Plans for Next Semester

Junior year has been a big one for me, because I finally declared the major that I believe I'll graduate with (Economics). Also, it's the first year I'll be doing some serious free skiing, since I was training with the Alpine team freshman year, and last year I broke my wrist in January. As you can imagine, I've got big plans for this coming semester.

1. Jay Peak weekends

A buddy and I, both of us former ski racers, are psyched to shred the North Country this coming winter/spring. I think all of Vermont has great skiing (like Smugg's: to which SMC students get a $65 SEASONS pass), but Jay has always had a special place in my heart because: (1) the terrain is yummy, (2) they're constantly pounded with snow, and (3) it's semi-francophone, given the proximity to Canada. What a trifecta for a shredful winter.

Above--a sick ski edit (not mine) of Jay peak. From YouTube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoDVTdijBes

2. A math-y courseload with a hint of social science

Being an econ major, I've actually forgone some of the intro courses that I need to take to finish the major. Sooo, this coming semester I'm taking Microeconomic Principles, Stats, and Calc II--a mathy group of classes for sure. But I'm also taking a Political Science class called Multicultural Theory and Practice, which will be reading and social-science heavy. A divergent courseload for sure, but an interesting one I hope!

3. Fundraising and planning for India

As I mentioned here recently, I've been selected to go on the MOVE extended service trip to Kolkata, India this May. In preparation, our group will be meeting weekly to iron out the details of travel, raise money for our partner organizations in India, and work on any other details necessary for making the trip successful. 

4. Wilderness Program: Backcountry Skiing 

This will be my first season taking people into the field as a certified Backcountry WP instructor, and I couldn't be happier! Backcountry skiing takes skill, safety and precaution, and is also a great time for more experienced skiers who want to ditch the lifts. SMC students: sign up for a trip if you're ready! And to those prospective students out there, this program is a good enough reason for deciding on SMC ;)

5. Common Ground 

I'm currently the president of Common Ground, SMC's LGBTQIA organization that works for advocacy and representation of LGBTQIA people on campus and in the community. We're hoping to bring some interesting speakers and other events to campus, and working on a campaign for housing reform to make campus more comfortable for a plurality of identities. It should be an interesting semester!

6. Tours, Blogging, and Talking to You!

Finally, as a lover of the SMC community, I'm looking forward to doing my best to represent the college through tours, this blog, and answering any questions that YOU have. My email is brosbrook@mail.smcvt.edu, or you can comment here any time. I do this because I want to be a resource for you, the reader, so feel free to contact me any time!

Thanks for reading!

Reflections on the Semester: The Importance of Taking a Deep Breath

As I'm sitting in my parents kitchen with a beautiful view of the falling snow outside, it becomes much easier to self-critique, and remember the things that I've done well, and the things that I haven't done that well.

My dad tells me all the time that school is a time when you're going to make mistakes, and all you can do is your best. Of course, one's "best" is relative, so it becomes harder to reassure oneself when Sally Knowitall consistently gets higher grades on those reading quizzes and ALL YOU WANT is that A-minus. 

The thing is, many students do so much more than school. Saint Mike's students volunteer, organize, manage, protest, meditate, mourn, and celebrate. I'm sure students everywhere do, but I speak only from my own experience. What I mean to say, then, is that to narrow one's definition of success to a series of grades on a transcript (over which students have only as much control as the effort they put in) is ludicrous, when the majority of our responsibilities lie outside academia. Is academia less than these outside experiences? Of course not, but to imply that the plurality of divergent experiences on SMC campus can be measured by an antiquated system of letter-ranking is preposterous, especially when some students are spending a majority of their time working or organizing service trips.

In light of all this, I'd argue the best thing any of us can do in a moment of calamity is to take a deep breath. To stress in the face of challenge is to accept and perpetuate one's state of anxiety. That being said, it's not an easy thing to calm oneself when one has a test in the morning and a twenty-page paper due yesterday. But all we can do is try.

This semester, I've learned that Yoda wasn't right after all. Yes, I suppose we could restrict the definition of human effort and attainment to a cut-and-dry binary of "either do, or do not," but that only bleaches any given story to one of outright success or failure. If a student learns more than they ever have about the social construction of race but gets a C in the class, how is that a failure? Moreover, how can one qualify as "intelligent" the student whose pompous nature and sturdy resolve allows them an A, by virtue of their predisposition? Neither of these stories is fully explained in the assignment of a letter grade.

In conclusion, then, I encourage my peers, prospective students, and parents to reflect on the importance of trying. More often than not, trial and error yield understanding. So why get down on ourselves for futzing that one Chem procedure, when we know for the next time around that we probably shouldn't add the water to the acid? It's all a learning process, because learning is never finite.

Thanks for reading, and here's to the close of one semester, the dawn of another, and the never-ending process of learning what "it's" all about.

Baby Picture Finals Week.

Hey there everyone!

 

The students of Saint Mike's are currently immersed in this thing called "finals week." It is during this week that we take large cumulative exams, turn in final papers/projects, and work through other stressful situations that arise from finishing a substantial amount of schoolwork.

 

It's not easy to stay stress-free during this time, but I also think there's a lot to be said in pursuing non-stress. Sometimes you just have to tell yourself that you're not stressing, that everything will get done, and that finals week have relative limited relevance in the cosmic sense. This doesn't make everyone feel calm, but it's the exact opposite of creating stress for oneself. Most likely, we'll get the grades we deserve, and besides the effort we expel there's not very much in our control.

 

In recognition of this cosmic reality, I invite everyone to reflect on a time when you weren't stressed, maybe a time when you couldn't say any words, let alone 'I hate finals week'. For me, this reflection is rooted it some photos that my uncle sent me,  pictures of my grandpa and I when I was a baby. He's since passed on and I'm no longer the fleshy small person I was, but those moments of calm that were pictured are still real and relevant.

 

 

 

 

Don't be too hard on yourselves, take a study break, and laugh with your friends when you can.

 

Happy Finals Week :D

India!

As the semester comes to a close, my time on campus has mostly been occupied with finishing finals/schoolwork, and attending to fundraising for the 2014 trip to Kolkata, India. MOVE, the service organization on campus, runs extended service trips, and SMC students have had the opportunity to travel to Kolkata for 3 weeks each spring to bring resources to the Mother Theresa homes, and also to assist in the service these organizations have already established. This year, seven  students, a student leader, and two faculty leaders will be making the trip. Every year that I've been at Saint Mike's, a close friend of mine has gone on the trip, and in that way the India trip has always existed as a part of my experience at Saint Mike's. This year, I get to go for the first time, and our first fundraiser is an international market featuring crafts from India and the Dominican Republic (another international service trip).

