Month: August 2010

On Saturday, the Class of 2014 moved in. It’s quite strange to see the number 2014 on campus. The Mass of the Holy Spirit went extremely smoothly, too (Bill and I were successful in gracefully laying out the giant corporal). It was the first time since my freshman year that the Mass has been held outside, and we had amazing weather. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was at least manageable, unlike my freshman year. As I served the Blood of Christ to the crowd of over 2400 people, I took my first good look at the Class of 2014. I have to be honest with you – I don’t remember being that small. Okay, at 5’2″, I’m quite small physically. But I don’t remember looking any different than I do now. Who knows – maybe it’s that gleam of innocence of never spending an all-nighter that was shining in all of their eyes. But that realization brought me back to my own experience on Freshman move-in day (for the hilarious story, read the post below), my own Freshman Orientation, and my first few days and classes on campus (fun fact: tomorrow will be the four year anniversary of me receiving this post. Cakes may be sent to my HC box number. :)). Serving at the Mass was quite nostalgic in itself. It made me think about my time here, and made me relive all of those memories that made me realize that Holy Cross was truly the place for me. Now, I won’t have any chick flick moments on the blog (I’ll save that for May), but sharing in the Mass made me realize just how much I’ve grown from that scared and crying freshman back on that scorching day in August to the calm and collected senior (HAH. I know, I know – that’s a good one, right?) guiding freshmen to the Mass. It’s amazing what can happen in a matter of four years, right? It also made me realize how happy I am to be back at Holy Cross for my senior year; Oxford was an amazing experience, but it is good to be back.

Of course, participating in the Mass of the Holy Spirit always makes me feel better about my own Mass. At the end of the Mass, Paul announces the blessing. Almost instantaneously, one parent and/or freshman will start to cry. Then it just works like a domino effect throughout the rest of the congregation. To those freshmen who cried – don’t worry; that blessing always gets the best of us.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes; my schedule is a bit wonky this year since I’m taking two seminars, a lecture, and writing my thesis as a part of both the College Honors Program and the English Honors Program. As a result, I don’t have classes on Mondays or Fridays (warning: results not typical until your senior year). Tomorrow, I have to work at Kimball until 10:15, and then I have Apocalypticism Through the Ages with Prof. Murphy. Later on at night, I have a seminar for English Honors Program called Research Methods…and so it all begins. Hold on tight – it’s going to be an adventure this year filled with applications, interviews, and enjoying my last year on the Hill!

Today is an absolutely gorgeous day in Worcester, but as I was walking from Healy to Hogan (so a total of ten seconds), I realized that there was practically no one outside. Just wait until tomorrow, though – Freshmen Move-in Day is tomorrow. You never would expect that such a hectic day is going to occur tomorrow when everyone on campus is just so peaceful. Of course, thinking about the events of tomorrow made me remember my very own move-in day Freshman year…Now it’s okay to look back on it and laugh, but at the time, I was not in a good mood at all. We were allowed to start moving into our dorms at 9:00 or so, but we hit so much traffic coming from our week long vacation on Cape Cod. We didn’t arrive at Holy Cross until 1:00. As we scrambled to pick up packages, sort out my reading list, and attempt to make my side of the room inhabitable, I picked up the schedule of events for the day; I was shocked. I was supposed to pick up my ID by 1:00 pm., and we had Mass at 4. The world stopped for about five minutes as I attempted to soak all of that in. A) I didn’t have my ID. B) Mass was at 4:00, which was in just a mere three hours. I had sheets on the bed, and that was about it. Suddenly, my sister snapped me out of my stunned reverie. When I told my parents that we only had until 4:00, they went into overdrive mode. And that’s when it all hit me – I was actually a freshman at college. After Mass, I’d be on my own. Like I said, it’s funny to look back on all of this…now. At the time, I was experiencing such a different range of emotions: from excitement to nervousness, from anticipation to sheer dread. And, yes, I will admit it – I did cry during the Mass and when I left my parents. But, as I told my parents, my Holy Cross experience had nowhere to go but up after that day. And it truly has gone up from there. So, tomorrow when I’m working at Kimball, walking around campus, and helping out at the Mass of the Holy Spirit, I know it’s going to be quite nostalgic, especially if I see any freshmen crying (little caveat here: there is no shame in crying! If your parents are anything like mine, they’ll just make fun of you for the rest of your life.).
If any freshmen read this before your big day tomorrow, know that it is a stressful day. You might cry (either tears of joy or sorrow), or you might remain emotionless. Whatever your reaction is to moving in, welcome to the Hill. You’re going to have a fantastic four years here.

