Hey everyone! I am writing to you from the basement of my dorm on this rainy Saturday night. I thought I’d give you all a quick update on how the end of how my semester is shaping up. It’s hard to believe there’s less than two weeks in this semester left! I have a lot of work to do between now and then. On Tuesday, my final portfolio for Creative Writing is due and during finals week I have a final exam for each of my three other classes. It’s officially crunch time!

Thanksgiving break was wonderful and just what I needed to push through these last few weeks. Since I’ve been back, snow has fallen (and quickly melted) here at Holy Cross. You can feel the air of the holidays on campus. Just this past Thursday was the annual tree lighting in front of O’Kane. It was a lot of fun to start the holidays off here with some cookies, live singing, and a beautiful lit Christmas tree! I can’t wait for Lessons and Carols next week and know that the holiday fun has just begun. I hope to blog again soon and hope everyone’s doing well!

Hey everyone! Sorry it’s been awhile. Time really got away from me as far as my regular blogging goes. It’s been a crazy semester filled with lots of work and even more fun. Since I’ve been back from fall break, I’ve been hard at work with my classes in addition to one very large thing: I applied to study abroad! The application was due November 7^th and I’m happy to say I got everything in on time. I applied to Strasbourg as my number one choice and Dijon as my number two, both in France. I’ll find out in March if I got in!

The latter half of October was pretty awesome. On October 30^th, I got to celebrate my birthday with friends at my favorite restaurant on Shrewsbury Street, Via, and the next day was Halloween! I dressed up as Blue Ivy (a blue shirt with an ivy sash), otherwise known as Beyoncé and Jay Z’s baby, and a banana on the other night. Halloween is probably my favorite holiday to celebrate here at school. It’s always fun seeing what people dress up as and having a fun time.

I’ve also been working in the bookstore quite often since I last blogged. This is my first weekend off in about a month! It’s so nice to have time to breathe and get caught up on everything. I’m so excited to go home for Thanksgiving break to see my family and friends from high school. Only a few more days until I can pet my dogs and sleep in my own bed! It should be a nice break before that final push to the end of the semester. Anyway, that’s about it guys! I hope to blog again soon and hope all is well.

Hey everybody! It’s fall break now and I’m writing from my bed at home-such a nice change of scenery! It’s been great being home to take part in all of the fall time activities (apple picking, pumpkin picking, etc.) and to catch up on my work and most importantly, sleep. It’s so beautiful outside-the leaves have changed and winter is slowly approaching. I can now say with confidence that I’m ready for another intense Worcester winter (whether I like it or not).

Tomorrow morning I’m taking a bus to NYC until Saturday to visit my good friend who goes to NYU. I could not be more excited! Because most other schools don’t have the whole week off, I’ve found fall break to be a great time to go and visit friends who I haven’t seen in awhile. It’s great that we have enough time not only to visit home but also to see friends from high school.

The first weekend back after break is Family Weekend. There are a bunch of events on campus for everyone to go to with their parents and siblings. My parents are coming out Saturday and we are planning on going out to dinner on Shrewsbury Street that night, which should be delicious! Before you know it, it’ll be Thanksgiving break. This semester is flying by!

It’s a rainy Saturday here at HC, so what better to do than write another blog! So far this year has been fantastic. I’ve met some amazing new people and have been keeping myself very busy-I’m finding my second year to be much more challenging than my first. There’s a lot of work to be done, but nothing that can’t be managed.

I’ve been working a lot lately on The Crusader, as I am not only a co-editor anymore but also a copy editor. This position entails me coming in every week after articles have been placed to look over the opinions section to find small errors that haven’t been fixed. I also decided to go back to The Agency, the marketing and advertising club here at Holy Cross. I did an advertising internship during my senior year of high school and really enjoyed it so I figured it would make sense I take advantage of a club that centers around a potential career path of mine. That’s one thing I love about it here-you really can find just about anything you’re interested in when it comes to extra-curricular activities. As far as my work-study job, I have been loving it. Everyone at the bookstore is so nice and accommodating, it’s been wonderful working with the staff and being able to interact with my peers as they come in to purchase items.

School as I said has been difficult but not too overwhelming. I am admittedly a bit of a procrastinator and sometimes that really haunts me-be sure to stay on top of your work while you’re in college! Papers and exams are abundant right now for everyone, myself included but it’s ok! In just one week we will all be on our much needed fall break: one full week of rest and relaxation. I’m planning on staying home for the first half and then visiting my friend at NYU for the second half. I can’t wait to take a breather from school for a bit. Anyway, how are you all doing? I hope fall is treating everyone well and I’ll be sure to check back in with you very soon!

