Why I Love Being a Purple Knight

A year ago today, I committed to four years as a Purple Knight! I can't believe that this time last year, I was gearing up for AP tests and high school graduation - crazy. Regardless of the chaos and stress I was dealing with then, I am very glad I made the decision I did. That being said, I decided to break form this week and do a list post of some of my favorite parts of Saint Mike's. 

• No-pressure community - First, for any parents reading this, I would like to emphasize that this does not mean that the classes are a breeze! Rather, I love that there isn't a Saint Mike's "type." Even though we're a little prone to wearing flannel, there isn't a mold you have to fit or a specific way you have to dress to be a part of the SMC community. I was a little skeptical when students would bring this up during tours and student panels (thank you, Founders Society!), but it's true. As a non-skiing first-year who isn't a huge partier, I can attest to that. So for all my fellow tea-loving homebodies out there, we have room for you!

• Small classes - We may have some classes in a lecture hall, but I have never felt like I was just a number in a seat. This blends into my next point, but all of my professors knew my name within a few weeks, if not earlier. Some even had us do fact sheets so they could get to know us better! The class atmosphere is always whatever you make of it, but I like discussion-heavy classes, so it's perfect for me.

• Awesome professors - Maybe this is part of the small school vibe, but I love my professors! I genuinely feel like they value me as a person rather than just a student in their classes. Office hours may start as assignment help but half the time turns into a discussion about something else - at least for me they do. Clearly, teaching is more than a job for them, and I definitely appreciate that.

• Location - In case you haven't noticed from my other posts, there's a lot to do around here, on campus and off. Even though there are some weeks I love not having to leave the Saint Mike's world, I also like that I can go to Burlington any day and find something to do, be it dinner, a show, or just Ben and Jerry's. That's even leaving out all the outdoorsy opportunities we have; the potential is endless.

• Friends - I've only been here about seven months, but I have connected with an amazing group of people that I'm glad I met so quickly. The majority of them are fellow first-years, but (going back to the no-pressure benefits) I know people in other grades through clubs and never feel talked down to. I may live in a single, but I'm certainly not by myself!

At some point, I'm going to have to spend some serious time contemplating why I hate finishing things on odd numbers but ending on five is perfectly acceptable. But for now, it's a convenient ending point, because although there are many other things I love about my school, those are definitely the highlights. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I'm extremely grateful for everything I've done so far and looking forward to everything I'm going to do. See you next week!

Laura

Dance the Night Away

Hello! Life is busy-busy as usual, hence my very delayed post. We're slowly getting ready for next year here on campus; housing selection has started (which is exactly as you would expect it to be), and we hosted prospective students the first weekend of March! Hopefully we'll be seeing them in the fall. The overnight host program is done through Founders Society; not only do the students get an awesome sleepover (plus ice cream!) with current students like me, but they also get to spend that Sunday afternoon in Burlington, so that they can experience Church Street. I was informed by my guest that they went bowling and had dinner at New Moon, with live music that was definitely appreciated. 

That weekend I also discovered the wonder that is a mac and cheese bar, courtesy of Residence Life!. I only have a picture of the mac and cheese table, but there was also another (much messier) table with at least four different kinds of toppings. Rest assured that this was not your Kraft mac and cheese from a box; it was the real deal, and I want more now that I'm writing about it. 

Last Friday night was the Dance Team's spring show, and man was I impressed! I wasn't really sure what to expect, but their performances surpassed all of my expectations. Everything is student-choreographed - not that I could tell - and they do a great job mixing new dancers with those girls who've been dancing since age two. You know the type. Although there were more serious contemporary dances, the team still clearly had fun, especially with their ending number: Sorry, by Justin Bieber! Overall, a great time and definitely something I look forward to going to again next year!

To close out my post, enjoy this picture of Friday's sunset, complete with a pink cloud:

Enjoy your week!
Laura

Melons, Mountains, and Music

I honestly make an effort to not do the cheesy titles too often, but sometimes you just need a little alliteration in your life! Besides, everything in that title is relevant.

