Month: November 2008

Salvete, omnes!

I am so incredibly sorry for the lack of posts lately. My life has been quite the whirlwind! The end of the semester is fast approaching, and with it a flurry (of snow, I wish!) of assignments and papers has come. I have two major papers to do for next week: Montserrat and Latin. Latin is a grand 10-12 page masterpiece that should take me a solid week to get done. Montserrat is a bit easier — 1200-1600 words on two contrasting bodies of work we’ve studied and how the Greeks preserved themselves through them. I’ll be working on those from the comfort of my own home…

Tomorrow I’m heading down to my beloved Philadelphia with my cousins, who are spending Thanksgiving in PA this year. I can’t wait to see my family and friends! Even though I have an incredible amount of work to get done (trying not to think about that!), it will be so nice to relax and eat some of my mom’s fantastic cooking. It’s so odd to think that I only have a few weeks left after this break until I’m finished my first semester. I’m enjoying myself so much and cannot believe how quickly the time has passed. It seems like in the wink of an eye, three months have sped by. Ah, did not mean to get poetic!

As I said, the past week and a half or so has been absolutely jam-packed. On Thursday the 20th, all first-years had to register for classes. Now, enrollment at Holy Cross is quite an event. One must get up at the crack of dawn (my roommate got up at 5:30 to secure a computer with an Ethernet cable!) and sign onto a program called STAR to enroll at exactly 7 a.m. in four classes. I was up and signed in, with my classes picked out and ready to go, at around 6:45. By some miracle, I managed to get all of the classes I wanted to take! So you’ll be hearing about Introduction to Astronomy (with which I’m fulfilling my last Natural Science core), Classical Archeology, and my second semesters of Intro Greek and Montserrat, which switches to an emphasis on Rome. I’m very excited to continue studying Astronomy—it’s a hobby of mine, and I took a semester class on it in senior year of high school.

Friday I had a really fun and relaxing Montserrat class, even though the day itself was a tad stressful. I had Professor Joseph all day, and happened to have both a quiz in Greek and a presentation in Montserrat. However, we held class in a very nice classroom on Mulledy’s basement floor and even had lunch delivered from Kimball! Giving the presentation was quite easy because of the relaxed atmosphere of the day. For me, little things like this make Holy Cross special. We have so many opportunities to forge real connections with both our professors and our fellow classmates. Smaller class sizes and professors who are genuinely interested in our education and well-being make this beautiful school all the more enjoyable.

As beautiful as Holy Cross is right now in the last throws of fall, I must say that I have never felt such bone-chilling cold as I have here in the past couple days. This weekend was so brutal that I cringed even at the thought of stepping outside of Mulledy. Saturday night was especially terrible. The wind chill had the temperature down in the single digits…in Philadelphia, the temperature might not get that low even in January or February! I’m being thrown full-force into the nasty reality of a New England winter, I suppose!

Off to organize a bit before my long journey home tomorrow. Xairete, and a very happy and safe Thanksgiving to all!

Salvete!

So much to report this absolutely freezing Monday afternoon! The wind chill has the temperature down around 20 degrees, so I barely made it back from Stein (clear-cut across campus) without becoming an icicle.

Lots of fun events occurred this weekend. Friday was an absolute blast. After an interesting day of classes with Professor Joseph, my friends and I had an amazing little Thanksgiving dinner in Mulledy’s kitchen. Simone’s mother dropped off a full Boston Market meal, complete with three types of meat, sides of all sorts, and even utensils! We ate far too much (to the point where Amy and I required a short nap after dinner…), and had a ridiculously fun time eating and sharing the things we’re thankful for in our lives. I said prayer in Latin at everyone’s request (my friends have embraced my Classics nerdery), and gave thanks for all of the wonderful people in my life and those new friends I have been so lucky to meet.
That night we all went to the season opener for the men’s basketball team, which I’ve been looking forward to all year. My friends and I always go to football and hockey games (obnoxiously decked out in purple and face black), but this basketball game was even more special because we all got to wear our new black Sader Nation t-shirts. The Crusaders won what was an exciting game and provided a fantastic start to the season. They went on to win against St. Joe’s on Sunday, the closest college to my house in Drexel Hill – so I was quite pleased to hear about their success, even though I had to work during the game at Kimball!

