First Year, Part TWO!

     Winter break is over, and I am (somehow) already in my second semester of college! Unbelievable. The snow has also started, much to my delight - there was a disappointing lack of any while I was home. Although considering New Jersey just got about three feet of snow, I would MUCH rather be here. I love snow, but blizzards (and power loss) are not my cup of tea. On that note, I have probably eight kinds of tea and I would definitely (if I haven't said so already) count my electric teapot as a necessity; it functions as both a teapot and a pitcher. Dorm tip!
     Saint Mike's in the winter is not that different from Saint Mike's in the fall; everyone just wears more layers and it seems sunnier, since the light reflects off the snow. One might think that less happens now, because it is cold(er). But not to worry - we still have a lot to do! And by a lot I mean activities outside skiing, snowboarding, and whatever else happens on one of the ski mountains.
     This week there are several events on diversity in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., including a guest speaker, a student forum, and a slam poetry competition. Very exciting! The Wilderness Program is going strong - their trips are just snow and ice-based now. I am going snowshoeing in two weeks, and there are ice-climbing trips and other options as well, I believe. I have found out more about the Saint Mike's Culture Pass, which lets SMC students get $10 tickets produced by the Flynn Theater (and regular-priced tickets to other events as well of course). There may be other benefits to the pass, but I have not found out about those yet. One of my professors is also taking my class to a Beethoven concert next month; apparently professors can take their students to one Flynn event per class per semester. Very cool!
     Something I have just joined that I am really excited about is Her Campus - we just got a Saint Mike's chapter established here. Her Campus is essentially an online magazine written by students for students, so what we publish connects directly to what's happening on campus. The Her Campus website as a whole is an excellent resource for female college students (and does have articles of use to male college students - we're not leaving you out!). Although there is a large amount of pop culture content, Her Campus also has sections about job advice and all areas of health and well-being. Those two sections are my personal favorites; although I might be able to find pop culture stories elsewhere, finding job and health advice in understandable terms is very difficult but much appreciated. We will be officially active in terms of regular article publication on February 2, but definitely check us out before then!
     My goal with this post was to remind myself what I have been doing, since the start of the semester is always a bit crazy, and to provide an insider's perspective of the winter life at SMC. Hope it helped!

See you next week,
Laura