In the Mind of Mike

Just like that I'm done with my last fall semester at Saint Michael's. Somehow time seems to keep speeding up every year. The last week was full of studying for finals and writing papers but I also had time to do some other more exciting things. On Saturday I went to  Smuggs  for the first time of the season. There weren't a lot of trails open yet but one of the many benefits of getting a $65 season pass thanks to the Wilderness Program is that you can go on days with okay conditions and not waste any money. For the first week though it wasn't too bad. It was icy in some spots but there were more trails open than usual. A picture the crew at Smuggs took this past week. Winter is here! I also went to the Asiana house in Burlington for the first time. It's a sushi spot right near Church St and the food was really good. I got the White Tiger roll which is spicy scallop wrapped in rice which is fried then topped with unagi and spicy teriyaki sauce. On Wednesday ...

One of my favorite things about Saint Mike's is how great it is to be on campus before Christmas. It has always been my favorite holiday and Saint Mike's sure knows how to make you get into the spirit.  As soon as we get back from Thanksgiving break the two big trees near the library are all lit up in lights, christmas trees show up all around campus and if we get lucky the whole campus is covered in a light layer of snow. It's this time of year that I feel the most at home at Saint Mike's. I think the best way to describe it would be by saying that all of campus feels cozy. Since this time of year is filled with finals and end of semester projects things may get stressful but a quick trip to the library walking past the decorated trees, getting free cookies and hot chocolate and seeing all my friends there trying to get work done makes everything so much less stressful. I really can't express how much better this time of year is due to all the decorations and holid...

Two weeks ago I went Tilley's which is a bar right off campus. Every Thursday night they have Buzz night which is sponsored by a local radio station Buzz 99.9. They always have free pizza (my main reason for going) and fun games with prizes. I decided to sign up for the frozen T-Shirt contest. This consists of two people being given folded frozen shirts and they have a contest to see who can put it on first. My friend Jenna was the other person picked but I ended up winning and got tickets to see Paramore in Montreal. I had an extra ticket and decided to take my friend Justin since the whole reason I signed up was so that he might be able to go. I'm really bad at concert photos The next week our friend Sarah won tickets but couldn't go so Jenna ended up taking them along with our friend Kristen. Just like that we had a group of four people to go on a road trip to Montreal together. The concert was on a Monday so we drove up after class and drove back down after the sh...

It's hard to believe but last week I signed up for my last semester of classes at Saint Mike's. I remember moving into Joyce like it's yesterday yet somehow graduation is coming this May. I only have to take three more classes instead of the usual four which is nice since I will have extra time for an internship, part time job and or skiing. Here are the classes I'm taking: Biology Senior Seminar- This one works with business majors to start an environmental start up company. We present our plans and the top business plans get selected to compete in front of judges for a cash prize. Since I'm a Business minor as well as an Environmental Studies minor I feel like this class was made just for me! Environmental Problems- This is my last class for my Environmental Studies minor and it only meets once a week so that we can go on field trips to various places during class time. Almost every week is a field trip which should be really interesting. Human Physiology- ...

This past weekend was October break at Saint Mike's so we had Monday and Tuesday off. Our environmental club Green Up used this break to our advantage and went to  Powershift  which is a huge environmental conference in Pittsburgh, PA. It started Friday night so the 13 of us left at 5am on Friday morning. By after over ten hours of driving and many pit stops we finally made it the hostel we were staying at by 6:30 and got to the conference just in time. Over 6000 students and young leaders attended the conference. There were six workshops, some breakout sessions and highly keynote speakers and concerts. A campaign to stop the keystone pipeline It was great getting to bong with some of the Green Up members. There were six seniors, a junior, a sophomore and five first years so we had a decent mix of people. Everyone had a blast and we all learnt a lot. We made sure to go to different sessions so that we could all learn from each other after the conference ended. With about...

