Why I Love Holy Cross

Are you a high school senior looking anxiously checking your mailbox every day waiting to hear back from colleges? Are you having problems deciding on a “first choice?” Do you not know what you want to do with your life? If your answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then congratulations, you have come to the right blog!!

When I applied to Holy Cross last year, I had no idea where I wanted to go, what my first choice was, what I wanted to choose as a major, or what I wanted to do with my life. I applied to Holy Cross and seven other schools and within a few weeks decided to visit. I actually was not sure that Holy Cross was in my top three before visiting. The reason I looked at Holy Cross initially was because my parents and my school counselor encouraged me to. When we came and visited, it was a bone chilling day over the freak snowstorm Halloween weekend in 2011. However, once we checked in and got on the tour, I found myself enchanted by this institution situated on Mount St. James. People were friendly to us here, coming up to our tour guide and saying hi or welcoming us to campus. Every effort was made to ensure that we felt comfortable asking questions about Holy Cross. Unlike many other institutions, Holy Cross was not seeking to intimidate us, and that was first reason I liked Holy Cross. The second reason, what really made me happy I applied, was how accepting and encouraging Holy Cross was about applying undeclared and not really having any idea what you want to study.

When acceptance letters started coming in and decision time rolled in, I had narrowed down my choices between two schools. While I was not one of those people who had a big epiphany moment about what school I wanted to go to, something drew me to Holy Cross. When trying to make a decision, I found myself on Holy Cross’  website, reading student blogs, and learning about majors. I would read the blogs and discover that there were people like me at Holy Cross. People who enjoyed volunteering, having fun, and exploring Boston. Ultimately, I made my decision and chose Holy Cross because I wanted to attend a college with strong academics, approachable professors, relatively small class sizes, friendly, down-to-earth people, and a great community atmosphere. Other schools I looked at fulfilled some of these things, but not all. And none of them had the incredible campus atmosphere Holy Cross has.

Now that I am here at Holy Cross, I can safely say that Holy Cross has been everything I needed and wanted. We are encouraged and required to try every area of study, and being undeclared is not looked down upon. My professors are very approachable and they make every effort to make themselves available if, for some reason, you cannot make office hours. I have had incredible time here so far and I have no regrets about my decision. I cannot even envision what my life would be like at another school. I am so happy I chose being a Crusader. I have made fantastic friends, tried new things, and loved all of it. I cannot wait to see what my Holy Cross life holds in store next. 🙂

Adventures in the snow 🙂

Blizzard Nemo

This second semester has certainly kicked off with a bang! In addition to the great experience I had at Dance Marathon (In total, we raised $35,200 dollars), my Montserrat class, Music as Expression, took a class trip to New York City to attend a rehearsal of Arye, composed by Holy Cross’s own, Osvaldo Golijov. Winner of two Grammy’s, Professor Golijov is the composer-in-residence at Carnegie Hall for this year. In addition to the rehearsal, we were also going to tour Carnegie Hall, and then have some time to explore the city.

Outside of Carnegie Hall

It was a beautiful, windy day when we got into the city. Attending the music rehearsal was very neat. Watching the musicians play and silently communicating amongst themselves was enlightening–we were watching the development of a phenomenal, dynamic performance. It was a fantastic thing to have the privilege of watching. The magnitude of what we had witnessed really hit home after we had a tour of Carnegie Hall. The rehearsal we had just watched was eventually going to be performed in Carnegie Hall and we had already gotten a sneak peak! Unfortunately, we could not take any pictures inside the Hall but it was beautiful inside. To stand in front of the stage and realize that all the legends, from Frank Sinatra to Joshua Bell to Lady Gaga, have played at Carnegie Hall is breathtaking. The space is stunning and befitting of its prestigious purpose.

After our tour of Carnegie, we were given some free time before we had to get back on the bus. I was able to meet up with my friend Cam, who attends NYU. It was great to catch up with him and see a familiar face among the bustling city. We walked around the city for a while after grabbing a bite to eat and we even walked through Central Park for while. 🙂 Hopefully I can visit again soon–three hours is just not enough to walk around New York City.

Night view from Central Park

As I sit and write this post, I am watching the blizzard Nemo descend on Worcester. We are expected to get at least 18-24 inches. It looks so beautiful!! Although it is windy and cold, it was kind of magical to walk back from classes as the snow started falling. When the sun comes out on Sunday, it will be so pretty looking on campus!

On my way to class. Already, the snow was starting to stick. 🙂