Colleen Curran '11

March 6, 2012

The Next Steps

I am officially the most unnatural shade of orange that I have been in my entire life. But, the good news is that this month of dance competitions has finally concluded. I spent last weekend at Blackpool (it’s beginning to be my home away from home) for the 50th IVDC (essentially, the national university championships). It was such a fascinating experience – the organizers brought in the Empress Orchestra to play the music for our final team match rounds. Dancing to a live orchestra is always an honor, but dancing in the Winter Gardens to the Empress Orchestra? That’s a rare treat that only the world champions really get to enjoy.

Dean and I did well. We managed to dance the best that we’ve ever done in ballroom. We were a bit disappointed with the Latin results, but these things happen. We came 13th in both events – so now we’re asking the awful nagging questions like “If I had held my poise a bit more, would the judge have marked me? Would I have been through the next round if I smiled a bit more?” Overall, we can’t really complain about our performances. Oxford unfortunately lost the Overall title to Cambridge. We have our Varsity match against the Tabs in May where we will hopefully reclaim our rightful title.

Now that the dancing high has worn off, I’ve chained myself to my desk. I have a massive Paleography exam on Thursday and two essays due in two weeks. It’s going to be a busy two weeks… For the Paleography exam, I have to transcribe a given set of plates and correctly date them (within fifty years) and identify the script used. You never knew it, but the crossbar above a “t” tells you a whole lot about a manuscript’s date.

In very exciting news, I’ve been accepted to speak at my first conference. I will give my paper at COLSONOEL, which is a conference geared specifically toward topics relating to Old Norse, Old English, and Latin studies. The conference is going to be held at Cambridge in May. I’m rather excited about this next step in my academic career.

And now, I’m off to study more manuscripts!

February 19, 2012

6th Week

Is it really already February 19th? Where on earth has Hilary Term gone? Today begins the 6th week of term, which is a bit stressful. At the end of this week, I have to submit essay titles for my B and C courses, in addition to a 200 word abstract of my dissertation. For my B Course (Paleography), I’m planning to look at the rewriting of Old English in the 12th Century, specifically at one particular manuscript in Oxford (MS Wadham 11) and see hwo this manuscript preserves and alters the Old English tradition through Middle English glosses. For my C Course…well, I don’t have a clear idea yet. My C Course is on Middle English Literary Language, so I’ve been studying Chaucer through a linguistic lens (fascinating stuff, really). There are so many topics that I’d love to explore – the use of dialect as a character, the play of enigmatic language when discussing authority in texts, the alliterative poetry revival, etc. I’m leaning more towards exploring the alliterative poetry revival, specifically Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Watch this space, though. I’m so excited to begin writing my dissertation, though. The idea is really coming together now – I’m exploring the tension between word and image in the Junius manuscript, specifically in demon illustrations. I don’t want to give away my argument right now, but I’m very, very, very excited to start. Basically, this dissertation will be a cross between art history and literature, and both disciplines will feature as respective chapters in the dissertation before I bring them together in the final one. It should be interesting. I’m scheduled to consult various manuscripts at Cambridge, the British Library, and a few other places. I’m also preparing for my Paleography exam that is scheduled to take place in two weeks. Ack.

In addition to academics, life continues to go well, despite the busy schedule. Dean and I competed with OUDC at the Sheffield Social on February 4th.

Frankly, it wasn’t the best that we’ve ever competed. We were out quite quickly out of the Latin rounds. We came back with a strong performance in the Team Match (basically a dance relay – four couples will dance one of four dances), but overall, it wasn’t a good day for Oxford. We lost for the first time in 25 years to Cambridge and Imperial. Ouch. Despite our low spirits, we managed to play in the snow on the six hour long coach ride back.

We also competed at SUDC, which is the South University Dancesport Championship. The competition was yesterday, and I think I still have gel in my hair. Oxford rallied back with a strong performance on all accounts. Personally, it was the best that Dean and I have ever danced in ballroom. We made it to the semis with a brand new waltz routine, and we were delighted with those results. Our Latin was also much stronger than it was two weeks ago, which is encouraging on all accounts for the nationals in two weeks. Oxford also had a very strong day. Despite some weird placing in the Intermediate Latin event (seriously, it was a tad odd), Oxford managed to place second to Cambridge…BY ONE POINT. We weren’t too dismayed since it was just by a point, but still. Also, Neil Jones and Ekaterina (who are the current World and International Amateur Latin Champions) were the demo couple, so it really was a fantastic day.

