Albertus Blog

Albertus Blog

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Hurricane Sandy can't stop Albertus from our event!

As Hurricane Sandy ripped through the NorthEast, especially New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, we were all fearful of what this hurricane would bring.  At Albertus, we had a set plan.  If the power was to go out, we would meet in the Campus Center.  Luckily, the power did not go out and we were fortunate enough to be able to stick around in our residence halls.  If you are not from around the area, I'm sure you heard on the news of the destruction Sandy has caused.  Thousands went without power, sadly, some people were killed, homes were under water and a trampoline even ended up in a power line in Milford, CT!  It was really sad to see that some people lost everything and I hope that they are O.K.  My family, in Hamden, CT, is still without cable or telephone up until this day (Wednesday) and they have no idea when it will come back on.  It's crazy to see how much people rely on technology and other devices in their day to day life!  However, Monday night we had a FIFA tournament and even though Sandy was still going full force outside, students still came down to play in the Pub. There was a $50 cash prize to first place and $25 to second place.We also had just dance tournament that same night and the prizes were the same. Students were tired by the end but pulled through for the win. Everyone had a great time and the competition for both games were tough.
 
These are some pictures from Hurricane Sandy:


 
 
 

Pumpkin Patch Night!

Last night I chaired an event for SGA called "Pumpkin Patch Night" held in the Pub. The event started at 8 pm and there was Halloween Trivia and crafts! About 32 people came down which was a lot considering we just got hit with Hurricane Sandy this past weekend. Luckily, we still had power at school and some commuters even came to stay at school with friends because they were out of power at their house. Halloween trivia was played and a lot of people came down to earn bragging rights as well as winning $100 cash! Those who came down to participate in the craft night had a lot of fun too. During craft nights, we usually get ceramic banks, however this time I wanted to do something a little different so I just bought ceramic pumpkins and owls that the students could paint. I also purchased halloween magnets & scratch leaves. We ordered pizza for the students that came down & overall the event was successful!  I really think the students enjoyed the crafts that we had and the owls were a huge hit!  This event is just one of the many that SGA puts on throughout the year :)
 
 
 



Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Class Schedule


I just picked out my class schedule for the Spring 2013 semester and it's bittersweet! I'm so close to being done but it's a weird feeling at the same time.  I'm ready to move on and start my career, but I've made so many connections at Albertus that at the same time I don't want to leave yet!  I planned out my schedule this semester so that I would have to take requirements for my major, so that next semester, I would only really have to take electives.  I ended up signing up for Ceramics, Money and Banking, Computer Ethics, Career Prep, and Grant Writing- I only have to go class 3 days a week again!  The way Albertus works, which is much less stressful compared to bigger schools, is that we meet with an advisor who helps pick out our classes with us.  My advisor, Tim Raynor, who is head of the Business Department, literally helps me pick and choose what classes I need to take.  He tells me what I need to get done as a requirement in order to graduate, and I can then pick what electives I would like to take.  The next week after you have chosen your classes, there are specific days where you go online and register.  Day 1 is for seniors, day 2, juniors, day 3, sophomores and day 4, freshmen.  Even though you may feel like you won't get the courses you would like to get as a freshmen, you typically do get them because we are a small school and not everyone signs up for the course you want to take.  At other schools, such as state schools, my friends tell me about their process signing up for classes; having to wake up at 5 am just to pick the class they want!  This sounds crazy to me because your advisor here helps you pick and choose what you need to get done first.  As I soon enter my last semester at Albertus, I hope to make it a good one.  I will definitely miss it here, but because of the connections I've made here, hopefully I will find a job soon after I graduate :)

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Who's ready for the HAUNTED MAZE this Saturday?!?


THIS SATURDAY 10/27 is Albertus' first Haunted Maze!! This event is sponsored by the Student Government Association and is a week long process to set it up!  We have blocked off the Behan Community Room (BCR) located in the Campus Center so no one can peek in and see what it looks like!  We have thought of various scenes; just imagine creepy clowns coming after you or possessed dolls?!  Scary things are not my cup of tea at all but I'm going to try to join the fun and force myself to go through the maze.  Hopefully I won't get too scared! I could have joined and participated, but I really don't like scary things! Maybe scaring people wouldn't be as bad though.. If students want to participate, they can volunteer and be a part of the maze.  A lot of the things we have made are home made things.  We even created a scary Jack in the Box, where someone can actually go inside the box and jump out.  One of the SGA members put on a mask and sat in the SGA office waiting for other members to come in and popped out at them!

