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!

Appreciating Boston

You know how people say "you don't know what you've got until it's gone"? They were right, you really don't. I'll be outta here in a few weeks and I'm kinda upset that I didn't get to spend very much time exploring Boston. That was actually my New Years Resolution, to explore Boston more, looks like I dropped the ball on that one.

But in all seriousness, this is a great city, probably one of the best in the country. I wish I could say that I've been to the Commons and all the other hot spots in the city, but sadly I haven't. Maybe next year I'll make the effort to spend my free time in the city instead of in a dorm room.

Either way, to anyone reading this, explore Boston. It's a once in a lifetime chance to see a city as a college student and really get to know the city inside and out. The T makes the city so accessible it's ridiculous and you can have a really good time for little or no money.

When you come to BC you're not going to school in a college town, your going to school in a city, and one full of colleges at that. Really take advantage of all the city has to offer, you won't regret it I promise.

Jake

Finals

It's that time of year again - time for finals. Spring semester could possibly be the worst time ever to have finals, and the reasons are endless.

• 1) Its beautiful outside. 75 degree weather screams "don't do work and play wiffle ball" and it's hard not to listen.
• 2) You're so hyped up about being done with school, the last thing you want to do is study more.
• 3) You're wiped out. By the time finals week rolls around the mountain of papers and presentations you just climbed has left you tired and drained of all energy.

But you can't just give up, finals are make or break grades so sometimes you just have to gut-check and stick with it. If you plan out your studying you'll be fine. So here's a few pointers I've found helpful when finals roll around.

• 1) Start early. The earlier you start the more comfortable you'll be with the material by the time you actually take the test. Also, this takes a lot of the weight off your shoulders in case something pops up you didn't plan for (mostly parties but that's not the point)
• 2) Find a way that works for you. I know everyone's different but I think the one thing we can all agree on is that blankly staring at your book is not going to cause your body to absorb knowledge. It'd be sweet if it did though. So find something that works for you. Some people like flashcards, come people like to just write down everything they know and work from there. Whatever it may be, find it and do it.
• 3) Relax. People get so tense around this time of year. I mean I know how serious finals are but relax bro, your not going to die. Don't hesitate to reward yourself with a movie or some video games after you've been studying for hours. If your not careful you'll burn yourself out before the finals even start.

Anyway, that's just my advice. Hopefully it helps you too.
Jake