Hello all! I’m back with another update-this time I’m writing from Dinand Library at the beautiful College of the Holy Cross. Yes, it’s that time of year again! I’m all moved in and classes have begun as a new school year is upon us. I already love all of my professors and know that this semester is going to be one to remember. Today I want to tell you guys about what I’m going to be up to this fall outside of the classroom.

To start, I am going to continue my work on The Crusader as a Co-Opinions editor. I’m excited to write weekly articles again and can’t wait to collaborate with my peers to create a strong student-run newspaper.

Next up, blogging; my goal for the fall is to blog bi-weekly so expect to see a couple of blogs from me per month.

Last year some of you might remember I worked in Kimball Dining Hall for the entire school year, well this year I’ve graduated to a different work-study job at the bookstore in the Hogan Campus Center! I’ll be working there a few times a week this semester so definitely stop by if you’re looking for some new HC apparel or a textbook for one of your classes.

These are the three main ways I’ll be spending my free time this fall, however I might choose to join another club or two as well. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on everything. Hope everyone is having a great September!

Hey again! I’m back with another blog. Today I’m going to focus solely on my classes for fall semester, how I’m feeling about them, etc. I hope you enjoy! So this semester, much like my past two, I’m taking four classes. They include Early British Lit, French 202, Creative Writing Narrative, and Biology of the Brain. I’m excited about all of them, however I do have some reservations as well.

Starting off with Early British Lit-this one I’m really excited for. I’ve already gotten all of my books and am excited to jump into the likes of Robinson Crusoe and King Lear! We’re reading several other classics too. I know several people in this class and have heard that the professor is fantastic-I hope it meets my preconceived expectations!

Next up, French 202. I’m continuing with French because I would love to study abroad in France during my junior year and eventually be fluent in the language. I loved French class both semesters last year, so I’m expecting to feel the same during my upcoming two semesters.

Creative Writing is the class that I’m probably the most excited for simply because I’ve never taken a class solely devoted to it. The class is very small (only twelve people I believe) which I think will help to foster a great learning relationship between my peers, my professor and myself. I’m curious to see how a class like this is run as we only meet once per week. I will be sure to let you all know how creative writing goes, especially for any prospective or first year students who are considering the creative writing concentration here at Holy Cross.

My final class of the upcoming fall semester is the one that I would say I have the most anxiety about as of right now. It’s called Biology of the Brain and should be very interesting. Both of the books I purchased for the class are surprisingly not textbooks about the brain like I expected; one is a book that details twelve brain “rules” about how to thrive at work, home, and school and the other is a novel about a woman who falls into the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. I’m nervous about this class the most simply because Science in general has never been my forte, however I am excited to be studying something different from my major and minor (yay liberal arts college!).

Anyway, that’s what I’ll be taking this fall! I’m so excited to jump right in and start working away at these courses. I must say thus far I’ve got a great feeling about sophomore year and I can’t wait to keep all of you updated on what’s to come!

Hey everyone! How are you? How has your summer been? Mine has been pretty rad if I do say so myself. I’ve spent my summer at home in upstate New York, where I’ve lived my entire life. I live in a small city called Saratoga Springs (about 3 hours north of NYC) that is well known for horse racing.

Summers in Saratoga are truly special. There’s something about the warm weather, the lush greenery and the friendly people that I can’t get enough of. Horse racing brings a feeling to the city that is truly like no other. On a summer day strolling through town you will see so many different types of people; I often find myself sitting in awe on a bench or at a coffee shop. I feel increasingly more fortunate every year to have grown up in such an interesting and vibrant community.

Since mid-May I’ve been working at a small French patisserie in Saratoga. It’s been great working at a place that involves two of my passions: French culture and food! They even play French music, which I secretly hope is sub-consciously helping with my French pronunciation for the upcoming fall semester! The pastries are fantastic and to be honest, I’m surprised I haven’t gained the freshman fifteen all over again.

As far as other things I’ve been up to, I’ve been hanging out and catching up with high school friends as much as possible, watching as much Netflix as is humanly possible and attempting to exercise and read on occasion. I went down to the city twice, once with a friend from high school and another time to visit a Holy Cross friend. I’ve also gone hiking a few times in the Adirondacks, which never gets old-upstate NY is breathtaking year-round!

Since I never got to tell you all about the end of my spring semester, I’ll give you a quick rundown now. In short, it was great. Spring Weekend was easily my personal highlight, which consisted of several events on the hill including the spring concert, which was Nelly! The warm weather after our harsh winter in Worcester was highly rewarding, as I was able to spend a lot of time outside. Finals week was stressful and overwhelming as expected, but overall well worth pushing through for the three and a half month break to follow!

Overall, I can’t complain about my first summer home from college, however I’m starting to get a bit anxious to get back to school. I’m so excited to see all of my friends again and to continue learning on Mount St. James! Please stay tuned for a blog about what classes I’m taking this fall and what else I’ll be up to come September. I hope everyone’s day is going well-happy summer!