Albertus Madness

This past Friday night was the annual Albertus Madness held in the gym!  Albertus Madness essentially kicks off the men's and women's basketball season but there's also lots of fun that goes along with it!  Everyone comes decked out in their favorite Albertus gear- lots of royal blue is worn because this is our athletic colors!  The first 100 people at the door received a free t-shirt!  Eye black was sold through the Albertus Student Alumni Association which was pretty cool as well.  We all patiently waited in the bleachers; students, friends, and parents were all there.  At first, there were lots of contests and prizes to be won.  They spun people around and had them try and shoot the most basketballs into the hoop.  They also had a dance off and played Simon Says.  2 day students also showcased their dance moves and danced for the audience.  The athletic's intern and fellow blogger Dan "Sunshine" Kmietchick even danced for the audience which was very funny!  The winners of these games won various gift cards.  After all of the games were over, the basketball players came out and were presented to the crowd.  They shot some hoops and everyone cheered them on!  Right after Midnight Madness, the showing of "Nightmare on Elm Street" was played in the pub where there were free nachos!  Overall it was a great night and everyone showed their Albertus pride by participating.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Pumpkin Painting Party




Today my residence hall put on the second floor function of the year.  My co-RA and I decided to do a pumpkin painting party.  We bought mini pumpkins and gathered in the McAuliffe Hall common room at 7 pm to start painting.  We had 15 residents come and a few other residents came in and out to see what was going on.  Some residents from other buildings even came!  We watched the movies "Hocus Pocus" as well as "Beetle Juice" while painting our pumpkins.  Students really got into it and made each of their pumpkins their own. I had advertised for the event at the beginning of the month by posting flyers, but I also made mini pumpkins out of construction paper and wrote a reminder about the event tonight.  I taped each of the pumpkins onto each residents door.  I think this definitely helped remind the residents of the event. I love Hello Kitty, so I decided to paint a Hello Kitty pumpkin!  I also painted the Resident Director, Justin Cirisoli a Chanel pumpkin.  He is into fashion and had asked me to make him a pumpkin so I thought that he would enjoy the Chanel pumpkin :).  About 45 minutes into the floor function, we had pizza delivered and also served soda for the residents to enjoy as well!  Overall, it was a great time and the residents got to take their mini pumpkins back to their room.  Hopefully their pumpkins put them in the Halloween/ fall spirit!

Monday, October 15, 2012

THIS THURSDAY!


This Thursday is the event 213 Days Until Graduation.  As the Senior Events Coordinator of Student Government Association, I am chairing this event.  To chair this event means that you are in charge of it- you make sure everyone comes to set up, clean up, and help throughout the event if need be.  You also have to go out and purchase items if you need any for the event.  The event this Thursday is for the seniors of the class of 2013.  I am beyond excited for this event!  I put a lot of hard work planning this event trying to think of what the seniors would enjoy doing at this event.  Headshots will be taken for the year book, there will be free pizza and wings, $1 beers all night and BINGO will be played!  The Albertus Magnus Admissions Office generously donated 10 t-shirts and 2 coffee mugs, while the Albertus Athletics Department donated 10 t-shirts, a folding chair and a couple of sweatsuits.  The Albertus Bookstore also donated a Albertus Magnus College Alumni hoodie- a essential for any graduating senior!  I also went out and bought various items that reminded me of the 90's and created a big 1990's basket.  Using items that were donated, as well as buying a few more items from the bookstore, I was able to make a few baskets to be used as big final prizes for Bingo, while the prizes for Bingo in the beginning will be various giftcards and a t-shirt.  I am trying really hard to get as many seniors to this event as possible!  In order to advertise, I have been posting all over Facebook and I made flyers of graduation caps and ended up cutting them out (how I didn't get carpal tunnel, I don't know but my hand hurt so much after!) and have been handing them out to seniors.  Hopefully a lot of seniors come and enjoy this event =)


