F is for FRIENDS and FAITH

This week has been rough.

Hello, everyone! Please excuse my greeting-less first sentence, but I thought I should preface this blog so that you now what’s ahead. With everything’s that happened in the media these past weeks, I find it appropriate to make this blog post about finding and restoring faith on campus.

I myself was having a very hard time dealing with what was happening in the media. I felt upset and confused and hurt and uneasy. But I forgot something about the Holy Cross community:

It is so incredibly supportive.

I’ll tell you why:

1) Friends – these are the people to lean on.

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My a cappella group “Fools on the Hill.” Our Co-Founders’ 10th year anniversary happened to land on our Thursday 10pm Cool Beans performance. We serenaded them with “Shut up and Dance” and “Valerie.”
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My resident’s friends decorated her door for her birthday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) Faith – there are so many places on campus to restore or explore your faith. This Wednesday, there was an Inter-faith Prayer Vigil held in the Mary Chapel. We prayed about recent world events, lit candles, and passed peace to one another.

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A sign from the Retreat Center a Protestant Retreat was held at.
My friends taking pictures at the beautiful Retreat Center.
My friends taking pictures at the beautiful Retreat Center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) Food – grab a bite with friends at Crossroads, head up to Cool Beans, or simply find a table at Kimball.

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It’s nearly impossible to sit at Kimball without the table fully filling up. Here’s a prime example.

4) Fun – make time for yourself. Take breaks, meet up with friends, go for a walk, knit a scarf — do whatever it takes to calm yourself!

Flyers I made for my hall's "Clueless" program!
Flyers I made for my hall’s “Clueless” program!
RA Lucca and I on Halloween Duty. We were Team Rocket from Pokemon.
RA Lucca and I on Halloween Duty. We were Team Rocket from Pokemon.
One of Holy Cross' female a cappella groups "Off the Record."
One of Holy Cross’ female a cappella groups “Off the Record.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, the blog take-away is: Holy Cross = friends, faith, food, fun. Holy Cross will support you. Holy Cross will surprise you. Holy Cross will serve you as a place of comfort. You will love it. 

How to Deal with Stress

Hello, all!

My apologies for not blogging for a full month. Turns out October was pretty busy.

However, I am back and ready to share. The topic for this post? Stress.

We all know it. We all have endured it. So the question is, how do we deal with it? My answer is…that I don’t have the answer. I don’t think anyone does, really. What I do know is that stress can be overwhelming, but with the right friends and the right strategies, it can be reduced.

As we know, I am involved in a lot here on the Hill. That becomes very stressful. There are many events I’m required to attend, many people I’m supposed to know, and multiple things I’m required to do (like homework)! Most of the time, I’m on the go and most of the time that works for me. The operative phrase here being “most of the time.

Those times when being on a constant shuffle doesn’t work for me are times when strategies come in handy. For example, these past months I have felt kind of shaken. I had a whole new schedule and all new responsibilities and suddenly I had no idea what to do. I felt like I didn’t have enough for work or I didn’t spend enough time with my residents; it felt like everything was just piling up.

But Holy Cross is an amazing place. An amazing place means amazing people. Amazing people means amazing understanding and guidance. In other words, it’s going to be okay.

Holy Cross is rigorous — like, way rigorous. It is challenging and demanding, but guess what? Professors, advisers, and faculty members know this. So when searching for help or guidance or understanding, just head straight to your professor at the end of class or ask to meet with someone in the counselor’s department. There are so many people here on the Hill to help out.

Holy Cross offers a lot — like, a lot a lot. So perhaps too many things fall onto the plate at once. Remember what I said about amazing people? Yes, half of them are the faculty, but the other half are friends. I’ve found that the people here on campus are some of the best people I’ve ever met. People I’m not even that close to are still concerned for my well-being or my classes or my activities. Don’t believe me? Just come to an admissions tour or in the later future, Accepted Students Day. You’ll see!

Holy Cross is an amazing place. This has already been said, but it never hurts to say the truth twice. Though stress is unavoidable, I always know that it will pass when I have such a great support system here on campus. So yes, I’m stressed, but I’ve been blessed with some of the best.

So, the blog take-away is: Holy Cross will keep me busy and on my toes, but that won’t be a problem when I realize how many wonderful people surround me. In the words of High School Musical (which are very important words), we’re all in this together.