P-Day!

Throughout my entire first year at SMC students would mention the greatest day on campus: P-Day. For the longest time I had no idea what this day was, but, after experiencing my second P-Day, I must agree – it truly is the greatest day on campus. So what is P-Day??? P-Day stands for Preparation Day and it is held on the Saturday before the last week of classes. The festivities start Friday afternoon with a huge BBQ outside on the 300s fields. Then comes Saturday morning – the morning where SMC students actually wake up early. You will never see the campus more alive and energetic on a Saturday morning. Since students were awake so early, some of the residence buildings put on breakfast for their residents: pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, coffee, and orange juice. The first event on campus was the Trike Race, which is always a must to watch. It was completely hilarious. Teams raced around the Alliot rotunda on tricycles as the attempted to avoid the intense obstacles of whip-cream pies, shaving cream, and foam noodles.

After the race, I was able to relax on the lawn and enjoy the amazingly warm weather with

 my friends as we waited for the main events to start.

Above are students enjoying the weather just my friends and I did.

The picture on the right is of Chris, my RA Chrstine, myself, and my roommate Emily.

At one, SMC students flocked to the 300s field for food, live music, and inflatibles. From one to five my friends and I enjoyed food from local restaurants including The Skinny Pancake, P.K. Café, Papa Frank’s Samosaman, Hop Sing Restaurant, Wicked Mountain Dogs, and Ahli Baba’s Kabob.

I went through the food tent twice tasting a bit of everything. However, my favorite? The Nutella Crepe made by the Skinny Pancake crew.

Saint Mike’s also had some new inflatibles this year as well as the classics. My favorite inflatible was a big bubble inflatible (first picture). Other inflatibles included a water slide (last picture), slip n' slide, rock climbing wall, and an obstacle course (middle picture).

There was also a tent for airbrush tattoos, facing painting, and henna tattoos. The line was long but totally worth waiting in! I got a dragonfly tattoo and I hope it doesn't fade anytime soon!

Oh, Mondays

This Monday marks the first of fourteen very busy days here at Saint Michael’s College, as students labor with determination to finish their semester work before finals.
However, before I buckle down into the work and stress, let me tell you about my weekend.

Friday night Third Eye Blind came to campus and I was able to see them perform. Now at first I was hesitant on how great the concert would be. I mean, Third Eye Blind was popular back when I was in Elementary. Yet, the concert was an absolute blast! The lead singer was very personable and the audience was the perfect size. The concert was held in the Ross Gym, and while there was a large audience, the gym did not get filled. The best part about this concert was having it actually on campus, where I was able to dance, jump up and down, and sing loudly with my friends. I attended the concert with two of my friends thinking we wouldn’t really know/see anyone else there, but how very wrong we were. I ran (well actually danced) into about twelve other people I knew. I think that one of the best feature here at SMC; no matter what social, activity, event, class, concert, etc. you attend, you will always end up running into someone you know.

Saturday morning I woke up early (after only six hours of sleep), quickly took a shower and brushed my teeth before heading out to give a tour to the accepted class of 2014! I absolutely love being a tour guide here, and sometimes believe I get a little too excited about it. After the tour, my friend Ellen and I decided to take a vacation from Alliot food and headed into Essex for breakfast. We had originally planned to eat at the Bagel Market, but they had a line out the door! The funny thing was, about 90% of that line consisted of Saint Michael’s students. So, instead of waiting in the line (even though I was craving their French Toast Bagel) we went in search of another restaurant. The restaurant we ended up at was also in Essex – Firebird Café. This cafe was originally a house, so there are only seven tables. When walking into the café, the atmosphere is friendly, cozy, and comfortable. In one of the corners there was a guitar player to give us music as we ate. For breakfast I had multi-grain French toast with bananas, and it was absolutely delicious! If anyone ever needs a breakfast place to go, check this place out!

The rest of the weekend was sadly spent working on a ten page paper for my education course and watching the first two episodes of the newest season of Doctor Who. While I will dearly miss David Tennant, I thoroughly believe Matt Smith will do a great job. The best part about the new Doctor? He wears bow ties :)

This is the view from my dorm window. The sunset was beautiful this evening

Socials

Good Afternoon,

One great feature here at Saint Michael’s College is the socials that our RAs put on for their residents every Friday and Saturday night. The RAs are really creative and imaginative when designing these socials. Socials I have attended include a shaving cream slip n’ slide, pumpkin carving, desserts around the world, cookie / cupcake decorating and figure painting. Friday night my RA put on create your own edible arrangement social with fresh fruit. Now fresh fruit may not seem that exciting, but to a college student it is, especially during this time of year. My RA bought us almost every fruit imaginable. There was kiwis, cherries, pineapples, grapes (red and green), mangos, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries (my favorite!), and oranges. Now our arrangements did not look as neat and elegant as the professionals, but they were twice as delicious!

With Family Weekend and Accepted Student day this weekend, the campus was busy with plenty of activities to do. Saturday morning I gave a tour to a great group of Accepted Perspective Students (Congratulations & Welcome Class of 2014!) and then watched the SMC women’s soccer game. However, instead of my parents coming up to see me (since I was home a week ago week ago for Easter holiday), I then decided to take a break from campus and headed to my aunt’s house who lives forty-five minutes north of Saint Mike’s. I am currently spending a fabulous day with my four cousins.

About Me

Hello Readers!

Kathryn, here and I just wanted to welcome you to the first of many tales about my life here as a Saint Michael's Knight. However, before we jump into things, I want to tell you a little about myself.

I grew up in a small town in New Hampshire, which is basically located in the middle of nowhere. I'm not kidding - the closet grocery store to our town is a thirty minute drive. (Check out this great video to learn more about my state: Granite State of Mind )

I am currently a sophomore at Saint Michael's College, planning on receiving my licensure in Secondary Education, major in English, and minor in Religious Studies. When I'm not working on homework or studying, I spend my time here at SMC (Saint Michael’s College) a various number of ways. I am part of the Founder’s Society where I am a tour guide, and through the Education Department, I have a literacy buddy who I hang out with twice a week for a couple of hours and read/play games with. Other actives include watching T.V. with my roommate. Thursdays are our big night; we are avid watcher of Bones and Grey’s Anatomy. I also love to read, and am currently re-reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky – it’s one of my favorite book! Finally, one of my favorite things to do at SMC is just hanging out with my friends.

The big news this semester is that I was just currently accepted into a study abroad program in BATH, ENGLAND for the fall 2010 semester! I am so excited and yet terrified at the same time! For my birthday in February, almost every single present I receive was a travel book. I haven’t had the time to sit down and really go through them yet, but I’ve glanced at them and marked some pages. Anybody have any favorite spots that they believe I must visit while I’m over there?

I cannot wait to share my experiences and stories with all of you. I also hope you enjoy reading my tales as much as I enjoy writing them. Subscribe and stay tuned for future posts!