Lyman Orchards

On October 13th, my mom and I went to Lyman Orchards, a local golfing course located in Middlefield, CT. Lyman Orchards is a popular festive place to go during the fall.  They have a store open year round that sells various pies, donuts, apple cider, sandwiches, and other delicious treats!  During the fall, they cut out a huge corn maze;  each year is a different theme.  This years theme was “Get Lost in the Rivalry:  Yankees & Redsox.”  Being an avid Yankee fan I was ecstatic to see that it was Yankees theme.  Admission was $10 for adults, $5 for children.  If you go, buy your tickets online at www.lymanorchards.com in order to receive a dollar off admission.  It took my mom and I about 40 minutes to find our way through the whole maze.  We went down so many dead ends and ended up going in circles, but it was a fun time.  There were different checkpoints throughout the maze.  Before you entered, you picked what questions you wanted to answer to help guide you through the maze.  The different categories were sports, Halloween, Yankees, Redsox, or tiny tots (meaning small vegetables, not the show Toddlers & Tiaras like I thought it would be!)  I chose Yankees while my mom chose Halloween.  At each check point you looked on the piece of paper to see what the question was.  If you chose the right question, it sent you either left or right.  I thought I would know most of the questions because I watch the Yankees frequently, however I only knew about 3 out of 10!  We finally made it out and headed over to the store and bought an apple crisp pie and tripleberry muffins.  If you’re looking for something festive to do to get yourself in the mood for fall, head over to Lyman Orchards.  A dollar of every ticket sold for the corn maze goes towards The American Cancer Society.  Last year, they earned over $30,000 to donate to the society.  Down the road is the driving range, as well as apple picking and a sunflower maze.




Albertus Magnus Women's Tennis

Last year, I joined the Albertus Magnus Women's Tennis team.  I had never played a sport before- I danced for 12 years.  Joining a sport was something I never thought that I would actually do.  I have never really been good at sports but I decided that I wanted to do something to stay in shape and have fun with.  The tennis program is one that is still growing, so I felt that it would be perfect for me- not too challenging & I would get to learn everything.  We got a new coach last year for both the women's and men's team, Coach Bob Migliorini.  Most of the girls on the team last year were unexperienced, like myself.  Although we lost most of our matches last season, we had definitely improved by the end of the season.  This season, we announced that our captain would be senior Na'Tasha Mesidor.  Thus far into the season, we have won 3 matches in total- a total improvement since last year! It's crazy to look around and see how much better we are than last year.  I have even noticed in myself that balls I wouldn't have been able to get last year, I am this year.  Yesterday we played St. Joseph's of Brooklyn at the U.S. Open in Flushing, New York.  It was pretty awesome to play there, especially knowing that tennis pro's such as Venus & Serena Williams have played there.  I played the longest tennis match of my life! 18 sets with a total score of 10-8.  It was such a close match and I was happy that I pulled through and won.  I also played a doubles match with my doubles partner this season, Malika Grant.  We won our doubles match with a total score of 8-5.  If you're interested in playing tennis, or any other sport, you can visit the Albertus Athletic website at athletic.albertus.edu.  Below are some pictures of myself, my doubles partner Malika Grant & my team at a match.




Giant Game Night & Insomnia Cookies..Yum!

This past Friday, we had another Albertus at Night event.  The event was called “Giant Game Night.”  We had a variety of literally, giant games, that students came down to play.  We had giant Jenga, giant checkers, giant Kerplunk, and giant Connect Four.  We also provided students with chips, dip, and salsa.  As always at our late night events, we had nachos for free as well.  Although it is a long weekend (due to Columbus Day and there being no school on Monday), students that decided to stay for the long weekend decided to come down and have some fun on their Friday night!  Insomnia Cookies, a new cookie shop located on Chapel Street in Downtown New Haven even came to our event to provide some free samples!  Insomnia cookies is open every night from 6pm-2am and they deliver warm cookies to you in a pizza box!  The cookies really are amazing and the company noticed that they have been delivering more and more to our campus, so they decided to contact our campus activities coordinator, Erin Morrell, and asked if they could provide samples to our campus!  They brought M&M, peanut butter, sugar cookies and chocolate chunk and the cookies seemed to be a big hit amongst the students.  If you live in the New Haven area I would definitely suggest checking them out.  Click on the link if you want to check out their website =)  http://www.insomniacookies.com/

Strategic Planning Session

This past week I attended a strategic planning session.  I attended this session 3 times before; once during the summer when I helped with reunion, another time for my class, and once for athletics.  This time I attended the session as a member of SGA (Student Government).  These strategic planning sessions are being done for all aspects and members of the college:  day students, graduate students, parents, alumni, staff, and whomever else is a part of the college community.  During these sessions, we are asked a variety of questions and give our honest opinion.  For two of the sessions I attended, it was more like an interview session.  One person would be assigned a question and they would ask you it and you would give your answer.  The other times we’ve had big note pads and would be asked a question and were asked to write down the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT.)  As a part of doing these sessions, we’ve received small gifts such as $5 to Dunkin Donuts or $10 to Starbucks.  Yes, it is nice getting a little token of appreciation, but this is such a great way for the college to learn about what people really think!  By doing these sessions, our answers will be compiled and brought into a strategic 3-5 year plan where the College can work on the issues.  They can see what they are doing right, where some opportunities lie, and what they can do to make the college a better place.  Overall, I think this opens up some great opportunities for prospective students!  The college is taking steps to make our school an even more awesome place overall and that’s what sets Albertus apart from other schools!

