Rain Won't Ruin Our Parade!

Last I heard, the count is at 35 days until graduation! And with the approaching end of the spring semester also comes lots of exciting senior and campus events.

Last weekend, the Class of 2010 celebrated with our 50 Days event at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution. I've been to the stadium a couple times before, but it was neat to have the clubhouse (and the stadium!) all to ourselves to eat, drink, be merry, and of course DANCE the night away! Unfortunately, it was pouring when we left campus on about 7 or 8 buses to travel to Gillette, so we all got a little wet as we mad a mad dash to get on the buses as soon as they arrived. But luckily, the event was inside, so there was no way the rain was going to bother us! I had a really great time at the event. My friends and I had fun taking pictures outside at the clubhouse level overlooking the field and around the clubhouse:

Gillette Stadium even had personalized messages to us on the jumbo-trons:

I had such a great time that I am now really looking forward to 25 Days and all the good times ahead of us during Senior Week on the Cape leading up to graduation!

This past weekend was Spring Weekend, but sadly, it didn't feel like spring at all! For the past three years we have had absolutely beautiful weather! But this year it was rainy and chilly the whole weekend! But even though it didn't feel like spring, it was still a really great weekend! Student Activities put on some great events all week leading up to the weekend, including a performance by comedian Loni Love, an A Capella Jam, and the annual DiverCity event. Then over the weekend, State Radio and GirlTalk performed our large spring concert, we had a carnival (yes, even though it rained!), and the Spring Fling Dance. All of these events are held in the Sports Complex because they are so widely attended that we couldn't have fit anywhere else! The carnival is usually held outside, but we are lucky to have a rain location in the Sports Complex!

As always, we had to take many suite-mates pictures! This one was taken before heading over to the concert on Friday night!

Here's one of GirlTalk on stage with Stonehill students dancing to his mash-ups.

GirlTalk brought confetti filled balloons as well as lots more confetti and toilet paper shooters! He was a great entertainer, and we all had a great time dancing!

Kait, myself, and Carrie at the concert! :)

Kait and Carrie posed for me at the carnival. There was fried dough, cotton candy, mini golf, lots of games, a place to take a picture for a keychain, spin art for Frisbees and sunglasses, airbrush tattoos, henna tattoos, and a BBQ lunch was also provided!

Saturday also happened to be Kait's 1st anniversary of her 21st birthday, so a few of us went out for a nice dinner at a place called Loco for tapas (Spanish appetizers) and homemade sangria.

Group picture before the Spring Fling Dance.

Of course we had to take a roommate picture showing off our outfits!

Me with Brooke and Kait at the dance!

This weekend was a lot of fun, but now it is back to the real world with a very busy week! Today I met with a focus group to discuss student leadership on campus and potential changes to leadership, and also my professor about some math challenges my group was having some trouble figuring out. Tomorrow I am giving a tour (so I maybe I will see some of you many high school students visiting colleges on your April vacation!). On Wednesday, I am visiting a solar field in Brockton to learn more about solar power to put a proposal together about investing in solar power at Stonehill. I am also announcing the names of the inductees to Kappa Delta Pi, the international education honors society, at one of Stonehill's many events celebrating academic achievement. Wednesday is actually a day off from classes for us in order for students to make presentations all around campus displaying their research and other projects, such as senior capstones.

This week is also Environmental Sustainability Week at Stonehill in honor of Earth Day, and so on Thursday, I will be with my Environmental Science class helping out at the fair. My Environmental Science class, in fact, I actually have a picture of! We have been going outside the past couple weeks for class to study the land that Stonehill is founded on. This past Thursday, Professor Emeritus Chet Raymo, the author of several fiction and non-fiction books, took a walk with us through Easton's sheep pasture to share some of his knowledge about the land with us. Here is a picture of my class with Professor Mooney from the walk:

Now back to this week! On Friday I will be attending a job fair in Boston for teaching positions, and then on Saturday, my parents will be visiting campus for the Student Life Awards event. Now add to this all the reading, papers, final projects, and exams that the last few weeks of classes will bring! It is sure to be a very busy, but also exciting few weeks ahead!

New Experiences and Big Changes

Hello there! Apologies to my readers that it has been awhile, but life as a senior in the spring is quite a busy time!

As this is the last chance for me to enjoy Stonehill and enjoy time with my college friends, I have been trying to do just that! Whether my friends and I are going off campus for Indian food, grabbing a meal together, or hanging out at Brother Mike's and playing Stump Trivia, we are trying to stay in touch and keep each other caught up with all of the exciting things happening in our lives! We still have about 5 weeks left to continue to enjoy Stonehill and some really big events to look forward to, but many things we have already done for the last time. One of the most exciting things that I've done for the last time was enjoy my last spring break. This may have been my last spring break, but it was actually the first spring break that during which I traveled! I went with my boyfriend to southern California for the week to visit Brandon's sister, Megan. We had a great week, and saw so many things! We explored Pasadena (Brandon's sister is working on her Ph.D. in cell biology at CalTech and lives in Pasadena), saw the sights in LA, traveled down to San Diego, and also up to Santa Barbara. For my first time in Cali and seeing the Pacific Ocean, I sure saw a LOT of SoCal! Here are some highlights of the week in pictures:

Brandon and I in the gardens at the Getty Center near Beverly Hills.

Meg and I at the Getty Center with a great view of LA!

It's official, we're in LA!

Old Town in San Diego. Where we got yummy Mexican food for lunch!

San Diego Zoo's famous pandas!

Brandon and I at the San Diego Zoo!

Santa Monica beach and pier!

Hermosa Beach + the Pacific Ocean!

Walking along the beach in Santa Barbara.

Watching the sun set in Malibu.

The Lily-Pad Pond in the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena.

The Japanese Garden in the Huntington Gardens.

Life as a college student is really a balancing act, and it's a skill I am still perfecting! Not only am I trying to enjoy college, but I am also keeping up with schoolwork, staying involved in all my varied co-curricular programs, and oh yeah, I'm also working on planning for life after graduation as I search and apply for teaching jobs! I have been having flash-backs to my senior year of high school and the process of applying for colleges and the college decision process. I had some tough times along the way, as I am sure we all do, with the college selection process. It is intimidating to have such a big change in my life, especially when I feel so happy and comfortable here. I am anxious to get further along in the job search process, have a job solidified, and then of course to get my classroom set-up and get settled into my new school! It is a challenging experience to hear all the exciting plans that my friends already have for next year. Just today one of my friend Kari got accepted to Northeastern for a grad program in speech pathology, and yesterday another friend accepted a position in a Reconstructive Surgery ward at Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plains. Two other friends of mine have also been accepted to year of service programs, one in Texas and one in Baltimore. But for me it is challenging because it is still a little early in the year for many teaching jobs to be posted. But I have had one interview (last week over Easter break) and I am keeping my eyes open and applying as more positions are posted. I am so excited at the thought of the next stage of my life and having my own classroom. But at the same time I am intimidated and feel that I will miss my life and friends at Stonehill.

But I don't want to get too ahead of myself! I still have more than a month of doing the college balancing act before I settled into the next great chapter!