In addition to school and dance, I’ve also been hanging out with my friends from St. Hilda’s and the Catholic Chaplaincy.

Looking ahead, this week is quite busy. In addition to all of the school work, I have another dance competition this weekend. I also have a dinner with PD James, who is an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda’s. And, as a bonus, one of my very good friends from Holy Cross, Tom McGlynn, is visiting me on Wednesday. Tom is currently a Fulbright Scholar in Germany, and he’s visiting his cousin in London for his winter break. I’m excited to see him and show him around my new home.

Until next time!

May 10, 2011

Wrapping Up

Yesterday was my last day of classes at Holy Cross. The experience isn’t as weird as it is for some of my friends who have jobs lined up (aka, they’re going into the real world). Well, it is still weird for me, but at least I know I’ll be in a classroom again come October. For some of my friends, though, yesterday was it. It’s all so surreal – I can’t believe that the end is coming this quickly. My thesis is finished, and I’m going to get it bound tomorrow. My final presentation for Chant went well. I have two more papers to write for Chaucer and Contemporary Literary Theory; the former is due on Friday, and the latter is due next Tuesday. I have my oral final exam for CLT on Saturday…and then I’m finished.
Yesterday was really weird for another reason, though. It was my last ballroom dance practice. Every year, we turn the last day of practice into a dinner and dancing event. I just couldn’t believe it that practice was it. Ballroom has been such a huge part of my college life, and it seems weird that that chapter is now over (well, at least the American side). I’m excited to see how the team will grow next year, but I will miss being a part of it all. Now I’m headed off to my final Kimball banquet. Why is everything wrapping up right now? It’s all happening way too quickly!

April 11, 2011

The Road Ahead

Tonight, the Ballroom Dance Team deliberated on next year’s e-board. Seeing another HCDBT member with my title for next year is a) weird but b) exciting. I truly wish that I had another year with the team since the team is capable of so much next year. But I know that our new co-chairs next year have a vision for next year, and it’s going to be a fantastic year for all involved. What was truly great about the process was just to see how much interest in leadership we have on the team – it’s so exciting to see a group of dancers who are thrilled to take on leadership positions to continue our team’s traditions and create their own.

In other news, I officially decided on graduate school. Despite what some of you might think, this decision was actually pretty tough, and I deliberated for quite some time. There are too many factors that went into my decision to elucidate them here, but please trust me when I say that my pros and cons list for each school was extensive. And now…the drumroll please…OXFORD!

Yes, I chose Oxford. I’m excited (but still nervous) to spend the next two years of my life pursuing my MPhil in Medieval Studies at Oxford. It’s going to be so different from my year abroad – I mean, this time, I’ll be a fully matriculated Oxford student. I won’t have the support network that I did during my year abroad. I’m on my own. I’ll be staying up late and analyzing manuscripts, translating Latin and Old English, and learning British slang all over again. Who’s excited!?

March 12, 2011

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.

February 28, 2011

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!

December 18, 2010

Good Byes

Well, I have officially finished my first semester of my senior year. It’s a strange feeling – I’ve been going non-stop for the past fifteen weeks that I haven’t really had a chance to think about everything that I’ve learned or everything that’s happened to me. That’s why I really like finals week (in a very weird way. But if you’ve been reading this blog for more than one entry, you know that I’m not normal) – it gives me a chance to reflect on everything that I’ve learned in my classes for the entire semester.

But it also gives me a chance to think about what happened personally over the past semester. Specifically, tonight was the last night that C. Dan, Courtney, and I will be on campus together. C. Dan is headed off to Rome next semester, and Courtney is going to Gauladet in D.C. It’s a really strange feeling – I’ve started to say my good-byes now, even though I was only preparing myself to do so in May (then again, I don’t think I’ll ever be ready).

What’s great about the rush of the semester is that you really don’t have time to think that this is your last fifteen weeks with some of your friends. Instead, you just take one day at a time simply because you don’t have time to think, “Wow, we only have three more weeks to have some crazy times!” Of course, that means that when that final week does happen, you can’t help but think about that.

Sorry for being so personal, but it is kind of difficult to say goodbye (especially to these two individuals who have been such an integral part of my life at Holy Cross). It’s weird to think that next semester C. Dan’s crazy personality won’t be readily available, and Courtney won’t be looking at everyone on the dance team as if we all have five heads (she truly is the only relatively normal one on the team, and her perspective is oh so appreciated!).

