Sunday, February 22, 2009

Skiing

Skiing on Saturday was AMAZING - great powder, lots of SMC kids around and great weather. Check out my video of our ride on the lift!


Friday, February 20, 2009

Not a free minute....

The second most shocking thing about college for me has been the amount of free time that you have. Because you are class only 15 or so hours a week (as opposed to almost 40 in high school!), you have a lot more time to do other things.

Despite all of this, the most shocking thing about college life has been how quickly all of that supposed free time disappears! I can't even tell you what it is that makes me so busy, but free minutes are few and far between in my life these days...

My typical day starts with my alarm going off at 7:15. I like to get up at the same time everyday and I really prefer to workout in the morning, so my friend Em (an '08 SMC grad and current SMC graduate student and Resident Director) and I head to an 8 am Jazzercise class every morning. I actually work at the center two mornings a week, but we go 5 days a week. It's a great way to start the day.

On Mondays and Wednesdays I have class at 10:25, so getting ready is a little rushed, and once I get out of class on Mondays I have a meeting for my DR trip and on Wednesdays, I head straight down to EatingWell. I then have class again at 4:30 and also take a yoga class on Wednesday evenings. Despite the fact that I don't actually have class on Fridays, it's just as full as Monday and Wednesday...after Jazzercise my fellow intern Sarah and I head down to EatingWell until 5.

Tuesday and Thursday are just as full...with an 11 am tour on Tuesday and am 11 am meeting with my internship advisor on Thursday along with my dance TAing job at 1 on both Tuesday and Thursday, African drumming 4:30-6:00 on Tuesday and Fiction Writing 2:30-5:30 on Thursday, very few moments are left open for anything else.

I love everything that I'm doing, but it's just crazy how quickly all of the free time that you had planned slips away. I have time to watch my favorite shows (LOST, Grey's Anatomy and Jon & Kate Plus Eight) with roommates or friends, do homework and try to fit in some job searching for after graduation, but beyond that, my schedule is full!

The best strategy that I've found for combating my lack of free time is to schedule in things that I want to do. I literally write EVERYTHING down and schedule every minute of my time on my whiteboard; my roommates laugh at me for the things that I write...I always write in time for my favorite shows, schedule time to attend campus events (like Turtle Underground, a music showcase on campus that I am headed to in a few minutes) and plan full days for things like skiing or doing something with MOVE. Despite my busy schedule, I find the time to do the things that I have to do as well as the things that I really like. When it comes right down to it, there are always things that can be cut and things that can't and college has taught me what those things are.

Tomorrow my schedule is full of one thing: SKIING! It will be my first day on the mountain this year (I know, sad), but I couldn't be more excited. My roommate Kendra and I are hoping to take some pictures and videos, so check back for an update.

Have a great weekend blog readers!
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Now playing: Augustana - Boston
via FoxyTunes

Thursday, February 19, 2009

I've Gone Veg...

Yep, I've become a vegetarian. Now that I've made the official announcement, I should let you know that I haven't been completely faithful, partially because my family and roommates don't follow this diet and partially because I want to ease into it to make sure that I am getting enough protein for my pretty active lifestyle, but for the most part, I have been pretty close to meat free for quite a while.

Despite the fact that I don't eat in the dining hall all the time this year (I have a kitchen in my townhouse and cook for myself almost all the time), I still have 40 meals in the dining hall for the semester and am using them well. Alliot (our dining hall) has great vegetarian/vegan choices...they always have one vegetarian entree, sometimes more. And let me tell you, they're very good! Becoming a vegetarian has made me a much more adventurous eater, I've tried tempeh and seitan in Alliot, plus made lots of tofu and new veggie dishes at home. I typically cook rice, veggies and beans or some variation of stir-fry for dinner and enjoy leftovers and salads for lunch. I actually really like cooking for myself...it's the doing the dishes that I hate!

For me, vegetarian makes sense because I don't really like a lot of meat, plus it gets me to try new things!

As always, shoot me a comment or e-mail if you have any questions (about being a vegetarian at SMC or anything else!). I'd love to hear from you!

P.S. Congratulations Allison!!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

African Drumming

You may remember that I am taking a course called Ghanian Drumming this semester...I thought you might like to see a video of SMC's Advanced Ghanian Drumming class, the Akoma Drummers. This is what my class is working towards....we're not there yet, but we're doing well and having fun!
Check them out...


Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Phi Beta Kappa

I am going to dedicate this post to Phi Beta Kappa, which is the oldest academic honor society in the country. Phi Beta Kappa was founded in 1776, but it wasn't until 2003 that a chapter was established at St. Mike's. SMC is one of three colleges in Vermont and one of only 20 Catholic colleges in the nation to have a chapter. Check out Phi Beta Kappa on the SMC website. On a side note, I was just invited to be inducted in April...I don't get terribly excited about these sorts of things, but this was definitely something that I had been working towards and I am glad that it's all paying off!

In other news, we have a long weekend starting on Friday! Presidents Day is perfectly timed for a short break for students to head home, go up to the mountain or just spend time relaxing. I have a show on the Cultural Pass at the Flynn on Friday, so I am planning to head home later on Friday night or Saturday morning, spend time at home doing school work, and then hopefully having a full day of skiing on Tuesday before another Flynn show on Tuesday night. Should be a great weekend!

Today was a beautiful day here...I think it might have hit 50 degrees!! Even thought I know that winter will be back shortly, I am embracing the days where I can breathe in outside without having my lungs freeze or my eyes water...I can officially see the light at the end of the tunnel of what can sometimes be a very long winter!! Plus, my trip to the Dominican Republic will help out quite a bit!!

Friday, February 6, 2009

SMC Hockey!

I went to an SMC Hockey game tonight...the men's hockey team won their conference last year so they are defending that title this year...check out my video - I was really close to the action!!