Tick Tock...

As the last few days of classes here at SMC are tick tockin' away, there is just one road block stopping us students from getting started to our summer vacation: finals.

This semester, I am required to write a paper for my Anthropology and Lit. Studies class (due during the last week of classes), create a website for my Digital Media class (due on Tuesday of finals week) and my Media Revolutions class requires a final (set for Monday of finals week). Although I may not have a final in each class like some other students do on campus, there are similar ways to de-stress for finals and have a successful last few days!

1. Before finals week approaches, ask your professor questions! If you didn't understand a topic, your professor will be more than happy to answer your questions. You never know... it may be on the exam!

2. STUDY! We all know that we have to study for finals, but be smart about it.

- Take breaks! (For example, study for 30 minutes and take a 5-7 minute break.)

- Rewrite your notes! Organize your notebook to make studying easier.

- Have a study buddy! Help each other out on topics one doesn't understand... this can help but don't get distracted.

- Noisy in the dorm? Go to the Library! Their hours are flexible during finals week.

- DO NOT waste valuable study time. Get bored? Change subjects, it'll keep your mind moving.

3. Get enough rest. The more relaxed and awake you are during the exam, the more focused you'll be!

4. Eat healthy. Think of what Mom would want you to eat.

5. DO NOT LEAVE STUDYING FOR THE DAY BEFORE. Don't cram the info. into your head, because most likely you won't remember most of the material.

If you stick to a list like this one mentioned above, you should have a stress-free, successful finals week. My high school Physics teacher once told my class this: "Do not study 24 hours before the exam. Eat right and relax that day. You should know the material by then, because if you don't, the last 24 hours will not suffice a full semester's worth of info."

Good luck on finals SMC!

Questions? Send me an Email or send a question through Formspring!

Namaste 5K Fun Run

Namaste!

This past Sunday was the "Namaste 5K Fun Run" hosted by MOVE! This run was organized to help support MOVE International's 10th anniversary trip to Kolkata, India this coming summer. The run was open to anyone, at a price of $15 per participant. All proceeds and donations given to this trip goes straight to the organizations MOVE International works with.

Some of my fellow swimmers and I decided to participate in the run on that cold, cloudy Sunday morning in Vermont. Although our plan to start and finish the race together didn't work out so well (we all take running at different speeds), we all completed the 5K successfully! Although I was not in the best shape and the run may have hurt a little, I am glad to have accomplished my first 5K.

The team before the run:
(Steph, Andrew, Nathan, Victoria, Corine,
Me, Joe, Maddie, Kathleen)

Nathan in front... Steph, myself and
Kathleen trailing behind.

Steph and I mid-run. Cheesin' for Andrea.

Last strides to the finish!

Events like these really make our team closer, and it proves how much we care and support the other groups/teams on campus. If you plan on attending SMC, come join us in the run next year. Not only is it for a great cause, but it can definitely help whip you into shape!

Photos taken by Captain Andrea!

Weekend Highlights

So this weekend was definitely an eventful one! First off, I had the opportunity of hosting a Swim Recruit who stayed overnight Friday into Saturday. This was my first recruit and I think I did a pretty good job showing him the positives here at St. Mike's. He was recently accepted to SMC, so he was here for the Accepted Students Day on Saturday! We went to the Ross Center to shoot some hoops, went to Alliot to get some lunch and we met up with the Swim Team so my recruit could meet most of the swimmers, who we ended up hanging out with for the rest of the night. We all hope he left here thinking, "I Like St. Mike's"!

I also got a visit from my two good friends back at home, Ryan and Liz. Unlike my recruit, they stayed here the entire weekend so I had to show them much more other then the campus life. During Saturday afternoon, I drove the both of them down to Burlington to show-off Church Street and its wonderful restaurants and stores. We first got some lunch at Ken's Pizza, then we got ice cream afterwards. They definitely underestimated the Vermont life (coming from New York), but I'm glad I got to show them otherwise!

On Sunday morning, I drove Liz back to the train station so she could get back to UMass Amherst. After our return, Ryan and I, along with my other friends grabbed some breakfast and headed to Doc Jacobs Field to watch our friend play baseball. But we left a little early because we didn't want to miss out on Green Up's Earth Fest! Earth Fest is a fair in which students practice and educate the importance of our nature and environment. There was live music, ice cream from the well-known Ben and Jerry's, and food from local food chains. Green Up has worked hard all year to make this event happen, so it was nice to see everything get put together and finalized.

My eventful weekend ended with a nice game of KanJam with a few friends out in the Quad. If you don't know this game, it's perfectly fine... most of my friends didn't really know about it either. The game
is simple: There are two cans that are set up about 50 feet apart. Each can has a little hole in front where a frisbee can be thrown into. The object of the game is that you and your partner try to get the frisbee into that hole. Since that is rare, there is a point value. If you hit the can with the frisbee, its 2 points, but if the frisbee hits the can with the help of your partner, its 1 point. The frisbee can be hit into the can by your partner giving you 3 points. If the frisbee happens to get into the can, that is 4 points. There are occasions when someone does get the frisbee into the little hole! If that happens, the game is over! If not, the team who gets to 21 points first wins.

Hope everyone enjoys the hot day tomorrow!
P.S. Perfect day for KanJam

SMC Blogger Ben (above) cookin' up some
fine hamburgers at Earth Fest!

