Jammed Packed Weekend

The other night was a jammed packed night for me and a few of my good friends.  The day started out with beautiful weather and seeing many perspective students on campus.  I was so happy they had such a gorgeous day to see campus!!

My night started out with going to Vermont's Got Talent.  Our very own St. Mike's Senior, Caroline Bright, was MC-ing the night.  She did an amazing job!  My friends and I had gone out to support a friend of ours, Amanda, as she performed her rendition of Hallelujah.

Unfortunately she didn't win, but CONGRATULATIONS to another friend of mine, Rosemary, who did.

After seeing all the amazing performances, my friends and I attended the 2nd Annual VITA Girls Night Sleepover in the Chapel.  The whole night was a lot of fun.  We started off by each of us being "Princess" for a couple of minutes while we went around the room and everyone said something about the "Princess."  Next we had a small prayer service lit only by candles.  We finally ended the night (or early morning) by watching movies and eating a ton of ice cream. YUM!!  We ended up going to bed around 5am and then waking up at 8:30am to get out before morning mass started.

Crown Time!!

Laughing on the couches

The Lovely Group

I ended up heading back to my room and thinking I would go back to bed, but I ended up not.  My second wind hit and I decided to do homework and laundry.  Don't know why my productive streak hit at 10am on a Sunday morning?

In the middle of the afternoon, my friends and I headed over to Earth Fest run by St. Mike's Green Up.  It was a lot of fun.  There was free burgers, free Ben and Jerry's, and free live music.  There was also Tye-dying if you brought a shirt or you could buy one there, potting plants, and displays on how to make campus greener.  They did a great job and the event looked like a success to me.

Afterwards I began to feel myself crashing from lack of sleep, but my day wasn't over yet!!  I still attended 7pm Mass at the Chapel with my friends.  Then upon returning to my room I fell asleep really early (by 9pm) and woke up to the sound of my alarm the next morning.  It was a long weekend but I enjoyed every moment of it!!

Easter

Happy Belated Easter!!

I would have to say Easter is my favorite holiday.  When I was young, my family would drive to my grandma's for the the annual Easter Egg Hunt.  I was a fun time where all my cousins and I would hide in the house while my aunt would hide the eggs.  We would then leave in age order (youngest to oldest) and race out to find as many eggs as we could find.  I remember being super excited during the day and crashing really early at night meaning I fell asleep at my grandma's and woke up in my bed at home.

I will say even though I don't make it every year anymore, there still is the annual Easter Egg Hunt at my grandma's and I miss it when I'm not there.  Just like this year I missed it.  Being from six hours away I tend not to go home unless I have more than a four day weekend.  My dad and I talk about it every time and both agree every time that it isn't worth the travel home when I have work I could be productive on.  Generally a friend or two are on campus so I have company but this Easter no one seemed to be around.


I was especially grateful for my Family in Faith for inviting me over for dinner and making me an Easter Basket.  I was on campus for Friday and Saturday and wasn't too lonely.  I did get a bit fidgety on Friday afternoon when the power was out all day.  I did use that time to clean out my papers and catch up on some reading but I still became a bit stir crazy.  I debated on going to Burlington but I kept trying to convince myself to be productive.

Sunday was the best day of the weekend.  I got to see some of the community members I come to know over the past 2 years.  It was so nice to see families at mass and receive hugs from friends.  I even got to see a friend of mine and her family whom I haven't seen in awhile.  Mass at the Chapel was beautiful and I helped out by Alter Serving.  After mass I had brunch with my friend and her family and then went over to my Family in Faith.  I felt and overwhelming amount of love by receiving 3 Easter Baskets from different areas of my life.  I would like to say thank you to them for making me feel loved.

My Crocheted Easter Egg

It was so nice to see everyone come back to campus and hear how everyone's Easter's went.  Down to the final 3 week crunch before summer.  Hopefully I hear back from an internship soon!!

Palm Sunday

My last post talked about what I love about Campus Ministry on Campus and this one highlights an opportunity I was given from them.

I'm someone who has never taken a dance class in my life until this school year.  I started out with Celtic Knights and had tons of fun.  When this semester rolled around I was asked if I would be interested in joining the Liturgical Dance group and I was a bit hesitant.  I've never taken a real dance lesson before and I was nervous I didn't have enough skill.  I was convinced into it and I'm glad I stuck with it.

This opportunity gave me the chance to make connections with people outside of the school community and with other members of the worshiping community.  Practices were only once a week for an hour and a half which gave me time to still get work done and have a social life.

Our one performance was this past Palm Sunday and the Chapel was more packed then I had ever seen it.  I was impressed how many people drive from all over the state and NY to come out for this one mass.  To start mass the choir and dancers process around the Chapel waving palms while the priest fallows behind to bless everyone's palms.  As the Gospel was read, the Liturgical Dancers prayed through movement for everyone to see.  I can definitely say, there wasn't a sound from the congregation.  I personally couldn't look at anyone for fear of breaking concentration, but I can say from friends whom I talked to, it was one of the most moving experiences they have witnessed.

This was our representation of the Last Supper

Campus Ministry

St. Mike's has a lot of great resources for students on campus.  The place I have found where I fit in is the Campus Ministry department on campus.  I have made so many great friends and had so many great experiences.  I have comprised a small list of experiences I have had:

1. Family and Friends in Faith: This is the perfect opportunity for students who don't live close to campus.  Students and families part of the worshiping community can sign up at the beginning of the semester to be matched up with each other.  The family is there for the student if they need something while on campus whether it be for a home cooked meal, "family time," or anything any other thing a student may need.  I have a family and it is nice to be able to get of campus for a night and have some "family time."

2. The Chapel:  I love having the Chapel on campus.  There are two masses during the school year one at 11am and 7pm.  At mass students have the opportunity to sing in the choir, Lector, Eucharistic minister, Alter Serve, and become a collector.  Also, there is an Upper Room in the Chapel where I love to go and work on homework or meet up with friends and hang out.

3.  Retreats:  The Campus Ministry department offers many retreat opportunities over the course of the semester.  There is LEAP which is based around spiritual and community growth.  There is Emmaus which is a spiritual and self growth.  Besides these two, if you become involved in Campus Ministry, there are more opportunities to go on retreats not part of the school, but that the ministers come across that we may be interested in.

4.  Family:  Those who are part of the Campus Ministry department are like a family.  We are always there for each other.  We go support each other at events, give each other hugs when we see one another, and help each other out when needed.  We have made our own family so we know we have people we can turn to.

5.  Fun:  We have so much fun.  Around Christmas we have a semi formal where we all dress up and spend the night having fun and dancing.  For Halloween we have a pumpkin carving night.  We also try to have a picnic once a year down by Lake Chaplain.  The other fun we have is normally spur of the moment and crazy.  We will gather on our own and watch movies or bake cookies.