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“To Fr. Grace!”

Thanks to the generous support from Mr. and Mrs. Michael Halloran ’60, the English department hosted the first annual Fr. Tom Grace Memorial Lecture in Medieval Studies. This was the first time that I had heard of Fr. Grace, but I actually owe most of my education at Holy Cross to him. Fr. Grace was an Oxford-trained Medievalist who was a member of the English faculty in the 1950’s and 60’s. He inspired a generation of Holy Cross students to go to graduate school, and many of them became medievalists, including Traugott Lawler, who is a Professor Emeritus at Yale University and was present at the speech yesterday. He reflected upon how Fr. Grace inspired him personally and professionally – according to Mr. Lawler, Fr. Grace relied heavily on the Socratic method and wanted students to lead discussion instead of lecturing to them for hours on end. He pushed them to deliver only their finest and to follow their academic passions, whatever they might be. So, although I never met Fr. Grace, I feel connected to him through my association with Holy Cross, Oxford, and the medieval period. The talk also helped me realize the Holy Cross Medieval Studies tradition of which I’ve become a part, starting with Fr. Grace and continuing through Professor Lawler.

The speaker last night was Dean Seth Lerer from the University of California in San Diego. Funny story – one of his books was actually on my reading list for one of my tutorials last year. Small world, huh? Anyway, Dean Lerer talked about a manuscript that he happened to find at the San Diego Public Library. It’s a 15th century book of hours that has additions in it throughout the 16th (and maybe 17th) century. These personal prayers are written in a letter-like style, and they possess a Pauline quality. I’m going to stop there because I’m afraid that I’m going to bore most of you to death if I continue, but if you’ve followed this blog at all, you can probably guess why I was so excited about the talk. Lerer was an extremely energetic presenter, and we’re really so blessed to have had him as the speaker for the first Tom Grace Memorial Lecture.

What was also fantastic is that I got to go out to dinner with Dean Lerer, Professor Lawler, Professor Kee, Professor Ireland, and Mr. and Mrs. Halloran after the presentation. The conversation was superb – I was able to talk to Professor Lawler about medieval studies (whoever decided to seat the two of us next to each other…THANK YOU). It turns out that Professor Lawler is very good friends with Ralph Hanna (that’s a blast from the past for you blog readers). Dean Lerer attended Oxford for his Masters (Hertford College, actually!), so I was able to talk with him about graduate school, etc. And, perhaps the best moment of the night was when Mr. Halloran commented on my polka dot socks (they were the only clean trouser socks that I had, and I thought my pants were covering them). At that, Dean Lerer showed us his “modest” argyle socks. It was, quite frankly, one of the best nights that I’ve had at Holy Cross.

So, here’s to Fr. Grace and all those that he was able to inspire in his brief time at Holy Cross!
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Snow…Again.

I should have known that the glorious weather on Friday was too good to last. It grew progressively colder over the weekend, and now it is actually snowing on the first day of Spring. Don’t believe me? Here’s a shot from where I’m currently studying in the Rehm Library:

Well, at least I won’t be distracted by the nice weather…? This winter has been incredibly long and harsh. I only hope that all of the snow melts before graduation. We all were saying that as a joke to each other back in January, but now I’m actually beginning to wonder if there will still be a few patches here and there come May 27th.

UPDATE (12:58 p.m.)

So this isn’t just a brief dusting of snow that’s going to melt the second it hits the ground. Within just an hour, this is how much snow is now on campus:

Um. It’s March/nearly April, right? Right? Just wanted to make sure that I have my months right.
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Dress Day! And More Good News!

At the beginning of Spring, there’s a day that we all dub “Dress Day.” It’s the first day after a dreary winter that the temperature rises above 45 degrees and it’s sunny. All of the girls on campus somehow magically coordinate to wear dresses on this day (seriously, it’s just an innate feeling). Well, today was this semester’s Dress Day, and I’m so excited for the Spring weather. Not necessarily what happens at the end of spring (but we don’t talk about the g-word…), though.

Well, I guess I have to in order to relay the good news. I was accepted into Oxford’s Medieval Literature program! Eeeep! So now I have to decide between the two programs, but I’m so excited about these two options!
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Spring Break: Or There And Back Again

Yes, I spent my Senior year Spring break in the lovely little town of Oxford (have you heard of it?). As one of my friends asked me, “Wait. Spring break. Isn’t that where all you Americans go to Florida or something?” Well, I decided to go back to Oxford since the national collegiate dancesport competition was last Saturday (seriously? It’s already been a week?) and I wanted to support my friends. I was so supportive that I was watching them dance instead of taking photos of them. Whoops. But, Oxford did win the trophy again (take that, Cambridge)! It was hilarious, though, because some of my friends didn’t recognize me with my new hairstyle (the last time they saw me, I had short red hair) or without my dance shoes on (haha).

Look at all of that shiny hardware! I stole this photo from one of my friends, David. Thanks, David!

No, I didn’t dance – shocker, right? It was great to see all of my friends dance to another victory, but it was a weird experience as well. I didn’t have to get up at 5:00 a.m. or apply loads of make-up – I just sat and watched. It was kind of relaxing, actually.

I spent the rest of my time in Oxford, which probably doesn’t surprise any of you.

Love.

Me at Mansfield College.

I stayed with my good friend, Yszi, and I introduced her to the marvels of American cooking, like Funfetti cake and American-style pancakes.

This is Yszi cooking for me and trying to convince me that Brits can cook. Well, she can, but she doesn’t count.

Just a note: Nutella on pancakes is wonderful.

I was able to catch up with a lot of my very good friends from last year, including:

Lorna, who was my adopted little sister. Mansfield College provides every new student with a “family,” and Lorna was Carrie’s “little sister.” Well, all of the JYAs eventually adopted Lorna, and we’re fairly sure that she’ll jump across the pond to join us permanently some day.

Jess and Jo, who are two of my friends from Neil’s dance school.

Melissa, who is actually a Holy Cross student and my mini-me. Seriously. She is me…but with brown curly hair. I brought her some American delicacies, such as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and…

Funfetti cake mix. The Brits do not understand our cult-like obsession with this cake mix, by the way.

I was also able to see Emily P., who is a Holy Cross student currently studying at Mansfield. She joined the Oxford Ballroom team and continued the tradition of a Holy Cross girl always being on the team (well, since 2008). We actually never knew each other at Holy Cross, but we’ve bonded through our similar experience on Oxford’s dance team.

Me with Neil and Emily. Yes, Neil always has that evil smirk on his face, and it usually means that he’s going to torture an innocent American girl by making her do cha-cha lock steps up and down the hall for thirty minutes. I am, unfortunately, not speaking from Emily’s experience, but from my own. Seriously, when Neil picked me up from the airport last Friday morning, the first question he asked me after the typical niceties was, “So, how’s the dancing going? How much do I need to fix this time?” Ah, dance coaches.