Katrina Black '18

March 28, 2018March 28, 2018

For Fools

When I was younger, I was kind of the class clown, always trying to get the class to laugh and doing my quirky thang. However, after I was hit with the classic: “yeah…so you’re no longer cool, so we aren’t friends anymore” bit right before high school, I stopped embracing my foolish side.

I came to Holy Cross super shy, super quiet, and super uncomfortable with the idea of making a fool of myself. I tried to be this picture perfect version of myself who made no mistakes and never tripped up the stairs.

One day during my first year here, I was idly painting a clay bowl at a weekend event (let’s bring this back, yes?) and having a very normal conversation with the people sitting at my table. A sophomore guy I had never met before was sitting across from me and he kind of tilted his head as I spoke.

So, naturally, I froze. And then I freaked. I had done all the right things! I had barely talked the entire time, had nodded appropriately, and even smiled when warranted. Why was he staring at me?!

“Do you sing? You sound like you can sing, like an Alicia Keys kind of vibe. You should audition for Fools On The Hill,” he said.

I kind of blacked out from there, because the entire conversation was making me very anxious and I knew I was no Alicia Keys! However, I agreed to audition, thinking that he would forget and I would continue blending in on campus. A week later, though, I saw him in the cafeteria and he told me he couldn’t wait to see me at my audition time.

So, I auditioned. Then, I got in.

Third Foolsapalooza with these beautiful ladies who became beautiful friends

And I slowly remembered how FREEING it is to be FOOLISH. Fools On The Hill was filled with loving, hilarious, talented human beings who made me feel valued every day. We all shared foolish facts about ourselves, without judgement! We sang at the top of our lungs and voice cracks were welcomed! It was refreshing, cleansing even. I remembered that I didn’t have to be wholly put together all the time, that my faults came together to make me who I am.

Cliche? Maybe. But beautiful, nonetheless.

So thank you to this wonderful group, to each and every member over the past four years, for reminding me that it is not foolish to love yourself.

My niece and nephew said they enjoyed the show!

Made some of my closest friends in this group (Lauren Carey ’19)

Friends from home came for my last show.

FOOLS Alum also came back — Jackie (’17) was one of the first friends I made.

One of our flyers from my sophomore year

Will always reflect on our Christmas shows

The a cappella battle is one of my first and fondest memories at Holy Cross

January 1, 2018January 1, 2018

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!

March 30, 2017March 30, 2017

Foolsapalooza 2017

This is my third year being in “Fools on the Hill” and each year being in the group just gets better. We had our annual big campus event Foolsapalooza last Saturday and it was so beautiful. Our group selected some songs we did this semester and other groups (The Delilahs, Off the Record, and WPI’s Technichords) performed a collection of their songs as well. Every year, we also vote on a specific charity we want to send our donations to and this year I recommended a charity my sister and I began about five years ago. The charity raises money for the Cove Basic School in Clarendon, Jamaica. This was actually the elementary school my mother attended as a little girl and we have been in the process of rebuilding the two-room school. Each year we go down to Jamaica and bring them school supplies, Christmas gifts, games, and the funds to start renovation.

happy. friends. smiles. hugs. laughter. love.

It was amazing having my family come up to see me perform with the a cappella group that has helped me grow so much at Holy Cross. It was even more amazing having such lovely support from the Fools, who are so immensely talented and brilliant. Each year I feel that we grow closer and closer, though each year I do shed real tears when the seniors graduate. However, next year I’ll be one of those graduating…

That’s for another post.

So, the blog take-away is: Holy Cross has some awesome organizations and some awesome people in those organizations. I can definitely find a group that I feel comfortable in if I come to Holy Cross, a group that both challenges and excites me.

February 9, 2017February 18, 2017

Little Shop of Horrors

Don’t feed the plants.

In other words, College of the Holy Cross’ Alternate College Theater (ACT) put on a production the 80s musical, Little Shop of Horrors. The unique thing about this year’s musical is that it was directed by 2015 alum Julia McCarthy, who previously directed a musical her senior year. Click HERE to read more about Julia and the production.

Every year, the college presents wonderful productions of both plays and musicals. Recently, they have put on “Middletown” and before that “Hamlet” and “Chicago.” ACT also has smaller, more improv-heavy events like Midnight Theater or The Festival of One Acts. Here are some photos from Little Shop below:

I have always loved musical theater and always wanted to do it here on the hill, but I knew I didn’t have the time to balance everything. However, eventually, I kind of just decided to do it anyway and I’m so, so, so glad I did. Sure, there were many late-nights (and forgotten meals), but the outcome was more than I could’ve hoped for. The cast, crew, and band were all so amazing and I am forever grateful for Little Shop.

