"we're all together" Baltimore 2011

I just returned from my Extended Service Trip to Baltimore, MD yesterday - what a great experience! If you've followed my blog for a while, you know about my experiences in David. KY and the Dominican Republic on SMC service trips, but this one was completely different - I was totally in charge as the group's staff leader (my student leader had to change his plans last minute and couldn't come with us...). Everything went off without a hitch and we had an incredible group and incredible service sites in inner city Baltimore.

We went to various service sites, but I think that everyone would agree that our favorite site was Our Daily Bread (aka ODB) where we served lunch 3 times. ODB serves lunch everyday of the week, 365 days of the year to anyone who needs a hot meal - they see up to 800 people during their 2 hour serving! We had different tasks ranging from bread girl (my specialty) to table cleaner to tea person and we all had meaningful experience serving those who need it most. We didn't take any pictures out of respect to the guests, but we had a really great experience!

We were also able to visit Washington DC on the Sunday before our week of service which was fun - I had never been! We visited all of the monuments and the Holocaust museum which was great. Here is our group in front of Vermont at the WWII monument on the National Mall.

Front Row (l-r): me, Alex, Jenna, Abbey, Second Row: Melissa, Caitlin, Liv, Kate and Brian

We had a great experience doing volunteer work in an area of the country which is so different from our corner of the world, and I am happy to say that the both the students and I learned a great deal and had lots and lots of laughs! Our trip motto was "We're all together" because of the various mishaps (7 hour delay in Philly? It's OK because we're all together) we had during the course of the week and because of how well we all got along. I foresee many reunions in the future!

The group in front of the Washington Monument, which we went up to the top of!

Early Action I...

decision letters have gone out! Here's hoping that you got good news from us in the awesome purple envelope, but if not, please don't be discouraged...

If you've been deferred from Saint Michael's College, please know that you have absolutely not received a denial letter - just as your letter says, "our hope is to encourage you to do your very best academic work in your high school classes at this time. You should know that last year we admitted a large percentage of students who were deferred during our early action review." It's so important to understand how much everyone here is pulling for you - as long as you really step up your game in the next few months and send us all of the results. Another piece of advice - keep in touch with us! It really demonstrates your interest when we see how much admission to Saint Michael's means to you.

If you've received a denial letter, please know that the door is not completely closed. As the letter says, our decision is final for the Fall of 2011 and we cannot reconsider you during our Regular Action deadline, however we very much hope that you will continue your education at another institution and will consider applying to Saint Michael's as a transfer student in the future if your interest persists (after you have completed at least two full-time semesters).

And of course, a huge congratulations goes out to everyone who was accepted into the Saint Michael's College Class of 2015! We had a record breaking number of applications for our Early Action I deadline and anticipate this this trend will continue - so congratulations on a job well done!

More Extended Service!

**If you're participating in the Holiday Video Contest, please comment on the post right below this!**

I've known about this for a while, but am just getting around to tell you lovely blog readers now - I was chosen to lead one of MOVE's (Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts) Extended Service Trips this winter! Myself and my fearless student leader Evan and I will be taking our group to Baltimore, MD to work with a variety of organizations through Catholic Charities of Baltimore. 

I am so excited for this opportunity - my two service trips (one to David, KY and the other to the Dominican Republic) were absolutely crucial to my experience at Saint Michael's and I am very much looking forward to facilitating that experience for a group of current students. We'll be heading out on January 8th and have a full day free where we are planning to go to Washington DC and then will do a full week of service.

I'll keep you updated!

Mike the Angel loves service!

Saint Michael’s Holiday Contest

Congrats!  You finished the St. Mike’s Holiday Contest.

If you are a current high school or PG student and would like to be entered into the drawing to win some SMC swag, leave your name and email address in the comments section of this post.  A few winners will be drawn at random on December 31, 2010.  We will be contacting prize winners via email and will be verifying that those selected are high school or PG students.

