Burlington Living

Hello Summertime!

It’s been way too long since I’ve blogged, but my apartment in downtown Burlington couldn’t get internet for a while because Comcast was so busy. The great thing is I have hot water and internet now and can keep ya’ll updated about living in Burlington for the summer!

Lake Champlain

This summer I got a job at a summer camp at Petra Cliffs climbing gym so I will be taking camper’s rock climbing, kayaking, sailing, and caving! I just started training and camp starts officially Monday! I’m really excited for all the activities I get to do and the other students I’m working with! I will keep you posted about fun things I do around the Burlington area!

Living downtown is a lot different from living on campus or at home, both of which I’ve done in the summer before. Downtown living means getting to walk everywhere, cooking all my meals, and getting to really live independently. It’s going to be practice for living in the 300’s townhouses next year. For seniors on campus at SMC they can live in townhouses. The townhouses include living room full kitchen and mostly single bedrooms. A lot of seniors end up taking themselves off the meal plan and cook all their meals. I love cooking so I’m excited to get to cook for myself and my house-mates.

Church Street

Burlington has so much going on in the summer time and is a fun place to walk around and explore. I plan on trying some new restaurants and finding great spots to relax or people watch. So stay tuned for summer adventures in Burlington! 

Internships

Internship's are an awesome way to get experience with a company or organization while getting academic credit. At Saint Mike's the career development internship office is very helpful with notifying students about internship opportunities during the summer and school year. Some majors like Business and Journalism require majors to have an internship, but anyone in any major can get one.

This past spring I decided to search for one so the first step was going to an informational meeting and getting a list of resources on the school website to help find the right internship for me. Then I began emailing a few organizations until I heard back from one of them. I next set up an interview and ended up outlining and figuring out what I would do for my internship. After setting up my internship came the application process through school since I wanted to get credit for it. Students can also have an internship that are not for academic credits. It just depends on what works best for you.

So, next semester I'll begin my internship working about 10 hours a week around my other classes. I'll meet with one of my professors and check in with her on a regular basis about the things I'm doing with the organization. I'll be working with the organization Volunteers for Peace. VFP helps individuals from around the world volunteer internationally through service development and community development. I will get to help promote the organization through social media and organize trips and stories of people returning. I'm really excited to get to work with this organization. In the fall I'll be blogging about different experience and skills I'm learning!

Internship's are a great way to get experience with different organizations gathering skills and could help figure out what you might want to do as a job later on. The great thing is you can set up several internship opportunities throughout your four years!

Wrapping up another Year

The fun and joy of yet another p-day has come and gone with plenty of pictures and memories to last me until next years. With p-day complete that means finals and graduation are quickly approaching. This week has been a whirl wind of the final week of class along with plenty of papers and work to finish. I'm in the process of finishing my last paper and can't help to look at how far I've come this year.

TH 304 for next year!!

View of Florence

   It's crazy for me to think only a few months ago I was in Florence, Italy soaking up Renaissance art along with Italian food and culture.  I've been back in the U.S. now for four months which seems crazy because it seems like it was just yesterday or that it all was a dream. I still pinch myself and remember that 'hey I was in Italy and Europe for five months'!  The end of a school year always tends to brings up a lot of memories and various events that occurred throughout the school year.   I'm  really going to miss the senior class graduating this year and it will be weird to become the next senior class in the fall. I can't believe my time at SMC is going by so quickly! Freshmen year still feels like yesterday!

  This summer will be a lot of fun and will be interesting as I'm living and working in Burlington. So I'll be able to share with you Burlington and SMC in the summertime!

EARTH FEST

Every year at Saint Mike's our Green Up club puts on the event, Earth Fest. This year they went all out by getting the Ben and Jerry Truck to come give out ice cream and they had Barefoot Truth playing. Along with all of this there is tie dyeing, plant your own pot, free local food (usually hamburgers and veggie burgers that are delicious)!

This was the food table that was so crowded and had created a
 longer line than Ben and Jerrys!

One of the cool things Green up did with the food is they did not supply any plates or napkins so people either brought their own or just ate what they could hold so we didn't generate that much waste. The Outdoor Gear Exchange store also had a tent set up with prizes and had games laid out for students to play with. Green Up did a really nice job this year with this event that attracted a very large number of students and members of the community. Hey, who wouldn't enjoy the chill beats of Barefoot Truth playing while eating a Ben and Jerry's.

Kevin just planted a see in an empty pint! 

Barefoot Truth

The effects of bottled water explanation 

1/2 Marathon!

Right after the race!

Hey guys, so this past Saturday I ran a half marathon (13.1) and completed my New Years resolution! I signed up for the race in January and began running frequently. With the snow and chilly weather most of my training took place on the inside track in Tarrant. Finally, race day arrived falling conveniently on parents weekend so my Mom could come cheer me on. I could not have asked for a better day to run, the sun was out and I got to run along the bike path along Lake Champlain in Burlington.

I finished the 13.1 miles in 2:13:40 which was fine by me! I plan to continue to run and maybe one day do a full marathon! This weekend overall turned out to be a blast hanging out with my Mom and enjoying the warm Spring weather that has now come!

How much time does Wilderness take up?

Wilderness doesn't take up too much of your time. If you decided to become a leader there is training and meetings about once a week. Most trips and trainings occur Saturday and Sundays. You can be as busy with wilderness as much as you want to. It's how much time you want to put into it and whether your going out climbing, kayaking ect. with others frequently or not.

Ask me anything

What is the transition like going back to school after being abroad?

After coming back from abroad it took some time to readjust to coming back. Like using a microwave again was something I hadn't used in 5 months or driving a car. Coming back was hard sometimes because I really liked certain aspects of my daily life or way of life abroad. The thing that helped me the most was talking with my friends who also just returned and sharing stories. Being back now for several months I have gotten in a rhythm again at school and with activities. I haven't forgotten about my time and still find myself day dreaming about certain places.

Ask me anything