 

 

If you can and are willing, you should stop by the market between today and Saturday! All the funds from this market go directly to the service organizations we work with in India and D.R., so it's a good cause.

 

 

To my fellow SMC'ers: best of luck on finals!

 

Thanks for reading ;)

Just in Time for Halloween: Tour of the Secret Room and Library Archives.

Something really exciting has happened--and it's even cooler because this story goes back to my freshman year.

 

February 18, 2012, I decided to do a post about some of the things I liked about Saint Mike's that I thought made it unique. In it, I included the secret room of the Durick Library, into which I had never been, and the possibility of going inside of which filled my imagination with mystery and intrigue.

 

Well, earlier this semester, I got an email from John Payne in the library (nice guy with the long pony tail) inviting me on a tour of said secret room, as well as the archives in the basement. As one might expect, I agreed enthusiastically, and a few weeks later I met both John and Liz Scott from Archives in the secret room.

 

In the secret room there is a collection of a variety of rare books--mostly published in the last 200 years, and many of these are of a religious sort. John and Liz told me, though, that decades ago, before it was acceptable to talk about sex at all in classrooms at SMC, biology students sometimes had to use this room to gain access to books about anatomy and any sex-related processes. They don't make you do that anymore, he explained with a smile.

 

Sermones de Patientia in Job. Johannes Chrysostom.

Cologne. Ulrich Zel. 1474. 

Photo courtesy of Saint Michael's College Archives.

John and Liz had also found something cool before I arrived. In a white box on a shelf waist-high was an old 45 vinyl, on which Alfred Lord Tennyson had been recorded reading from his own poems, at some point before his death in 1892. This is pretty darn rare, according to Liz.

 

After browsing about that room for a while, we moved down to archives, where it became even more apparent how much we mere muggles have to learn about the mysteries of the library. On a table, Liz had assembled the most intriguing variety of archived materials I would have imagined. Amongst the artifacts was the skin of St. Edmund, a piece of his cloak, a book of religious sermons from 1474 (brought by the Edmundites from France), and an *alleged* piece of the cross (emphasis on the alleged). It's been said that all the fragments of the cross in Europe would amount to enough wood to build a ship, according to John.

 

Most students use the archives and secret room for research, theses and/or internships, and one needs permission to gain access to these resources. It was kind of John and Liz to show me around, and I thank them once again for their kindness. I can now cross "scooby doo-like adventure in the library" off my bucket list.

 

Thanks for reading!

Living On Your Own: Cooking.

A veggie stew my roommate Carlos and I made--
most of the ingredients came from our farmshare of local vegetables.

This year, I'm lucky to be living in an Ethan Allen apartment (on North Campus) with a couple buddies of mine from my first-year hall. Saint Mike's is a four-year residential school, so our apartment is technically on-campus housing; but, like the townhouses where seniors live, EA has full kitchens and living rooms, and you're not required to stay on the meal plan.

 

Thus, there is some element of independence in living in the apartments--most notably, you're responsible for cooking your own food. For some, this is daunting, and that's fair. A lot of thought goes into cooking food, and if you don't enjoy it, cooking becomes that much harder. But there are a few things you can do to make buying groceries and cooking meals less of a hassle, less expensive, and more enjoyable; or, at the very least, as minimally obtrusive as possible.

1. Plan your shopping list. Going to the store without a list can be disastrous--45 minutes later, there's a good chance you'll emerge with nothing but Annie's mac and cheese, Oreos, and a few awkward vegetables. Such foods don't always make for the healthiest meals. If you plan out a couple possible dinners, and then figure out the ingredients you'll need, it'll be easier to anticipate and limit your grocery purchases, and avoid being forced into making 7 consecutive dinners out of ramen noodles and various sauces.

2. 

   Microwaved baked potatoes with cheese and
   sauteed green beans with salt and
   pepper (<15min).

   Buy ingredients you like. This definitely works in concert with number 1. Making meals is a lot easier if you can just dump a bunch of food you like in a pot for 15 minutes and munch. A couple of my staples are black beans, potatoes, frozen green beans, rice, cheese, and whatever vegetables are in our farmshare. Combining any 2-4 of these with some sort of sauce wouldn't take very long and is relatively healthy, not to mention light on the wallet.
3. Do your dishes as you cook. Your roommates will hate you a lot less, and cooking will be less of a hassle if you do your dishes as you cook. After using a mixing bowl for eggs, wash the bowl as the eggs cook. That way, the sink isn't as scary at the end of your cook-venture, and the next chef on deck can get started in a clean environment. Plus, your kitchen is just about the last place you want to have flies, buzzing around dirty plates.
4. Eat with friends. If you can coordinate to mix ingredients and cook a meal with a few friends, dinner becomes fun. Especially if you're someone who hates to cook, one of your friends can take charge of that while you DJ the iHome in their kitchen. Then, you have a good meal with friends, and all you had to do was bring an eggplant and good taste in music. Win-win.
5. Always have a backup. There are times when you can't block out a half-hour for dinner, but you don't have the time/swipes to go to Alliot (the dining hall). In such a situation, it's good to have a back-up meal that you can take to go. When I can manage to set aside the time, I like to make black bean burgers and keep them frozen. That way, I can bring one down to main campus on days when I have to eat dinner at my work-study, or have one for a quick meal before going to a concert. The important thing with back-ups is to make sure they're foods that last a while (frozen or non-perishable), and avoid eating them until you really need to.
6. If you're of age, have a beer. Even better with friends--if you like beer, go buy a good six pack and have one while you make dinner. You can even add a little to whatever you're cooking as you go; see how stir-fry tastes with a little IPA--why not?!
7. Make your own coffee. Last but not least, if you're a coffee drinker, make your coffee at home. It's way cheaper, and then you can brew it however dark/light you want. As great as Cheray Cafe is, getting a coffee (or three) there every day will begin to add up and make your wallet sad. But on those days you do need to buy a cup, bring your own mug! Cheray Cafe will charge you less, and it's a waste to use paper cups every time you have a coffee.

