So... Its been a while. The last time I blogged there was just around 100 days left until graduation, and now we're down to about 75. I can't even believe how quickly the time is flying by! The senior class held an event at a bar in Faneuil Hall - McFadden's - last Thursday to celebrate the last 100 days of . It was such a fun time! A lot of people were able to hang out with current friends while catching up with old friends - friends from living in the dorms, friends from a course taken freshmen year, former coworkers, or whatever. And there was such an eclectic group of people there; it was definitely refreshing to see some new faces at a Suffolk event. This was the first Suffolk event that my friend Kelly's boyfriend had ever attended, and he was amazed that the unique vibe we had within our student population. He said, "Wow... I had no idea that so many different types of people go to Suffolk." Its absolutely so true; we have so many types of people here and the diversity of the student body really adds something to our campus - both in- and outside of the classroom. Anyway, it was such a great time, and I'm so excited for the rest of the "Senior Week" celebrations!

I also have some exciting updates for my graduate school applications: I was accepted into one of the programs I applied to at Tufts!! : ) I'm so pumped... I got accepted into their M.A. - Child Development program, and I have an interview this Saturday for their M.Ed. - School Psychology program. I also have an interview at Columbia University's Teachers College next Wednesday! Needless to say, I'm really nervous about the interviews. I mean, I was accepted into a program for next year so I have a definite plan to continue my education in the fall and therefore should feel a bit relieved about everything, but I'm still freaking out. Its funny, I tell prospective students on my tours that I know how anxious they are about college because I'm in the same boat. I absolutely know how you guys feel; its a bit overwhelming, but as someone who has gone through my undergraduate years, I can assure you that its well-worth the hard work and stress it takes to get to college.

Well, anyways... I guess that's enough "college wisdom" for now... Haha Catch ya next week! Peace and Love : )

100 days left!

Its pretty quiet down here in the Welcome Center, so I figured this would be a great opportunity to blog...

Less than 100 days until graduation. Pure insanity. I can't even believe it. I was at the senior week meeting last week, and someone was talking about how she had written the countdown in her planner. At that point it was 106 days, and when she announced it to everyone, the committee let out this collective sigh. It wasn't really one of those sighs of relief, but rather one of those UGHHH moments when we all took on this look of panic. I mean, its definitely exciting, but its scary. Are we supposed to be adults or something?? I'm hoping to go to school again next fall, but for the majority of our graduating class, this will be the first time they've been out of school for 17, 18, 19 years. WHHHAATTT?? I definitely feel like Suffolk has prepared us as much as an higher ed. institution possibly could, but lets get real. You can't wake up one day, go get your diploma and know how to be a grown up.

Luckily I feel like I've gotten a lot of the scary "firsts" over with while I've been in school: my first apartment, my first bills, my first attempts at devising and following a budget, my first experiences traveling alone, and my first time trying to juggle 5 or 6 real responsibilities at once. Many people have to deal with all of these situations while trying to find a "real job" and coping with being out of school after graduation, but I really feel that being at Suffolk has forced me to grow up a little faster. This is a good thing, though. Everyone needs to learn to be responsible at some time, and it might as well be when you're a student. Its somewhat comforting to know that my biggest worry upon graduation isn't really the crazy financial adjustment, but rather the getting-used-to-being-out-of-school part.

Anywho, back to what is relevant to today and now.... I'm currently having a great last semester of my undergraduate career. I'm taking Abnormal Psychology with Dr. Bursik - one of my professors from last semester and the Chairperson of the entire department. She is brilliant, and it is great to already know my professor and the majority of my classmates going into the semester. We've been learning about some really cool things, and have our first exam on Thursday on anxiety disorders and the basics of psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and humanism. I am also taking Social Work with Families, which is turning out to be a really interesting class. What I really like about that class is the fact that its more of a seminar rather than a lecture class, meaning the students do most of the talking. We learn a lot and our professor facilitates the discussions, but we can bring a lot of our personal experiences with our own families into the discussion, so it makes things really interesting.