So, the blog take-away is: I should follow Nike and just do it — that “it” could be trying out for a club sports team, joining an organization, talking to the cute guy in my Bio class, or even quitting the activity I’m no longer interested in. During my time here on the hill, I should aim to do what is both feasible and fun, but ultimately allowing myself to do what makes me happy.

April 4, 2016April 5, 2016

Foolsapalooza

Hopefully you were so curious about that title that you’ve continued reading this blog post. If so, hello! This blog post will be about Holy Cross’ only co-ed a cappella group, Fools on the Hill. There we (most of us) are below!

Fools Fam!

Last week Friday, we had our biggest campus event Foolsapalooza. It’s our end of the year a cappella show, where Fools and other Holy Cross and off-campus a cappella groups perform as well! This year’s turnout was incredible and the energy in the room was just fantastic!

We advertised with some foolish facts about each member on our Facebook page! Might regret adding this photo later, but here is a little snippet of it!

Some of the songs we sang were All These Things I’ve Done by the Killers, Water Under the Bridge by Adele, Sweater Weather by the Neighbourhood, I See Fire by Ed Sheeran, and a really fun Queen Medley. As you can see, there’s no real common thread or certain genre — it’s just the love of all kinds of music that makes a cappella groups so fun.

Usual Holy Cross a cappella performances happen right in front of the Hogan cafe, Cool Beans, on different days during the week. However, this event was held in the Hogan Ballroom so that friends and family could attend as well.

Speaking of family, Foolsapalooza (coincidentally on April Fools Day) was my sister’s birthday, so she too attended the show and I got to sing my solo to her! Here we are after the show below:

Yay, family.

If you love music and everything about it, you can join one of these groups! Many of the groups have YouTube channels, so I’ll post the names of the groups below so you can check out any videos. If a cappella isn’t an interest of yours, there are also many choir groups you can join as well! OR, you can do both!

A cappella groups:

Sons of Pitches

The Delilahs

Off the Record

Sound of St. James

And of course, Fools on the Hill.

Thanks to Colleen Paddock ’16 for taking such lovely photos!

So, the blog take-away is: If I’m having a rough week at Holy Cross (which won’t necessarily be a normal occurrence), I can always go grab a coffee and head to any of the a cappella performances that week. AND if I love music, then I can join one of the many different music-based groups on campus! How exciting.

April 16, 2015April 28, 2015

The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music … and Springtime!

Hey, guys!

Looking back at my posts, I realize I totally forgot one amazing thing about Holy Cross — how beautiful it is in the Spring!

Words cannot express how gorgeous it is, but I’ll try. Of course, right now nothing is in full bloom, but it’s sure getting there and it’s surely beautiful.

I mean, the way the sun hits the building Fenwick, the green grass after green grass, and the happy music dancing its way out of dorm windows are just a few examples of how great Spring is here on the Hill.

Honestly, it feels like all students were hibernating during the winter. I don’t remember the last time I saw someone sitting outside on a bench, (perhaps because all the benches were covered in snow)? Also, no one was eating lunch outside, but now that’s all I see. Students lounging on the Hoval grass or sitting on blankets outside of Kimball. It’s glorious!

Another great thing about Spring is Spring Weekend, including the Spring Concert. Spring Weekend is a weekend in May full of festivities. There’s a fair on Easy Street (the street on the right side of Hogan) with all sorts of fun: food, bouncy houses, water games, did I mention food?

Being a first year, I have not experienced the weekend yet, but I’m super excited — especially for the concert. Can you guess who it is? Wait a minute, let me take you there…

Do you get it yet? That was a “Bang, Bang” reference. “Bang, Bang,” the current pop song? The first verse is sung by…Jessie J, our Spring Concert artist this year!

The funny thing about the Spring concert is there is always a list of possible artists given out before the actual one is revealed. Everyone always has different guesses and this year, everyone I knew was convinced it would be Akon. But, alas, the price tag was on Jessie J. Ha. That was another reference. Corny jokes/puns are my specialty.

Tonight, Fools will be doing a Mash-Up of Jessie J’s “Price Tag” and Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” in honor of the concert. Sadly, a lot of our members are sick. It’s like there’s been a domino effect of the flu. Okay, okay. I’m done with the jokes.

So, the blog take-away is: Though I remember reading Katrina’s blog posts about Holy Cross winters, one even entitled “Frozen on the Hill,” I know that Spring will eventually come to this masterpiece of a school. Sorry, had to get one more in. 🙂

Below: 1) Me appreciating the Spring Weather (so excited)!!! 2) My roommate and my shadow enjoying the sunshine on the Hoval grass with some other Holy Cross students. 3) I found a ladybug in the bathroom — Spring has truly sprung! 4) Our Jessie J poster!