Here's to good food and learning how to do it on your own!

 

Til next time, thanks for reading!

Aziz Abu Sarah Comes to Saint Mike's.

Saint Mike's frequently hosts speakers and presentations on campus during the academic year, typically on topics such as politics, social justice, the sciences, and the arts. These events are always open to the public, and lively debate engaging both the community and students is not uncommon.

 

Wednesday evening, the Peace and Justice speaker series hosted Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian peace activist who splits his time between Jerusalem, the George Mason University, and touring around the world. In his lecture, he recounted stories from hsi childhood in both occupied Palestine and Jerusalem, and how his engagement in the conflict shifted from aggressive confrontation to peaceful dialogue.

This speaker was especially interesting at this point in my semester because two of my four classes are exploring the Palestine-Israel conflict right now. In my Political Science intro class, we're reading Once Upon a Country, in which a prominent Palestinian figure recounts his experiences and the experiences of his family both before the occupation, and throughout the last several decades of it. In my Anthropology class, we've just finished reading a report in Human Cargo on the asylum speakers displaced by this conflict, and the adversity they face in quasi-permanent settlements in bordering countries, such as Lebanon. It's truly one of the most challenging issues facing our global political system right now, and a tragedy besides that.

 

The talk he gave was was informal yet powerful, and the Q&A following was informative (although I had to cut out a lil early--sorry!!!). Below is a National Geographic special featuring Abu Sarah:

 

 

Thanks for reading!

Blitzen Trapper at Higher Ground.

The ballroom.

Higher Ground, a favorite concert venue of students and locals alike, is a hub for music and concert events in the area. In general, shows cost in the range of 15 to 20 dollars, but there've been shows as cheap as a dollar per ticket for smaller bands and shows. Not to mention, the calendar is stacked, so it's easy to see a handful or so of great shows per semester for not too much money.

 

Blitzen Trapper on stage.

Last night some buddies and I stopped in for a Blitzen Trapper show in the smaller ballroom for 18 dollars a ticket. The show opened with a band called Fox, but we didn't make it until Blitzen opened. The environment is intimate enought to sit at a table and have something to drink for a coffee-house/mellow type of show, but it's also open enough to dance around and whip your hair for a more upbeat show. Blitzen's show was more in the flavor of the latter (jam-band music for sure), so needless to say there was much dancing and jumping around. We even got to hang out and have a convo with Marty, the band's guitarist/keyboardist/general musician. Very intimate, very cool show.

 

In my experience, shows at Higher Ground are never a let down. If nothing else, you tried something new, and got out for a night of music. It's a great way to blow off steam, and if your Tuesday is just a little less busy then you were expecting... then maybe that Soc reading can wait until tomorrow ;)

 

Thanks for reading!

Cool Professors (Or Something Like That).

Straddling the line between super-nerdy and super-cool, Saint Mike's professors know how to engage students (and the world) both inside and outside the classroom. There's seldom a department without a professor who's traveled abroad for research, and/or engaged in the community to pursue local projects.

At the moment, I'm enrolled in an Economics of Education class with Professor Walsh (with whom I took Economics of Health Care in the Spring). Being a professor who really embodies the SMC nerdy-coolness, I was psyched when I discovered that he'd launched a YouTube channel. His videos discuss and digest popular economic topics, like the debt celing and climate change. Although he claims most of his channel views are from his proud mother, his videos are very informative and accessible--for the econ-buffs and who-the-h-is-Adam-Smith?s alike. Check out his most recent video on Immigration economics:



Enjoy the video, and thanks for reading!

Back to School and Outdoor Excursions.

Long time no see!

I believe my online absence requires an explanation: since being back at school, I've been sans-laptop due to an unfortunate encounter with my *former* computer, and my unforgiving floor of my parent's kitchen. We're currently looking into getting that situation handled, but until then I'm on that Durick Library-computer-lab-grind.

This semester I'm enrolled in four classes: Economics of Education (EC-333), Intro to Politics (PO-101), Race and Ethnic Relations (SO-221), and Anthropology of Refugees (AN-333). Do I have a solid academic plan? Not necessarily. Are my classes awesome? You betcha.

Fancy meal pictured here.

Also occupying my time this semester is my instructorship (new word!) for the Wilderness Program. Last weekend I had a double-weekend, where I got to lead a trip both Saturday and Sunday. This summer I got to lead a WOW with one of my great amigas in the program, but this past weekend felt like my first true experience guiding as an official instructor. I got so excited, that I made a super-fancy lunch the night before that I didn't actually end up eating til I got home (But it was still good!!!).

As far as the actual trips, I was co-leading (but mostly observing our paddling guy, Todd Wright) an Intro Whitewater Paddling excursion on the Lamoille on Saturday. The water was a little low, but we had a good, cohesive group and a fun time! Also, I was paddling a bright green boat, so how could that be bad? (Answer: it couldn't be bad).

Participants prepping their paddles for plunder. (Idk, alliteration??)

Then on Sunday, I got to co-lead a climbing trip down to Bolton Valley with fellow instructors Taylor and junior Lauren M. (the WP has two Lauren M's--weird, right?). It was rainy as can be all morning on Sunday, so we started by rappelling rather than climbing, but as the day went on the cliffs dried off and we were able to set a couple climbs. If I remember correctly for all you climbers out there, we set on Harvest Moon, Into the Slabs and Into the Pines.

Participant preparing to rappel.

Twas a successful weekend and the beginning to a successful semester! More adventures coming soon.

Thanks for reading!

Wilderness Orientation Weekend at Saint Mike's.

As I mentioned in my last post, Saint Mike's runs a series of pre-orientation weekends during the summer for new students enrolling in the fall semester. One of these programs, the Wilderness Orientation Weekend (WOW), is coordinated by the Wilderness Program office (WP), and I got to co-lead one such program this past weekend. 

Having lunch on a rock, day three, Lamoille River.

There were three WOW options this year: backpacking, sea kayaking, and multi-sport. Each of these programs ran the span of three days (two nights) in the field, and each had about six participants and two WP student-instructors. I co-led one of the multi-sport options with Molly, a good friend of mine in the WP (and we were a match made in weird-heaven, if I do say so myself).