We hope you had fun playing our 2^nd annual Holiday Contest.  Please share the link to the contest with your friends!

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Go Purple Knights!

Yesterday I went over to the Ross Sports Center and watched the St. Mike's men's basketball team in their home opener against Concordia (NY). What a great game! The gym was pretty full and it was a really close game with some excellent shooting by our guys. We came out with a win, which was great!

This year two students (including student blogger, Pete Estes) are doing live radio broadcasts of a good number of basketball games. Go to www.smcvt.edu/athletics and click on "Teamline: Click to Listen" to hear the games live and become a part of Knight Nation!

Target and Sonic and H&M oh my!

One of my favorite things about travel season was being able do things that I can't do in Vermont - like shop at Target and H&M, eat at Sonic (I only indulged in this once...but man their mozzarella sticks and limeade are good...), P.F. Chang's and Panera Bread, go to a show in Broadway and enjoy 70 degree weather through October.

I think the best "extracurricular" activities I did during travel season both included a trip to NYC - once I went in by myself to visit my friend Megan from camp and the other time I went in with my mom for some sightseeing and a Broadway show. Megan was one of my counselors at camp two summers ago, and we have kept in close touch ever since - we've seen each other several times, but never in NYC (she's in law school at NYU...). We walked all through Central Park, had lunch and just caught up.

Towards the end of travel my mom came down to Westchester County, NY, where I was spending two weeks recruiting. We went into NYC on Friday afternoon after I finished my visits and did lots of sightseeing - we took the Staten Island Ferry and got a great look at the Statue of Liberty and the skyline, saw Rockefeller Center, 5th Avenue and St. Andrew's. We returned to the hotel on Friday night and then went back in on Saturday, when we walked all around Central Park and then saw Mary Poppins on Broadway. Mary Poppins was just about the most amazing thing I've ever seen (it's probably tied with the Christmas Spectacular - remember when I saw that?). It was a great way to wrap up the travel season!

Despite all of the awesome things I was able to do/see when I was traveling, coming back home reminds me of how much I love Vermont and how I wouldn't trade it for anything. I was never able to take a scenic Sunday morning walk when I was in NY or NJ like I did this morning, I wasn't able to hang out with my roommates and family or Jazzercise with all of my Jazzercise pals or go to SMC yoga on Tuesdays and Thursdays, or cook, or constantly be in awe of the beauty of Vermont in the fall.

It's good to be home.

Happy Halloween!

this is just so darn cute!

So yesterday was my last day of travel, and as much as I loved being out on the road, I am SO happy to be back! It's the little things you miss, you know? Like sleeping in your own bed with the sound of your own, familiar fan going, or driving on roads that you know like the back of your hand, or seeing family and roommates who are like family, or just being able to relax a bit. Yes, it's good to be back :-)

Yesterday was a great day of travel, however, because I got to see some awesome Halloween costumes on the students at the schools I visited! I was in Syracuse and visited four schools before heading home, and I was very surprised by the level of spirit that I saw from the students! I saw Rachel Berry from Glee, lots of Superheros, a few cowgirls (complete with a wagon and hay), a pig and a gorilla.

I find it absolutely hilarious when someone dressed up in a Halloween costume (or any costume for that matter) has to act normal. For example, when I was leaving one of the schools there was a teacher in the office dressed as Dumbledore from Harry Potter (fake flowing white beard and all) asking one of the secretaries where he was supposed to turn in the paperwork he was holding. I almost burst out laughing at the fact that the Dumbledore teacher was standing there, just like on any other day. The same goes from the Rachel Berry that I met - we had a full half an hour conversation about St. Mike's and her future while she was wearing a bedazzled pink headset microphone. I really like Halloween :-)

I hope that you get lots of treats and a few tricks thrown in too - and stay tuned for a couple posts about the fun "extracurricular" events of my travel season (Visiting a friend from camp in NYC! Taking Jazzercise in NJ & NY! Going to Mary Poppins with my mom! Going to a bunch of huge malls!)!