes for those who are in townhouses or apartments). 

inside of Sloane dining hall

And another great thing on North campus is Turtle Underground. Turtle is located in the bottom of Purtill Hall, one of the residential buildings. Local bands come around the area and play for free for all students. It's a fun thing to do on a Friday or Saturday night. 

inside of Purtill Hall- photo cred to Turtle Underground

Thanks for reading! 

The Orientation Leader Experience

Before orientation week actually begins, the orientation leaders do a lot of preparation for the week. We send out handwritten letters to each person in our group and tell them about ourselves, how great orientation week is, and what group number they'll be in. The letters are essentially the first impression that incoming students get. It was important to not only add in the necessary details, but also add in my own personality so my group members would get an understanding about who I am.
Along with writing letters, we also come to campus a couple days before orientation week to prepare more for the week.



As mentioned in my previous post, this year was my first time being an orientation leader. Orientation week really helped me feel comfortable and feel a part of the SMC community right away, so I wanted to make sure my orientation group was able to experience the week the way I did. Fortunately, I had an amazing orientation partner (shoutout to Richie Bernache!) who was always on the same page as me. And even better, we had an awesome group of first-years. Throughout the week, our group got to learn more about each other through some ice breakers (gotta love the question ball). We also had a ton of fun with participating in the Fall Olympics (we won the Freeze Dance-off!) or visiting North Campus and playing some intense games of Catchphrase.

Richie and I!

All the orientation leaders!

Orientation week was a perfect start to my junior year and I'm looking forward how the rest of the year goes. Feel free to e-mail or Formspring me if you have any questions!

Orientation: Where It All Begins

For those who keep up with my blog regularly, you already know that a fellow blogger and now my good friend, Alex, was one of the reasons I decided to come to Saint Mike's. Like myself, she was also stuck between SMC and Assumption College when she was choosing where to go. While she was helping me out, I thought "Wow.. I barely know this girl, yet she's helping me out with one of the biggest decisions about my life." She was truly representing SMC in the most honest way possible. Recently, Alex yet again inspired me and this time, it was about what to write my next post on. She wrote a fabulous blog post about her orientation experience, so I figured I would write one on my orientation experience and then write one after orientation about what it's like being an orientation leader.

So, here begins my story......

Already having a connection to Alex and some people I met in the Class of 2015 group, I felt confident about how my first day of college was going to be... well at least up until the night before. The night before, the nerves finally kicked in. I was going to be three hours away from home, which isn't really that far, but at the time, it felt a million miles away. I was worried that I wasn't going to find friends immediately. Essentially, I got inside my own head and I freaked out. I thought this was a bizarre thing to do, but if anything, it was normal. Looking back, it made sense to have these thoughts when I was doing something new and unfamiliar.

Once I got to SMC the next day, I saw these people all wearing matching shirts and holding up signs saying, "Welcome to Saint Mike's!" They all shouted out to my car and asked what my name was. They then started chanting my name really loud. Their crazy excitement immediately made me feel like a member of the SMC family right away.

After I was welcomed by all the orientation leaders, I got my keys to my room and started heading over to my new home, Ryan Hall. Once again, the orientation leaders were there for me during the move-in process. They helped me carry up my bags to the fourth floor (woo, quite the workout with so many flights of stairs back and forth!) I was finally able to meet my roommate, who I had been talking to a bit before moving in, and decorate our dorm room. The rest of the day consisted of arranging our dorm room, meeting the rest of the people on my floor, and finding out who were my orientation leaders out of the energetic bunch. 

Throughout orientation week, I got to know my orientation leaders as yes, very energetic people, but also supportive and friendly people. They led us in a lot of group ice breakers and activities and showed us what Saint Michael's was all about. I also got to know the people in my orientation group very well and I'm happy to say I'm still good friends with most of them (including blogger, Lauren Murphy-- so many Lauren's at SMC!). 

Along with our group activities, there was  also some downtime to connect with other first years around campus. We were told to keep our doors open since it's a great way of stopping by and introducing yourself to people. I kept my door open and I blasted my music (I think I went with some top 40 hits) to see if anyone would pop in and say hello. My friend Dennis, who was in my orientation group and lived on my floor, stopped in my room with some other guys who lived on my floor. He introduced me to the other guys, and just like that we were all friends. 

Orientation week is all about connections. You meet people on your floor, in your building, and in your orientation group, and from there those people introduce you to other people. It's kind of like a never-ending super fun game of telephone where you're constantly exchanging new "messages," or rather information about yourself, to other people. 

I could keep going on and on about my experience with orientation, but hey there needs to be some suspense for when orientation rolls around next week!

I'm super excited to be a part of the orientation program and meet the members of my orientation group. See everybody August 22nd! 

Interning at the Lowell Spinners

As an MJD major, I've been considering two different careers. First career involves working in sports, something that I've loved ever since I was a kid. Second career involves exploring the film/television world and working behind the scenes as a producer. Like I said, two VERY different careers, so that's why this summer I wanted to explore my options and find out what it would be like to work in sports.  

I got a summer internship with the Lowell Spinners, a minor league baseball team associated with the Boston Red Sox. While the season started in mid-June, I started working at the beginning of June. The pre-season tasks included handing out pocket schedules to local businesses, looking up music and videos for certain promotional events, and attending community appearances.

When the season started, my department (Media Relations) met hours before the game to go over pre-game and in-game responsibilities. Some of the tasks for the usual pre-game show include handling special guest appearances, greeting fans, and setting up the auction table. When it's game time, I usually am either a part of the on-field crew or I am in the PA booth keeping track of the score or DJing the game. The on-field crew is mainly in charge of entertaining the crowd. We put together games for the crowd to participate in and make sure things run smoothly in the ballpark.

