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December and November Recap

So, the year flew by.

Everyone’s saying it. Everyone’s correct. 2017 was a whirlwind.

Semesters always fly by, but my first senior year semester flew first class, private jet plane fast. Like, whoosh.

November

I participated in my favorite theater festival I’ve ever been a part of. The Holy Cross Theater Department is absolutely brilliant. In 2017, I got more involved. And I loved it! I did the Greek Festival during my junior year (the same year I had the honor of being in the musical) and then this semester, I participated in the 5-10 Festival and the One Act Festival.

Our One Act piece was all about body image. Our cast was beautiful, empowering, and encouraging. Here we are below: Alyssa ’18, Adeline ’19, Tanusha ’18 (our director), me, and Eve ’18.

 

 

Senior Ball was a blast. My roommate and I love any reason to dress up and senior ball was no exception. It was just nice to see all your friends (and the people you had no idea were even in your grade) come together for a night and take in the year.

 

 

 


 

 

 

December

I actually don’t have much to say about this month, as finals season often erases my memory. However, I do know that my a cappella group this year has become super close and the holiday season was magical. We sang at my favorite event of the year (the Okane Tree Lighting) and had our Christmas Cool Beans performance.

 

 

 

Looking forward to 2018! Last Semester. Legally Blonde the Musical. My friend’s getting married. Graduation. Stay tuned!
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Holidays on the Hill

Doors in wrapping paper, stockings lining the coffee shop counter, and the Kimball cafeteria filled with crafts, free cookies, and Santa?

Yes, it’s my favorite season on the Hill – the holiday season. I wrote a post about this last year, entitled “Miracle on College Street,” and if I was feeling the Christmas spirit last year, then I’m drowning in it this year. From literally decking our hallway in all things Winter to blasting Christmas music in October, I have been anticipating this time of year for a while now.

 

My fellow fool and friend Lauren and I before we sang at our Christmas a cappella show.
My fellow fool and friend Lauren and I before we sang at our Christmas a cappella show.

However, my roommate and I do love to joke that though it is the most wonderful time of the year, it’s also the most stressful time. Papers and projects are coming in hot. Finals are coming up soon. Winter is coming full force. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with all the work and even the change in weather.

Still, every year this time rolls around, I always find comfort in the sweet spirit on campus. Yes, one of my friends just pulled an all-nighter and yes, one of my other friends has two 20-page papers due in three days, but there is something about the holiday time and this hill that makes everything (even if momentarily) okay.

Sometimes it does feels as if there’s just too much to do and absolutely no time to finish it all. Then, when I catch up with friends over a Kimball Holiday dinner or I go sing carols with much of campus and the Worcester community at the Tree Lighting, I can find the silver linings. Or in this case, the silver bells.

 

 

 

My residents were truly feeling the Christmas spirit and got really creative with the board outside of the room.
My residents were truly feeling the Christmas spirit and got really creative with the board outside of their room.
Our a appella group, "Fools on the Hill," at our Christmas show.
Our a cappella group, “Fools on the Hill,” at our Christmas show

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, the blog take-away is: Indeed, there is no place like home for the holidays and I will soon learn that Holy Cross will become a second home to me. Yes, I’ll have a lot to do, but I’ll have wonderful friends and a warm community to remind me how blessed I am. 
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Springing back after Spring Break

Spring Break ended this Monday, March 9th and the transition back into Holy Cross was quite complex. Either break caused me to forget how much work I have here on The Hill or professors were simply eager to start teaching again.

First off, my Spring Break was truly great. My roommate and I basically embody the quintessential, Hollywood-esque idea of college — roommates turned best buds who travel to each others’ houses over break. I went down to her hometown for the first few days of Spring Break and it was so much fun, quite different from the kind of city-life I’m used to.

Then, we travelled back up to Connecticut and I got to show her where I grew up. We even got to travel to New York to visit one of our Holy Cross friends. That’s right, Holy Cross students are friends off-campus as well, believe it or not (this was more or less a sentence my roommate wanted me to include and I actually really like it. And you thought I wouldn’t include it).

In any case, once I returned to campus, I had to distance myself from Netflix and buckle down. I had a great amount of homework due, as well as some papers. It felt as if my courses had doubled in intensity. How did I deal with this, you ask?

