Calm Before the Storm

Happy Saturday everyone!  Hope you all had a great week.  Mine was jam-packed but now I'm home for Easter break, so the hard work was definitely worth it!  This will be the last time I'm home before the end of the semester which is so crazy to think about.  SMC students have about a month left until finals start.  I have something going on every weekend from now until the end of the semester, so I know it'll fly by.  Here's a look of what's ahead for me:
 
LEAP Retreat - April 5-7
LEAP is one of the retreats offered through Edmundite Campus Ministry.  I don't know too much about it, but a few of my friends have been on LEAP before and I can't wait to go!  I will be sure let you know how it was when I get back :)
 
Class Registration - April 8
I am in Group 1 (of 2) for the sophomore class, so I'll be getting up bright and early to register for fall semester classes.  Crossing my fingers I get everything I want - I'll keep you posted!
 
Accepted Students Day - April 13
This will be one of two Accepted Students Days in April.  I'm very excited to be giving a tour in the morning and talk with students who are in the process of making their final decisions about where they want to spend the next four years.  Maybe I'll see you there! :)
 
Accepted Students Day/Symposium - April 20
In addition to giving a tour, I'll be participating in the Experiential Learning Showcase, which is part of the Symposium going on all day.  I chose an artifact and wrote a narrative about my experience as being a Teacher's Assistant for the first year seminar Horses & Healing last semester.  I had a wonderful time at the barn each week and learned a lot about my leadership abilities.  I'm excited to share this with everyone on the 20th!
 

Last day at the farm last semester!

 
Macklemore - April 25
As I'm sure you know, Macklmore & Ryan Lewis are coming to SMC for our spring concert, which will be an amazing way to start off my second-to-last weekend at school!
 

 

Got my ticket :)

Horses TA Dinner/MLK Talent Show - April 26

The professor who teaches the Horses & Healing first year seminar, Bridget Kerr, has invited last semester's TAs to her house for dinner.  Students who will be TAs next semester will also be there - it will be a great opportunity for past TAs to share any experiences and important advice they might have so as to make the experience for next year's freshmen even better.  Bridget was kind enough to schedule the dinner early enough so we could all make it back to campus for the annual MLK Talent Show.  I went last year and it was an absolute blast - SMC students definitely know how to entertain!

My wonderful fellow TAs - Lauren, Alex, me, Meaghan, and Devan

 

Last year's talent show - it's packed!

P-Day - April 27

P-Day stands for Preparation Day and is dedicated to having as much fun as possible before finals week begins.  Last year there were a variety of awesome activities as well as vendors like Ben & Jerry's, The Skinny Pancake, and other Vermont favorites.  I'm definitely looking forward to it!

Last year's shirts - Hunger Games theme!

As you can see, I'll be extremely busy over the next month, but I'm excited for what's to come.  I'll do my best to keep you updated on everything!
 
For those of you celebrating, have a wonderful Easter and a great rest of weekend!  And as always, thanks for reading my blog!
~Merrill

Spring Break (in Pictures)

Hello everyone!  So sorry I haven't posted in a while!  As you may know, SMC studnets just finished up our first week of classes after spring break.  I had an extremely busy week, but I'm so happy to be back at school.  Before I tell you about my week though, I want to update you on how awesome my break was!

I left SMC on Friday afternoon after class.  My dad usually works from home (in New Hampshire), but his office is in Vermont and he happened to be there on Friday.  I had never been to his office before, so I decided to take a slight detour and go visit him on my way home.  He showed me around the town of Waitsfield, VT (where his office is located) and took me out to lunch.  My dad has come to visit me at school a few times, so it was really nice to be able to return the favor and see where he works. 

After lunch, I headed home to New Hampshire and was welcomed with some beautiful fresh snow!  (My brothers had a snow day...I was jealous!)  I quickly unpacked and then headed over to a family friend's house to watch Pitch Perfect.  My friends make references to the movie all the time, so I figured it was about time I watch it.  It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but it was quite funny!

On Saturday I got to hang out with two of my best friends, Paige and Val.  We had a great time doing typical girl things - watching TV, making brownies and eating half the batter, and talking all night long.  I hadn't seen them since January so I really enjoyed getting to catch up on how their semesters were going.