Last weekend could not have been any better! It had the perfect combination of fall activities, concerts, and just hanging out with friends. It started off like every weekend this semester by me leading a group of volunteers at the organic garden on campus. It is run though  MOVE  which is our volunteer program on campus. Every week we go down and do some weeding, cleaning, planting and whatever else needs to be done. Not only is it great to help out but it's also a perfect way to relax outside and meet some great people. That night we had the first Green Up potluck of the semester. Everyone brought food and we played Apples to Apples and a bunch of other games. Saturday I went to  Shelburne Farms  with some friends. It's a giant property right on Lake Champlain and you can hike, pet cows and get some local food. Some of it was kind of meant for kids but it was still really fun. There was also a cheese tasting so of course we hung out for a while. My favorite part ...

Yesterday I went to a rally in Middlebury against the pipelines that are currently proposed locally and around the country. It was part of the Draw the Line day of action organized by  350.org.   It was a Green Up event so I got to drive one of the school vans down which is always nice since the club can pay for gas that way. There are three main pipelines that we were protesting. The biggest one is the Keystone XL pipeline which would bring tar sands from Alberta Canada down to New Orleans. Vermont was also protesting the fracked gas pipeline that is proposed for Middlebury and another tarsands pipeline that would go through the north east kingdom. The Saint Mike's crew. Some of the people lined up along Rt 7.   There were not as many people as I thought there would be, but there were similar actions going on in many towns around Vermont so I'm sure if you added all the people up it would be a large amount. There were a few speeches talking about the e...

This past Saturday I went on a trip to Mt. Mansfield for my Ecosystem Ecology class. It is the tallest mountain in VT and is the mountain that Stowe is on. We left at 9:00 and made are way to Stowe and drove up the toll road. I have to say driving a huge van up to the top was a little scary at times but we made it. Once we got to the top of the mountain we hiked about three miles round trip going from near the "nose" to the "chin" and back (the mountain looks like a face). Professor Hope made sure to stop along the way to tell us all about the plant species that we were passing. We also measured striations in the rocks to find out how the glaciers moved over the mountains. Using compasses we recorded the direction of the lines and made sure to take note of the elevation and longitude and latitude using the GPS. After a nice lunch we continued our trip to the chin but at a much quicker pace since Professor Hope took up the rear so we were no longer constantly stoping...

I can't believe I've already been back at Saint Mike's for over two weeks. What is even more scary though is the fact that I'm a senior. If anyone has figured out a way to stay a fifth year without having to pay now would be the time to let me know! Sadly I don't see this happening so I'm just going to have to cram as many memories as I can into this year. All the senior O-leaders Since I got to come up here a week early for Orientation I've already done a lot. Orientation was a blast. All my O-babies are awesome and it was great meeting all the other orientation leaders. As a thank you for coming up early ( like we really had to be talked into that) the orientation leaders got to go on a boat cruise around Lake Champlain. We had great weather and I can't think of a better way to start the year. Sunset from the boat cruise After a week of classes I think I can say that I'm going to enjoy this semester. I'm only taking classes that rea...

Sorry for the extreme lack of blog posts. I've been really busy this summer. I've been living in Harwich on Cape Cod working for the  Harwich Conservation Trust . I'm a Land Steward Intern so I do things like remove invasive species, trail maintenance and lead walks. It's a lot of hard work but I've been learning a ton. Internships are crucial in order to get a good job after college. I've been able to get a lot of training on conservation which is right up my alley. My advisor Prof. McCabe sent out an email to all the biology majors announcing this position. He always makes sure we know about all the options available to us so he has been a great help. The five interns Although my internship doesn't pay anything, they do provide housing. I'm living above the office with four other interns and we all get along really well. Living on the cape isn't nearly as exciting as being at Saint Mike's but it does have its perks. We are only a 15 minut...

Some people get extremely stressed during finals week but for me it's always the best week of the year. The weather tends to be nice and I always have lots of free time since I tend to not need much time for studying. Our last day of classes was last Wednesday. Thursday was a study day which for me meant going to the beach, and making s'mores once it got dark. It was a great day! Friday I actually had a final so I spent the morning studying but as soon as I got done it was back to being outside then I went into Burlington for dinner. Yesterday was Derby day here at SMC. Every year on the day of the Kentucky Derby everyone gets dressed up and goes out to the three's field for our own derby. People get picked as either a jockey or a horse. The horse basically gives the jockey a piggy back ride and they race around the field. It only lasts a few minutes but people get really into it and it's kind of nice to see everyone all dressed up. This year we decided to go to North...