Well, that’s the thing about The Hill. Even though it seems like the schoolwork is never-ending, the community and atmosphere around campus will keep you sane. Maybe you’ll have friends who will make you cry of laughter when you want to cry of sorrow. Perhaps you’ll find that one professor who really understands your mindset. Heck, Kimball could be serving my, er, I mean your favorite mint chocolate brownies (I promise you, they’ll change how you see the world).

I also had Fools to fall back on as well. No matter my mood, going to rehearsal always makes me happier. Our a cappella group has such a tight bond that it’s impossible to leave feeling anything but ecstatic.

So, the blog take-away is: Here at Holy Cross, you get the whole package. 1) A rigorous, and I do mean rigorous, education. 2) A gorgeous campus. 3) A community so accepting and so welcoming that you can’t help but smile every single day. 

Below Spring Break pictures from left to right: 1 & 2) At the beach and 3) At the Reservoir in New York City

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Winter Wishes

Hello!

Winter is upon on us. As of right now, classes have been cancelled tomorrow due to the imminent blizzard.

Therefore, my fantastic roommate and I have declared today as Netflix Day (I mean, does that not sound calendar-worthy? Stay posted for possible petition). In all seriousness, one should know that “snow days” are rare in college. After all, we are adults.

Beside the fact that I’ll have a day free of classes, I’m also really excited for the scenery. Though I’m not a huge fan of Winter, I am in love with the beauty of snow-covered trees and hills. The Holy Cross campus is especially gorgeous in both Fall and Winter, so there’ll be great photo-ops for all you perspective artsy folk! See beautiful pictures below!

Moreover, cancelled classes really gives me time to rest, because this weekend I participated in Holy Cross’ Dance Marathon. The Dance Marathon is a wonderful event created to support the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, “a leading organization dedicated to identifying, funding and conducting basic pediatricHIV/AIDS research.”

This year there were about 200 dancers AND we raised a ton of money for the foundation. Oh, and did I mention the marathon is 12 hours? Yes, we started at 8pm and danced until 8am. Needless to say, cancelled classes is like a dream.

Now we relax, dear friends, if only for a little while. Tomorrow is really catch-up day in college terms. We will all be taking it easy, but we will all be studying hard — if that makes any sense.

So the blog take-away is: Winter is going to be brutal, but beautiful on the Hill. It is very, very rare that I will have a snow day, but if I do, then I will declare that day as Netflix Day and support Katrina’s petition. 🙂 

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The Hill

Hi, again!

Looks like I’ve got a hectic week ahead of me. Being involved in organizations has proved to be quite the challenge, but ultimately I’m still extremely happy. Nevertheless, with a heavy workload (German research paper due, English paper due, History team assignment due, plus all the additional work) and a heavy organization workload (two new songs for Fools on the Hill, preparation for CASA‘s Head-to-Toe Fashion Show, hosting for Prospectives, and, you know, keeping up with my blog), I feel a bit overwhelmed.

However, the great thing is — Holy Cross knows this. I don’t mean they know that they’re assigning a lot of work (which I’m sure they do know), but I mean they know that we feel overwhelmed and they are there to help. My professors actually like to know what I’m involved in and when I explain that I have/had an extremely busy week or weekend, they understand — but they also want me to understand that I’ve still got to get that work in.

Regardless, I’m happy here on The Hill. I have a fantastic roommate, who watches Netflix with me when I just cannot tolerate another Greek play and belts out Sam Smith songs with me. Moreover, I have fantastic FRIENDS! I had to leave a friend’s birthday get-together early for Fools rehearsal and someone saved me a piece of cake AND party food. This may seem minuscule and minor, but food is a big deal to me – I now deem that person to be especially special.

This blog post was certainly not as focused as my others, but below I wrote a little poem that should sum everything up. 🙂

So the blog take-away is: Life on The Hill can get hectic and life on The Hill can get hard, but life on The Hill I will never discard, for I know every day someone will make me smile and I know in the end it will all be worthwhile. 

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First picture: My hectic November calendar. Second picture: Cheering on the Crusaders at a football game (I honestly do not understand football, but it’s all about team spirit, you know?) Third picture: Walking up from Kimball. I honestly see Holy Cross in this filter 24/7. Fourth picture: Walking from Kimball again, but from a different, beautiful path.