The multi-sport program consisted of three different field excursions: a day hiking, a day climbing, and a day white-water paddling. So on Saturday morning, our group woke up at 6.15, rolled out of Pontigny Hall at about 7.00, and began our ascent up Mt. Mansfield at about 7.50. The weather on Saturday was looking like it would be a bit sketchy in the afternoon, so we decided to hike up the Sunset Ridge trail in the morning so we could catch it before it got nasty (which was well worth it, because I imagine the exposed ridge line would have been much less enjoyable in a torrential downpour). We made it to the summit before noon, took the Laura Cowles trail down with a lunch break on the way, and then made it back to the campsite at Little River State Park by early afternoon.

Sunday was part-two of our multi weekend, and WP vet Mike helped us set some some top-rope climbs out at Bolton, VT (about a 15 min drive from Little River, 40 min from SMC). We spent the day working on basic belay and climbing technique, but mostly on encouraging everyone to try climbing and have fun doing it. Total, we set about 4 or 5 routes (one of which was the notorious Harvest Moon). There was a variety of strengths in the group, and it was fun to see each of the participants challenge themselves in different ways (it's also possible that I may have sent a climb myself, but that's beside the point).

Swimming the rapid, funniest face of the day.

Finally, we had white water paddling on Monday, with the infamous Todd Wright (WP director), and SMC alum Jess. Again, since there's only so much that can be fit into a day, most of our paddling excursion was spent on some basic technique, but mostly on having fun. We paddled the Lamoille River, had lunch on a rock, and at the end of the day ran a tiny rapid, which was about a mile upstream from where we parked. Before running it, each of the participants had to practice "swimming" the rapid, which is basically learning how to follow the current safely until you can swim out of it (in case you fall out of your boat). By this time, our group had meshed pretty effortlessly, joking freely and reveling at the thought of a nice, warm shower once we got home. And of everyone in the group, I think Molly and I were the most sad to see everyone go at the end of the day.

It was a great weekend, and I can't wait for fall orientation to roll around so I can see everyone again (seriously, we miss y'all!!!). I'm already looking forward to a new semester, and hopefully spending some more time outdoors with all the awesome people I got to meet on WOW.

So see y'all in a month! And thanks for reading!

POW WOW

While the title of this post might sound like something you do around a campfire, it actually is a description of my activities this week (only part of which might involve a fire). 

Before the fall orientation weekend for new students, Saint Mike's runs pre-orientation weekends (POW), such as the traditional "POW", a wilderness version called "WOW", a community service one called CSOW, as well as another run by the diversity coalition and MLK, called SOAR. 

Last weekend, I was able to participate in the first POW of the summer, where I met a ton of really cool incoming students (can't wait to see y'all at orientation!!!), and bonded with the other upperclassmen running the weekend. I can't give much away, but those of us who have been on it know that it's AMAZING, and if you haven't gone, you should go!

Now, this coming weekend, I get to lead a WOW with some of my buddies in the Wilderness Program at SMC. Starting tomorrow, I'll be leading the multi-sport weekend, which includes climbing, paddling and hiking. We'll be car-camping, which is nice (although I wouldn't mind some time in the woods, I won't lie), and I expect that ghost stories and bug bites will be aplenty. 

That's it for now! Although maybe now that I have an uncracked phone I can post some pictures up here come Monday evening. 

Thanks for reading! And here's a picture of my sweet new WP hat. 

Apartment Life and the New Job.

This post is being written on a computer at Fletcher Free Library in Burlington, and that's 99% because there's no wifi in the apartment yet, and 1% because I really don't want to write this from my phone.

Yes indeed, I've officially embarked on the journey of "living on my own" (sorta) for the summer, and an educational experience it has been. For the first six days we lived there, we didn't have hot water or gas because, being the bushy-tailed, bright-eyed 20-somethings that we are, none of us thought to call the utility companies before move-in day. Even with the struggles, my friends and I are having an awesome time decorating and making the place ours for the next few months (next step: run to Lowes to make copies of keys).

I've also started working my new job at EMS, and that's been a blast. I've worked three days so far, and during my last shift while getting trained on how to fit shoes, a coworker fit me in a pair of REALLY comfy lightweight hiking boots, which I proceeded to wear around the store for the next 20 minutes. Playing with outdoor gear = life's simple pleasures.

Coming up in just a few weeks I'm off to Delaware with Mike Brown for the Firefly music festival, and I'm in the midst of trying to get involved in a community sailing program on Lake Champlain for the summer, and hopefully a little volunteering as well.

Thanks for reading!

Post-WFR Life and Summer Plans.

Whew!

17 days later, all my Wilderness (WP) training has come to a close, and the rest of my summer is slowly beginning. At the moment, I'm crashing in a friend's room til I can move into my summer apartment tomorrow (so excited!!!), but I have some other exciting news as well!

I mentioned last time that I had a potential job lined up, and I can now announce that I'm officially employed at EMS on Dorset St. in Burlington! The application and interview process was a pleasure, because everyone who works there is awesome--I actually submitted my resume off the recommendation of a friend who's also an instructor in the WP. I have my first day of work on June 6th, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to fill the time when I'm not working with climbing, paddling and other fun summer stuff :p

Other summer plans include a road trip down to Delaware with fellow SMC student Mike Brown '14 for the Firefly music fest, and I'll also be participating in a Pre-Orientation Weekend (POW) for incoming students. The concert is coming up quick--it's the weekend of June 20th. Not gonna lie, I haven't necessarily figured out my transportation plans, but I'm *hoping* to get to that some time in the near future (we have the tickets and the campsite reserved--baby steps :p). POW is on a weekend in July, but more to come on that front later.

Taking a lunch break on the lake
--WP Kayak Instructor Training, May 2013.

At the moment it's pretty hot up in VT, which is nice following a week or so of rainy weather (which didn't stop us from paddling, as you can see). A great summer in the Green Mountains begins!

Feel free to email with any questions (brosbrook@mail.smcvt.edu) or if you'd like me to talk about any topic in particular, especially you soon-to-be-incoming students!

Thanks for reading!

Back at School (...A Little Early)!

Hey y'all!

So, following my adventure into the time/space continuum, I accidentally took a wrong turn and fell off the face of the earth for a while. But it's all good--after spending a couple weeks fighting death eaters in the parallel Harry Potter universe (which TOTALLY exists), I managed to apparate back to this time and place with the help of the elder wand (which I convinced Harry to let me borrow before he... well, never mind--don't wanna spoil the movie ;p).

Just kidding! But I haven't blogged in a while, so consider this my re-entry into the world of social media.

