A Day in the Life of a Stressed Out Senior

Hi everybody!

Today, I'd like to break slightly from the profiles I've been writing for the last few weeks on various faces around St. Mike's. Here is a truthful, unadulterated look into what a "typical" day is like for me this semester (although there's really no such thing as typical this time of year).

8:00am: Time to Get Up

On Monday, Wednesday & Friday, I force myself out of bed much earlier than I'd like to, so that I have time to relax and drink coffee before the day begins. On Tuesday & Thursday, I actually wake up at 6:15am because I have to be at my internship at 8:00am. I don't usually eat breakfast (although I probably should), but coffee is essential.

9:30am: Work Study / Internship

As I mentioned earlier, I have my internship on T/TH, and I'm typically there until around noon. I work at a local high school in the Guidance Department as part of Practicum, a year-long experience available for Psychology majors at SMC. On other days, I have my work study as an office assistant for the departments of Undergraduate Psychology, Graduate Clinical Psychology, Neuroscience, and the Institutional Review Board. I've done this for four years, and it's given me excellent experience. (If you qualify for it, I really suggest having a work study at St. Mike's.)]

12:15pm: Lunch

Eating is one of the greatest joys of life. Because I live in a townhouse, I don't eat in Alliot like many St. Mike's students do. Instead, I'm responsible for cooking my own food. Although cooking may be a chore for some, it's one of my favorite things to do. I don't really have time to cook throughout the week, so I spend my Sundays prepping my food for the week. It make's my life a whole lot easier.

1:30pm: Go Learn Stuff

I have a really interesting and atypical course schedule this semester. All of my courses are one day a week (T/W/Th), and are approximately 1:30pm-4:30pm. On Mondays and Fridays, I try to relax or do homework but usually I have some sort of errand to run. On Tuesday I have TH-410 Senior Seminar in Theatre, Wednesday I have PS-460 Practicum II: Working in the Mental Health System, and Thursday I have EN-323 Poetry Writing Workshop. I absolutely love having three discussion-style courses, and two of them are comprised of just seniors.

5:00pm: Be an Artist

Evenings are when rehearsals are! Today is an especially packed rehearsal day. At 5:00 is rehearsal for The War of the Worlds, the production I'm directing as part of Senior Seminar in Theatre. At 7:00 I'm getting together with some of my peers to work on a song we're preparing in order to audition to sing at Commencement. I have to leave early, at 7:30pm to rehearse with my friend Emily whose recital is this Saturday. Then at 8:30 is Mike Check rehearsal! (Dinner fits in here somewhere. I'm not really sure when I eat but I somehow manage to! Note the whole meal prep thing.)

10:00pm: Homework?

Realistically, I try to get my homework done on the weekends and whenever else I have free time. Sometimes this means staying up late and doing homework, during the week, but I'd much rather have this time to hang out with friends.

11:30pm: Go to Sleep!

I try to be asleep by 11:30 each night. This usually doesn't actually happen.

I hope this gives you some insight to the bittersweet insanity of spring semester senior year! Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments. Make sure to check next week for another Day in the Life that I promise won't be about me!

Email: cholloway@mail.smcvt.edu

Twitter: @thebeardedchris

Insta: @christhebeard

A Day in the Life of: A St. Mike's Admissions Counselor

Meet Matt Seklecki!!!

Matt graduated from SMC in 2011 with a B.A. in History and Political Science. Since then, he has become a beloved admissions counselor at St. Mike's, as well as the tour guide and open house advisor for Founder's Society.

What originally drew you to St. Mike's as a student? (Matt had many stories, but here's one of them.)

I first visited St. Mike's in the Fall of 2006 as a senior in high school. my parents and I came the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and nobody was here. The campus was dead, quieter than I've ever seen it as an employee. We drove around and liked the area, and we were on our way to some Canadian colleges anyway. I'm also a Book Award recipient. Then I came back in April for an accepted student program and it just felt right - the size fit, and I talked with Jeff Ayers of Political Science and he was interesting and very easy to talk with. All of the cards just fell into place.

Why did you choose to apply to work at St. Mike's after graduation?

I was a tour guide for three years and was what is now the Open House & Yield Events Coordinator for two years, so I was familiar with the admission office. There were two jobs open, and so I applied. I really thought that I would just go home and do another summer of catering and travel in the fall and not really do anything for a bit and not have a plan, and probably terrified my parents. But I interviewed with the entire admissions staff one day in May and got a call in June, and they offered me the job - and here were are, almost six years later. I love St. Mike's and it's very easy to talk about my experience, and I've never really had trouble selling the value of a St. Mike's education, or talking to parents, students, and counselors. It's allowed me to do a wide range of different things from event planning to travelling - I think it really builds your self-confidence that "Hey, I just navigated the entire east coast for a Fall without too many hitches."

What's different about working here vs. being here as a student?

