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!

Less than 100 Days to Go!

It never fails to surprise me how fast the middle of the semester always comes! The past two weeks have been very busy for everyone at Stonehill with mid-terms. It always seems that papers, projects, and exams get scheduled right before spring break. For me, with all my English courses, this meant that I have had quite a few papers due. I made it through the two busy weeks, and now it is the beginning of spring break. I am home now for a couple days, but on Tuesday I am going with my boyfriend to Los Angeles to visit his sister! I have never been to California before, so I am so excited for my first spring break trip over my last Stonehill spring break! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures so I can share my trip with you when I am back on campus!

To return to the past couple weeks of the semester that have led up to spring break, I have been busy not only with work but busy with some really exciting big events too! Two weeks ago was the first of our senior class events: 100 Days! Throughout the spring semester, we have a countdown to graduation marked by 100 Days, 50 Days, and 25 Days, not to mention the last week full of events leading up to commencement! But I'm not ready to talk about commencement yet, so let me tell you about 100 Days! For the event, we brought the dueling pianos from Jake Ivory's, a piano bar in Boston, to campus. It was a great event! The two pianos mostly played together, and I was really impressed with the great variety of songs that they played. We had everything from traditional Piano Bar music, like Billy Joel's Piano Man, but we also had lots of today's popular songs, such as Lady Gaga! Here's a picture of some seniors singing along with the dueling pianos:

My favorite aspect of the event was to have all of the senior class together! Stonehill is a school where students from every class get to know students from other other class; some of my close friends are also seniors, but some of my close friends are also in other grades as well. We do not just form communities within our classes, but we build a strong community including all Stonehill students. So the kick-off senior event served to unite our class, and set the stage for the rest of our last semester together.

Some friends and I before heading over to the 100 Days event!

Hanging out with my suite-mates at 100 Days!

The other big event of the past couple of weeks was my cousin's wedding! I always love big family events, and I had a great time celebrating with my family. Here are the bride and groom, Liz and Mike, cutting their cake and looking very happy!

Here is a picture of all my cousins on the Charest side of my family, with my cousin Liz, the beautiful bride in the center:

That's it for now because I've got to get going on my packing for California! Happy Spring Break everyone!

Spring is in Full Swing!

Well, you must be thinking, what does she mean by saying "spring is in full swing?" And you are right, it is certainly not yet spring! In fact, it is still very much winter as evidenced by the snow storm and snow day we had in the middle of this week! What I do mean is that the spring semester is now in full swing! Next week I have a second response paper due for Postcolonial London and I am making a presentation in my Senior Capstone seminar, and then the following week I have two papers due! The onslaught of papers for the semester has officially begun!

Something else that is well underway is the construction of a new residence hall nearby my own residence hall! The building will be similar to the one I am living in now. It will be for upper classmen and will also be suite style. The drawings of the building that I have seen look great, and a couple weeks ago the College also had a furniture display so students could help choose the furniture that we will have in the building! It will be a popular place to live next year to be sure! Here are a couple views of the new building:

Not only has the spring semester gotten underway, but I also have some very new experiences and new beginnings headed my way! Last weekend I had two events that suggested to me that it is the time for new beginnings. The first was the Group Activity night for the new applications to the Orientation and Peer Mentor Program. Each year, new applicants to the leadership role take part in partner and group activities that allow Orientation staff to get to know the applicants better. Each year, the Orientation staff asks the seniors who have been involved in the Peer Mentor Program to come help observe the new applicants...because there are always so many! Let me tell you, incoming Class of 2014, there are over 90 friendly, smiling, enthusiastic, and loud current students already excited for the chance to get to know you and welcome you to Stonehill as your PM this summer and fall! We love new friends at Stonehill! I am sad I am not directly involved in the program this year, but it is so nice that as a senior, I still get to help out when I can!

On Saturday morning, I participated in a brand new program offered by Career Services called Senior Saturdays. It was a three hour chunk of time during which 7 seniors, with coffee in hand, marched over to Career Services to work one-on-one and in small groups with Christina Burney, the Associate Director of Career Services. We got helpful information and tips on resumes, cover letters, and networking, and then worked on our resumes, cover letters, and setting up LinkedIn accounts. We did some peer editing and then Christina also helped us one-on-one to edit our work! It was all very helpful and got me going on all these important facets of the job search! I am scheduled for a mock interview in two weeks as well, so I have lots to be doing as my job search for teaching jobs gets underway!