Since the end of the semester, I was able to spend some time with my family back in Rome, NY before coming back to school for the Wilderness Program (WP) (which I'll explain in a bit). As always, home was refreshing; good food, quality time with my dog, and a LOT of sleep were all quickly crossed off my to-do list. Then on Monday the 14th, I made the trek back up to SMC for two and a half weeks of training for the Wilderness Instructor Training Program (ITP).

First, we did a Wilderness First Responder course (WFR, pronounced "woofer" colloquially), which is required of all SMC WP instructors. Basically, it's an eight-day course that teaches emergency wilderness medicine skills for people in outdoor leadership capacities; less than a wilderness EMT license, but more than Wilderness First Aid. It was a long eight days with a lot of information, but now we're THAT much closer to becoming official program instructors! Pretty exciting stuff :p

WFR ended on the 21st, and the next part of our training began yesterday (the 22nd). Depending on what disciplines each instructor chose to pursue, each of our training is different. Several of my peers and I have been getting trained in paddling instruction, for example, but others are currently getting trained in climbing (rock) instruction. And after my group is done with paddling, several of us will do climbing as well. Other disciplines offered by the WP are backcountry skiing, ice climbing and hiking, but hiking doesn't require extra training, and the other two can only be done in cold environments (contrary to popular belief, Vermont actually does get warm in the summer :p).

So I'll be on campus getting trained until the end of May, and then on June 1st I move into my apartment in Burlington for the summer! I'm living with my boyfriend and six other friends on Cherry St., and we're all working/interning in the area until school resumes. I've got a potential job lined up, but I don't want to announce anything til it's OFFICIAL-official, so more to come on that front pronto. 

Other than that, not too much else going on. But looking forward to a rockin' summer in Burlington!

Thanks for reading!

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and P-Day 2013!

Hey y'all!

The crowd between the opener and
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis on 4/25 at SMC.

It's about that time of the semester. Finals are looming, students are getting stressed, and the weather's getting nice. So what do the students of Saint Michael's do? Rock out to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and blow off some steam at P-Day.

Saint Mike's, like many colleges and universities, has a concert on campus in the spring semester, and this year we were lucky to have Macklemore come to play. Although we've had some big names in the past, this concert was BIG, and sold out not long after tickets opened up to the public.

Normally the concert is quite a bit earlier in the semester, but this year it was held on Thursday, April 25. It's also uncommon that we have the concert on a week-night, but the school allowed it because it was such a rare opportunity. Needless to say classes were a challenge on Friday morning, but we made it through, and it was worth the performance!

Then, this past Saturday we had P-Day; which, if not better than the spring concert, comes in at a close second for best day of the year on campus.

As I understand it, P-Day used to be called Preparation Day, which began as a day for students to take some time to relax and get ready for finals. Nowadays, P-Day is a day-long celebration, most of which takes place on the field adjacent to the 300's townhouses. First is the annual trike race, which is an informal relay between 4-person teams of students that takes place on the rotunda between Alliot and Joyce halls. For the race, students dress up in themed costumes and makeup, and participants are bombarded with candy, shaving cream, and flour as they race around the mini-track. This usually happens in the late morning, and is a cornerstone to the day's celebrations.

Lounging on the lawn.

But the biggest part of P-Day happens on the 300's field, like I mentioned earlier (pictured right). All afternoon, the huge Chew-Chew tent is set up full of local food vendors, along with a stage for music and large inflatables. From approximately 1-5pm, students and guests are invited to engorge themselves on delicious cuisine from the area, play merrily on large, bouncy slides and obstacle courses, and lie under the sun listening to bands that frequent the Turtle Underground, as their music plays across a warm Vermont spring field.

Later in the evening is usually some entertainment followed by a late-night breakfast in Alliot. This year, the entertainment was a sword-swallower, which I missed because of an extended afternoon nap. The breakfast, normally called the "midnight breakfast", ran from 9.30-11pm this year, and here one can find all the typical breakfast fixings to satisfy one's midnight P-Day cravings.

P-Day is a gem, my friends, and a much-needed day of celebration to break the tension between a stressful semester and one's quickly-approaching finals. So as I finish the rest of the semester, I'd just like to thank everyone from Saint Mike's and the local community who helped pull this day together. It means a lot to the students, and is a very appreciated feature of our spring semester.

That's it for now; time to return to the books for a little while longer before the beginning of my last week of sophomore year.

Thanks for reading!

NELGBT Conference

As the end of the semester usually is, this past week has been busy. So sorry for the oddly-staggered timing of my posts.

Last weekend (4/12-/14), a group of Saint Mike's students got to go to the annual NELGBT conference, which was hosted at RIT this year.

The trip was organized by Common Ground, the LGBTQIA group on campus, and twelve of us rode in two vans on Friday night, returning that Sunday. Funny enough, google maps actually brought our caravan through my hometown of Rome, NY, so we stopped and had dinner with my family on the way down. My parents said it was a nice (and unexpected :p) visit.

We got to the hotel late on Friday night, so the conference didn't really begin for us until Saturday. There were three workshop sessions throughout the day, and about 8-10 different workshops for each time period. There were some very compelling choices, and I ended up attending a documentary called Intersexion about people who are intersex, a trans*-ally workshop, and a seminar about the appropriation and use of marginalizing language by people who are marginalized. Some of the workshops were more discussion-based and others were more informational, and most of them had about 40 people in attendance.

The conference also had social aspects for the students, like informal lunchtime caucuses and a Saturday-night dance. In total, there were just under 600 people in attendance, which is a big conference from my perspective (especially since I go to a school of 2000). My favorite part of the weekend was definitely attending the workshops, since it was intellectually stimulating to engage with academics and older members of the LGBTQIA community about current issues in the community.

And speaking of the LGBTQIA community and its allies, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis will be on campus THIS THURSDAY as SMC's annual spring concert! Seeing as the concert has long since sold out, I'd say I'm not the only one looking forward to it ;)

Thanks for reading!

NELGBT Conference 2013.

This past weekend, I went to the NELGBT conference in Rochester, New York at RIT. I traveled with Common Ground, which is the LGBTQIA group at Saint Mike's.
The bulk of the conference was on Saturday. There were three different workshop sessions with seven or eight workshops at a time. I chose Intersexion: a documentary about intersex people, a trans* ally workshop, and a presentation on language use, word appropriation and oppressive language.