Last night was our spring concert. This year we had Macklemore which is the biggest act we have gotten in years. Needless to say everyone was really excited for the show and we've all been looking forward to it ever since it was announced. Sadly, my good friend and suit mate Sam was diagnosed with leukemia last week and has to stay in the hospital for a month for treatment. The doctors are fairly confident that he will pull though but it's still a really crappy situation. We all knew that Sam was looking forward to the concert so one of his best friends, Justin, said we should try and get Macklemore to visit Sam in the hospital. I thought it was a long shot but figured we could give it a try. I messaged my friend who is on the programming committee and in charge of the concert to explain the situation and he passed on the message to Macklemore and his people. On Monday we visited Sam and he mentioned the concert so another one of Sam's friends, Dana, decided to take the cam...

Many people see November and December as the holiday season but up here at Saint Mike's we have our own holiday season. It started last Tuesday with Free Cone Day. Every year Ben &Jerry's gives out free ice cream at all their scoop shops. I went into Burlington with  Lisa  in between classes on Tuesday and was able to get two free ice creams. We actually had enough time to get three but we both decided that two was enough. Some years the Ben & Jerry's truck even makes it's way to campus so that we don't have to go downtown. This past Sunday was Earth Fest which kicks off Green Up's Earth Week. I had been planning for this event since January so it was really nice to see it all come together. Will Evans, who graduated from Saint Mike's performed and there was all kinds of local food that people could have for free. We had grass-fed burgers, ice cream and a bike that you could ride in order to blend up a smoothy. I was outside grilling the whole time...

After what felt like months of worrying about what I was going to do this coming summer I finally figured it out. I was offered and accepted a position working for the  Harwich Conservation Trust . It's an unpaid internship but housing is provided and it will provide some necessary experience. I have to thank my awesome advisor Professor McCabe for helping me get this position. Whenever he finds a job or internship that he thinks would be of interest to Biology majors he sends out an email to everyone in order to let us know about it. It's thanks to him that I found out about two of the three internships I applied for. He also helped me figure out how to dress and how many positions to apply for (the answer is all that you can). He and the rest of the professors here really want to see you succeed and are more than happy to sit down and help you figure out the right path. The dark red town is Harwich. Although I had my sights set on being in Vermont for the summer, the m...

So it may be near the end of March but this month has been the best by far for skiing this season. Thanks to the $30 season pass to Smugglers Notch that Saint Mike's gives us I've been getting out as often as possible. Before spring break I went on a weekday and the conditions were perfect and there were no lines. Yesterday the conditions were really good too. We got a lot of snow this past week so there was plenty of snow in the glades. Smuggs has three different mountains We are pretty lucky to be able to go skiing so often. The fact that the mountain is 45 minutes away and that we don't have to pay each time makes it really easy to just go for half days. Yesterday we didn't leave campus until 10:30 but we were still able to get in at least eight runs. The week before spring break we got in about six runs and I was still able to get back to campus well before my 3:00 class. After this weekend I feel that I got in all the skiing I wanted to. Now I'm kind of ...

This past week I got back from one of the best experiences of my life. I along with 11 other Saint Mike's students and staff went down to the Dominican Republic for a service trip. We left at 3:45 on Saturday morning which was a little rough but luckily we were able to sleep on the flights and three hour ride to Ocoa. Buy the time we got to where we were staying for the night it was time for dinner then we went to the park. It was quite an experience. There was music playing and people just hanging out. I've never seen a park so busy but I guess it's the place to be on a Friday and Saturday night. The next morning we woke up, went to church, visited a senior center than made our way to the village we would be staying at for the week. We stayed in the village of Los Corozo which has 75 families and is about an hour outside of the city of Ocoa. The view from the village was great seeing as it is surrounded by mountains. We worked with Adesjo which is an organization that tr...