This semester will also be full of exciting events as this is my last semester of college! We recently announced this year's Spring Weekend performers! This year we will be hosting GirlTalk and State Radio! It should be a really good show! Stonehill seniors also have a couple traditional events every spring. The first of which is what we call 100 Days, which is an event that marks when we only have 100 days left at Stonehill! This year, 100 Days will be held on campus and the entertainment is dueling piano players from Jake Ivory's! I am in disbelief that yesterday I bought my ticket for 100 Days!!! Another event that all the seniors are currently gearing up for is Cape Week. For the week after finals and before graduation, a majority of the senior class all rents houses on the Cape, usually in the Dennis area. We have lots of informal gatherings that week as well as a senior formal dinner dance in Falmouth! Finally, this past week I booked a house with my suitemates! We will be staying in Dennisport, just a short walk from the beach! I am already crossing my fingers for good weather for the spring - for Cape Week, Spring Weekend, and graduation! Cross your fingers for us too?!

The Beginning of the End

It is Day 14 of my last semester at Stonehill, and I am in disbelief that I have already been back on campus for that long! Out of all my semesters at Stonehill, the transition back to campus this semester has been easier for me than any other transition back to school. Unfortunately, it's a little too late since it's the last one! But in any case, I seem to have been able to jump right in on all my reading, which I have plenty of with three English classes, one of which is my Senior Capstone! Although, it's a little early for papers, so I will get back to you on how the transition from writing lesson plans to writing papers for college goes!

I have already been doing a lot of work, but I've had some good times with friends too! Last weekend was the Welcome Back Weekend for the spring semester, so we had a comedian in The Hill on Friday night, and then on Saturday there was the Whiteout Ball - which was the annual campus-wide semi-formal dance in the Sports Complex. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go to this dance because I had previous plans, but I heard from a lot of friends that it was a great time...complete with balloons!


So what did I do if I didn't go to the dance? Well, at the end of last semester, the girls in my suite planned a night out in Boston for our friend Alexia's 22nd birthday, which we were all so excited for! But unfortunately it ended up coinciding with the dance, nonetheless, we had a really fun girls' night out! Here are a couple pictures of us all dressed up before our big night out!

From left to right we have Alexia's friend from home Maria, and my suite-mates Kari-Ann, Carrie, Alexia, me, and Melissa. Don't we all look classy? :)

As of this Christmas break, I am also dating someone new! He is actually a really close friend from high school, in fact, we have known each other practically forever! We were even in the same third and fourth grade classes! It was quite a surprise to me to come home for Christmas break and to recognize this for the first time. But we are both very happy and have a lot to look forward to over the next several months!

I then spent a hectic week settling into the semester. I had lots of reading for my classes. This semester I am taking: Postcolonial London Literature, The City in American Literature, Fallen Women and Typewriter Girls (which is my senior seminar and looks at the constructs of the female gender in mostly Victorian literature), Mathematical Reasoning for Educators, and Honors Environmental Science. It is quite a course load because every one of these classes are fulfilling my last five requirements for graduation! I'm just so happy I was able to fit all the requirements in nicely...and with some very interesting topics!

This week I also settled into some of the extra activities I do on campus, such as my role with the Student Ambassador/Tour Guide program, Kappa Delta Pi (which is the Education Honor Society), and I have also set up a work study job in the Office of Student Activities, which I have done a lot of work with in my four years at Stonehill and just generally love to be a part of! :)

For now there's more reading calling my name, but I am looking forward to blogging to all of you about all of the exciting, scary, emotional, happy, sad, intimidating, thrilling, and just plain fun things that will be going on during my last semester!

Final Round at the Hill

I am currently in a state of disbelief and denial that I am beginning my final semester at Stonehill. Not only have I absolutely loved my four years at Stonehill and I am not ready for them to be over, I am not sure I am ready for everything "extra" - applying for jobs and preparing for the real world - that comes with the final semester of college. Part of me is looking forward to the next stage in my life; I think that I will like the working world and being able to settle down. I hate packing and moving, so while it is nice to have two homes, I will like being settled in one place again for a while!

My plan right now is to apply this semester for teaching jobs close to home so I can live at home, save money, and dedicate myself to my first classroom! Then after a year, maybe two, I plan to go back to school for my Master's, somewhere in the field of education. I need some more time before I decide what I will want to get my Master's in! As of now, for this semester, my goal is to find a teaching job! I have done some things over this Christmas break to start that process, but a lot of my time this semester will be dedicated to the job search! There's a long way to go, and I won't feel relaxed until I have a job!