When I get some more time tomorrow I'll share stories and photos from the conference!

College Housing: Ethan Allen Apartments Fall 2013.

Hey all!

Recently, SMC students got their housing assignments for the fall. Since Saint Mike's is four-year residential, housing is a pretty integral part of the experience here, so I figured I'd give a quick review of my housing experience here thus far.

Like I mentioned, Saint Mike's is a four-year residential college, which means that all students, with some exceptions, live on-campus. Freshman year, most people live in double rooms on the quad (Joyce, Ryan, and Lyons, plus Alumni, which is for upperclassmen), but there are also singles, and, very occasionally, triples and quads. I lived in Joyce my freshman year, and I have a lot of great memories (Joyce is also closest to Alliot ;p). But  since everyone's in the quad anyway, the first-year housing experience is at least structurally similar across the board.

 

This year, I'm living in Pontigny, which has suites like Cashman and Canterbury, and is common housing for sophomores and juniors. Most of the suites have eight single rooms (some have four), two bathrooms (one in four-person suites), a common room and a fridge, and there's one kitchen on each floor of the building. As a busy student, I've found that I haven't been able to spend much time in my suite, but I have groups of friends who've gotten suites together and created a really nice communal space. The suites are definitely a good option if you've got seven close friends and a sweet common area! And if not, everyone gets a single, so everyone has privacy.

Ethan Allen apartments on North Campus.

But I gotta say, I'm most excited for my housing assignment next year. In the fall, I'll be living with three other guys in an Ethan Allen apartment on North Campus (where there are also dorms for sophomores/juniors), which is common housing for juniors and seniors. The apartments have two double rooms, a bathroom, a full kitchen, a common room, and hardwood floors. I like that the apartments are on north campus, because at the end of the day it'll be like going home to my apartment. Also, I like that I'll have a kitchen to cook in, because although the suites have kitchens on each floor, they're hard to use if you're pressed for time. Also, fun fact: when my dad went to SMC in the eighties, he also lived in Joyce, as well as Ethan Allen (Pontigny wasn't around back then). How cool is that?!

 

So definitely psyched about the fall! I don't want to wish the summer away, but I almost can't wait to post pictures of the sweet new digs when it's all up and running in the fall ;)

 

Thanks for reading!

Home for Easter Weekend.

Hey y'all!

So much pita, so good.

So I just got back from an extended Easter weekend (thank you Catholic higher-ed) at home, which was a much-needed break at this point in the semester. While at home, I was able to fulfill my normal break-time duties (eating, sleeping, skiing), and was also able to make it to my hometown to visit friends while they were home for break. For those who don't know, my family and I actually live an hour east of where I grew up and completed high school, so I don't always see my friends when I do go home. So it was a treat, and not just because I got to nom on this huge pita in downtown Syracuse.

As I briefly mentioned, I also got to go skiing. Friday morning, my dad and I made the 1.75 hour trek up to Gore Mountain from home (Rome, NY), where we found beautiful spring skiing conditions. I was nervous I wouldn't be able to keep up since I've been out for the season, but I think my dad and I were both challenged by each others' abilities :p 

It's crazy that the semester is coming to a close so quickly! On my radar for these last few weeks before finals are: rolling (kayaking), top-rope facilitator (climbing) and Wilderness First Responder for the WP Instructor Training Program, some tour guide shadowing events with Founder's Society, the NELGBT conference with Common Ground, and hopefully one final hoo-rah on the ski slopes! (Oh, and figuring out what the heck I'll be doing this summer).

Until next time :p

Thanks for reading!

Oh, P.S! Just won this sweet alpine snowboard on eBay last night! Woohoo technology ;) Can't wait for next winter!!!

Hope House Throwback.

Just over a week ago I got back from a service trip to Hope House, Long Island, which I talked about here. Tonight was the welcome-back dinner, and during the slide show a video of mine (above) was featured with other photos and videos from the trip; which reminded me that I want to share it here :p again, thanks to Hope House, MOVE and my fellow trip participants!

Thanks for reading!

Incentivized Extra-Curricular Activities and Weekend Nights.

At Saint Mike's there's a lot of learning that goes on outside the classroom. It's not uncommon for professors to assign events as a part of class or for extra credit, and more often than not it's for good reason (you know, like learning and stuff). But seriously, if a professor is encouraging you to go to an event, it means they think you'll find it interesting or useful, and they're worth going to.

Dr. Mullins in Cheray 111.

On Friday, the Tri-Beta Honor Society (science honor society) hosted  Dr. Mullins, an expert on immunology, to talk about his work on melanoma. It was assigned for extra credit for my bio class, and who says no to extra credit (answer: I don't)? So I went, and it was well worth the time. He shared with us about his research, which is geared towards re-training the immune system to fight cancer (melanoma) in the same way it does a cold or other virus, and discussed why we're not already capable of doing this. Definitely interesting, if not a little over my head :p (but heck yes, extra credit!)

Mmm, pizza ;)

After that, the weekend began. Friday night some friends and I went downtown for food, ice cream and ear piercings, at American Flatbread, Ben and Jerry's and Yankee Tattoo. We also checked out Tradewinds, which is an artsy shop that your mom would love (and they sell lots of cool earring and other jewelry). I got some dark green stones for my ear lobes cause green is irrefutably the best color ever.

Then, since it snowed so much this week, we decided to go skiing on Saturday at Smuggler's Notch. The conditions were great, and I'm pretty sure all the trails were open. If nothing else, Doc Dempsey's was open, so it was automatically a shred-alicious (awesome) day of skiing.

As for now, there are just a few days left til the Easter long weekend, for which I am going home and sleeping extensively. Can't wait to see my dog Marcy!

Marcy says thanks for reading ;)

Extended Service Trip to Hope House Ministries.

Hey all!

This past Saturday I got back from a MOVE extended service trip down to Long Island, New York, where five other Saint Mike's students and I got to spend time volunteering and learning about Hope House Ministries. In a few words, the mission of Hope House is to aid the marginalized and the poor (the full mission can be found here), and we got to participate in a few of the organizations services, as well as live and interact with the men living in the community house. The community house is a place where people, primarily young men, come to grow and develop or get back on their feet, many of whom have had problems with addiction. Essentially, the community house serves the need of the community, and over the last decade or so, there's been a need for effective programming to assist young people who are struggling with addiction and other associated problems. Spending time there was really powerful for me; the guys in the house were so open and welcoming, and as a group we got to hear their stories, partake in healthy debate and discussion, and learn how to play dominos and various card games (the Hope House guys can take ANYONE in spades).