Saturday I had the opportunity (with a few other people of course) to table for Love Your Melon at Jay Peak, a ski resort with an indoor water park. As I'm not a skier, this was my first time to a "mountain," so to speak, and I was very impressed. I also had not realized how close Jay Peak is - only an hour and a half away. Smuggler's Notch (or "Smugg's," to all you snowlovers) is even closer than that, and I'm sure there are other ski mountains around that I just haven't heard of yet. We are certainly not lacking in mountains up here!

Anyway, I think we had a very successful tabling session. We raised some money, talked with some really cool people, and spent a lot of time watching all of the cute ski-children so wrapped up you could only see their eyes. We also may or may not have consumed a number of lollipops that we'd brought for our table, but I'm pleading the fifth on that one.

That covers mountains and melons, leaving... music! Professors can sometimes get tickets to the Flynn (in a process unknown to me) and take their students to see productions, free of charge for the professor and the students. Wicked awesome! My philosophy professor got us tickets to hear the Ying Quartet, a string quartet, play Beethoven's Opus 131. We have been studying what truly makes up truth and beauty, so this was our firsthand experience of "the beautiful." Preceding the performance, Soovin Kim, a violinist who also founded the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, walked us (the audience) through the piece with the help of the Quartet. As a musician (fun fact: I play both the piano and the flute!), I found that really interesting. I don't know a lot about strings, so to have a string player explain certain aspects of the sound and dynamics of the piece, as well as other features, really helped me appreciate the piece more. Yet another amazing Burlington afternoon, this time courtesy of a professor.

I know this is a tad brief, but unfortunately I have a midterm tomorrow (no, they do not magically disappear in college), so I should probably concentrate on that. Next post: A Midsummer's Night Dream, courtesy of Saint Mike's theater program!
Laura

Food, Glorious Food

If anyone got that Oliver! reference, you are now my favorite reader. Not that I know who you are.

As you might have guessed from the title, most of this post will be about food, starting with last Wednesday. Saint Mike's hosted the first local food competition between eight colleges' chefs from Sodexo. Each chef (or team of them) had to make a dish from entirely locally-sourced ingredients. The event was meant to emphasize Sodexo's commitment (in Vermont) to buy Vermont ingredients before imported one, in keeping with Vermont First's Initiative. I (mistakenly) ate lunch first, so I was not able to try everything, but what I did eat was amazing. Fingers crossed some of it appears in Alliot on a regular basis! Saint Mike's won with maple bourbon ice cream... so good. I was impressed that Johnston State College had a vegan chef; I did not eat what she made, but my friend did and she said it was also really good. What I did try was amazing; even the elk sausage (courtesy of UVM), which I had never had before, and carrot cake (Norwich University), which I usually do not like.

My non-food related event was Thursday - Love Your Melon tabled at the Burlington Paint and Sip, where you can pay to get walked through creating a painting and imbibe various beverages (which may or may not be alcoholic, depending on your age). The overall vibe of the place was really cool. I definitely want to sign up for a painting session when I get a chance. We were able to get the word out about Love Your Melon, and did get some donations - I do not know the exact amount. I am very glad I went.

Our display at Paint and Sip

We did not have class Monday, which was also (conveniently) my birthday, so my parents came up with our dogs! I may have been slightly more excited to see the furry members of my family, and the non-furry members may or may not have noticed... but oh well. 

Friday night I had dinner at the always-wonderful Vermont Tap House, and got to sit near the wood-fires they bake the pizzas in, which was pretty cool. I like going there because the food is awesome, the prices are reasonable, the atmosphere is always friendly, and as far as I know, all of the pizza ingredients are local.

One of the two wood-fires they keep going at the Tap House

Saturday was shopping day! If you have not yet explored the paradise that is the Gardeners Supply Company store in Williston, you should definitely go. The entire place smells amazing because they have a cafe, there is a really cool conservatory, and (although it is too cold for anything to be growing yet) a massive irrigation set-up outside that I am curious to see what they are using it for. I bought one of the mysterious air plants, which supposedly just need to be sprayed with water and do not need anything else. We shall see - I have not named it yet as a precaution.