And just like that we are half way done with the semester. Tomorrow I am leaving for a  MOVE  service trip to the Dominican Republic. We will be there for a week working in a small village to rebuild houses. The group consists of nine students, two staff leaders and one student leader. We have a great group and I'm sure we are going to have a great time. The group has been meeting every week all semester in order to prepare for the trip. We have also been doing a lot of fundraising and were able to raise over $10,000 which we are giving directly to the organizations that we are going to be working with. The village that we are staying at does not have electricity or even running water so I wont be able to give any updates but look for a post once I get back. Have a great week!

It seems crazy to think that I'm already planning for summer and senior year. The housing cards for four person townhouses came out today and are due next week. By this time next month I will know where I'm living during my final year at Saint Mike's. Just writing the last sentence made me a little sad since these past few years have gone by way too fast. But before I even worry about senior year I need to figure out what I'm doing this summer. Internships are extremely important and the Career Development office makes sure you know that. I've currently applied for three internships this summer. The first one is in Vermont and depending on which site you get picked for it could be at Middlebury, UVM, or SMC. I would be working to measure water quality and may even be collecting bugs. There is even a part of the SMC website  that talks about it. The second one is in Harwich, MA which is in Cape Cod. There I would be working to remove invasive species and educate the ...

Although this semester just started less than a month ago, the Orientation leaders for the class of 2017 are already at work planning for the arrival of new students in August. On Monday we had our first group dinner. We all got dressed up and had some delicious food. We also got to find out who our partners are. Everyone had a great time and we have a really amazing group of 66 enthusiastic and entertaining people. Bloggers  Boates ,  Lauren ,  Ben  and I For those of you that are going to be part of the Class of 2017 you should be pretty pumped for orientation. All the first year students come to campus the Thursday before classes start and we help you all move in. That night there is a fun for all i the gym and socials in the resident halls afterwards. We basically try to make sure that you have as much fun as possible. There are lots of other great events over the weekend such as the first year dance, hypnotist, Connections and a trip to the fair  that ...

This past Saturday there was a big rally in Portland, Maine protesting the tar sands pipeline that will cut through New England. Basically, the pipeline would be terrible for the environment due to the likelihood of spills, increased carbon in the atmosphere and the US wouldn't even be using the oil. It turns out that a bus was going to the rally from Burlington so myself, two friends and a professor decided to go. It was over ten hours in the bus round trip and we were only in Portland for about three hours but it was still a good time. About 1400 people showed up and we marched together down to the ferry dock which is where the pipeline would end. There were fifteen different speakers that presented and they all made really good point. The mayor of Portland as well as some of Maine's congress members spoke out against the pipeline. Part of the crowd at the end of the rally. It was great to see that so many people protest the pipeline. I think more and more people are be...

Sunday I finally got to move back into SMC. I don't usually like to wake up early but I was totally fine with leaving my house at 9am to start the trip back.  After checking the mail I found out that I was selected to be an O-Leader for the Class of 2017. This means that I will get to come back to campus a week early next semester! It would be an understatement to say that I'm excited about this. I'm all moved into my  suite  and am already liking it much more than my housing in New Zealand. It's much better when you already know the people that you will be living with. It also just feels really good being back on campus. The first day of classes went well. We played games to get to know each other for the first half of my Marketing class. My Evolution class was interrupted by a squirrel that ran past the window and caught my professor's eye. Classic Saint Mike's! This week is going to be a little overwhelming since I have so many meetings and exciting event...

2012 sure was a great year for me. Spending almost five months in New Zealand may have had something to do with that... But even before New Zealand it was a good year. I had my best semester grade wise, took some awesome classes, and was able to hang out with everyone before leaving for the other side of the world. I think I've actually grown a lot this past year. I did all my own grocery shopping and cooked all my own meals, traveled all by myself, and I feel like I have a better idea as to what I want to do after graduation (although there are still lots of things to decide about). This year promises to be a good one. I'm hoping to get an internship this summer so that I can finally start getting some ecology experience outside of the classroom. It's hard to believe how quickly this past year has gone by and I really hope that time slows down a bit. I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve and have a happy New Year!