Carrie '09

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Summer Nights

In my humble opinion, Burlington is the absolute best place to spend a summer. The weather is great (not too hot, but hot enough to swim in the lake and do other typical summer activities), there's lots to do and there are lots of people around. Even though I've spent every summer of my life in Burlington, it just doesn't get old! Here are a few things that I'm up to in Burlington this summer...

1. Kickball! Did you know that there are leagues of organized kickball games for adults? Well, I give you WAKA Kickball, and my team, Kicking and Screaming! Our team is a mix of SMC staff members and UVM Doctor of Psychology candidates. We play on Monday nights at Oakledge Park in Burlington, and if I'm being honest, we're not very good. We've only won one of our games, but I've been having a grand old time. Our team color is pink (much to my excitement and the boys' frustration), and this is the best picture they could manage of us...

In the bottom picture I'm standing behind the person holding our score book with a very disgruntled look on my face. I swear I was having fun.

2. New Home! On June 1st I moved into a new place in Winooski, which is the town between Burlington and St. Mike's - so it's the perfect location! I moved in with 3 SMC alums from the Class of 2010 and am loving it so far. It's nice to be in a new location with new friends, all of whom are interested in getting out and making the most of our summer. Here's a photo of our first lantern launch on a beautiful summer evening in the middle of our new street!

3. Concerts! I love live music, and we have many great venues to take in shows in Burlington, including Higher Ground. This summer I intend to see Ingrid Michaelson, Of Monsters and Men and Citizen Cope, as well as attend the "Grand Point North" music festival which is featuring both Grace Potter & the Nocturnals and The Avett Brothers. It should be a great summer of shows!

I hope your summer is shaping up to be as fun-filled as mine is...and this doesn't even include the travel I've got planned...that's a whole separate post!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Seeing the Southwest

My life has been a whirlwind for the past few weeks (anyone notice a trend here?), so I've been able to have a lot of fun adventures. During the month of June I've been in 9 different states, traveling both for work and for fun.I saw Sugarland perform again, and added a new state to my ever growing tally...Arizona! Here are a few photos of my time in the southwest...

My best friend, former roommate and fellow admissions professional, Dustin, and I taking a break from the conference we attended in Denver, CO at Red Rocks Amphitheater. It was a great night of networking with some beautiful views of Colorado!

My friend from camp, Amy, and I took a trip to the Grand Canyon!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Vermont Corporate Cup Challenge!

For the past several months I have been training for my first 5K with a few of my colleagues. Last night was the big night - my first road race!

Yep, that says RUNNER.

My team, the Hoehl Raisers (Hoehl is the name of the Admission office, and is pronounced "hale." Get it?) was my colleague Katherine and the Director of Conferences and Special Events, Mark. Our goal was to finish without walking...and WE DID IT! The course was hillier than our training runs had been so I struggled a little bit towards the end, but as I rounded the final corner and saw my boss, Jacki shouting my name and cheering and my friend and colleague Christian yelling for me, I knew I could do it! I was elated when we crossed the finish line. And even more elated to see the water bottles and bagels for us :-)

After the run, we all went to the college's graphic designer's home in Waterbury for an afterparty. One of my fellow runners said that they best part of the race for him was the post-race pizza and adult beverage! I am so lucky to work with such fun, active, friendly, happy people. I can't wait until next year...but I also see more races in my near future!

The whole Saints on the Run team!

I'm in the front row in the purple shorts, my Hoehl Raisers teammates Kath, next to me in the orange shorts, and Mark, in the back row, second from the right.

Happy Graduation!

Congrats class of 2012!

My cousin Sara, Emily and me at the Baccaleaureate Honors Ceremony

My family after the ceremony

Congratulations Em!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Welcome to the family!

Our support staff members are in an all day meeting today, so all of us counselors are holding down the phones. I just took an admission deposit from a soon-to-be freshman on the phone and just naturally ended the call with "welcome to the family." Then I got to thinking...

I really, really, REALLY see St. Mike's as my second home and second family. It's not just a cliche thing that everyone says to sound happy, it's absolutely true. The relationships that you create while on campus, no matter who you are, are only explainable using the word "family."

I am looking forward to welcoming my younger sister, Emily, into the family of SMC alumni on Monday when she graduates from SMC! She's the best sister I could ever ask for, and I'm so proud of her!

Just a typical family picture.

This is from a photobooth at "Evening for Grace," a benefit dinner for Camp Ta-Kum-Ta that many of us went to. I won't identify who these crazies are, but I will say that there's a Vice President of the college, a senior staff member in the admission office and several other counselors, the director of publications...just showing our silly side :-)

Me with the future SMC Alum. Do you think we look alike? People say we look like twins...I don't see it :-)

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Founders Society End of Year Banquet!

Our student ambassador program, Founders Society, celebrated the end of the year with a BBQ banquet on Tuesday evening. The advisors and coordinators grilled and provided all of the fixings in order to thank our students for their hard work this year. Check out some photos of the event taken by Gabbi!

Mike (Academic Day and Phone-A-Thon Advisor) and Eric (next year's Academic Day and Phone-A-Thon Coordinator) grilling up a storm

Matt (next year's Alumni Coordinator), Eric, Mike and me (Tour Guide Advisor who clearly has something important to say at this very moment) attempting to make veggie burgers.