New Year, Happier Me

With the difficult year of 2016 over, we have a lot to look forward to in the next year. In the words of my friend Pat Cornacchio, "New Year, new me."

Unlike the many who say the phrase every time a new year rolls around, I don't actually love that expression. There's a lot about me that I like and love, and I'm proud off what I've accomplished this year. However, there are a few things that I'd really like to accomplish in my final (yikes!) semester of college.

1. Finish with grades I'm proud of



In the last two semesters, I've worked my butt off and I've done really well in school. I'd like to finish strong and complete my last semester with straight A's. With the job market ahead of me, I'm hoping this persistence will pay off to employers (and also I just really like doing well).

2. Spend more time with friends



I over-committed last semester, and friends went to the wayside a bit. My schedule leaves me with classes only from Tuesday-Thursday, so I'm going to utilize some of that free time and have fun, something I haven't done enough of lately. Although I hope to stay in touch with all of my friends, this is the last time we'll be next door neighbors (literally and figuratively), so I'm going to live it up.

3. Cook good food



I can't count the number of times I've watched the Food Network, said "Holy cow, that looks delicious," and then cooked whatever was fast and easy. I absolutely love cooking, and I'm promising to myself to stop being lazy and actually become a truly good cook (even though it'll take more than a few months).

4. Read more books, watch more plays & good movies, and listen to more music



I definitely watch too much Netflix and spend too much time on my phone. There are so many great things to watch and read out there and it's about time I took advantage of all the resources I have at hand.

5. Be happier



Yes, easier said than done, but there's a lot that can be done with just a positive attitude and seeking out the things that make me happy.


I hope you take advantage of the new year and work on creating a better you! For those of you still on break, enjoy it, rest a little, and have fun.


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

The Turkey has been Eaten...CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE

When late November rolls around, you can be sure that you'll be eating a whole lot of food. Between Alliot Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving(s), and the actual holiday with your family, there's a good chance you'll be stuffed (get it? like turkey?)

(Follow @smcknights on Snapchat for all the current happenings at SMC!)

However, as great as it is celebrating a holiday almost completely devoted to food, I can now properly celebrate my favorite time of year without being heckled by my turkey-loving peers!!!

It began to look a lot like Christmas only a short week ago, when we got our first snow and it actually stuck! Thanks to the power of social media, quite a few SMC-ers got great snapshots of the event and shared them with #smcvt.

Last night campus became a winter wonderland. Who’s ready to let it snow? ❄️ (📷: Saint Michael’s College Dept. of Public Safety) #smcvt

A photo posted by Saint Michael's College (@saintmichaelscollege) on Nov 21, 2016 at 7:32am PST

Who wants to study for Econ when you just want to play in the snow? ❄️️❄️️❄️️

A photo posted by Paige Bulson (@paigesb16) on Nov 22, 2016 at 5:43am PST

Please welcome our new official Library Greeter, Roberta Frost! We hope she sticks around. #smcvtlibrary #smcvt

A photo posted by St. Michael's College Library (@smcvtlibrary) on Nov 21, 2016 at 7:00am PST

Happy Monday 🎃❄️

A photo posted by emma_kal (@emma_kal) on Nov 21, 2016 at 5:48am PST

Now the St. Mike's trees are lit, people are jolly (and maybe a bit stressed about finals), and there's a chill in the air.

It's my favorite time of year, and I wouldn't want to spend it anywhere else.

Happy holiday season to you and yours!



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

And They Lived Happy Aca-After

There is no better way to spend my Monday and Wednesday evenings than with Mike Check, the all-male a cappella group at St. Mike's. These guys are like brothers to me, and their humor keeps me alive (and sometimes drives me insane). The semester is quickly starting up and I'm so glad to be back to singing! The year started up with auditions...

Acapapa wants YOU pic.twitter.com/Ap2XJ3Mdm2

— Mike Check (@MikeCheckSMC) September 8, 2016

...which went incredibly well! We have three new members: Evan, Joe, and Spencer!

Say hello to our NEW MEMBERS!!! What handsome boys! #AcapellaBoys #MikeCheck #smcvt

A photo posted by Mike Check (@mikechecksmc) on Sep 21, 2016 at 5:28pm PDT

If you haven't heard us before, we sing a mixture of current hits, nostalgia from the 90s, barbershop re-imaginings, jazz standards, and more.