Hello all! I’m back with another blog. It is finally spring here at HC after a long and brutal winter, which often felt as though it would never end. Now with just about a month left of classes before finals week, you can feel the spring joy in the air as students are found outside playing Frisbee, sitting together in front of Hogan, and most importantly, wearing shorts!

Remember in January when I wrote a blog about the 5 things that I was most looking forward to in spring semester? Well today I thought I would give you an update on how I’ve been doing with these thus far.

First off, the Crusader: this has probably been the activity I’ve enjoyed the most this semester. I’ve loved writing for the Opinions section and working with my peers as a co-editor. The Crusader has turned out to be a lot of work, as I have to write a minimum of 500 words per week as well as place and edit other articles in addition to my own, however I really enjoy collaborating with everyone on the staff and have found it so satisfying to see my writing published in a real newspaper.

Next up, Poetry: this class ended up being about as difficult as I thought it would be. Poetry is most definitely not my forte, but my professor has been extremely helpful in office hours and overall, I’m happy I took the class and am looking forward to taking other English classes during my sophomore year.

The weather here lately has been pretty on point. As I write this blog, outside it is sunny and breezy at 53 degrees. Like I said earlier, the winters might be brutal in Worcester, but spring is proving to be worth suffering through those cold and snowy days when you can’t wait to get inside and out of the cold.

At the beginning of the semester, I went to the Hart Center pretty often, however after coming back from spring break, I pretty much didn’t go at all during March. This first week of April, I’ve been making it a point to head to the gym more (I’ve been the past five days-woot!). I’ve even been to the fitness center in Loyola (a dorm on campus) a few times this week and will definitely be going there more as it’s location is a bit more convenient than Hart’s is for me.

Finally, my blogs: I know I was a bit more consistent last semester with the blogs, but with all of the things you have to do as a college student, it is no easy task trying to fit it all in and keeping everything under control. I will try to write a few more before the end of the school year, please keep your faith in me!

That’s all for now from Dinand Library on this bright Sunday afternoon. I wish you all a fantastic week, oh and by the way, Congrats Class of 2018! Can’t wait to see you all here in the fall!

Hey everyone! It’s been awhile-my apologies. I have no real excuse for my hiatus other than that Holy Cross really is no joke when it comes to academics! Anyway, I am now home on spring break and couldn’t be happier. A week away from the rigors of college is just what I needed. Since I last blogged a lot has happened! I have now written four articles for The Crusader and have really enjoyed working with everyone on the writing staff. Today I want to take a moment to tell you about Holy Cross’s student-run newspaper and my responsibilities as a co-editor.

The Crusader is published weekly at HC and covers everything from national news to profiles on actual Holy Cross students. It’s a great way to get involved if you love to write like I do (and pretty cool to see your own writing published!). We are always looking for new writers to contribute! As a Co-Opinions Editor I write my own article every week by Sunday (minimum of 500 words) and edit other writers’ work to prepare for the upcoming issue. On Monday or Tuesday I go into the Crusader office where I place my own article and any articles I’ve edited on the layout in the computer. Then on Wednesday the issue gets sent to print and on Friday morning, over 1,500 copies of The Crusader are distributed throughout campus. It is quite the undertaking and I must applaud the Crusader staff for managing to create such fantastic issues week after week.

I’m going to put a link below to the Crusader website-please check it out if you’d like to read or learn more about this awesome Holy Cross publication. If you’re interested, my articles include Rethinking Celebrity, Crimes and Misdemeanors, What Are You Going to Do with That?, and Who Will Win? Have a great rest of your week everyone and think spring!

thehccrusader.com

Hey everyone! Tomorrow, January 21st marks the first day of second semester. Today I thought I would make a list of the five things that I am most looking forward to this semester. Here goes!

1. Co-Opinions editor of the Crusader: I can’t wait to see how working on The Crusader staff will go. I am also excited to have another outlet to exercise my writing hobby here at Holy Cross!
2. Poetry and Poetics: I am most likely going to be an English major, so naturally the class I’m looking the most forward to is English based. While poetry is not my strong point by any means, I am excited to improve my poetry skills and hopefully do well in the class.
3. Improving Weather: I knew coming to HC that Worcester was cold, but I had no idea just how cold. Living on a hill does not exactly make things any warmer, especially during this time of year. Needless to say, I’m excited for it to get warmer here as we approach the spring and summer months.
4. Getting to the Hart Center more often: I was able to work out in the Hart Center a little last semester, but not nearly as much as I should have. This semester I am looking forward to getting up there much more often-nothing beats the feeling after a long run!
5. Writing more blogs: I have really enjoyed writing these blogs for you all and cannot wait to see what I can write about in the coming months! I hope that you have enjoyed reading them as much as I have enjoyed writing them. Expect many more in the future!