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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.
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Rhinestones, hair spray, and glitter – oh my!

If anyone walked through the Hogan Campus Center yesterday, then he or she waltzed right in to the ballroom dance world.

The team hosted our annual competition yesterday, and I’m quite happy to say that all of our intense planning paid off. Cecilia and I have been planning the competition since (literally) the end of last academic year, and everything went extremely smoothly. Even the snow couldn’t affect what a wonderful day it was.

We were very lucky – all of our competitors were able to get to our venue safely and (for the most part) on time.

This year was our biggest year – we’re now officially a large competition in the Northeast area, which is really exciting. What was also exciting is that we had two Holy Cross alums come back to do the professional showcase. Mike and Jess are our first couple to turn pro (not like I’m anticipating another or anything…*cough* *cough*) and they’re professionals in American Smooth.

The show case was absolutely stunning, and I’m so glad that we were able to have a former Holy Cross couple perform.

Here are just an odd assortment of photos from the day:

Kelsey went to Oxford the year before me and was on the dance team. She’s the one that started the trend, I guess. It’s an Oxford Dancesport Team tradition to shout out “OXXXXXXXFOOOOOOOOOORRRRRD” as your teammates are dancing, so we just did the abbreviated version.

Of course, as you can probably tell by this photo, Cecilia and I are exhausted now (we were both up at 4 a.m. on Sunday and that bag of candy was our breakfast. Nutritious and delicious!) The competition was worth it, though. But now I have quite a bit of work to finish before I head off for Spring Break on Thursday. Eeeeek!
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Full Circle

Firstly, I am still bouncing up and down after my Toronto acceptance. Now I’m just waiting for Oxford. Come on, Brits!

One of the requirements to graduate in the English Honors Program is to take a metacritical course. Although my paleography tutorial at Oxford would have counted, I decided to take Professor Mulrooney’s Contemporary Literary Theory course because…well…he once advised me to take a course in Literary Theory if I ever wanted to go to graduate school. Well, I listened to him, and I’m glad that I did. Don’t get me wrong – Literary Theory is tough stuff. It’s basically the application of philosophy to literature – what is a text? What, exactly, is writing? How do the constructs of language affect our writing? It’s all just in a day’s work for this class. But as tough as it is, I’m glad that I’m taking the course, especially as a second semester senior since this course explains how the English department here teaches literature and why. I ran into this a bit when I was abroad last year – even some of my American friends from other universities approached literature very differently from the Holy Cross kids. We’re taught from day one in CRAW Poetry (wow, that’s a blast from the past. Haven’t heard me say that in a while, have you?) to analyze just what’s on the page – the author, time period, etc., shouldn’t affect our interpretation. We’re also not looking for a meaning from a poem; instead, we’re taught to see what imaginative work the poem asks us to do. Now, when you’re a freshman (I’m not speaking from personal experience…at all…hum dee doo deee dumm….), you think that you know everything that there is to know about poetry, and this approach seems…well, silly. For the most part, metacritical studies simply aren’t a part of the English major, compared to some other universities. For instance, one of my American friends last year could tell you everything about any literary “movement” (sorry, I just read Derrida so he’s affecting my interpretation of those words a bit), but if you asked her to analyze a poem, she was lost. So, during my freshman year, I didn’t understand the value of the type of training that Holy Cross endorses. But now that I look back, I’m glad that I learned how to first analyze poetry and then find my own literary movement affiliation rather than reading every piece of literature through one lens. Especially with graduate school next year (EEEEEEEEEPPPP It still hasn’t hit me that I’ve been accepted), I’m glad that I have some sense of  Literary Theory, though.

Aaaaaaand if you’re not an English major/even remotely interested in the Humanities, tune in tomorrow for a non-English major related post! Wait. I can’t guarantee that.
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Happy Valentine’s Day! And Some Good News!

Firstly, Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Campus has been a bit crazy today – one of the traditions at Holy Cross is that the Delilahs (the female a capella group) sells “singing Valentines” so they’ve been running around all day serenading people. Erin, a member of the ballroom dance team, bought one for her boyfriend, Chris, also a member of the ballroom team, and the Delilahs came to serenade him during our practice tonight.

One of the beauties of having a Blackberry is that I got to take photos of it while it happened.

And now the good news:

I found out today that I was accepted by the University of Toronto for their graduate program in medieval literature! I am so excited about this acceptance, since it’s one of the best programs that combines my love of medieval languages, literature, and manuscripts. I have to hear back from another school, but at least I know that I have one option for graduate school next year! But, if I accept Toronto’s offer, I already know what day they want me there – September 7th. They also indicated that they want me to continue with my Latin over the summer break and expect me to sit the Latin Entry Level Examination. It’s really weird to think of myself at another institution, though. When I went to Oxford,  knew that I would eventually return to Holy Cross. But I know that this isn’t a year abroad – it’s a new place. It is exciting!
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100 Days Left. Wait. What?

Last night was the 100 Days Ball sponsored by the Purple Key Society. Technically, there are 104 days left until graduation, but you all get the idea – there’s very little time for us seniors! The dance was held at the historic Mechanics Hall in Worcester, which was a gorgeous location. Oddly enough, the last time I was there was during my freshman year for a FYP event. How everything comes around…

Anyway, here are some photos from the event:

I met most of my friends in this photo freshman year. And we’re still as crazy as we were then!

We tried to stage the Marilyn Monroe photo, but we were lacking an air grate. Carrie tried to be one, but it didn’t really work.

Carrie, Robin, Rebecca, and Me

Although we might look it, I swear that neither Jess, Kevin, nor I are possessed.

Bill, Jenn, Kevin, and Me – the four senior Liturgical Coordinators

Carrie, Tina, and Me – Carrie and Tina are current roommates, so this is a bit of a roommate triangle…ish?

