My Crazy Week (and Weekend)!

Hello everyone! Hope you had a great weekend! This past week has been jam-packed with various activities, so I wanted to take a minute to tell you about a few of them.
 
On Tuesday, we had our end-of-the-year banquet for Founders Society.  All tour guides, bloggers, day-visit hosts, etc. are part of Founders Society and play a very important role in spreading the word about how wonderful a school Saint Mike's is!  Some awards were given out for especially valuable members, but it was definitely emphasized how much the Admissions staff really appreciates all of us.  After the banquet was the last Knight Chat of the year.  We  had some great questions and it was a lot of fun!
 
As you may know, Thursday was a big day for everyone at SMC (or should I say SMU?).  We had Macklemore & Ryan Lewis come for our spring concert, and it was absolutely phenomenal!  About 3,000 people (a combination of students and people from the local area) packed into Ross Sports Center where members of the Student Association (SA) had been working hard all day setting up (special shout out to Caitlin & Eric for planning everything!).  Macklemore of course performed Thrift Shop as well as many other awesome songs!  There were two especially memorable moments for everyone who was there: 1) he called SMC SMU by accident (and then everyone corrected him...it was hilarious!) and 2) he told the audience about how he had visited an SMC student who was recently diagnosed with leukemia earlier that day.  The letter he wrote about the experience was especially touching and helped me to think of him as so much more than just a rapper.  Here are some pictures from the show:

The crowd is ready to rock!

 

Macklemore & Ryan pumping up the audience

 

Macklemore crowd surfing!

 

My attempt at a panoramic view!

 
 
Last semester, I was a TA for the first year seminar Horses & Healing (you may have read about it on my blog before).  On Friday afternoon, the TAs from last semester drove next semester's TAs to our professor Bridget's house for dinner.  The food was delicious and the conversation was wonderful.  I have never been to a professor's house before so that was an interesting and very memorable experience!  Once we got back to campus, many of TAs (old and new) went to the annual MLK Jr. Society Talent Show.  McCarthy Arts Center was completely packed with students eager to support their friends, and the show didn't disappoint!  There was a combination of comedy, singing, dancing, and everything in between.  Overall the show was great and I would definitely recommend it to students who decide they want to make SMC their home next year! :)
 
Saturday was the highly-anticipated P-Day, which stands for Preparation Day.  As I've talked about before, P-Day is basically a day filled with fun before finals start (this Wednesday is our last day of classes - I can't believe it!).  I signed up to be a P-Day worker, which means I made sure everyone stayed safe on the inflatables and then helped vendors in the food tent (there is a ton of different food available throughout the day - everything I had was delicious!).  The entertainment for the night was a mind reader/sword swallower, which was very cool.  He did some card tricks and actually made it look like he was reading people's minds which was crazy!  After his performance, there was a Late Night Breakfast in Alliot.  This is always a really popular P-Day event - I would say just about every SMC student was in Alliot at some point during the breakfast.  Overall, the day was a success and I'm so glad I was able to take that time to relax before finals!

The victorious Amelia!

 

Lindy and me enjoying some Ben & Jerry's :)

 

Mind reader/sword swallower!

 
As I mentioned, SMC students only have three more days of classes, and finals begin this coming Friday.  I can't believe my sophomore year is coming to an end so quickly!  Going home will definitely be bittersweet - I love my NH family and friends, but I will definitely miss being here in Vermont.
 
Thanks so much for reading my blog, and I will do my best to keep you updated throughout the last few weeks here at SMC!  Also, good luck to everyone making their final college decisions this week!  If you choose SMC, I look forward to meeting you in the fall! :)
~Merrill

A Little of Everything: Classes, Ice Cream, and Boston

Hello everyone and Happy Hump Day!  School has definitely been keeping me busy, but I wanted to share with you some tidbits that have stood out to me in the past week or so.