Some lively debate in the park.

We also got to volunteer at the Montfort Academy, which is similar to the Hope House model, but for a teenage demographic. I only spent a little time there, but mostly we just hung out with the kids, watched movies, or played basketball (well, Alan, another guy on the trip, played basketball, and we watched). It was inspiring to meet some of these kids and to hear some of their struggles, and to see the opportunities that going to Montfort might help them pursue.

Finally, we also volunteered at Pax Christi, which is a short-term living situation for people who are critically homeless and need a place to recuperate in order to find new housing. Here, we mostly helped with maintenance and making dinner, but I also had the opportunity to sit in on advocacy consultations for people who were in need of a more permanent residence. Having seen this makes college housing seem like pie, since we all know we're guaranteed to live somewhere. Not everyone is as lucky.

All in all, it was a really positive experience, and it all culminated in a group reflection we had with the guys at the community house on the last day. Basically, we opened discussion for everyone to share their experiences and thoughts on having us there, and it was pretty clear to everyone that this week had an impact on all of us. It was humbling to hear how much they enjoyed our presence, and I was pretty honored at what some of the guys shared with us.

If I could take away one thing from this week, it's probably that none of us are better than addiction, and it's impressive that these men are strong enough to cope with it. I was astounded at how powerful some of the stories were, and blown away at how far some of these guys had come from their previous struggles. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to spend my spring break at Hope House, and for that I can't thank them enough.

Thanks for reading! And if you want to learn more about Hope House's mission, or if you want to get involved, definitely check out their website.

From Long Island

Hey y'all!

Quick update: on Long Island for the MOVE service trip I mentioned earlier. Don't and won't have much time to post this week (currently on my phone), so look forward to an update this coming weekend or next week!

-Ben

Allison Bechdel at SMC and Mardi Gras in Burlington

Hey all!

Last week was an eventful one on campus, since the Center for Women and Gender hosted  author Allison Bechdel to speak on her writing process, and work in general. Bechdel is an award-winning lesbian cartoonist, and her work is mostly memoirs and other queer-themed topics. The presentation was funny, informative, and included some highlights from upcoming work. You should check out some of her books if you're interested! I know there are some in the library and a few in the CWG as well (minus one, which is sitting on my desk).

Also, Burlington hosted it's annual Mardi Gras festival and parade downtown this past weekend! Yes, it is a few weeks after the fact, and I'm not totally sure why, but I've heard that the town has it later so it's a little bit warmer for the tourists. Not entirely sure if this is true or not, but hey, why not? It was a great time! Check out some pics:

Some of the crowd... in a tree

Austin Powers? Seems legit.

It was a great weekend! And it's crazy to think there's only this week of classes until spring break... weird.

Thanks for reading!

Volunteering Opportunities: Extended Service

An outstanding characteristic of the Saint Mike's student body is the amount of service they do; nearly 70 percent of the student body will participate in MOVE in some way by graduation. MOVE stands for Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts, and it's the organization that runs just about all the volunteer and service opportunities that are found on campus.

Some of these opportunities are weekly programs such as Baked Love (make meals for local organizations and families with Campus Kitchen), Cause for Paws (working at a greyhound dog shelter) and in warmer weather, working at the school's organic garden.

Another opportunity that's offered is extended service, which entails doing a domestic or international service trip over either winter, spring or summer break. Students have to go on a domestic trip before they can go on an international trip, but although rare, it's possible to do both during your freshman year, like one of my friends did.

In a couple weeks, I get to go on my first extended service trip with a group of fellow students to Hope House in Long Island, New York. Each trip tends to be pretty different, and I've also heard from peers who've gone on this trip that you can't really know what it's all about until you get there. One of my best friends went on the trip our freshman year, and he loved every second of it (and was awarded the "how are you moved?" scholarship, which is a prize awarded to a worthy student going on a service trip, for which they have to complete a project on their experiences). Essentially, I'm not quite sure what to expect, but it sounds fantastic and I can't wait to go! We have a group meeting tonight of all of us going on the trip, and then we leave in two weeks. Once again, the semester's flying by...

Thanks for reading! 'Til next time.

Macklemore + Ryan Lewis in Winooski!

As some of you may have heard, Saint Mike's was fortunate enough to book Macklemore + Ryan Lewis for the spring concert this year!

This past fall I was able to catch their show at Higher Ground with my brother and some buddies, but they've never played on campus before, and it would appear that the school is pretty psyched. I've known diehard fans since my freshman year, and became a fan short thereafter. Since then, their popularity has definitely exploded, and it's hard to meet anyone on campus who doesn't know their name.

Tickets went on sale for Saint Mike's students this week, and sales to the general public open up in a couple weeks. I wouldn't be surprised if it sells out fast, so get your tickets soon! I know I've got mine ;)

Thanks for reading!

Weekend in the Outdoors! (finally)

Hey y'all!

So like I briefly mentioned before, I just had a snow-filled, kinda chilly weekend full of wilder-awesomeness. As a part of the Wilderness Instructor Training Program, in which Boates is also participating, us twelve instructors-in-training (ITP'ers) spent this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday getting acquainted with winter mountaineering gear in the field, and developing skills in maneuvering safely and efficiently in a winter environment.

We were split up into groups A and B, so on Friday each group did one activity, switched activities on Saturday, and on Sunday we did the same hike from opposite ends of the trail, meeting in the middle to high-five and exchange van keys. A description of the weekend is also on the WP Facebook page.

I was in group B ("B" for better ;p), so on Friday we began with snowshoeing down by Sugarbush, VT. I had, oddly, never used snowshoes before, so that was a first for me! It was pretty cool to be walking over snow and ice that would be rocks and streams in the summer, and it was just nice to be outside in general.

Saturday was mountaineering day for group B, so we went up to Smuggler's notch to cruise around in the woods with some crampons and ice picks. Now, I said "cruise around", but this is actually some serious equipment, and we were with a trained professional in a potentially dangerous environment, so this isn't something one should just go out and do with buddies (unless y'all are some mountaineering bosses). That being said, it was a great time, we all stayed safe, and I learned a lot. Also, rappelling down ice is REALLY fun. Check out this photo from the WP facebook page:

Not ice, but still fun.