This semester I have my final five classes needed for my two majors and general education requirements. I will be taking three English classes, one of which is my senior capstone seminar. Those classes are Postcolonial London, The City in American Literature, and my seminar is The Fallen Women. My other two classes are Honors Principles of Environmental Science and Mathematical Reasoning for Educators. I am looking forward to these classes, and it will be nice to have a change with the science and math classes since I haven't had any of either yet at Stonehill!

As of now, I am all packed...despite the fact that I am, as always, over-packed! It always seems that my things seem to multiply each time I move back to school. I hope when I am unpacking tomorrow I will be able to fit everything in my room!

Right now, I can't wait to get back to campus and catch up with all of my friends! It will be an exciting semester, with lots of senior activities and job searching - I am sure I will taking advantage of everything Stonehill has to offer one last time!

Home for the Holidays

I love Christmas, and I love getting to be home for Christmas! Putting up the Christmas tree, playing Christmas music, seeing Christmas lights everywhere, and baking Christmas cookies are some of my favorite sights, sounds, and smells of the season that I don't think I could live without! But one of the very best things about Christmas, especially after being away from home for a semester, is getting to spend lots of time with family and friends! The house pictured here is just down the street from my own house. Every year they cover their house and front yard with Christmas lights and decorations and they put on a light show with the lights coordinated to Christmas music that passersby can tune their stations to as they drive by! It is a popular sight to visit in my hometown during the Christmas season!

Every year, for ten years now, my friend, Kate, from high school has been hosting an annual Christmas party! At first, in middle school, it was just the girls. But then, once we discovered boys, it became co-ed. Now, I am so glad that we continue the tradition because it is the best way to get ALL of our high school friends together again! I do still see a lot of my hometown friends, and I have been able to spend a lot of time with them all this break. But we are all so busy and have such very different schedules that it is hard to get everyone together often. Some of my friends are working full-time, some are taking college classes still, and one of my friends is even engaged and getting married Labor Day weekend this year!!! (I am still adjusting to this getting older thing!) But for this year's Christmas party most of us all had a great time playing board games and eating all of our favorite junk food snacks! Especially, Kate's famous calzone and my brownies - favorites since high school!

My friend Brandon (aka "Dobes" - my friends have a lot of nicknames!) and I at Kate's Christmas party.

My friends and I also celebrated together on New Year's Eve at my friend Brennan's house. Here I am with girlfriends Tessa and Kate.

Then, when Christmas rolled around, I celebrated with not one, but FOUR Christmases! My immediate family and I celebrated Christmas Eve with some of my dad's side of the family with dinner at our house. Then on Christmas Day, after opening presents from Santa of course, we went to my gramma's house to celebrate with my mom's side of the family. But now that I have had cousins who have gotten married, and we don't get to see my mom's cousins often, we always hold more Christmas gatherings so we get to see all of the family who we didn't get to see on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! I always enjoy these parties because they are more casual than Christmas and we get to play with new Christmas presents!

My family at our house on Christmas Eve.

My sister, Lindsay, and cousins Liz and Emily at my gramma's house on Christmas Day.

The day after Christmas, all the siblings and cousins on my dad's side got together over my aunt's house. It was exciting because we got to see Cameron, my cousin's 7 month old baby, and the newest addition to our family! We ordered Chinese food and did a Yankee Swap (re-gifting encouraged!) I ended up with a great number, and the gift I received was a bottle of wine! We also played Telestrations, a game that my sister received for Christmas from my aunt. It is basically telephone but with pictures.

Cameron is an excellent gift-unwrapper! And of course his puppy, Simon, wanted to help!

Playing Telestrations!

Then just this past weekend, we finally had our fourth Christmas, which had been postponed because of last weekend's snowstorm. We went out to Methuen, MA to my mom's cousin's house to see the second cousins on my mom's side of the family who we don't get to see too often. It was another fun day...although very disappointing because the Patriots lost badly.

I really enjoyed this year's holiday season with my family and friends. It was enjoyable and relaxing. I was reflecting during the holiday that it was just one Christmas ago that I returned from my semester abroad. Last Christmas I was jet-lagged and going through re-entry, and this year I was resting up from a very busy semester of student teaching! Both Christmas breaks were very welcome vacations!