So far, I've been learning a lot about the sports industry. While it consists of long hours, it is also a very fun environment. I enjoy the people I work with.

I'm looking forward to ending my internship on a good note and heading back up to Saint Mike's to be an orientation leader. I'm excited to see who will be in group 18 with me and my orientation partner, Richie Bernache!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Top Memories from Sophomore Year

To me, it still feels like high school graduation was just yesterday. To think that two years have already gone by goes to show that the saying, "time flies by when you're having fun," is pretty true. I have been having a blast these past two years at Saint Mike's. I've had great professors and great friends along the way who have made this experience so amazing and special. Below are some of the stand out memories that made sophomore year another spectacular year!

• Radio show with Brendan. Around the second week of freshmen year, Brendan asked me if I wanted to co-host a radio show with him. With no prior experience of DJing, I said yes because I figured it would be a good start to getting involved on campus and a fun thing to do with one of my first college friends. Brendan and I have been doing a radio show ever since the first semester of freshmen year. From Lazy Sunday to Crazy Sunday, we've sure had some good times trying to be funny on air and having a fun time behind the scenes with our friends who stop by. 

A typical day at the station

•  Macklemore concert. This year, the Secretaries of Programming were able to get Macklemore for our spring concert. I was really stoked about this because I'm a big fan of his music and I was always unable to go to his concerts in Burlington. Finally, I was able to see him live! He had a ton of energy and made sure to always keep the audience engaged. He also made a special shout out to a student at SMC who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. It showed how much of a stand up guy he really is and just reminded me more why I like him and his music. After the concert, the Student Association got to meet Macklemore and Ryan Lewis since we helped set up the stage for the concert!

• Talent Show. Following the Macklemore concert, the MLK Society hosted their annual talent show, where all students are encouraged to try out and show off their abilities. For the first time, I was actually in a skit in the show. For those regular Jimmy Fallon watchers, you'll probably understand it, but if you're not one, watch the original version here and watch our own rendition of it below!

• Beating our odds of the lottery system and getting to live in Ethan Allen. I have to admit that I was pretty worried about housing while we were waiting in the lottery line. All of those worries went away when me and three other roommates got one of the last apartments in Ethan Allen on North Campus. I'm looking forward to living with all of them next year! 

the lovely Ethan Allen crew

• Going to Montreal. I put "Go to Montreal" on my SMC Bucket list the summer before my freshmen year. I figured since Montreal is only 90 minutes away that it should be something that I should take advantage of while I'm at school. My three friends, who I've been friends with since freshmen year, decided to go to Montreal when we had a three day weekend. 

All of us before we were going out to explore Montreal

• Living in a suite with some great people. It was a unique living situation for me this year. My friend Lhanzi and I decided to live in Ambassador Housing where we lived with other students from around the world. Me, Lhanzi, and Suyeon were the three that were there all year. We went through a series of different roommates: Barbara, Ami, Nikole, and Jinhee. We also had our friend, Sierra, move in our suite second semester and Jenna, a transfer student from UVM. It was different having roommates come in and out, but it was interesting learning about other cultures. I definitely loved living in Ambassador Housing and I'm going to miss it a lot.
  
  

  

  Jenna, Ami, Lhanzi, Suyeon, Nikole, Sierra, and myself

Suyeon, Sierra, Lhanzi, and myself

Me, Lhanzi, and Barbara with Brendan and Adam photobombing the picture

• Bonding more with MJD majors. This year, I took the most challenging, yet most interesting course in my major: Global Communications. We were required to learn the world map, research about particular topics, and create two websites. With all of the website work, most of the people in our class worked in Bergeron, the Journalism Department building. It was one of those things when the moment I walked into Bergeron, I was surrounded by familiar faces who were all going through the same project as I was. It was great to have these familiar faces around for hanging around and goofing off when we were all sick of looking at Dreamweaver code all day. 

• Starting Her Campus SMCVT. Her Campus SMCVT is an online magazine that Alex and I started up earlier this year. Things were pretty successful this year and I'm hoping things continue to get even better. I'm so excited that we started this up together and have such an amazing staff of committed writers. 

the Her Campus staff

Thanks for reading and stay tuned throughout the summer while I post about my internship with the Lowell Spinners!

#Itsallinthevisit

When I was looking at colleges, I didn't realize all of the things that I had to consider. I had to think about the location and the curriculum, but most importantly, I had to see what I wanted and what felt right. I endlessly researched college websites, but what really meant the most to me was the tour. I was able to see the campus and get a feel for what it would be like to be a student there.

The websites provided me with the facts, but my tour guide told their personal experiences with students and faculty. At Saint Mike's, I heard about how students connect with their teachers and other students, meet people through clubs and sports, make funny phrases in the word garden, go rock climbing inside the sports center, study abroad in unique locations, participate in community service, and of course, start the famous cup drop in Alliot. As I was listening about all of these awesome opportunities and walking around the beautiful campus, St Mike's started to feel like the right place for me. I ended up visiting St. Mike's twice because I was still considering other options, but I have to say that immediate vibe you feel when you're on a particular campus isn't one to ignore. It's usually telling you something good. The second visit was when I decided to officially commit to St. Mike's.

I think about how awesome it is being a tour guide and being on the other side of things now.  I love helping out prospective students and seeing them feel the same way I did when I got on campus.

Me, Alex, and Mike excited to give a tour on Accepted Students Day!

I know it's quite crazy to think about tour colleges and making the final decision about where to go. The deadline is approaching quickly for the upcoming class of 2017, so I wish all seniors the best of luck with their decisions!