So, yes, I’m happy and excited for my friends, but that doesn’t make saying good-bye any easier. Of course, when I arrive back home in Georgia tomorrow at 1:50 p.m., I will have this waiting for me:

There is nothing like being pushed off your bed at 8:00 a.m. because your dog needs a comfy place to sleep.

November 30, 2010

It’s the Most Hectic 19 Days of the year…

As of today, there are 19 days left in my first semester of my senior year. Can we cue the panic music now?

Before I begin with what’s to come, let’s back up and see where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing since my last post.

Last Friday (the 19th) was Senior Ball, which was held at the DCU Center. I never knew that my classmates could look so elegant and/or dance so well!

Dancing!

Carrie, Miriam, Janet, and Tina posing

Carrie and me being total hams. Not much has changed since Freshman year.

Alyssa and me representing Kimball

Then that weekend was spent in Dinand (which is now open 24/5, which makes sleeping over in the library a possibility. Don’t tempt me!) writing my thesis and my Shakespeare paper since on Tuesday, I left for (wait for it…)

England.

Yes, although I only had a five day break, I hiked over to England for my Thanksgiving Break. For those of you who don’t know, I won a qualifier for the national ISTD championships in the Latin event. My parents decided to let me go back to compete at Nationals, provided that my mother joined me so I would return to America. I left on Tuesday right after my classes and we arrived on Wednesday morning. Mom and I spent Wednesday to Friday in London seeing some sights that Mom didn’t have a chance to see when she visited me during my year abroad. We spent Thursday in Oxford, where I had a brief and disastrous lesson with my coach, Neil, and I also saw two of my best friends from my year abroad. Then we left for Blackpool, which is the home of ballroom dance, on Saturday. I competed on Sunday, and after my lesson on Thursday, I was incredibly nervous. I ended up in the top ten for my ballroom event, which pleased me since I haven’t properly danced a basic quickstep since about April. Then the Latin event came…

I was incredibly nervous about my Latin even since my coach was less than impressed with how I had regressed since I left England. He told me that I had about 72 hours to fix my dancing and remember everything that he taught me last year. Well, I guess that worked since I kept going on round after round. Finally, they were announcing the numbers for the final – there were seven girls who had made it. My number was high for the event (24), and the first six numbers were incredibly low (the highest one announced was 13). I was a bit devastated since I thought that I didn’t make it, but my number was the last one called. Woo hoo! I made it to the final. At that moment, I didn’t really care about how I danced; I was just excited that I made it. After dancing the final, they announced the placings. I won second place. No, it still hasn’t sunk in that I did that well. My coach thought I should’ve won, but considering the fact that I haven’t properly danced with him since July, I was excited at even making the final!

Me with my shiny trophy! It’s currently in my dorm room.

The new Latin dress that my father loves…not really.

Me with my coach, Neil.

And that was my Thanksgiving break! I made a mad dash for Heathrow yesterday, flew back to Boston, and arrived on campus at 10:00 p.m. last night. In the next 19 days, I have to finish my thesis chapter, write a Shakespeare paper, present my findings on Karl Rahner, present my thesis chapter to the English faculty, and take two finals. Although I could’ve used this weekend to get ahead on all of that work, dancing in England was totally worth it.

November 7, 2010

For Your Aural Pleasure

After reading my blog for the past four years, have you ever wondered, “Hm. I know how she writes and I know everything about her life, but what does she sound like?” Well – look no further. I’m here to take you into an aural post.

If you click on this link, you can listen to/see the interview that NECN did of me for my ballroom dance thing…stuff, and finally put a voice to my blog entries. You can also see my new haircut more visibly (I think I’m going to change the title of this blog to “The Many Hairstyles of Colleen”), which is obviously more important. 😛

November 4, 2010

Where In the World is Colleen?

Wow. I feel like I haven’t been on here in quite some time. To make up for this and get you all up to speed quickly, this is going to be a photo entry.

First, I was in San Diego, California to present at the 32nd annual Association for Integrative Studies Conference.

I think that the location kind of helped my decision to go to the conference.

At the conference, Professor Matlak and I argued for the establishment of a national honors society for those students with interdisciplinary (or multidisciplinary…however you choose to look at it) majors. Our presentation was well received, and the board is going to review our proposal. Hopefully there will be such an establishment within the next few years!

Then, I went home for a few days, where I made s’mores and slept.