Friday, July 30, 2010

can you do a post on some of the tips new students learned on the POW trips for those of us who couldn't attend? thanks!

A lot of the tips and advice that comes from POW depends on the person who is talking about each subject. I would give different advice than another student on the same topic.

There are 6 different talk topics on POW: Adjusting, Belonging, Drugs/Alcohol, Relationships, Academics, and Spirituality.

The student leader who talks about each topic relays his or her experience to the first-year students in a way that helps to give a little advice and to make the students feel more comfortable.

A lot of what it said is that you will all do fine and have a great year, as long as you are careful to hold to what you believe in and never do anything that makes you uncomfortable. You will find friends and find your place, and there's so much support here from professors, coaches, and friends, that the academic section is all about how much work you put into it.

I know this was a little vague, but every POW is different. If you have any specific questions, or are worried about something in particular, let me know!

:]

What do you want to know about SMC?

Christine, this is probably a very weird question, but I've never had to room with someone before and I'm a bit worried about changing clothes in front of a roommate. Is it okay to change in the bathroom until your comfortable with the person? Thanks!

It's totally fine if you're not comfortable changing around someone you barely know! It's your room and you should be comfortable in it. Nobody is going to judge you for going to the bathroom to change, I know a lot of people who did that our freshman year. No worries!

What do you want to know about SMC?

my boyfriend won't be attending saint michael's next year but wants to come visit me. what is their policy with people in the dorm rooms?

Our policy with guests is that they need to be registered by someone of the same gender. Technically, this means they shouldn't be staying in your room either. However, we are adults and the college treats us that way. The most important thing is to talk everything over with your roommate to make sure she is comfortable with having a guest in your room, since it is her space too.

What do you want to know about SMC?

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

what types of storage units do you think are the best to get for the dorm room? also can you name some tips for organization and time management? thanks :]

You've asked the right girl! I'm crazy organized and LOVE things I can buy to hold my stuff hahaha.

In terms of storage containers, there are A LOT of options, as I'm sure you already know. In my freshman year I had an under-the-bed box with wheels that slid under my bed and was great for little things like extra toiletries, items I didn't need all the time, and random things.

I also have some little colored square containers and use them for socks, leggings, belts, dishes, whatever. In my closet, I have hanging shelves for my clothes and my shoes, which take up very little space and create so much more room for my clothes (I have A LOT of stuff and hangers/dressers aren't enough for me hahaha)

After freshman year I did away with the under-the-bed-box and got a new storage container that is two pulled out drawers stacked on top of each other with a table top surface, so it's like another dresser almost.

I got most of my stuff at IKEA and Bed Bath and Beyond, so those are great places to look.

To stay organized, just try to make sure you always put things away when you're done with them, so your stuff doesn't pile up. I do a clean sweep of my room every Sunday, because I tend to be out of my room a lot on weekends and it gets a little messy.

Buy a planner from staples or some other office store and use it to keep track of your assignments, meetings, practices, etc. It's the best way to have your whole schedule portable and in one place.

Time management is all about knowing how much you can handle in a day. Don't take on too much at first, ease yourself into first semester because it's a lot of new stuff at once. You'll do fine! Let me know if you have more questions!

Hope this helps :]

What do you want to know about SMC?

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Would you recommend a bean bag chair, or something similar, for the dorm room?

In mt freshman year I had one of those huge bowl chairs and everyone loved to sit in it. If you think you'll have a lot of movie nights or people visiting your room a bunch, a comfy chair is always a good idea. Bean bag might not be the best though, because you can't fold it up when you don't want it.

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How do I go about getting the ISBN numbers, publishers, etc of the books I am going to need to get for my classes? I would like to buy them used, but I can't figure out what books I need.

Go to the bookstore website:

http://www.smcvt.edu/bookstore/default.asp and click the option for the booklist

(enter your mikenet username and password to get access).

There you can find the lists for all of the classes this semester and the books. Just find your classes and you're set.

What do you want to know about SMC?

Monday, July 19, 2010

Where did July go?

Hey all,

Ok so it's only mid July, but it seems since I've had so many formspring questions lately, I haven't actually written any original posts. So, let's update on what I've been doing shall we?

July 4th was really fun here in Burlington. My friends and I spent the entire weekend together eating a lot of treats, swimming, going to the beach, and being outside. The weather was perfect all weekend. We also all went to the fireworks down by the waterfront. It was super crowded but we snuck ourselves onto the rocks on the shore just before the show began, and it was so good!

I also went strawberry picking a few weeks ago, right before the picking season ended. I came home with 2 pints of strawberries, and so did my roommate, so our fridge was pretty full. I'm looking to go back out and pick again now that it's blueberry season, and I LOVE blueberries.

Last weekend I had the most amazing time taking part in a POW program for SMC. POW stands for Pre-Orientation Weekend, and it's a chance for the incoming class of 2014 to make some new friends in the upper classes as well as their own. It's one of a few programs SMC offers for incoming first-year students. I was able to be part of the talk team, giving a talk on relationships and college. The students were amazing and I'm not sure who is more excited for orientation in the fall, us or them.

This past weekend was pretty quiet for me, since many of my friends were away on another POW or on vacations. However, it wasn't quite as quiet for Burlington. The Vermont Brewers Association hosted the Brew Festival down at the waterfront this weekend and, since I'm now 21, I got a ticket and went with a friend. It was a really fun ways to have little samples of some beers I've never tried before. AND my friend and I were able to attend a beer and chocolate pairing, which was surprisingly delicious.

I've loaded up on brochures and am preparing to write a post about what you can do when you come to visit Burlington, especially in the summer, so anyone looking to come up for a visit to SMC should look out for that soon!

I'll leave you all with some photos from my recent escapades and, as always, if you have questions you can leave them here, facebook, my email (camoresano@smcvt.edu) or anonymously on my formspring page.



Peace,
-Christine

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

If you could go back in time and tell yourself once thing about college life as you entered your freshman year, what would it be?

Wow, this is a tough one for me (and probably for everyone). Going into Senior year, I've learned so much about myself and the world around me that it's hard to decide if I would have wanted to know anything in advance.

I will say (even though this is something I learned abroad) I would have liked to be told that it's a big world out there. I think a lot of little things that stressed me out would have been a lot less imprtant to me if I had known how many other things there were in the world that are more important.

Of course, hindsight is 20/20 so we live and learn. :]

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