When I was on the plane from London to Atlanta, it didn’t hit me that I would be starting my senior year in less than three weeks. After spending a week at home and a week on Cape Cod, I’m back on campus quicker than I realized. I arrived on campus on Monday, and my parents and sister left on Tuesday afternoon. As I was settling in to my single in Healy (yes, it is quite nice!), it really started to sink in: I’m a senior. Being back on campus was quite strange at first, but my professors and friends stopped me whenever I was walking around campus and talked to me about my year and what happened at Holy Cross whilst I was away. Although so much happened while I was abroad, I am happy that I did study abroad. If you followed my blog, my year at Oxford was fantastic. I was able to pursue more specialized Medieval classes that Holy Cross didn’t offer, and I was also able to lay a solid foundation for graduate work. And (some might argue more importantly!), I was exposed to a new culture, a new education system, and new people. I was able to explore England and Europe, and I made lasting friendships. But after walking through Fenwick on Tuesday afternoon, I realized that, as incredible as my year abroad was, it is good to be back. Classes haven’t started yet, and I know that it’s going to be a bit of a challenge to transition from the tutorial style to the lecture style, but I am excited for my senior year to truly begin.

Sorry about the lack of recent updates. The reason why I haven’t posted in quite some time is because a) I was traveling with my sister and then b) I was packing up to leave England.

I know. I know. I said it – I actually left England.

My sister arrived in the middle of July, and I had finished a bulk of my research prior to her arrival. The next morning, we headed off to Rome, and we spent four days exploring the Eternal City. I felt quite bad for Caitie at certain points since I was going off and being a typical Classics nerd. An American couple actually followed us around the Colosseum as I was going off about the history of the building (thank you, Prof. Ellen Perry!). After our amazing four days in Rome, we headed off to Paris, where we visited the Louvre, Versailles, the Arc de Triomphe, and, of course, the Eiffel Tower. Needless to say, after our eight days in Rome and Paris, Caitie and I had eaten more than our fill of excellent food. In order to return to England, we took a ferry from Calais to Dover. It was a bit more roundabout than the Chunnel would’ve been, but seeing the white cliffs of Dover was definitely worth the extra travel time. After exploring London and Oxford for a bit, Caitie and I then headed off to Dublin and Cork for a few days (don’t you love Ryanair’s cheap flights?!). Whilst we spent most of our time there exploring the pubs and checking out the Guinness brewery, we also saw the Book of Kells at Trinity College and I stopped at as many spots mentioned in James Joyces’ Ulysses as possible. Our return from Ireland, though, signaled that we only had three days left in England. In addition to seeing the major sites, we spent one of our last nights in London and took a river boat cruise on the Thames at night. I promise, photos will be uploaded! After that, we spent our last two days in Oxford packing everything up and saying good-bye to all of my friends. I really cannot believe that I accumulated that much stuff over the course of a year. I left England on Monday, and I’ve been home since.

So, what am I doing right now? Well, life just picked right back up when I stepped off the plane.I’m currently sorting things out for the GRE tests this upcoming fall; I’m also organizing everything for my senior (and final!) year at Holy Cross. I already purchased a majority of my books, and I’m (trying to, at least) packing up all of my clothes and other necessities. Honestly, after packing everything that I needed for a year into two suitcases, this task really isn’t that daunting anymore! Ballroom is already starting with a couple of major events in September (we’re hosting our first workshop and our third social), and Cecilia and I are already working on making this an extremely competitive team this year.

I can’t believe that I’ll be leaving for Massachusetts on Wednesday, then in Cape Cod for a week (my life is so tough, I know! :D), and then I’ll be back at Holy Cross for the 23rd of August. Hello, senior year!