Please just humor me and say that this looks like it’s from “Dirty Dancing.”

Grant and Me dancing the night away

Tina and me before the ball

Tina and me once again

Fallon, Janet, and me dancing

Tina, Margaretmary, and Kate dancing
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Transitions

Well, the “snowpocalypse” was a huge let down. Instead of fifteen inches of snow, we had ice pellets. My dream of a snow day will never come to fruition, I suppose…

All dramatics aside, if you’ve been to the Holy Cross website in the past day, you’ve heard the news that Fr. McFarland is stepping down from his position as President of Holy Cross. I just wanted to take a moment to thank Fr. McFarland for everything that he has done for the college in his past eleven years of service in this capacity. I have been fortunate enough to know Fr. McFarland personally (see – you should sign up to be an altar server. It’s the best way to know the administration around here!), and his intelligence, spirituality, and dedication to the liberal arts and Ignation outlook of our college have been truly inspiring. I will never forget his sermon at that Mass of the Holy Spirit my freshman year – his words made me feel comforted, that I had found a home. Indeed, I have, and he has been an integral part of making my experience at Holy Cross so formative. Thank you, Fr. McFarland.
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Snowpacalypse: Or, how Holy Cross is invicible when it comes to snow

Growing up in Georgia, snow days were a bit of a rarity. Instead, we had “hot days” – seriously, sometimes it’d be so humid that we wouldn’t have classes due to fear of overheating students. Even if there was a threat of snow, my sister and I would wake up extremely early just to see if school was canceled. Eight times out of ten, it wasn’t. Then there’d be the off-chance that it did snow and the roads were somewhat bad, so the school declared that if you couldn’t drive, then you would receive an excused absence. Since my parents know how to drive in the real snow, we always went to school when that situation occurred. But then there was the beautiful one-in-a-million chance that you would get that elusive and coveted snow day – albeit due to one inch of snow. If school ever closed, then everything – and I mean everything – shut down.

Now, since I’m at a school in Worcester, MA (aka the snow capital of Massachusetts), you would think that I would finally get to enjoy those snow days that were stolen from me in my youth. Besides, we’re on a hill, aren’t we? Hills + snow = tricky! So when Assumption cancels classes, you might anticipate that Holy Cross would cancel classes. Wrong. In my four years here, despite the snow drifts being taller than me sometimes (and I”m not exaggerating), I have never had an officially sanctioned snow day. The grounds crew are always out extremely early so that the roads and stairs are plowed, and HC Dining actually has an emergency staff that is prepared to sleep in Kimball so that students have food, even in extreme weather emergencies. Holy Cross’ invincibility also extends to its professors – no matter how icy or snowy the roads are, I have never had a professor cancel class due to snow. Frankly, I find this remarkable. And now, even as we’re gearing up for the Snowpacalypse, classes are still going, professors are still here, and I’m still expected to report to Kimball at 6:45 a.m. If this happened in Georgia (as it did toward the end of my break…well, a much less intense version), we wouldn’t have school for the next week or so. But everything is still going – we’re all still walking to classes, Kimball, and Hogan. My Northern friends seem completely unphased by all of this, but this is incredible to me – no runs to Price Chopper for bread and milk. What comes down as white puffy flakes must melt, right?

This is what Kimball Quad looked like at 10:30 this morning. Suffice to say, I won’t be wearing the outfit below to any outside performances soon:

Check back tomorrow for more pictures of Snowpacalypse ’11. I plan on documenting it through a slideshow to show my Southern friends how to truly handle snow.
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Here We Go!

Sorry, my sister and I bought Mario Kart for Wii and I think I’ve picked up Mario’s “here weeee gooooo!”

Anyway, I am officially in the second semester of my senior year. And you know what? I am very surprisingly quite calm about the entire situation. I think what helped a lot was my participation in the Spiritual Exercises, which is a five day silent retreat offered by the Chaplains’ Office on campus. Yes, I said it.

I, Colleen Curran, the local chatterbox, went on a silent five day retreat.

At first, I thought that the silence would be tough, especially since I went with some of my best friends. But I actually just got into a rhythm of spending more time focusing on internal conversation with God and myself than external with my friends. Over the course of the five days, I learned to let go of my anxieties about this semester, next year, and my overall plan. As one of the spiritual directors, Fr. John Savard, said, “God has such a brilliant plan for you that even you can’t mess it up.” I like that optimism! It was an absolutely incredible experience – I realized that my graduate school applications are already in, my thesis is progressing, and I have a general sense of direction. And I realized that I can’t freak out about any of that stuff, especially since I have one last semester to savor. So, everyone, you should do the Spiritual Exercises. Or at least try to be silent for just a day. It’s amazing what a difference the silence makes.

Then we returned to Holy Cross…which was covered in snow.

And then Holy Cross reminded us that we’re seniors and we’re graduating soon. We had Senior Convocation, which was a night of great food, showcases of senior musical talent, and far too many trips down memory lane (laughter was the soundtrack of the night).

And before you know it, classes started. Here’s what I’m taking this semester:
1) Contemporary Literary Theory
2) Chaucer & Dante (Prof. Ireland wants to put a sign that reads, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here” above our seminar room’s doors)
3) Chant as Popular Music
4) My thesis
5) and I’m auditing T.S. Eliot.

Exciting semester, right? Okay, if you’re a sciency person, then no.

Then, today, as if to really hammer it in to the entire senior class that we are graduating in May, the Registrar told us how to apply for graduation. Graduation. In May. Aaaaaaaaaah!

So, my goal for this last semester is to truly enjoy everything that Holy Cross has to offer – my friends, classes, and opportunities. I can’t believe that this is the beginning of the end, but it has been a fantastic first week back already.