From our family to yours, we'd like to wish all of our fans a very Happy Thanksgiving. pic.twitter.com/W4tqCtp8m1

— Mike Check (@MikeCheckSMC) November 26, 2015

Once auditions are over, we begin learning the songs in our set list (which we choose in the first week of the semester). Some of the songs are fan favorites from past semesters, and some are brand new arrangements! In recent years, we began a trend of arranging (adapting a song for a cappella) our own music, so about half of our songs are arranged by Mike Check members. Below is an old clip of Take One Me, arranged by Pat Cornacchio '18.

Pat loves Mike Check! Do you? Come listen to us this Friday at 8:00! (@patcorn95) #smcvt #vt #btv #acapella #music #singing

A video posted by Mike Check (@mikechecksmc) on Dec 9, 2015 at 7:59pm PST

This year, we actually have six seniors! That means (up to) six senior songs between the two end-of-semester concerts! Senior songs are a great way to showcase veteran members of Mike Check as well as a wonderful excuse to sing a variety of music. All of the members of the group have very different tastes in music, which makes for a great variety in concerts! You can learn about the members of Mike Check here.

We're really looking forward to this year, and we hope you are too!


Want to catch updates on everything Mike Check? Follow us on social media!

Facebook
Twitter (@MikeCheckSMC)
Instagram (@MikeCheckSMC)
Snapchat (MikeCheckSMC)

Taking Time to Breathe

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around for a while, you could miss it.

College is a whirlwind. Senior year is one hundred times that. The last four weeks have blown by, but this weekend I finally had a chance to take time to breathe. 

On Friday, I hung out in the new residence hall to celebrate my friend Kelly's birthday! There was Chinese food from Jin (literally a minute down the road) and fantastic company.

Kelly's apartment in Res Hall 4!

Saturday, I got to relax! Corinne and I had our radio show (every Saturday from 12-2pm on wwpv.org!) and we went to Firebird Cafe after, which has some of the best lunch food around. For the rest of the day, there was a whole lot of nothing going on, which was exactly what I needed. I saw some friends in the evening, and it was a great time to decompress after a crazy week.

Our super professional radio show.

Finally, Sunday was more than just homework day! Corinne and I finally went on a hike, hopefully the first of many. We hiked Mount Philo which is a short drive from campus and only takes about an hour to summit! It was a nice way to start the day, and the perfect way to get some exercise in and enjoy nature. It was the first of many things to cross off my senior year bucket list!

The view was simply stunning.

We're cute sometimes.

Now that I'm settled into the semester, you can expect to hear from me more often! Let me know if there's anything in particular you want to learn about. Until next time!

Questions, comments, concerns, cat videos?

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

And here's a raccoon with a hat because why not:

A photo posted by Jonathon (@jonathontheraccoon) on Sep 25, 2016 at 11:48am PDT

#latersummer

It's been quite the few months! I'm so excited for students to return to campus, and to meet the ~500 new students that will be coming home for the first time. It's so gorgeous up here at SMC during the summer, but it's not the same without everybody here.

Sunday morning views. (Props to Facilities for the beautiful gardens!) #smcvt

A photo posted by Saint Michael's College (@saintmichaelscollege) on Jul 24, 2016 at 6:47am PDT

I've learned a whole lot this summer. I've seen what it looks like to work in college admissions, and I've realized this is the type of place that I could work in for a long time. I love the college process, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life working with it, as an admission counselor and as a guidance counselor (or so I hope). It's so exciting to me to see students come to campus for the first time and realize that this is home for them. (If you're thinking about St. Mike's and haven't come for a visit yet, please do - I knew this was the place for me the moment I stepped on campus.)

One of the best parts of my job was the wonderful people I worked with! Here are some rad photos:

We also made these super cool First Year Fridays videos! If you haven't watched them yet, I definitely suggest it. They're great for a lot of laughs, and you might learn a thing or two, too.
















Hope you enjoy! You'll hear again from me soon.


Questions, comments, concerns, cat videos?

