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‘Brooksie’

If you’ve read this blog at all, you should know one thing: I love Holy Cross. It really was the place where I learned so much in such a short amount of time. Although I had attended Catholic school since kindergarten, I learned so much more about my faith – both dogmatically and personally – than I ever have at any other institution, or indeed time in my life.

If there was one person who really embodied all of the reasons why I love Holy Cross so much, it was Fr. Brooks. I didn’t meet Fr. Brooks until the first semester of my senior year, when I took his Contemporary Christology course. The Christology course is something of a tradition at Holy Cross. In a way, it almost is a tutorial. Every student in the class selects one theologian to study and, inevitably, present and argue in the style of at the end of the year before a panel of Jesuits. In the regular class meetings, Fr. Brooks would expound upon key critical questions in Christology, and then let us go away and read to balance the arguments he presented in class with those of our theologians.

Every Tuesday morning, Fr. Brooks’ passion for the subject material and how his students were absorbing and processing it was so clearly evident. If any of us had a particular question, Fr. Brooks would immediately direct us to another book or article. He encouraged and fostered debate, and, most importantly, he challenged us to wrangle with the questions he presented in class for ourselves. Answering a question how Rahner might answer it, for instance, was fine, but Fr. Brooks would always prod back, ‘But what do you think?’

Unfortunately, Fr. Brooks passed away yesterday afternoon. His passing is extremely sad for all of Holy Cross since he truly embodied what it meant to be a Crusader – intelligent, faithful, and embracing. His vision for Holy Cross forever impacted and changed the school, and it’s due to his insight that Holy Cross became one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation. I could go on about his achievements for the college, but I’m sure that those will be listed in far better detail elsewhere. All I can say is that as a student, Fr. Brooks’ vision and insight forever changed me as a person and Catholic, for which I am eternally grateful.

When I was at Holy Cross in September, Fr. Brooks was gracious enough to take time out of his schedule to speak with me (again displaying how his students – past or present – always came first). In the course of the conversation, we talked about my plans for Oxford, how he wanted to visit the city again, and what his plans for this school year were. We talked about the past year’s Christology course and what I had learned from it. He closed with his now infamous line, “Keep Reading.” Thanks, Fr. Brooks. I intend to.

“Father, I thank you, I thank God you were born, I thank God you became a priest and that you came to Holy Cross. I know I speak for many, when I say that had there been no Father Brooks we would not be where we are. I certainly wouldn’t. You are a sine qua non in my life. I know that I am the better for you having lived. You were paternal but never paternalistic. You saw each of us as a person not a project. You wanted the fullness of humanity for all of us, our thoughts, our mistakes, our triumphs, our redemption. You loved us. God bless you, Father, for your wonderful, wonderful life.” – Justice Clarence Thomas
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One Less Good-Bye

Firstly, I promise that I will upload my photos from Senior Week events (like my trip to Newport!). It’s just that…well, remember how my faithful digital camera died on me? I’m now using disposable cameras (they’re retro…?), so it takes a while to get it developed, scanned, uploaded, etc. Those will be up soon, though!

At the end of April of my Freshman year, I started to think about my last blog entry. What should I write? How do I say good-bye to readers whom I’ll never meet? In the middle of this brainstorm session, Public Affairs sent me an e-mail and asked if I’d like to continue my blog for the rest of my four years. I jumped at the opportunity and said yes – I knew I wasn’t finished with my blog and describing the typical day of a Holy Cross student. And you all willingly read and followed my adventures through sophomore year, my experiences abroad at Oxford during my junior year, and my last moments on the hill as a senior. Blogging about my Holy Cross experience just grew to be a normal part of my day. Then, back in the end of April of this year, I started to think about my final blog entry – and I was sure that Public Affairs wouldn’t come to my rescue in a deux ex machina like they did last time. Now I was really perplexed. How do I say good-bye to so many people who have seen me grow so much in the past four years? How do I thank all of my readers for following my blog? I actually even started to write a final entry, but it just seemed too weird. Then, out of left field, Public Affairs solved my puzzled state. Public Affairs asked me to consider keeping my blog through my first year of graduate school next year as an alumna blogger. Now, technically, the definition of the word consider is to “Think carefully about (something), typically before making a decision.” I thought about it carefully all right – I responded about two minutes later saying, “YES.”