Jackpot BINGO!

We recently started doing Saturday night event programming, called Spice Up Your Saturdays!  This past Saturday, we had Jackpot BINGO!  Normally, Student Government does Bingo during the week on a Monday.  We try to do Bingo at least once a month.  Typically, when we do Bingo we give away giftcards to restaurants, fast food places, etc.  However, this Bingo was a special one because we had 20 “regular” rounds and an additional 4 rounds where you could win some awesome large prizes!  The first 20 rounds, we had prizes ranging from $15-$20.  If you won during any of these rounds, you had to return your cards and wait to play the last 4 rounds if you wanted the chance to win a big prize.  I usually win at Bingo and this time during the first 20 rounds I didn’t win at all!  I was pretty sad but it was O.K. because I got to spend time with friends.  When the time came to play Bingo for the big prizes, you had the opportunity to win an iHome, Blue Ray DVD player with the movies “Stepbrothers” and “The Avengers”, a Kindle Fire, or a 22 inch television.  The first game played was regular Bingo and you could win the iHome.  The second game was to get 2 Bingos on one card and I won!  I was so excited I didn’t even know what I had won.  I ended up winning the Blue Ray DVD player and 2 movies.  The two other prizes were won soon after.  Overall it was a great event- we had over 60 people attend which is a great turn out for Saturday programming!  Bingo gets very competitive at our school, however everyone had a great time =)

 

Use the Yale Shuttle- For Free!

Another busy week almost over with!  Being a senior in college is a lot of work!  I feel like in movies they make it seem like all you do is hang out with friends and relax but I feel like I’m running around non-stop.  I’ve been feeling stressed out lately because I have zero time for myself but I was happy when I had my weekly Resident Assistant meeting on Tuesday night.  Justin Cirisoli, the Resident Director announced who had one “Program of the Month,” and my co-RA, Alex, and I won!! Program of the month essentially means that you have chosen to do a “fun” event of your own choice and implement it.  You can really choose whatever you want to do. Alex and I did “Latino Night” and when Justin announced that we won we were pretty surprised.  It just goes to show that even if you are having a good or bad week, people do notice your hard work!

Even though I am really involved on campus, I still do have a job off campus.  I work at Abercrombie & Fitch at the Milford Post Mall.  It’s about 20 minutes away and I do have a car on campus so that’s how I am able to get to work.  One great thing about Albertus is that you can have a car on campus during your freshmen year (and no, you don’t have to pay any additional fees!)  I know of a lot of schools that don’t allow you to have a car on campus your freshmen year, but here at Albertus we do.  This is a plus because you can take a trip to Downtown New Haven to enjoy the shops, the New Haven Green or even go clubbing.  Don’t have a car?  No worries!  You can hop onto the Yale Shuttle which picks you up right in front of the campus (near Rosary Hall, the library.)  This is convenient for those who don’t have cars to use;  all you have to do is show your Albertus ID and they’ll let you on for free!

 

Diabetes Walk

On September 25th, for Residential Life, the RA’s and I walked for Diabetes in West Haven.  Once a semester the Resident Assistants do a walk to help find a cure for life threatening diseases.  Last year the Resident Assistants walked at Relay for Life at Southern Connecticut State University to help raise money to find the cure for cancer.  We all met up at 8:30 am (soooo early!) and headed over to West Haven Beach where the walk was being held.  The walk was near Jimmie’s of Savin Rock, a local restaurant spot in West Haven that has some awesome seafood.  It was really cold out- fall is here!  The walk went down the West Haven Beach boardwalk and was about 2 1/2- 3 miles long.  My ankle has been hurting me due to tennis so I was happy to make it through.  At the half way mark, volunteers handed us a flower and there was water, apples and Nature Valley bars.  We stopped for a moment and continued to go on.  Overall it was a great experience.  I have never walked for a cure before so it was nice to do this especially because my mom suffers from Type 2 Diabetes