Class Registration Last week, rising juniors (that's me...can't believe it!) registered for classes for the fall.  Luckily, I got into everything I wanted!  Next semester I'll be taking:
Adolescent Development - an elective for my Psychology major and a nice complement to the Child Development class I'm currently taking
Abnormal Psychology - counts towards my Psych major
Sociological Theories - counts towards my recently declared Sociology minor!
Science and Religion (Honors) - fulfills my upper level "Study of Christian Traditions and Thought" Liberal Studies Requirement
All of my classes next semester will start at 9:45, which will be quite a nice change from this semester!  While it's nice to start early (8 or 8:30) and finish early everyday, there are some days when I would definitely prefer to sleep in.

As I mentioned in my last post, last Tuesday was Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's.  I am part of the SMC chapter of an online magazine called HerCampus, so I went down to Burlington with some of my fellow staff members.  I got a New York Super Fudge Chunk cone, which was absolutely delicious!

Me, Emma, Taylor, Alex, and Lauren all enjoying our cones :)

While waiting in line, we saw so many fellow SMC students.  After we got our ice cream, Alex and Lauren made some very cool SpinArt.  Then we headed back to SMC and had a nice dinner together in Alliot.


Last but certainly not least, I wanted to let everyone who was affected by the events in Boston on Monday know that my thoughts and prayers are with them.  As Alex mentioned in her latest post, many SMC students come from Massachusetts.  Times like these have a great power to bring people together, and I think that's exactly what's happening at Saint Mike's.  Although I considered us a family before Monday, I think our bond is even stronger now.  It is clear that everyone is willing to help anyone who might need it.  Yesterday students received a very nice note from the VP for Student Affairs, Dawn Ellinwood, reminding us that she, as well as other faculty, staff, and counselors, are always available for us, the students.

As I learned on my LEAP retreat, we must choose to love, not hate.  As difficult as that is, it's so important.  I like to say everything happens for a reason.  In times like these, I think it's best to focus on the positive.  Many people have already shared this Acts of Kindness article, but I thought it was worth passing on.

Hope everyone is outside enjoying the nice weather, and being thankful for all the blessings in their lives!  Again, my thoughts and prayers are with Boston and everyone affected.  Stay strong and God bless!

Let the Crazy Begin!

Hello everyone and Happy Monday!  Hope you all had a fantastic weekend, I know I did!

As I mentioned in my last post, I went on a retreat called Leap.  I can't say too much about it because I don't want to give away anything for those who might read this and go on the retreat in the future.  However, I can say that I returned to campus last night feeling rejuvenated and filled with love for all the wonderful people in my life, both at home and at SMC.  I now consider everyone who I went on the retreat with a part of my SMC family.  Today I was greeted with so many hugs from the people I met over the weekend.  Hugs are one of my favorite things so it was absolutely wonderful!  In addition to all the hugs, many of us who went on the retreat (Leapers, as we like to call ourselves) got together to have dinner in Alliot.  (Apparently we can't be apart for even a day!)  There were so many of us that we had to push together a few tables so we could all fit!

Dinner with my Leapers was definitely exciting, but the rest of my day was wonderful as well.  Before class (bright and early at 8:30), I headed over the Hoehl (the Admissions building) to meet an accepted student so he could shadow me for the day.  I brought him to my classes and then over to Ross/Tarrant (the gym) to meet with the Associate Director of Athletics, Zaf Bludevich.  I had never met Zaf before, but he was extremely nice and even showed us the ski equipment room.

After meeting with Zaf, a few of my friends and I had lunch with my shadow, and then I brought him back to Hoehl so he could have a tour.  I hope he loved Saint Mike's as much as I loved showing him around!

In other news, you may know that tomorrow Ben & Jerry's is hosting Free Cone Day.  My friend Alex and I went last year and we had so much fun, so we will definitely be going again this year!  I can't wait.  After all, who doesn't love free ice cream?!
 

So delicious!

How exciting!

Looking toward the rest of the week, I have two exams coming up and another one at the beginning of next week.  It's hard to believe SMC students only have three and a half more weeks of class before finals start!  I will do my best to keep you updated as much as possible.

Have a wonderful week and as always, thanks so much for reading my blog!  If you have any questions feel free to email me or contact me via Twitter!
~Merrill