Easter Surprise!

So this past weekend was our Easter Recess! The students get a 4-day weekend to spend the Easter holiday either at home, with friends, or even on campus. I decided to fly back home to spend the weekend with my family and friends, but I also added a little surprise.

Our break began after our last class on Thursday, April 5th. When I told my Mom this, she was upset because I would be missing her birthday which happened to be the day before on April 4th. I told her I couldn't afford to miss any of my classes and that I would celebrate her birthday when I got back later that night on Thursday. When I realized that one of my classes was cancelled that Thursday and that I could make up the rest of my work when I got back from break, I decided to fly home Wednesday morning and surprise my Mom for her birthday!

I immediately called my Dad and told him about my plan and he thought it was a great idea. I bought my plane ticket for Wednesday morning at 6am so I could make it home before my Mom woke up. Since the Burlington International Airport is literally 3-5 minutes away from campus, I was able to get a friend to drive me that morning (mind you it was 5:00am!) My Dad picked me up at JFK Airport back on Long Island and when I got home I woke up my Mom who was pleasantly surprised! My sister came home from school as well and we went to a nice dinner at a Mexican Grill called Mangoes.

Me (Aidan), Mom, and Briana (sister)

As you can see, I posted a picture of my sister, my mom, and myself after our Mexican-styled dinner. Can you tell that the photo seems more clear and professional compared to a normal picture taken on a cell phone? Well, while on break I discovered a new app on the iPhone called Instagram. With this app, you can take photos on your cell phone and apply filters to make your photo seem more, well, professional. Also, after editing your pictures, you can share them with friends who follow you. I know this app may have been out for a while now, but I am a little behind on whats "in" in the iPhone world (I got an iPhone for my birthday after Christmas in December.) Here are some photos I have taken so far:

My dog Bella

My other dog Sandy

Colored Easter eggs

Bunny Tower (Jenga, but Easter version!)

I'm guessing Instagram will soon be a top hit, now that Facebook bought it for $1 billion dollars. Try it out!

Questions? Don't forget you can ask me anonymously through Formspring or send me an Email

Free Cone Day!

FREE CONE DAY! Never heard of it? Well, neither have I... until this past Tuesday!

So April 3rd, 2012 was Ben and Jerry's Free Cone Day! Ben and Jerry's happily gave away their ice cream on Tuesday as a way to say "Thanks!" to their customers and to celebrate over 3 decades of successful ice cream making! Me and a few friends decided to drive down into Burlington to take advantage and enjoy the free ice cream!

Take a look at the pictures I took there...

"Peace, Love & Ice Cream"- (Bracelet modeled by
my friend Andrea) Won this by answering
a B & J's trivia question!

The line was super long...

But we beat the crowd! (The line went all
the way back and around the corner.)

Me with my Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl
cone (Highly recommended.)

Mike, Victoria, Andrea and Nick on Church
Street enjoying their Free Cones!

Tori and Andrea as Choco Chip
Cookie Dough

As soon as we got our ice cream, we found out Ben and Jerry's had made a stop to St. Mike's to hand out the free ice cream in the Quad! Either way, we still got to enjoy our ice cream on a beautiful Vermont day.

Ben and Jerry's Fun Fact (and the answer to my trivia question): Ben and Jerry's was established in 1978... right here in Burlington!

Why SMC?

First blog post!

So, why not make my very first post about why I decided to come all the way up here to SMC in Vermont? Well to be honest, I never heard of Saint Michael's College until I received the Saint Michael's College Book Award through my high school as a junior. It was a scholarship given to one junior based on their leadership and service qualities. Since my original plan was to attend a school no more than 4 hours away, applying to SMC was just a "back-up".

Being that my sister is the oldest child, my Dad had never been through the college process before. Nervous that she wouldn't have a lot of options, my Dad had her apply to 21 schools! (She broke my high school's record for most college applications.) Since I went with Briana on most of her college visits and my Dad realized that 21 schools was more than enough options, I applied to 14 institutions (not that 14 is any better than 21).

After the application process, I waited for the letters to come filing in the mail. One letter, though, stood out to me like a sore thumb. It was a purple envelope with a golden seal. I wondered which college could have sent something this fancy. Opening my acceptance letter to SMC was like opening a Wonka Bar with a golden ticket inside. I didn't expect to have this feeling when getting accepted into my "back-up" school. As the other letters came in, I just didn't have that same feeling, except for one other school: Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York.

The next step was to visit the campuses. When I visited Le Moyne, I instantly loved the campus. I even said to my Dad, "You know that feeling you get when your at the right college? I got the feeling here" (he still jokes about it with me till this day). My Dad told me to still keep my options open, since I still had to visit SMC. When I visited SMC and had my recruit trip for the Swim Team, just like Le Moyne, I instantly loved the campus. Unlike Le Moyne, though, I also loved the community atmosphere. Everyone was so nice, and I even enjoyed the smaller campus.

A few weeks after both my trips to Le Moyne and St. Mike's, I sent in my deposit to SMC. Yes, Le Moyne was nice, but St. Mike's was simply irresistible. They have so much to offer academically and socially, and Church Street in Burlington is just a short 5 minute bus/car ride. Being up here, I even tried Ben & Jerry's ice cream for the first time! My experiences at Saint Michael's College have been memorable, and I cannot wait to spend the next 3 years here!