So, yes, I will still be blogging about my life next year. I won’t be talking about Culpepper’s, Mezcal, or Shrewsbury Street; I won’t mention Mount St. James, St. Joseph’s Chapel, or my beloved Dinand. Characters like Professor Kee, Professor Mulrooney, and Fr. McFarland will not be present, and people like Carrie, Margaret, and Bill might make cameo appearances. It’s a new chapter, but the same blog. I hope that you all will continue to read about my experiences at Oxford next year and how I learn to apply the past four years of my Jesuit education beyond the gates of Mt. Saint James.

Of course, I have to give a massive thank you to Public Affairs for this opportunity.
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2 Weeks

In 2 weeks, I will officially be a graduate of Holy Cross.

Does that sound weird to you? Good. It sounds weird to me too. I just turned in my last Chaucer and Dante paper (eeek) and the signed copies of my thesis (my advisor and reader have to sign three copies: one for College Honors, another for English Honors, and another for CISS). I have my Lit Theory exam tomorrow, and then my Lit Theory paper is due on Tuesday. And then I’m finished with college.

Wait. What? I’ll be finished with college? This is really just beginning to settle into my brain now. And that’s why I’m trying to soak up everything that I can – sitting in Dinand (yes, I’m a nerd), talking with friends, eating Kimball waffles (no, seriously – hear me out. Kimball waffles are the perfect ratio of crispy and fluffy. It’s magical), and just enjoying my time on the Hill. With only two weeks left, I feel like there’s so much that I have to see and do in Worcester and around Holy Cross. Well, I was able to accomplish two things on my bucket list.

1) Max out my library borrowing allowances. Yes, I currently have 50 books from Dinand in my room. Kind of exciting, kind of sad.

2) Climb the Kimball Hill and take photos with friends.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, so Carrie, Miriam, Rebecca, Janet, Tina, Meghan, and I had an impromptu climb and photoshoot. We all met freshman year, and we’ve been the best of friends ever since. Here are the results (all photos are courtesy of Miriam Westin):

I think the general frivolity went extremely well, don’t you? We’re planning for another session where we just do all sorts of random poses around campus. After we did our group shots, Miriam took a couple of individual shots for us. Miriam was kind enough to take a photo of me in one of my favorite spots on campus.

I love Commencement/Fenwick Porch. I remember coming here for my tour and standing on that exact porch and thinking, “Wow. This campus is gorgeous.” Besides, if a bunch of white columns and ivy doesn’t scream college, then I don’t know what does.
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“Your Experience in a Minute. Go.”

You’ve all read this blog to (ideally) get a sense of what life is like here. You’ve been through it all with me – the late nights, the exams, the papers, everything. You all know how much I have to say about my experience at Holy Cross – I love this school, and trying to stick to a 500 word limit for my entries is quite a task (eh. Sometimes I make it, sometimes I go waaaaaaaaay over). So, imagine my surprise when the Public Affairs department asked me to sum up my experience in about a minute. Well, here’s the result:

Wow. I look so…so…stoic…I might try to get another screen shot.

Senior Interview

On that website, you can also see Miriam, one of my really good friends (She’s also our class valedictorian!), Anthony, who’s a fellow CHP’er, Wan-Yi, who is another CHP’er, and Andrew who’s an amazing student athlete. Five quite different voices and experiences, yet one similar characteristic: we all love Holy Cross and our four years here. Check them out! They are only a minute, after all.

And, in other news……

It is so close to being bound!
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Sunshine!

Well, after one of the longest winters imaginable, it seems like Spring is starting to take control of campus.

This, of course, means that we’re all spending as much time as possible outside. We’re all swarming Lower Kimball and making picnic dinners to enjoy outside. Welcome, Spring!

In other news, the Chaplains’ Office hosted the L’Arche community for the weekend. L’Arche is an international community in which non-mentally disabled families live in solidarity with mentally disabled individuals. The Ballroom Dance team was asked to perform for them and teach them the Merengue. There were some extremely talented individuals in the dance session, especially when the Macarena started to play.

So, looking at the week ahead: We’re deciding the E-Board for ballroom tonight, and then I have to give my practice thesis presentation tomorrow night. Ah! Where are the brakes!?
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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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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.