Last but not least, Sunday was the day that us ITP'ers got to plan our own trip. We made time control plans, collected "group gear" (emergency shelters, emergency stove, etc.), and planned a hike at Camel's Hump in VT. It went well; we hiked the same trail from opposite ends and were able to meet in the middle. Our group had some difficulties in the morning (bad roads, finding trails), but although an hour later than the other group, we made it home safe. It was cold and windy, but we had a good time, and learned a lot about planning and guiding trips.

'Til next time, and thanks for reading!

Weekend in the Mountains!

Hey all!

I just spent a super-sweet long weekend in the mountains trekking through the VT wilderness on snow shoes and learning to navigate mountaineering gear like crampons, picks, ascent devices, etc. It was a great time!

Unfortunately, feeling a little beat after completing my homework, so look for a post tomorrow!

Thanks y'all!

Ambidextrous Orgo and Back to the Slopes.

Hey y'all!

It's been an interesting few days indeed. Given my broken wrist, certain things have been a struggle, and some things I haven't done at all. But I passed two milestones this weekend, and I'm pretty pumped!

First of all, Friday morning I took my first Organic Chemistry test of the semester. On top of the fact that I feel like I did pretty well, I also wrote the whole thing with my previously-non-dominant left hand. Earlier in the semester, I was worried about how I'd be able to take tests and do lab work, so it's exciting that I've made it this far. Maybe that means the cast will come off soon? Probably not, but I'll keep the fingers on my left hand crossed.

Skiing with my boyfriend, Trevor.

Second, I just got back on snow for the first time in 32 days and 20 hours. I haven't been counting, or anything, but it was super sweet to be back on skis! Unfortunately, I'm still not able to ski for real because I can't fit a glove over my cast, and even then I wouldn't be able to grip a pole. But these are baby steps, so I can't complain!

Anyway, back to the Sunday night crunch.

Thanks for reading!

Bill McKibben and Democracy Matters!

I can't believe it's been an entire week!

Since my last post, Bill McKibben has come to campus and left (but not before we got a picture with him), the rest of the week flew by in a whirlwind, I went to a conference in Albany, had an interview on Monday, and am now using today to do all my homework, write blog posts, and get some sleep :p

Bill McKibben: on Fossil Fuel, Divestment, and the Future

 

Bill McKibben is one of my heroes. I learned of him for the first time my fall semester freshman year, and since then have continued to be inspired by his work. 

For those unfamiliar, Bill McKibben is a Middlebury professor and founder of 350.org. He's a prominent figure in the movement to counter climate change, and has written quite a bit on the subject.

Before his talk, a handful of students, mostly Green Up kids, and some faculty got to have dinner with him. I was lucky enough to be one of those students, and it was a really nice event! Some of us were (I was) starstruck, but he was very easy to talk to, and really humble (anyone who's ever interacted with him has said that, though). Basically, on top of the fact that he's a globally-known figure at the front of the movement against climate change, he's still a cool guy (probably has something to do with the fact that he's a Vermonter ;p).

Part of the crowd in McCarthy.

After dinner, we made our way to McCarthy hall, where Bill gave his talk. As one might have guessed from the title of his talk, he spoke substantially on the divestment movement (which sprung from 350's fall 2012 "Do the Math" tour). This talk came at an exciting time for Saint Mike's, since students here have just begun to pursue divestment on our own campus! If you don't know, divestment is a term being used right now to describe the movement of taking one's money out of fossil fuel companies and their constituents, in favor of investing in companies with more environmentally sustainable practices, and a lot of college campuses have begun this process. A list of the main companies from which universities are trying to divest can be found here.

The talk was well-received, and the audience was able to ask some good questions afterwards. I know that I came away from the talk feeling re-invigorated, and I think a lot of others in attendance felt the same way.

Democracy Matters: Getting Private Money Out of Elections

At the end of a busy few days last week, I then got to attend a conference with my boyfriend and other fellow SMC-ers in Albany, NY. The conference was hosted by Democracy Matters, a national student organization that campaigns for publicly-funded elections in lieu of all the private donations that often fund political campaigns. (Democracy Matters has an unofficial chapter at Saint Mike's, but we've begun taking steps towards being recognized as an official club.)

This was also a whirlwind: there were workshops Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning. We learned how to lobby, effective ways to utilize social media, and heard from speakers close to the issue. Gary Holder-Winfield, a publicly-funded politician from Connecticut, spoke about his experience running for office, having participated in the "clean elections" system. Obviously, he was a strong supporter of the work that Democracy Matters does, and it was valuable to be able to hear from someone who had actually elected to participate in a publicly funded elections.

So it was a great and politically-saturated week for me, and needless to say I'm pretty tired. But I had a great time, I learned a lot, and hopefully there are many hours of sleep in store for me tonight :p

Thanks for reading!

A Great College Tradition: Dinner with Friends(' Parents).

For some reason, people love traditions. College students are no exception, and one of my favorite traditions is dinner with parents.

Now Alliot, our dining hall (which is technically the Green Mountain Dining room IN Alliot Hall), is not bad. Some people love it, others would rather cook on their own. But no matter if you despise the dining hall, or think it's the hottest thing since [insert physically appealing individual of choice here] in a [speedo/bikini/etc.], most people agree that it's nice to get off campus from time to time.

And I am one of those people! It is nice, and this semester, I've already been treated to dinner twice by my friends' parents (I consider myself pretty spoiled).
The first time, we went to Vermont Pub and Brewery, which is sweet on so many levels. For parents and others of legal age who like to enjoy beer, I've heard that they have pretty good brews. Plus the food is great, and they have a surprisingly solid selection of vegetarian options (yum ;p). Also, their root beer is pretty bangin' too.

The second time, this past weekend, my friend's mom came up for her birthday. It was a ton of fun, and on Saturday we went out to Asian Bistro in Winooski, where I had veggie pad thai. I haven't been here as much as Vermont Pub, but I thought it was great, and I would definitely head back again. Plus, it's less than half the distance to Winooski circle than it is to Burlington, so it's nice to have good food so close. Also, pad thai.

And that's about it for now! Tomorrow night, SMC is hosting Bill McKibben to talk about fossil fuel divestment and the future of climate change, so you'll definitely see a post from me on the talk within a few days.

Thanks for reading!