Everyone is Moved-In Except ME!

When I walked into the cafeteria two weeks ago and was pulled in six different directions at once by old and new friends smiling or waving or standing in my way with their arms open waiting for a hug, I was once again why I love being at Stonehill. I was amidst the buzz and excitement of move-in weekend and Fall Orientation for incoming students. The freshmen arrived on Saturday, the upper classmen on Sunday, and with them they brought the life back to the sleeping campus. Well, at least all the upper classmen except me and the other students studying abroad that is! I was happy and excited to still be on campus before leaving though. I got to welcome back all of the freshmen in my Orientation group, and reunite with old friends who I haven’t seen all summer.

Before the freshmen moved in, I was on campus for a couple days of training and prepping for Fall Orientation. The campus was pretty quiet, although it was far from deserted. Fall athletes, RAs, Crossings Ministers, and the Orientation Team were all back on campus. Training was pretty low-key since everyone is gearing up for the year to start. So I had plenty of time to visit with friends already back on campus. For example, in these pictures, Orientation Team members were taking a break from training on the sunny steps of Donahue.

Fall Orientation is a lot more laid back with more time for incoming students to spend time in their residence halls, meet more friends, go to the bookstore, finish organizing their room, and get ready for classes. Yet there is still a whole lot of work to get done and fun things too during the first few days. We had presentations about sexual assault awareness, academic honesty, Community Standards, IT information, diversity, and residence hall meetings with RAs. My two favorite parts of Fall Orientation though are the trip into Boston and Into the Streets.

On Sunday, the entire Class of 2012, of 600+ students, took a trip by bus and T into Boston for the afternoon. The trip is meant to show students how to use our shuttle service and T in order to get into Boston on their own during the year. But it’s also really nice to have fun and bond with each other outside of Stonehill’s campus. This year, I went with a couple girls from my group, and one adopted from my friend’s group, to the Prudential Center, Copley Square, and Newberry Street. I had a great time walking around, mostly window shopping, and getting a bite to eat. The girls did help me pick out a new dress that I am itching to wear, and the best part was we made out with a free tea and iced coffee from Starbucks! This picture is of the girls I was with outside of the Boston Public Library.

My other favorite event is Into the Streets, which is our community service program and largest organization on campus. They plan an afternoon on Monday for all of us to go to out into the streets in Brockton, Easton, and the surrounding areas to offer our services to over 40 locations. We go to homeless shelters, food pantries, schools, nursing homes, and much more. Half of my group this year went to the YMCA to help with mowing lawns, painting, and cleaning, and I went with the other half to Trinity Catholic elementary school where we helped put easels together, set up desks, and move a whole lot of boxes. This is yet another great way to grow closer with new friends, and the locations we go to are always so appreciative of our help. It is nice to see that we can make a difference in just a couple of hours for so many people. Almost all Stonehill students then continue to volunteer through Into the Streets during their four years here.

Fall Orientation ends with Academic Convocation, which is essentially the opening ceremony for the school year. All the professors process in wearing their full regalia with alumni representatives and other speakers. We present an excellence in teaching award and this year we also began a new tradition of the senior class presenting a shovel to the president of the college, which traces our history back to the Ames family who owned the land on which Stonehill is founded prior to the Brothers of the Holy Cross. The Ames family made their wealth from making shovels, we even have a “shovel museum,” the Stonehill Industrial History Center, on campus!

The end of Orientation meant it was time for me to leave Stonehill again for the time being. I came home to an eleven straight days of work at West End Creamery, and a whole lot of anxiety setting in as I began to get more serious about preparing for England. But I’ll be sharing more about my preparations in future blogs. Before I could really start to focus on Oxford, my parents and I needed to get my sister moved in to college!

My little sister, Lindsay, is now attending Endicott College and is in the hospitality program. As of now, she would like to get into event planning. This is another great thing about the fact that I don’t leave until October 1 and that I am not in classes at Stonehill right now…I was able to help move her in! I’d like to think that I was helpful and was able to give Lindsay, and her new roommate Lauren some good advice about room set-up and organization. I was also excited to take the official first roommate picture of the two and their cute new room! But I think they could have done it on their own. I was really happy nonetheless to be able to be there! And I think out of my sister, my parents, and I, I was the one that wasn’t ready to leave at the end of the day! It was the first time I had been to Endicott and I really enjoyed it. It is a beautiful campus, and it is located right on the water! What could be better?

While I was there, I also ran into Meghan Fitzgerald. Meghan was the Admissions Counselor at Stonehill who met with me and read my application. This summer she decided to take a position at Endicott as an Admissions Counselor and the lacrosse coach. I was sad to hear that she was leaving Stonehill, but I am happy to report that she is settling in at Endicott and is doing well!