Month: October 2012

For the first time in 50 years (or so the rumors say) Holy Cross actually cancelled our classes for Monday and Tuesday!!! This caused chaos and confusion all night Sunday as my friends and I sat in our dorm rooms and calls came through from campus security saying there would be no classes for the next two days. At 2pm on Monday, we were issued a “shelter in place” warning, meaning that we should not leave our residence halls unless otherwise ordered. Kimball dining hall closed, handing us boxed lunches and supplies for dinner that night and breakfast the next morning. As the Sandy encroached, the winds picked up and we saw trees bent practically sideways as the heavy rain descended. It was crazy to watch! We kept getting updates from our families. Many of my friends families lost power and took the brunt of the storm. Please keep them and anyone else who was hit hard by the hurricane in your prayers as they get back to their normal routine. For the most part, Holy Cross came out okay, we only had minimal damages with downed branches and TONS of leaves everywhere. Including inside the buildings where windows were accidentally left open.

My friends and I mostly spent the day working on our various papers and homework. There was so much to do even though the storm had extended many of the deadlines for our papers. It was great to hang out in sweatpants the whole day though!! (Gotta love the college mindset) 🙂

Last weekend was parents weekend!! I got to see my family, and even though it had only been two weeks, I was jumping up and down with excitement when I found them in the Hogan Campus Center. Over the weekend, we went to the football game and I showed them some of my favorite places to hang out on campus. We also went into Boston and visited my cousins. 🙂 If you ever go to Boston and you are looking for great seafood, go to The Barking Crab. I had the lobster mac and cheese and my taste buds had a small party in my mouth!! It was SO good. On Sunday, they helped me get groceries and loft my bed higher. Special shout out goes to my Dad, he is the best. He deconstructed my bed and then put it back together at the height I needed. What would I do without my family? By then it was 3:00 and they had to leave for the airport; it was really difficult to say good-bye even though I will be seeing them at Thanksgiving. It was tough knowing that I would be missing one my little brother’s birthday on Monday. Sometimes it is the little things I miss more.

Ladies and Gentlemen, fall has officially arrived! Well, I am finally noticing it arrived. I was getting used to being back on campus last week, and I did not notice until today that Holy Cross is awash in vibrant hues. The trees are gorgeous, fall is definitely my favorite season at Holy Cross so far, campus is so pretty!

The other day, there was a “Dancing Calligraphy” event that happened on the Hoval (Hogan +Oval). I thought I would post a small clip of it for you guys to see. The participants put large sheets down on the grass, then while a drum was playing, they wrote calligraphy across the sheets. I thought it was really neat, and I did not realize what was going on until I saw the huge crowd standing on the Hoval.

Last weekend, I went to my first ever ballroom dance competition at Harvard University in Boston. I did not realize, until a few days before the competition, just how much prep work goes into your appearance, especially for the ladies. After a quick tutorial on hair and makeup on Thursday, I was really excited but also extremely nervous. This was unlike anything I had ever done.Getting ready early Saturday morning was fun. My friend Maggie also does ballroom, so we helped each other pin hair into place and put on the necessary make up for the dance floor. After I got to the competition, it did not look like I had any make up on compared to some of the other competitors. There were so many different costumes and hair styles, I definitely got inspired for the next competition. 🙂 And it was so much fun to dance and watch all the different couples (If you have ever seen Dancing with the Stars, it gives you a great idea as to what the higher levels look like).  Although I did not place at my first competition, two of the veteran couples did!! Congrats guys!

Parents weekend is this coming weekend! I cannot wait to have my family up at campus. I was looking at my calendar today and I realized there is only one week til Halloween, October is more than halfway over!! Are you dressing up? I am not sure if I will and what I will be if I do dress up…maybe I will find something at the store this weekend…. 🙂

Hi guys! As many of you have already seen, my name is Lauren and this is my first blog entry. I am excited to share my life at Holy Cross with all of you!

Since it is already October, I will try to relay most of what has happened in the past 6 weeks.

Move-in day was actually pretty smooth, the welcome wagon attacked my car and all my stuff was in the room in one trip! After tons of help from my family, the room was all set up and it was time to mingle and attend the Mass of the Holy Spirit. All too soon it was time to say good-bye; I had to walk away from my family and get acquainted with my Orientation Group.

A couple weeks later, as things started getting settled and classes were getting underway, I decided to attend the Escape Retreat. It was a 24 hour retreat in a New Hampshire, and I loved it!!! I met so many new people across all the residence halls who I would not have met otherwise. The retreat site was beautiful and the whole experience reaffirmed my decision to come to Holy Cross. I recognized so many of the qualities that I loved about the school just during that short retreat. It helped to stave off any homesickness that might have been looming.

Also in September, we had the President’s inauguration for Fr. Boroughs. Campus looked especially beautiful on that sunny day. The students got to attend and participate too! We lined the walkway from Hogan Campus Center to the Hart Recreation Center and cheered on Fr. Boroughs as he made his way up campus. It was a great event, and I felt really united as a student body.

Homecoming was fun! It was exciting to see alumni come back to campus, pumped with school spirit and bursting with memories that they wanted to share. As I looked around at all the alumni, I kept thinking about how someday it will be me coming back and marveling at all the “new technology.” The Marching Band also surprised us in Kimball during Homecoming weekend as they gave an impromptu performance with the alumni. http://youtu.be/eAV5JxvHKZM

It was nice to come back to campus and know that there were friendly faces already there to talk to and have fun with. When I got back, my friends and I made cookies, and even though I was missing home, I was having fun and enjoying the time with my friends. 🙂