Month: September 2009

Salvete, all!

Today has been such a strange day so far that I figured I might as well share it with you. This morning, Jill’s alarm went off at around 6:45, and since I didn’t have to get up until 8, I just rolled back over and kept sleeping. Well, apparently my alarm didn’t go off, and hers never went off again either, so that at 8:50 I woke up disoriented and realized in a panic that I had ten minutes to get to my 9 a.m. Sociology class…clear-cut across campus. Jill scrambled out of bed as well, late for work. To top it all off, I walked in late to class only to find that they were in the middle of a pop quiz about this weekend’s readings. Needless to say, I walked out of there needing an iced tea and a hug. But just for good measure, when I came back and ran to get a shower so that I could work on my Greek translation, I broke my little mirror with which I do my makeup. By the time 11 rolled around, I was ready to call it a day.

However, this beautifully sunny Monday has taken a turn for the better after a bit of a rough start. My Latin class for tomorrow was just cancelled, which gives me time to study for our exam Thursday and to catch up on some other reading. We also got our first Greek quiz back and, thankfully, it went just fine despite my nerves. Also, I’m excited about a few new activities that I’m going to be involved in over the semester, including a Constitution drafting committee for Eta Sigma Phi, the Classics Honor Society. We’re trying to become a recognized student organization, but need to draft a Constitution before we can be an official RSO. I’m looking forward to being a part of this mostly because it is my class and the classes to come who will enjoy the privileges gained by an RSO status, such as fund-raising.

A shout out to fellow blogger, Kimball captain, future Oxford student, and dear friend, Colleen Curran! This weekend, Colleen came to Holy Cross for the last time in a year to say goodbye to all of her friends and Holy Cross professors. We took the shuttle to Providence on Friday night (on a whim!) and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, where we stayed and talked for a good three hours. I’ll miss her very much and obviously wish her all the best at Oxford! She’ll be blogging while she’s over there, so definitely check out what she’s up to in jolly old England.

I have a mound of reading to accomplish…sorry for the novel! Take care and Xairete!

Xairete!

When I say that this week has been insane, I truly mean it. Last weekend, I worked a grand total of approximately 13 hours at Kimball. I practically lived there from Friday-Sunday. Despite this, however, Friday was my friend Katie’s birthday, and my friends Allie and Jen made a special dinner for her in Clark kitchen, which included delicious pasta and salad, along with the traditional Funfetti cake. We all completely overtook the kitchen space and had a great time eating together. Even though the weather outside was dreary, we were cozy enough in Clark to barely notice it!

Also taking place this week was the first of the Study Abroad meetings. It’s hard to fathom the fact that in a year, I could be living in a completely new country and not actually attending Holy Cross! I still have a lot to figure out about which program I want to do, where I want to go, etc., but I do have my choices narrowed down to either a semester in Rome, or a year in England. The next few months will entail much deliberation on my part, applications, and heart-to-hearts with some professors to figure out what I really want the rest of my Holy Cross experience to be like. I’ve spoken with upperclassmen friends who have done both programs I am considering and I am seeing that the process of figuring out where I want to go isn’t going to be as easy as I had hoped it would be. I’ll just have to keep my options open!

In academic news, I just took my first Greek quiz this afternoon (hope it went well!). As I’m taking two translating classes, my workload has become absolutely insane. Both Latin and Greek are taking over my life—as if I would have it any other way! With the support of my family, friends, and professors, I’m getting through the work and figuring out why it is that I want to study this field. Especially now, after having gone over almost 200 lines of Greek for a day and a half, I can see that the satisfaction I get from studying Classics is so worth all of the late nights in Dinand. (But seriously, I live there.)

Valete, all! Have a wonderful weekend!

Xairete!
Hope everyone is having a great beginning of the week! I had my first Principles of American Government class this morning at 8, and I can already see that although the class is going to be very interesting, I’m not going to be happy about trekking down to Smith on cold November mornings. For now, however, the weather is beautiful and is supposed to stay in the 60s-70s range for the rest of the week. Only the mornings are betraying any indication of the cold fall and winter days that will soon be upon us here in Worcester!

Classes are in full swing this week, and I am a little surprised at just how intense the workload is already. My time is basically only being spent in class, in the library, or at an activity. My classes are especially difficult because I have two translating classes; i.e., in both Latin and Greek I have to do prep work for translations. Although I already feel like I’m in the routine of knocking out a translation so much more quickly than I ever did last year or in high school, the work is still a little daunting. However, these classes are offset by my Intro to Sociology and Government classes, which are more focused on readings. I’m staying sane, somehow!

The big news from this weekend is the fact that I survived my first shifts as a true Kimball captain (with workers and everything!). Saturday mid-day (2-5) was quite the trial by fire. My friend Cat and I are on the shift together and hadn’t realized that that was smack in the middle of the first home football game, so we spent the three hours running around like chickens without a head trying to figure everything out. To make matters even better, our shift fell at a time in between manager’s shifts, so we had to look to the full-time workers to help us get the pulper started, unclog the vacuum, find electrical outlets, put kitchen supplies away, and all sorts of other Kimball things. We were quite proud of ourselves after this, and treated ourselves with heaps of ice cream to celebrate.

Off to Latin! Valete!

Salvete, omnes!
Welcome to another school year at the Cross! I’m beyond excited to be here and I cannot believe that I’m a sophomore. Driving onto campus last Tuesday was a surreal experience: I had forgotten just how beautiful Holy Cross is. I had a steamy hot day for move-in, unfortunately, but since I arrived almost a week earlier than everyone else to train as a Kimball captain, I just took it slowly and unpacked over a couple days. My new home is Clark hall, which is right next to Mulledy. I literally just jumped one over, and I can see my old dorm from my new room. I do miss Mulledy and its awesome facilities, but Clark, as an all-sophomore dorm, is proving fun as well. My roommate Jill (you may recognize her name from last year’s posts) came Saturday, and with her came an explosion of color in our room. It’s very homey!
So from Wednesday to yesterday I spent my days practically living at Kimball, training and working. Becoming a Kimball captain was such a great honor and I must say that it is the most fun I have ever had here at Holy Cross, despite the smell in the back where the food gets dumped (the infamous “pulper”). I was a little disappointed at first because when we went to pick shifts for the semester, which is done by a lottery system, I went almost last and had practically no pick of any shifts (all the ones I wanted were long gone). However, it turns out that I’ll be working on Saturday afternoons and Sunday nights, which gives me the whole week free to do my schoolwork without the pressure of going to work. All’s well that ends well. I’m very excited to meet my workers, and on both of my shifts I am working with very good friends (shout outs to Cat and Katie!). Another year great year at Kimball awaits!
I just returned from my first class, Intro to Sociology, and later on today I have my first Intermediate Greek class. I’m a little nervous to start Greek up again, but also excited because my class is pretty much the same as last year, and we always have a blast together. Tomorrow I start Latin, another class in which lots of my classics friends will be, and I actually had my Principles of American Government class cancelled because my professor is at a conference. Since that’s at 8 a.m., I can’t help but be a little excited about getting to sleep in!
Off to Dinand to get a jump start on my assignments (yes, I already have homework…this is college, people). I’m so excited to be back at HC, and even more excited for all of the great memories yet to me made in my second year at the Cross. As my friend Ashley said so well, “It’s like we just went to sleep and woke up and everything is right back the way it was.” Valete!