Spring Break

Hey guys!

Today for me is the first official day of Spring Break, with my definition as the first day without school. It's a great relief to not have to worry about school for the next week because the weeks since Christmas have been fairly stressful - I've had all my first exams, saw the men's Hockey team win the Beanpot again this year, and I've gotten a little bit of sleep. However, tonight I'm not headed home or sporting a bikini in some warm tropical place. Right now, I'm still in my dorm.

This spring break I will be going down to Narrows, Virginia, with the Appalachia Volunteers. I joined in the fall as a freshman and we've been meeting nearly every Sunday since September. There are over 600 members and 38 sites from Maine to Georgia where you can either go on a Habitat for Humanity trip or a Community trip - which is what I'm doing. We've been told that we will be making a ramp for a disabled member of the community, doing some maintenence work in the high school, playing with kids in the day care, and listening to the stories of the community members during the meals they're eager to make for us. We're heading down there tonight (we're leaving Lower Dining Hall at 6pm) and making the 12 hour trip through the night so we can get some sleep. We're leaving Virginia around dinner time on Friday and will get back sometime Saturday morning. It should be a fun and eye opening experience for our group of 15 students (in all grades from freshmen to seniors).

I'll be sure to tell you about it when I get back!

Taylor Dean
deantb@bc.edu

Rallying for Relay

Every year, Boston College hosts the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life" in the Plex. The tennis courts are transformed into a sea of sleeping bags, blow-up mattresses, and college students from all different groups, clubs, and social scenes. For one night, all differences are put aside to support the fight against cancer. And this year, BC students raised over $140,000 to support cancer research!

The Student Admissions Program team had tremendous success in its effort to raise money for Relay. To raise a few extra dollars through the night, SAP members made pancakes to sell to those brave enough to stay from 6pm through 6am. The pancakes were a huge success (except for when I accidentally put the batter on a griddle that wasn't hot and liver-shaped pancakes resulted!). Other teams sold cookies, brownies, even colored hair extensions! Although I was tempted, I decided against rocking pink and purple highlights :)

That's all for now! Stay posted for some fun Relay photos!

-Kathryn

Dancing through the week

Hey guys!
I just finished another 4 hour dance practice tonight, I'm so tired! I am a member of the Dance Organization of Boston College, a group that is student-run that performs dances that are student-choreographed. Every Monday and Wednesday, we have an hour of required practice, and each girl decides which of the dances she wants to perform. I absolutely love it, but it does take up a lot of time! I am very tired now, but I have to study for a bio test and write a history paper for next week. Starting early, but somehow I never seem to have enough time... like most BC students, I am always so busy! I'll probably lock myself in Bapst (the 24 hour "silent" library on campus) all weekend, unless something more fun comes along....

Anyway, if anybody has any questions about dance or BC in general, feel free to email me!

-Kathryn
carliskb@bc.edu

Help Desk

Hey all,

Sorry I haven't blogged lately, but this is because I was without a laptop. It was a fluke incident - a faulty hard drive - and it doesn't happen to everyone. However, because of this incident, I found out about a couple of great resources.

The Walk-In Help Desk saved my life. I had spent hours on the phone with the computer company getting no where so one of my friends told me to stop by the Help Desk on Monday when they were open. I did. The friendly folks down there help me out. They took my laptop, diagnosed the problem, and helped me figure out what I needed to do. Once my new hard drive arrived in the mail they removed the faulty one and installed everything I needed.

Thank you, Help Desk.

While my laptop was broken, I studied and used the computers in the lab right across from the Help Desk in the O'Neill Library. It's a nice place to study with a laptop lounge, Macs, and PC's, so there is something for everyone. And I got to use some of my 500 free printing pages.

If you ever need it, the computer lab is a good place to go.

Planning Ahead in My Life

Hey all!

I'm back, and doing better than ever this year! I've been keeping pretty busy, but after almost two and a half years of school, I've finally begun to settle into a solid direction in life. I know, wicked scary, right?

I've found myself two main courses of study; I haven't yet planned out every detail, but I'm hoping they can both be majors, in the end, between Music and Computer Science. I love them both equally, and there are actually a lot more similarities between them than you'd expect at first. Either way, as I learn more about each of them, I find myself more and more interested in studying them!

Over the summer, I got a taste of what a professional work environment is like in the C.S. world, while I worked here on campus while rebuilding a large portion of BC's websites. It was actually quite fun and interesting, and I'm putting everything I learned there in use for the Student Admissions Program now! I've taken the role of SAP Online Coordinator, so if you ever have any questions pertaining to the website, feel free to let me know.

This semester, I joined the University Chorale after a completely impromptu audition, and by some strange trick of fate, got in! I absolutely love the group now, and it's an awesome experience - we're singing Mozart's requiem in D Minor this fall, and in the Spring, I'm going with them to Ireland to perform in a few places around the country!

Here we are performing with the Boston Pops

I'm definitely still into a broad range of subjects; I came into school with a Physics major, and have switched to Chemistry to a very brief stint trying to join the Lynch School of Education, to Computer Science as it is today. My roommate is convinced I'm going to graduate from the Theatre department by the time I'm done. It's one of my favorite parts of BC - you can be specialized in a subject, but still dip your toes all around.

Until next time, let me know if you have any questions!
mahonjc@bc.edu

Sincerely,
Joe Mahon
BC '12

Midterms

Ah, finally, an end to midterms! Over the last three weeks I have had three tests and two papers, not including all of the other homework. Now, on to round two (my next midterm is next week)!

To be honest, the midterms weren't that bad. Sure, coming out of high school everyone gets a little shocked to see the grade on the top of their paper, but with my experience so far, most classes scale them, so a 50 could be a B.

As a science major, I highly encourage taking classes out of the discipline that interest you. Don't just pick random classes to get rid of the core. I am in Sociology of Health, Illness, and Healthcare and, as pre-med, it is extremely interesting. I took this as a social science so instead of being in Intro to Sociology, this class is open to anyone and a lot of fun. Check out all the options.

Now, off to study!

Freshman Year

Hello!

This is my first post, so I will introduce myself. My name is Taylor and I'm a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences majoring in Biology with a pre-med concentration. I'm from Portland, Maine. I'm involved in the service group Appalachia as well as the Student Admissions Program in outreach, high school visits, and blogging.

If you have any questions, please email me at deantb@bc.edu!