Founder's Day 2012

What a busy week it was!! I felt like my whole week was consumed by classes, meetings, work, and homework! Yesterday was Friday, September 21st, the first annual Founder’s Day at Albertus Magnus College.  Being on Student Government as the Senior Events Coordinator and the senior class representative, I had to “host” the annual candlelight ceremony.  Candlelight Ceremony is an event held every single year since the College was founded in 1925.  It is essentially the senior students passing on the light of truth and knowledge to the freshmen.  The event took place in the Tagliatela Academic Center.  Chairs were lined up for the freshmen and as they came in they received a candle.  Sister Helen Kieran, Director of Campus Ministries lead us in prayer, followed by President Julia McNamara making a speech.  Matthew Brancaccio, Student Body President made a speech as well about his experience during his candlelight ceremony.  Sister Margaret Ormond, OP, Prioress of the Dominican Sisters of Peace was able to join us as well.  Dr. Sean O’Connell made a speech as well about the Tradition of Honor and how important it is to uphold it.  The Tradition of Honor essentially states that all the work you complete is your own.  I had to make a speech and introduce each speaker- to say I was nervous is an understatement.  I was petrified!  I am not fond of public speaking at all so to have to get up in front of 100+ people and speak was not easy for me.  I made it through and afterwards it was nice to have people come up to me and tell me that I did a good job.  During the candlelight ceremony, graduating seniors (class of 2013) lit the candles of the class of 2016.  The class of 2016 also signed the tradition of honor and received a red rose.  This tradition has been passed on from year to year since the founding days of the college and is the longest tradition still held in Albertus.
After the candlelight ceremony, 31 people were asked to give President Julia McNamara a white rose, marking 30 years of her serving as President and 1 extra rose for the year to come.  She didn’t know about us presenting her with these roses and she was very surprised.  It was nice to see how happy she was and how appreciative she is.  After this presentation, there was an all campus barbeque outside of Aquinas Hall.  Tables were set up and everyone was able to eat and socialize with each other.  I felt like this was nice to do because I was actually able to talk to some of my professors that I don’t normally get a chance to talk to outside of class as well as meet some new professors in other departments!  After the barbeque there was a presentation in Rosary Hall, the library, about Our Living Heritage.  As I was there, I noticed a lot of the Dominican Sisters of Peace as well as former alumni of the college there.  It just proved to me that you are truly an Albertus student even after you graduate.  So many people are passionate about Albertus even as alumni!
Overall it was a great day!  Hopefully Founder’s Day is a tradition that will continue throughout the years. Pictures from the Founder’s Day celebration can be found at the Albertus website.
 Below are 2 pictures- one of Sister Mary Faith Dargan during the presentation of the roses to Dr. McNamara and one of Matt Brancaccio and I in the Tagliatela Center before the Candlelight Ceremony started.


Latino Night







Tonight my residence hall hosted a hall function called Latino Night.  Being an Resident Assistant in McAuliffe Hall, my co-RA Alex Dudley and I thought we would do this event in honor of September being Hispanic Heritage month.  We purchased chips and salsa from Chili’s and bought some festive plates and bowls to go along with the theme.  We also bought a bull pinata from the party store, filled it with various candy, played musical chairs and pin the tail on the donkey.  Due to the fact that we couldn’t hang the pinata in the building, we went outside of McAuliffe and looked for a tree that would be suitable.  Who would think that hanging a pinata would be so hard?!  I laughed so much while trying to hang the pinata but after about ten minutes, we finally figured it out and the pinata was on the tree and ready to go. =)  Our event started at 7 pm and people started to come down.  In total, we had about 12 people come down and partake.  We started with the pinata and Daniel Valmont, an alternate RA, tour guide, and also featured in the Albertus Magnus Viewbook, ended up hitting the pinata and breaking it.  Once we came inside, the residents ate chips and salsa, played musical chairs, and played pin the tail on the donkey.  We also listened to Latin music & played card games such as crazy eights.  Overall it was a great time and my resident’s thanked Alex and I for a great night! =)

BINGO on Sept 10th

Tonight in the Pub was BINGO!  Bingo is one of our biggest events that students attend on campus.  It’s always great to see commuters coming to these events as well.  We have Bingo at least once a month and if you win, you get a gift card.  Some gift cards we give away are McDonalds, Panera, Amazon, Chili’s or TGIFriday’s.  I played while working in the Pub and won the second game of Bingo.  I ended up winning $15 to Subway which was exciting!  This type of event is sponsored by the Student Government Association (SGA for short).  Being part of SGA, we try and put on at least 2-3 events per week.  These events are open to all students- residents and commuters.  Last Friday, we held our second Albertus at Night event.  These are held every other Friday night in the Pub/ Behan Community Room and provide students with an alternate instead of going out.  We held Pajama Jam for the fourth year in a row.  Pajama Jam is a huge event that students are encouraged to attend.  You can come down in your pajamas and enjoy free pizza, nachos, decorate your own cookie or cupcake, stuff a stuffed animal of your choice (this year we had bears, an elephant, panda bear, bunny or lion) or play on the inflatable twister.  Over a hundred people came, making this event a success =)