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


Cute animal post of the week:

* おはようございます✨ Good morning! あずきのハムカップケーキ😋 Hammy cupcake❣️ ． 食べてるから触ったらムッとされるけど、 そこがまたかわいくてたまらない😂❤️ ． Don't touch me🐹 ． #ハムスター#ジャンガリアン#hamster#hamstagram#hammy#hammie#pet#petlover#instapet#petstagram#petsofinstagram#instaanimal#fluffypack#weeklyfluff#cutepetclub#animalsco#petsvideo#fluffy#ふわもこ部#IGersJP#カップケーキ#🐹

A video posted by nori🐹 (@nococo.k) on Jul 11, 2016 at 6:10pm PDT

Symposium Weekend: Celebrating the Academic Year

In the last full week before final exams every spring, Saint Michael's celebrates the end of the academic year with the Academic Symposium. Throughout the week, students present their work that they have spent either a semester or a full year completing, and it's really a fantastic experience. I know -- "academic symposium" doesn't sound too exciting. But, to know so many of these students and see the culmination of months and months of hard work is really amazing.

The week starts off with presentations from the Fine Arts department on Monday and Tuesday, which includes the student recitals for many of those who have been taking music lessons for the last year. On Wednesday, senior Media Studies, Journalism, and Digital Arts (known as MJD) majors present their final projects that they have worked on for the entire year. They consist of documentary films, web documentaries, and books, all of which require a huge amount of time (conducting interviews, editing, research, and more). Here are a few of my favorites!

Guarding the Flame: Classic Automobiles and Their Custodians
A documentary film by Sean Faust and Connor Vandagriff

Intronet: An Exploration of Introversion in the Digital Age
A book by Erin Murphy

Cabin Fever: A Behind the Scenes Look at American Summer Camps
A book by Susanna Shigo (blog here)

Not Forgotten: Death and The Evolution of Memorialization in the 21st Century
A documentary film by Kathryn Miyahira and Paul Detzer (Kathryn's blog here)

Not pictured:

The Talk: Sexuality Education in a Promiscuously Prude America

A documentary film by Meghan Lynch, Julie Shea, and Jessica St. George

Watch the film here!

Over the course of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, there are many research presentations all over campus. Many of these come out of various courses, but many of them are also from independent research! It's impossible to make it to all of them, especially when you have your own classes and commitments. However, I was able to make it to my good friend Erin's fantastic presentation entitled: The Evolution of Anti-Abortion Terrorism: Examining Attacks by Christian Extremists as Acts of Domestic Terrorism in the United States.

Erin's presentation!

Finally, Saturday is the campus-wide poster session in which students from many of the departments on campus are able to present their research and work in a concise little poster! It's nice to have all of these posters in one contained area so that students and other visitors are able to see all sorts of research without having to go too far! A bunch of my friends were presenting. Here are a few!

Fiona Moynihan '16
Childhood Bipolar Disorder: Epidemic or Misdiagnosis?

Jordan Moore '16
Stage Management for "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

Mariah Kelley '16
Social and Academic Anxiety in the Context of the High School Classroom

Anna-Maria Forger '17
Costume Design for "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

Patrick Cornacchio '18 & Melissa Hickox '18
Dramaturgy for "The Crucible" & Stage Management for "The Crucible" 

Nathan Dean '16
Surface Enhanced Flourescence from Magnesium Nanoparticles

Symposium is a really nifty way to finish off the year right before the insanity of finals hits everybody. If you're in the midst of your own finals, I wish you the best of luck!

Feature on SMC Theatre Blog

Hello readers!

This week, I am being featured on the Saint Mike's Theatre Department blog. Please check it out!

Link is here.

Photo from the SMC Theatre blog!

On that note, I'm very excited to start working on all of my projects for senior year. In the spring, I will be working on my theatre capstone project (and collaborating with a friend and fellow theatre major, as WOTW will be her capstone as well). In the fall, I will be taking History and Issues, the psychology capstone course, in which I will be drafting my final thesis for the major. I will also be taking Directing in the fall, which I am incredibly excited for. All year long, I will be interning at a local high school for Practicum, a psychology internship course with an in-class component as well.

I look forward to sharing all of those adventures when they begin. But first, it's time to finish off this year strong! I hope to post here more often in the next month as well as next year.

Please contact me if there's anything at all you would like me to write about! Social media links are above, you can email me, or comment below.

Thanks for stopping by!