New Semester Resolutions: Impossible? I Think NOT!

With the start of a new year, everyone is obsessed with making New Year's Resolutions! It's the first conversation starter once you ring in the new year. To keep myself on track, I always try to carry out New Semester Resolutions. What do I want out of the new semester? How to I plan to get it? Here are a few of my New Semester Resolutions (that are SO NOT impossible!).

1. A Six-Pack -  From the very start of the new semester, my friend Tan Wai and I pledged to get six-packs by the end of the semester. Easy? Well, no. Possible? YES! I go to the gym every morning before my 1:15/1:30 class and have gone back to a vegan diet, which has given me so much energy and determination! After a workout, I have better concentration in class and am fully awake throughout the day! In all honesty, if I don't end up with a six-pack by the end of the semester I won't be devastated, but I'm sure I'll appreciate the improvements I made for my health!

2. A Better Sleep Schedule - Sleep is very, very important. Especially in college. While I may not get a full 12 hours of sleep (that's a joke, since I technically could sleep all day but shouldn't), I do want to get a night's rest that rejuvenates me in the morning. I spent much of the fall semester exhausted, and I don't want that exhaustion to carry on into this semester!







3. A 4.0 GPA - Last semester, I achieved this goal, and I'm aiming for it again! This semester presents new challenges now that I have begun my 200 and 300 level classes, but I am determined to at least do my best. At the end of the day, if I gave something 110% of my effort, then I see it as a success story.

4. To Stay Cool, Calm and Collected - While I may not be hitting the yoga mat anytime soon due to my extreme lack of coordination, I do want to stay in the "chill" zone. I've learned that stress does not solve any of my problems. It adds to them. I aim to have faith in myself and stay calm rather than hyperventilate about something that I can't change. I'm pretty successful with this so far, and I'm sure that if I keep it up, I'll definitely be able to achieve whatever I set my mind to!

CONGRATULATIONS!!! AND A VLOG!!!

Congratulations to those of you who have received your acceptances through Early Action I at St. Mike's!!! This is such an exciting time for you and I couldn't be happier for you!!! Make sure you take advantage of campus tours and information sessions in order to make the best decision that you can (which I believe is St. Mike's!)!

I am also very excited that it is CHRISTMAS TIME, and I wanted to show you how Christmassy my house is! I decided vlogging was the best way to do so!

Voila, my first vlog!

A MAJOR Discussion!

I've decided to take a much-needed break from my tedious studying for finals in order to address a concern that is relevant to you: MAJORS. While picking a major may seem like a major decision (I know, very punny), your major does not have to be the be-all-end-all. If you're going to spend the next four years studying something, it may as well be something you love, regardless of where it will "get you" in the long run.

I started out as a Media, Journalism and Digital Arts major, and I expected to keep this major throughout my four years. While pursuing journalism was rewarding and challenging, I still felt like I was missing something. I liked pursuing MJD as a hobby, but I didn't know if I wanted to pursue it for a career path. I wanted to do something where I could have more interaction with people, and so I got the sudden inspiration to declare a Psychology major and make MJD my minor during my second semester of freshman year. After taking a few Psychology classes this semester, I know I couldn't have made a better decision.

This semester, I recognized an increasing interest for learning more about world religions, and once again made a significant change. I dropped my MJD minor and declared a Religious Studies minor instead, and for the Spring semester I plan to make Religious Studies my double major. My advisor was a great help during these changes and helped to make the process easy and efficient. Last year, I would have never pictured myself as a Psychology and Religious Studies double major! It's amazing to see where a Liberal Arts Education can take you!

If you want my advice for choosing a major for your freshman year, just remember to be open to other opportunities! The average college student changes their field of study not one, not two, but three times! There are plenty of faculty here at St. Mike's who would love to help you on your journey of self-discovery, so just enjoy and be open to new experience! You're bound to find the major that's right for you!

Class Registration... The Best and The Worst of It

So here it is: the time when all of us at St. Mike's start to rejoice and panic about the courses we should take during the next semester. Will we get all the classes we need and want, or will we have to make compromises? Does next semester look promising, or a bit more challenging than we expected? Stay tuned...

Just kidding! While class registration can be a bit intimidating, it usually all works out for the best. You, however, have to be the one who knows what you want and why. Best case scenario in registration is that you get all the classes you wanted for next semester right away, and worse case scenario is that Knightvision locks you out and you get none of them. I fell somewhere in the middle for this registration period. I only got into one of my planned classes.

So what do you do if you don't get into the classes you want right away?

(1) Email the professor! If you email them as soon as you receive notice that their course is closed, then you are likely to secure a petition seat rather than a spot on the waiting list! I secured two petition seats for two classes that I really needed and wanted!

And/Or

(2) Keep on checking throughout your registration period/open registration! Other students are moving around their schedules as well, and you may find one last open seat waiting for you later in the day! I secured my fourth class this way!