I think the lens that you view the college through is a big piece of it. As a student you're taking classes, getting involved in extra-curriculars, and pursuing a degree. As a staff member, especially in admissions, I'm responsible for selling the college on a daily basis and promoting St. Mike's to a wide range of audiences, and I think being knowledgeable about every part of the college to some degree. I think the real difference is the relationships. You talk to faculty and other staff a little differently, and interact with them differently when you're a peer in some regards instead of a student. It was definitely an adjustment; you really learn the ins and outs and build professional relationships with people as opposed to having student relationships. And you get to leave at the end of the day. I can go home and separate the St. Mike's that I work at, the St. Mike's that I'm an alum at, and then having a personal life. When you're a student, it's all one thing.

What is your favorite thing about St. Mike's?

The people. As frustrated as I may get sometimes at certain members of the community when we're trying to pull off an event, I just take a moment and watch the interactions that faculty and staff have with prospective and accepted students. I'm just amazed at what our students do and what they have done. I've always been proud to be an alum. It's a great place and there are so many opportunities - the people, the relationships with those people...it's the little things. We have our own little community in the admissions office, with all of the hard times that we share and how we pick each other up on a bad day, or support each other with all the things we're doing, in our professional lives and our personal lives. I feel there's a really strong sense of community that we talk about in a lot of our marketing publications, and I always tell families it's (in my experience) incredibly accurate. We don't just talk fluff about community, it's very solid.

What's the most stressful part of your job?

Feeling the weight of the college on our shoulders. We're responsible for bringing in the first-year class every year. If you look at our budget, the amount of revenue that comes from tuition is most of it, so our efforts are crucial. I think we feel collectively that if we miss by even a couple of students, it's a big deal. I do think that especially in years when the budget is tight, when we're not hitting numbers that we need to, we feel especially responsible for everyone's livelihood. That's a huge thing to feel.

What's the most rewarding part of your job?

Last year, the Class of 2016 was the first class that I recruited of high school seniors. I can think of one in particular who I met at her high school in the fall, and was happy to send her an admit letter, watched enroll, and that was awesome, and then watched her grow over four years of college and graduate from St. Mikes. It's just incredibly rewarding to see a student go through that entire process and to have such a positive experience, and make a big difference here.

What is some advice that you would give to students going through the college admissions process?

Take a deep breath, relax, and slow down. It's a long, complicated, stressful, grueling process. You can manage all of that by being organized and timely. Explore options, use your resources - there are so many available: counselors, all of the online stuff. We as admissions people re not scary people, we're trying to help you. And know your contact information - it's my biggest pet peeve as of late.

Thank you Matt!

For more about Matt, check out his admission profile.

Is there a particular major, club, or person you want to know more about (or have something else you want to chat about)? Contact me:

Email: cholloway@mail.smcvt.edu
Twitter: @thebeardedchris
Insta: @christhebeard

A Day in the Life of: An American Studies Major

Meet Tyler Manley!!!

(The guy on the left)

Tyler is a senior American Studies major with a minor in Media Studies.

What drew you to American Studies?

I never really knew what I wanted to study coming in to college, but I knew I really liked learning about history, and especially American History, in high school. I declared the major at the end of my freshman year after taking U.S. History II (Since 1865) because I figured I'd major in something I definitely enjoy.

What about American Studies at St. Mike's do you like the most?

My favorite part is the mix of History and English and that you can kind of choose where you want to go with it.

Is there an area of American Studies that fascinates you the most?

I really like the cultural aspects of history, especially the WWII era to the present and the rapid cultural changes and shifts that happened within the country. It changed so much within forty years and went through so many phases. I think it's really interesting to see how some [aspects of historical culture] are still in part around today, for better or for worse.

What would you like to do after your graduate?

I don't really know. I'll probably work somewhere around Boston. Just like when I came into school, I've never really known exactly what I wanted to do. This past summer I did some museum work as an internship which I was interesting. I'm just going to look around and see what I can find, whether it's working in a museum or a library, or something completely different - I'm kind of open to just seeing what happens.

What do you do in your spare time?

I like to watch a lot of movies. I play drums in a band (Seven Leaves) which I've been doing for a while. I've just always really loved that; it's just nice to get together and play music with people. I play video games, hang out with friends, read books - a little of everything.

What's your favorite type of movie and what's your favorite movie right now?

That's tough. I would say it's probably a toss-up between sci-fi movies and horror movies at this point. This summer I saw The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the original one, for the first time. I really loved it, so that's the one that's stuck with me as a favorite, but it's hard for me to pick just one.

What's your favorite part of being at St. Mike's?

Probably just the community; everyone's really great, you know. It's so small that even if you don't really know someone, you know them enough to just say "hey" and have a small conversation in passing. It's just nice, everyone's really welcoming, and it's just a good place to be.

Thanks Tyler!

Want to learn more about the American Studies department? Check it out here!

Is there a particular major, club, or person you want to know more about? Contact me:

Email: cholloway@mail.smcvt.edu
Twitter: @thebeardedchris
Insta: @christhebeard