I spent most of Sunday plugging away at homework, writing a Philosophy paper, and translating two odes for Latin class yesterday. As I mentioned before, on Monday the Classics scholar Michael Putnam came to our Horace class at Professor Hamilton’s request and gave us a beautiful lecture on one of Horace’s most famous odes. It was such a unique opportunity, because Professor Putnam has a ridiculous mastery of my favorite work in Latin (so far…), The Aeneid. He could quote it so easily, which made me want to read the Latin text again. As soon as I have time, I’m going to get on that!

Monday night we had another Self cluster event. It was probably the most unique of the events so far: the rapper Baba Brinkman came to perform his Rap Canterbury Tales. He did some original work, too, but having read Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales in high school, I was most fascinated by his modern interpretations of three of the more well-known tales. His taking on of different personas through literature and the recalling of the ancient art of reciting poetry aloud related very well with my Montserrat class. It was quite interesting, and I even wrote an article for the Crusader about Brinkman and his visit to Cross.
It’s too late for me to process any more homework…off to bed!

Xairete!

Salvete, amici!

What a lovely day it has been! Today was my birthday, and my friends made it really special for me, despite the fact that I can’t be home to celebrate with my family. I got a heap of cards from my friends and family, and my parents sent me gorgeous flowers and yummy cupcakes. Last night Amy and Simone covered my door with all kinds of notes, signs, and decorations, and tonight, my whole group of friends got together and ordered a ton of pizza. Amy made me awesome cupcakes and, with the help of my roommate, distracted me long enough to light them all for me to blow out. I made my usual wish (no, I can’t tell you!), and really hope that 19 is a great year for me! Something tells me it will be. The friends I have made here have already become like my surrogate family up here- I am so grateful to have met so many wonderful people in such a short span of time!

As for schoolwork, I have a lot on my plate for the coming week (as if it were ever any different!). Another Philosophy paper is due Monday, a daunting Greek quiz on verbs awaits me for Friday, and the Classics scholar Michael Putnam is coming to Latin on Monday to teach our class- scary, but exciting! I’ve calmed down significantly about my Latin class in the past week, due mostly to my midterm which I just got back.  It went ridiculously well compared to how I thought I would do! I was really relieved, because for a while I wasn’t sure if I was up to par in this class. It feels good to know that the work I put into studying paid off, and that I do belong in Horace!

Despite my ever-increasing workload, I’ve recently discovered, along with Jill, the pool at the Hart Center. I’m not much of a runner, so swimming presents a fun alternative to the tedious treadmill or elliptical machine. I really love having these facilities available to me for free! The gym is awesome and if you go at the right time, you can accomplish a really great workout. I’ve always just been one for taking walks in my neighborhood for exercise, but I’ve been putting Hart to use as often as possible since Move-In Day. There really isn’t any excuse not to!

Off to bed soon…but I must celebrate- it’s still my birthday for half an hour! Valete omnes!

Salvete!

I’m smack in the middle of yet another incredibly busy week.
I have a major Greek test Friday and two papers due next week, so I’m trying to
get myself organized and complete everything this weekend so I can have a nice,
relaxing birthday next Wednesday. 
Besides these more immediate assignments, I have a term paper due after
Thanksgiving in Latin, for which I have to go to advising on Friday with
Professor Hamilton to pick an ode I want to write about. Insanely enough,
finals week is just over a month away. This is absolutely astonishing to me.
Just as quickly as midterms came and went, so too will finals. How sad! I don’t
want my first semester to end!

Last night, election night, was really fun here on campus. During
our Eta Sigma Phi meeting, no one could go one discussion topic without
checking the election results. The only thing that kept our attention (however
briefly) away from the incoming ballots was a hilarious letter from Holy Cross
Classics majors who are currently abroad narrating their adventures on a trip
to Egypt. We scurried out of the meeting early and I made sure to keep an eye
on the polls as I did my Greek homework. However, around 10:45 I could barely
keep my eyes open (I had worked at Kimball that morning) and took a nap. When I
woke up at 11:45, it was to screaming and reveling- Obama had won! I can’t
believe I missed that historic moment. I did manage to watch his acceptance
speech in the midst of translating for Latin, so I suppose that’s the important
thing. It was really interesting to be on a college campus for such an
important election- passion runs high in the young, I suppose, so everyone was
really excited for this momentous occasion.

I have choir tonight, lots of studying, and a paper to
outline for a meeting with Professor Joseph tomorrow. But for now, dinner and a
nap.

Valete!