My last class I'm taking is Psychology Internship. The class itself isn't demanding; we meet for an hour a week. To complete my internship requirements, I've been working at the Commonwealth Children's Center on Beacon Hill. So far its been such an awesome experience! I work in the Pre-K room with 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds. The kids are so adorable, and its been so much fun so far. I will definitely keep you updated...

On that note, I need to be getting back to helping Lindsey and Kristina in the WC... Peace : )

Seven down, One to go...

So now that its finally the fourth week of the semester, I guess its time to get back to blogging. We had around one glorious month of vacation between semesters, and it was nothing short of fantastic. I had plenty of time to go home and see my family, and lots of time off to celebrate our temporary freedom from studying and going to class. I'm going to be completely honest, though: towards the end of vacation, I was really excited to head back. I'm not really used to not having a lot of responsibility in my life, and the lack of running around like a crazy person really started to bore me.

My best friend, Rebecca, came to visit for a few days right after the New Year. She currently lives in London, and we hadn't seen one another since August. We've done a really great job with keeping in touch, but nothing compares to being able to spend time together in Boston. I had so much fun with her; it was by far the highlight of my break.

I also completed all of my graduate school applications over break... I will definitely keep you posted on this. : )

Anyway, I was so ready to come back to school by the second week of January. I missed the first week and a half of Suffolk classes, however, because I went to Washington D.C. for Obama's Inauguration. It was one of the most exciting and exhausting experiences of my life. 92 Suffolk kids ventured down to North Bethesda, Maryland on January 10th to partake in a seminar held by The Washington Center for 10 days. We heard from so many different influential people and visited so many great sites. A few of our sessions were even shown on C-SPAN. Suffolk was by far the most represented university at this national program, and we were all so proud to be there. Being there also made us realize how fortunate we were to go to Suffolk for a few reasons. Many students had to be elected to attend and represent their school, or had to be political science or government majors to attend, but Suffolk opened it up to all students. Also, many students had to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket to participate in the seminar, but Suffolk covered all of our expenses except for transportation and food costs. We even received 4 credits for taking a 6 day class! I was repeatedly told that I was so lucky that I go to a school that would be so supportive of its students participating in such a unique program, and I definitely agree with that. I attended the program with Emily, Beckee, and TJ so be sure to check out their blogs for their takes on the trip, as well.

Although we did so many really interesting things and had so many once-in-a-lifetime moments, here are my favorites:

1.) Watching DC transform into a place that could accommodate for millions of extra people in preparation for the Inauguration,
2.) Visiting many of the monuments and my favorite museum: the Holocaust museum,
3.) Visiting the Human Rights Campaign, which fights for something I am so passionate about,
4.) Hearing the Ambassador to Pakistan and a representative from the Israeli Embassy both discuss their takes on U.S. involvement in the conflict in the Middle East,
and 5.) Seeing Obama drive past us when we were at the Capitol. This picture is of my friend, Kelly, and I after the Obama sighting... So excited! haha

Being in DC with so many people who were so excited for Obama's Inauguration was absolutely unreal. The city had this hopeful vibe wherever we went. We saw some ridiculous things - Obama hand-puppets, for example - but the most memorable thing I saw was the sea of people who were gathered for Obama's concert that aired on HBO. There seemed to be a never-ending sea of people who were clapping, cheering, and hoping to catch just a glimpse of our 44th President. The experience was definitely one that I will never forget, and I am so thankful that Suffolk afforded me the opportunity to partake in such a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Until next time... Peace : )

Right now I am sitting downstairs at the Welcome Center, working my last hour of the semester with my lovely Kristina. That's right, the fall semester is officially over on Thursday. I had my last day of classes last week, and I'm not going to lie... It was kind of sad. I got really close to a lot of my classmates because three of them were really small, discussion-based groups. One of my classes had nine people in it, one had fifteen people, and the third had around twenty students. All depended on the participation of each person to guide the course of the class, so we definitely got to know each other really well and were able to have really great class discussions. That is definitely one thing that I am so appreciative of at Suffolk: the emphasis on discussions rather than lectures in class; its so much more interesting. I'll be so excited to be free from the hectic schedule that I have going on now when break officially begins at 3pm on December 11 (after my last final)! Can't wait!

