Well, the month of August has been a whirlwind so far for me! I’ve been working all summer as a Summer Student Ambassador in the Admissions Office (so if you visited campus this summer, you probably saw me)! At the beginning of the month, my good buddy Brian moved in and started his job in the Admissions Office. For most of the summer, our room was pretty empty while I waited for him! Luckily, my friend Steve also worked on campus and lived right above me. We spent many a night chowing down on Chinese food and then going for ice cream at a local homemade ice cream shop named Flint Farm.
My parents also came down for a weekend to take me shopping for my time down in Washington. We spent most of our time at the outlets in Wrentham shopping for shirts, ties, pants, and a suit or two: all essentials for the epicenter of the political world.
However, as the month quickly drew to a close, some lasting memories of the summer came to pass. The first was Gormstock! What is Gormstock, you ask? Well, it is really just a barbecue but it is also a little bit more than that. The termed was coined by my friend Conor a few weeks back. Quite a while ago, I decided to have some friends over my house at the end of summer to say goodbye before many of us go our separate ways for the semester, whether they are heading back to Stonehill, studying abroad, or interning somewhere off-campus like me.
We spent all day on August 15th (the 40th anniversary of Woodstock oddly enough), swimming, grilling, and enjoying each others’ company. But my personal touch on the event was making Gormstock t-shirts that we all wore throughout the day! My parents, as they usually do, outdid themselves when it came to food. With the usual snacks, like chips, pretzels, and popcorn, we grilled up ribs, burgers, hot dogs, and sausages for lunch. There was also garden salad, potato salad, and broccoli casserole. For dessert, we had Friendly’s watermelon roll, homemade cookies, cakes, and cupcakes. That night, we started a fire and ate s’mores and dug
into a 30 inch grinder for a late dinner.
Clockwise from top: Everyone by the fire; Conor and I by the pool; my friends Sam, Corinna, and Meg; Brian and I grilling some grub !
We also held “chicken fights” in the pool. Apparently, my 6’3 high frame is not well-suited for the game. Brian and I lost pretty badly! We also played some badminton and wiffleball on my front lawn (Fun fact: the official Wiffleball factory is located an hour from my house in Shelton, CT)!
In the morning, we were greeting warmly by bagels, Taylor ham (a New Jersey specialty courtesy of Conor), eggs, bacon, and waffles. Wow, I’m hungry just thinking about all that stuff!
Just one week later, I began quite a hectic weekend. On Friday, my roommate Brian and I grabbed some dinner at our favorite area restaurant, Cheng-Du. The General Gau’s Chicken is out of this world! We then saw Quentin Tarantino’s new movie at Patriot’s Place.
Just one week later, I began quite a hectic weekend. On Friday, my roommate Brian and I grabbed some dinner at our favorite area restaurant, Cheng-Du. The General Gau’s Chicken is out of this world! We then saw Quentin Tarantino’s new movie at Patriot’s Place.
The next day though, was an amazing day for me! I saw Bruce Springsteen at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA. I am a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. I have been to seven shows in the last year and half! That night, whether he and the E Street Band were improvising Elvis’ Burning Love, strumming the joyful guitar riff on Rosalita, pounding the snare drum on American Land, or making the bass guitar pulsate through our ribcage like it did during the rarely-played Born in th
e U.S.A., he never ceased to amaze me! Many of the songs he played I had never heard before! He even takes requests every show from the crowd! I took my good friend Meagan and we were “dancing in the dark” during every minute of the 3 hour show. My other friends Ben and Liz came with us and sat on the lawn on the amphitheater. Like us, they also came out in total awe of the show that the 60 year old rock star put on. What a night!
-Not a great shot but Bruce and the band are in there somewhere!
e U.S.A., he never ceased to amaze me! Many of the songs he played I had never heard before! He even takes requests every show from the crowd! I took my good friend Meagan and we were “dancing in the dark” during every minute of the 3 hour show. My other friends Ben and Liz came with us and sat on the lawn on the amphitheater. Like us, they also came out in total awe of the show that the 60 year old rock star put on. What a night!-Not a great shot but Bruce and the band are in there somewhere!
Right now, I am at Stonehill and getting ready for the entire incoming freshman class to move in. The Peer Mentor team moved in on Sunday and is working hard to help the incoming students feel comfortable in their new college home. Meagan (the same one who joined me at the Springsteen concert) is my partner on the orientation team. That means we work together with a small group of students during the summer and fall orientations. We’ve really gotten to know them quite well and are looking forward to seeing them on campus full-time! During our training in the summer, we were all given a word that we needed to incorporate in our group names. Each of us was given a balloon with a certain word in it having to do with love; ours was “smitten”. It took Meagan and I a little while, but we decided to use the Disney movie UP as our inspiration…our group is named the Simply Smitten Snake-bitten Wilderness Explorers! (If you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it. One of the best movies of the summer!)
Top: My partner Meagan and I
Bottom: The Simply Smitten Snakebitten Wilderness Explorers from the 2nd Session of Orientation
Anyways, during fall orientation, we look to build on the friendships with the students formed during summer orientation. Incoming students will be taken into Boston for a day, give back to the community through our “Into the Streets” day and also meet with their academic departments and advisors during the two-day program. Pictures will follow! But for now, it’s a little almost 3:30am and I think it’s about time I go to bed! Take care everybody!
No comments:
Post a Comment