I also spent some time wandering Church Street with my mom, which (happily) included decadent dark hot chocolate from Lake Champlain Chocolates. They can be a little pricey, but everything is so delicious that doesn't even matter. Sunday's dinner was at Sweetwater's, one of the many restaurants on Church Street. If I have not talked about it before, Sweetwater's is a sweet spot (pun slightly intended) to get dinner if you're out with your friends or family. The service is great and the building is really cool - it used to be the Burlington Trust Company way back when and the owners have kept the original architecture. I also love that the food is always just out of my comfort zone; there's always one part of my dish that I haven't tried before or don't usually eat and Sweetwater's is a great place to try new things, because it's all good.

If you don't have time to devote a whole day to Church Street, definitely give it a shot just for dinner. Church Street at night is beautiful (see below), and really has the feel of what I consider "my Vermont," besides Saint Mike's of course!

Church Street

I'll be going to a concert at the Flynn with my Philosophy class on Sunday, so stay tuned!

Laura

PS: That pun was entirely intentional.

Snowshoes and Romcoms

After much delay (thank you, homework), your deepest desire to know how my weekend went can finally be satisfied! Just kidding - you should really aim higher than that.

Snowshoeing with the Wilderness Program was a roaring success; although it was cold, we warmed up as soon as we started moving, and the two students leading the trip were well-equipped to deal with our lack of knowledge. According to my phone, we hiked about 6.3 miles, round trip - not bad for a Saturday! We went to Mount Belvidere, which is near Lowell, Vermont, and is about an hour and a half northeast of Saint Mike's.

We wound up using microspikes on our overboots instead of the snowshoes, but that may have actually made it easier. The highlight of the trek for me was definitely seeing moose tracks! You don't realize how big an animal is until each footprint is the size of your hand and each print is a foot and a half apart. Whoa. I also thought it was cool to see the leaf-buds on the trees, courtesy of the previous week's warm weather, although they're at least a month ahead of schedule. 

On the drive back (and don't worry, you don't need a car to go on a wilderness trip - they drive you), I saw a house surrounded by maple trees that had been tapped for syrup! I have no idea if that is the correct terminology (never having made maple syrup myself), but I thought that was pretty cool. I also experienced the "purple mountains' majesty" in America, The Beautiful. I don't know which mountains the song actually refers to, but be it because of the weather or otherwise, the mountains actually looked tinged purple on the way back. Quirk of Vermont, I suppose.

In honor of the upcoming Valentine's Day, Her Campus SMC hosted its very first event with Galentine's Day on Thursday, as a sort of "holiday" for those of us who are single pringles. We hosted in McCarthy Recital Hall, and featured a cheesy movie, hot cocoa, popcorn, and Valentine's themed candy. Due to technical difficulties, we got off to a rough start, but once that was resolved, everything proceeded swimmingly! I saw a lot of people who are not active in Her Campus, so hopefully more people are finding out about us. 

Today's temperature has a high of ZERO, so I doubt I will be doing anything particularly exciting today, but that just provides an excuse to make hot chocolate, so things could be worse. Happy Valentine's Day to all my readers, single pringles or otherwise!

Laura

International Crepe Day

     Hello, friends! This post is a little late, I know, but I found out about International Crepe Day (read: the awesome day you can get FREE CREPES) and decided to wait so you could hear all about it.

     As you might have guessed, International Crepe Day = free crepes, courtesy of The Skinny Pancake, which is fast becoming one of my favorite places. They gave customers a choice of the Pure and Simple (plain crepe with sugar), the Nutella (which speaks for itself), and the Pooh Bear. I had the Pooh Bear, and it was amazing!

     Contrary to how that may sound, I did not destroy the childhoods of people everywhere - no beloved yellow bears were involved. Rather, the Pooh Bear crepe comes topped with cinnamon sugar and honey: a combination I had not expected but will definitely be trying on other food. Of course, the taste is only improved by the fact that, as far as I know (and I believe I have referenced this in another post), The Skinny Pancake's ingredients are all Vermont-sourced - which includes awesome non-storemade honey!
     I am also excited to tell you that Her Campus is officially active at Saint Mike's! New articles will be published weekly; also check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Snapchat (hercampussmcvt)!
     Next week's post will be about my snowshowing adventure on Mount Belvidere; stay tuned!
Laura

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