Emily and I were talking the other day about all of the awesome things we have to look forward to in December, and I decided to share my list here...

December is bringing us:
1.) Great joy!/Vacation!
2.) Sleep
3.) New York City (trip with Emily, Rich and our friend Brian)
4.) Winter Ball
5.) A social life
6.) Christmas
7.) a New Year

Thus far, we've only had the Winter Ball. It was on Friday night, and it was a lot of fun! I went with some friends (HEY KELLY, MELISSA and SHEENA!*shout out*) and my favorite roomie, and we had an absolute blast. I never usually dance because I'm so awful at it, but decided to get over myself and try it regardless of how badly I embarrass myself. I ended up having a great time and everyone looked so fabulous. It made me really sad to think that we only have one more ball left before graduation. We'll definitely live it up, though. : )

On that note, I'm going to wrap up this last blog of the semester. I wish everyone a fantastic holiday season, and I'll be back to update after the New Year. Happy December, everyone! See you in 2009! : )

Ok, so I know its been a while since I've last blogged, but things around here have been pretty crazy lately.

First things first - Open House was actually pretty decent. Usually its crazy for Tour Guides and the rest of the Admissions staff because we're busy making sure everything is running smoothly. This year it seemed abnormally under control (at least it was from my standpoint) so the day was pretty fun. It was nice to work with all of the Tour Guides at once since our hours in the office are scattered throughout the week. All in all, we had a decent turn out despite the strange weather - on-and-off showers and outrageous humidity - so we were all pretty happy about that. If you're one of the people who attended Open House, we hope that you found it pretty informative! : )

Other than that, November is a crazy month once you get to college just because of the way the semester is set up. Basically, September is usually off to a slow start, with maybe only one or two tests or papers towards the end of the month because school is just beginning. October is when you would usually have the first round of midterms or projects due, so things start to pick up. November is crazier, however, due to a few things:
1.) School's been in session for a few months now, and most people start to get worn down from studying so much or working so much, or they're bored from the weekly routine in general.
2.) The second and maybe even third round of things are due because the semester is wrapping up.
3.) We have Thanksgiving break.
While I love nothing more than time at home with my family and an excuse for eating everything in sight, I usually find myself wishing that Thanksgiving was at a different time. This year, its abnormally late in the month. What this translates to in terms of the academic semester is that we have one last week of classes when we get back, with finals week following that. We have two and a half days of school, five days off, four days of school, three days off, and then finals begin. Its an inconvenient time to have such a hectic schedule, but I am definitely looking forward to break.

I'm so pumped about the line-up for my Turkey Day vacation:
- Wednesday: Taking the commuter rail home and meeting my parents and sister in Worcester to go to a concert. We're going to see The Eagles, and I couldn't be more excited. LOVE THEM!
- Thursday: Eat great food and watch the family bicker - what else could be better?
- Friday: Seeing my friends from home (YAY) and working on grad school applications (YUCK)
and -Saturday: Putting up the Christmas Tree with my fam for the first time in three years. Its one of my favorite traditions, but getting us all around at once to do it together is usually pretty tough. My mom has this thing about not putting the tree up too early, but because Thanksgiving is late this year, she's letting us do it while we're home. So pumped!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I just wanted to make a quick list of things that I am particularly thankful for this year. Its not just about the food, ya know... : )
~ My health, and the fact that I haven't gotten really sick yet this school year (knock on wood...)
~ My family - The best people in the world.
~ My roommate, who is brave enough to wake me up from a nap when I ask her to, knowing that I'll be ridiculously cranky when I get up.
~ My best friend, who still finds time to call me and listen to my crazy rants despite the fact that she has moved to London and is traveling through Europe with her graduate program.
~ My friends, especially my North End family, for helping me get through the craziness... and for being corny enough to have game nights and an early Thanksgiving dinner with me.
~ Everyone who has sacrificed anything to help me get to where I am today. I'm definitely in a good place in my life.
(Sorry for the corniness.. it wouldn't be my blog without some sort of sentimental touchy-feely crap, right?)

On that note, I need to go get some homework done. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! : )