Since my brothers have to get up early to catch the bus every morning, it is tradition for me to drive them to school at least once each time I come home.  I chose Tuesday since they had a late start (which means school started at 9:30 instead of 7:30).  After dropping them off, I stopped by my old guidance counselor Brian's office.  One of the reasons I decided to be a psych major is beacuse I want to be the next Brian.  I hope to be a school counselor someday, and Brian continues to inspire this dream because he was so helpful to me during high school, and whenever I go back to visit him he is extremely welcoming and interested in hearing about how my college life is going.

After visiting Brian, I also visited my old chemistry teacher Viet and my old Ethics teacher Chris.  My best friend Paige happened to be in Chris's room at the same time I was because she was observing his class (for her education class back at school), so I decided to stay and observe with her.  Being best friends, we of course ended up talking and passing notes for the majority of the class, which was a blast.  It was also really fun to talk to Chris about college and how the way he teaches Ethics prepared us for learning in college.

Later that night, I babysat for two of my favorite girls, Genevieve and Grace :)

On Wednesday I headed up to my family's house in Maine with my mom.  We were able to go for a walk on the beach, relax, as well as do some studying (she had some work to do for one of her massage classes!).  As many of you know, I have an extremely close relationship with my mom, so I always treasure the time I get to spend with her.

When my mom and I got home, my best friend Paige came over so we could hang out one last time before going back to school.  We of course had lots of fun!

I finished up the weekend by going to Mass with my family and then going out to dinner with some family friends to talk about our trip to Hawaii in December...is it bad that I'm already excited?! :)

I headed back to Vermont on Sunday (hard to believe that was almost a week ago already!).  I had a lot of work to do this week, but I was able to accomplish everything I needed to.  I have another crazy week ahead, but I'm looking forward to it because I'll be going home after class on Thursday for our Easter break.

I'm off to get some work done, but I just wanted to say congratulations to everyone who has officially decided to make Saint Mike's their home next year - couldn't be more excited for you! :)

As always, thanks for reading my blog and have a fantastic weekend!

Recent Happenings!

Hello everyone!  As you may know, tomorrow is the start of spring break for SMC students.  It couldn't come sooner!  I absolutely love my time here at SMC, but I'm definitely excited to get to spend a week at home relaxing.  These past few weeks have been crazy, with schoolwork as well as other fun activities. 

Last Wednesday I co-hosted Dessert & the Divine with the lovely Katelyn.  Since it was February, we wanted the theme to have something to do with love/loving yourself.  Katelyn told me about an awesome activity that she'd done in the past, where everyone gets in a circle and writes their name in the middle of a piece of construction paper, then gives it to the person next to them.  Then each person writes something nice about everyone (on their respective pieces of paper) and you end up with something like this:

Circle of Love!

I loved the activity and I think everyone else did too!  And to top it off, we feasted on some delicious apple pie, ice cream, and fruit.

This past Friday, my friend Cait and I decided to go skiing together.  We drove to Smuggs after our classes and had an absolutely wonderful time!  To top it all off, it was snowing lightly, which made everything that much prettier.  And of course we decided to take some goofy photos at the top of the mountain:

 

On Friday, my roommate Emma, my friend Cara, and I got up early to head to New York for the night for a Lee Brice, Dierks Bentley, and Miranda Lambert concert.  We're all huge country fans, so it was a total blast!  Emma's dad made us some delicious Thanksgiving dinner and then french toast for breakfast - it was awesome!

Cara, me, Emma

 

Our country night wouldn't be complete without boots!

Although we were all pretty tired when we got back on Sunday, it was totally worth it!

On Monday, I had class like usual and then gave my second ever Residence Hall Tour.  I had one family on my tour, so I was really able to personalize it and answer all their questions.  After I finished showing them the different housing options for SMC (click here for the awesome SMC Kribs housing video), I showed them around the rest of the campus, specifically Alliot, the library, and Ross/Tarrant (the gym).  They seemed genuinely interested in Saint Mike's and I had a wonderful time with them!

I spent the rest of my week doing normal homework as well as preparing for the end of the week.  I had two exams today (one midterm and one regular exam) and I have one more exam tomorrow.  Then I'll be heading to my dad's office (in Vermont) for a lunch date, then home to New Hampshire for break!  I am so excited to relax, catch up on some of my favorite TV shows, and spend time with my family and friends (thankfully, two of my best friends have the same break I do!).

For those of you who recently attended an SMC Academic Preview Day, I hope you enjoyed yourselves and are thinking about making SMC your new home in the fall - we would absolutely love to have you!

As always, thanks so much for reading my blog and feel free to ask me any questions you may have through email or Twitter.  Have a great weekend everyone!

~Merrill