So now that you know I am a fully registered student for the Spring 2013 semester, I will show you my class schedule:

RS 350-B Religion and Film 3:15-5:15pm M, W (Wednesday is lab/film night!)
PS 214-A Research Methods I 1:15-2:50pm T, Th
RS 255-A Aztec Goddess/Christian Madonna 1:30-3:05pm
PS 250-A Social Psychology 3:00-4:35pm

I'm SO excited for this upcoming semester! See? Registration does work out!

My First Higher Ground Experience!! Switchfoot Concert!!

We're all aware of the stereotypical college to-do list. If you want an authentic college experience, you just have to check off certain things, like tie-dye and rock concerts! Luckily, I've done both within the past two weeks, so I officially fit into the category of stereotypical college student! Woohoo! (Granted, I'm into my sophomore year, but it's better late than never, right?)

On Thursday, I embarked on my first Higher Ground experience! For those of you who don't know what Higher Ground is, it's this super cool music and comedy venue that fits right in with the college scene! If you're ever coming up to Vermont for an extended amount of time, you should totally check out what's going on there!

It was an awesome experience! I went with my friends Lauren, Tan Wai, and Lindy (as shown below) and we had an amazing time!

From left: Lauren Mazz, Tan Wai, Lindy, and me :)

Seeing Switchfoot live was pretty much LTL (Larger Than Life. I don't even know if LTL's a thing, I just did it to be cool) since I've blasted Dare You To Move and Meant to Live multiple times throughout my life. It was also really cool to hear their other songs that I wasn't familiar with. I've been blasting their music on Spotify ever since.

Photo Credits to Tan Wai

Rock and Roll, baby!

So I would definitely say that my first Higher Ground experience was a success! Oh, and I almost forgot to show you my tie-dye shirt!

GO TIE-DYE!!

A New You? A New Me? Some Tea Talk about Transitions

This may seem like an odd question, but why do we drink tea? To calm ourselves? To socialize? To ponder our lives? To appear sophisticated?

Though I am not the Queen of England, I drink tea every now and then. Today, I happened to set aside a tea time with my Examined Life First Year Seminar professor, and even though I am now a sophomore, I still sat with him to do the very thing we sought to do throughout that first year course: to examine my life.

Transitions are always hard, and to be honest, up until now I haven't been coping well with being a sophomore. I had so many convictions my freshman year about who I wanted to be, and what was right and wrong. I thought I knew so much about the world and about myself. This semester, I realized I don't know what I know.

It's an odd feeling, because then you have to figure out who you are from scratch. As a freshman, I relied so much on my intellect and my independence to make me happy, but coming in as a sophomore, I started to recognize some changes in myself. My social interactions started to change, as I started to rely on my sense of humor in showing people who I really am, rather than just presenting them with this image of who I thought I was supposed to be (which was pretty much the whole smart, successful, independent spiel. All good things, but not a complete picture).

Luckily, I am definitely not alone in this journey of figuring out who I am. Not at St. Mike's. Over tea and conversation, my seminar professor was very supportive of the "new me", or at least, the process of discovering a "new me". We both agreed that questioning yourself is a way to grow. It's exciting and it's freeing, because you no longer have to be confined to who you thought you were or who you thought you were supposed to be. You're finally free. Free to choose who you are and how you want to live your life.

I thought this blog might be helpful to those of you who have made a major (or minor) transition, whether it be your first year at St. Mike's, your last year of high school, or simply your transition into your sophomore, junior, or senior year. Wherever you are in your life, you should know that what you are doing is a good thing. It's okay to admit that maybe, just maybe, you were wrong. And it's okay to start from scratch, to wipe an old palette clean. This world is a wonderful, confusing place, and the only way to really appreciate it is if you really consider how you want to live in it.

St. Mike's has such a wonderful, supportive community, and I am so glad I have people like my First Year Seminar professor to put me in perspective and assist me on my journey. You can always find someone to talk things out with. So go on! Grab a friend, a professor, or even me! My door is always open, and I am just a tweet/email/holler-if-you-must away! Just remember to be patient with yourself during this time and appreciate the mystery! :)

“The unexamined life is not worth living” - Socrates

Her Campus is coming!!!

Hey guys!

Have you checked out HerCampus.com? Well if you haven't, get ready to because...

Thanks to the wonderful minds of Lauren Mazzoleni and Alex Brenock, we are starting a Her Campus St. Mike's chapter! If you don't know what Her Campus is, it's an online magazine that colleges all across the country are involved with! We're going to be posting cool stuff about different events around Burlington and on campus, SMC fashion profiles, Campus Cuties, Campus Celebrities, and more! Our launch date is SEPTEMBER 18th, so make sure you log onto www.hercampus.com/smcvt to check out all the cool things we will be posting!

Oh, and by the way, Her Campus isn't just for girls! We have guys writing for us, too, so if you happen to be a guy or know a guy who is interested in St. Mike's, don't be afraid to log on!

I just wanted to share this exciting news with you! I hope you are all having a good week and I will be blogging again soon! :)