Day 1 of Senior Year

Today was my first day back at Albertus and it has been hard knowing this is my last year here.  As I walked through the halls and saw a lot of unfamiliar faces, I remembered what it was like to be a freshman.  It was fun and exciting.  I walked with my head held high, knowing how far I have come.  

The highlight of my day was not knowing where my classroom was.  My professor had changed her classroom to AC 119. Of course my friend, Ramona and I would get it confused with Aquinas Hall, which is AH.  We walked up and down the first floor multiple times, and we could not find this classroom.  We looked like freshman; lost on their first day.  So much for walking with my head held high as a senior.  It was a little embarrassing when the Dean of Academic Affairs had to give a senior and a junior directions to their class.  We eventually made it there.  It turns out it was in our other academic building, called the Tagliatela Academic Center. 

I am very excited about this semester though! I have an amazing roommate.  Her name is Cait and she is on the volleyball team with me.  We have a quad to ourselves and two private bathrooms. We are living it up in one of the mansions!  Also, it's volleyball season!  GO FALCONS!!!

Birthday Celebration

 

There are so many things to do in New Haven and surrounding area to celebrate a birthday.  My brother’s birthday is January 25; he is now 23 years old.  For his birthday we decided to go to the Westfield Connecticut Post Mall to eat.  The mall is approximately 18 minutes away from Albertus Magnus College.  This mall is pretty large.  There are all kinds of stores, for example,

Forever 21, Abercrombie and Fitch, Zales, Bath and Body Works, RadioShack, Sephora, New York & Company, Sears and many more. 

My brother decided that he wanted to eat at Red Robin once we got there.  His decision was based on the fact that he would receive a free burger for his birthday and he does love their burgers. 

The burgers at Red Robin are absolutely delicious.  I'm sure they are unhealthy but just thinking about them, my mouth waters.  I ordered the Royal Red Robin Burger.  This burger has bacon and egg on it - don't knock it until you try it.  If you are a burger fan, you must go there! 

We planned on going to the movie theater above the food court after we ate, but instead we went back to Waterbury (my home city) and my brother ended up going to a bar with some of his friends.  Overall, he had a great 23rd birthday. 

Back to School

The time has come! Classes started again, day students have moved back in, and athletes are training for their season.  I have recently decided to become a commuter for this Spring semester.  I must admit, it is a little different, but overall still fun.  My friend, Ramona, and I have joined a volleyball league on Tuesday nights in New Haven.  So last Tuesday, she told me to sleepover and we could go to school together on Wednesday.  She even made me a lunch to take with me.  I always think when I commute, I will barely see my friends, but I still see them almost as much as I did when I lived on campus.  I do miss my old room and roommate, but I still manage to find myself in her room a few times throughout the day.  So far, I love all my classes, and I cannot wait to see what is in store for me this semester.  

Christmas Time in the City

        As my winter break comes to an end, I would like to take this moment and point out the advantages of living in the New England area during the holidays.  

The best thing about being in New Haven, Connecticut. Is how close New York City is.  New York is approximately an hour and a half away.  Over the winter break, I was able to go see an off-broadway show with my family from Puerto Rico.  We saw A Christmas Carol at The Players Theater on 115 Macdougal Street.  It was a great show for such a small venue.  I was very pleased with the acting and the set.  All of the actors waited outside at the end of the show to thank all of us for coming.  The theater was very inviting and had a home-like feel to it. 

       After the show, my dad treated all of us to dinner at Carmine's.  Carmine's was more of an upscale restaurant than I am normally use to.  The food was pricey but they served huge portions.  The server told us that a plate is typically meant to feed 2-3 people.  He was not joking.  The food was absolutely delicious.  The shrimp and steak were my personal favorites.  To end things off, we ordered a Titanic dessert.  I guaranty you, once you have this dessert, you will never want to order a dessert from any other restaurant ever again.   The bottom layer was brownie covered in ice cream and whipped cream covered the top half.  There were bananas at the bottom to replicate a boat and pirouettes sticking out the top.  Then, there were nuts and strawberries spread all across the dessert.  It was paradise on a dish.  If you ever go to Carmine's it is a must order.  

       Once we were stuffed, we decided to walk off our meal by going to The Rockefeller Center to see the christmas tree and then to Time Square.  It was a very exciting time, because I was with my cousins from Puerto Rico and they have never been to New York City before.  When we arrived at the tree, it was already 11:30pm.  My cousin from New Jersey had told us the tree lights turn off at midnight.  So we took our time getting closer to the tree.  My family from Puerto Rico was taking in the spectacular sight.  My family is very big on taking group photos, so once we were all together in front of the tree, we asked someone to take a picture of us.  As soon as she grabbed the camera to take the photo, the lights on the tree went out.  The older cousins looked a little disappointed at first, but then we all started laughing.  The picture would of all of us in front of the tree with the lights on would of been nice, but the memory of going there and have the lights turn off on us was even more memorable.  The lady convinced us to still take a picture even though the lights were off.  

       After that, we took a walk to Time Square.  For some reason it always looks better to me around Christmas time.  Some of the Jumbo-trons will have images of something Christmas related.  

       Christmas time in the city is truly something magical that everyone should experience at least once in their life.  I had a great winter vacation spending it with my family in New York City.  It's the small things like this that make the holidays memorable, and we didn't even need to travel very far.  This magical place is only about an hour and half away from me.  Sometimes we take the closest things near us for granted.  I am glad I was able to do this with my family over the break.  

The Holidays Are Here!

It is December 23 and Christmas is only two days away.  I would like to take this time to share with you how the Christmas spirit has been abundant on the Albertus Magnus College campus.  This month, the students have been kinder, happier and all around more vibrant.  Finals were quit stressful, but the faculty and staff definitely have made this last month memorable.   

On December 4, the Student Alumni Association held the first ever Christmas Tree Lighting.  The lighting was held outside of Aquinas Hall.  There had to of been over two hundred people there.  It was a nice event that brought day students, evening students, faculty, staff and families together.  The school's choir sang some Christmas carols while the event was going on.  It was a magical night - not to mention all of the free items available.  People were able to take pictures with Santa, eat tasty gingerbread cookies, sip on warm hot chocolate, decorate their own ornaments and even have their picture inside of a snow globe.  The Student Alumni Association hopes to have this event become an annual celebration.  

A couple days later, the Student Government had a Winter Formal dance for students.  The Behan Community Room in the Campus Center was decorated with Christmas trees and snowflakes.  It was a nice event before students needed to get serious about finals.  

Also, the first night before finals, the residential life staff and Deacon John served us breakfast in the dining hall.  This event is held every semester.  The students call it Late Night Breakfast.  The dining hall opens at 9 p.m. and you can get eggs, bacon and other breakfast foods.  It is a nice get away from studying.  The residential life staff also has a snack cart that comes around during finals week.  You are allowed to pick two different snacks and one juice or water.  

Overall, this last month at Albertus Magnus College has been amazing.  People did things out of the kindness of their hearts.  For example, my wonderful supervisor for work study gave me a frozen yogurt gift card for Christmas.   She truly is the best supervisor anyone can ask for.  I hope you all have a nice and safe Christmas and New Year, Albertus Magnus College surely will.    

All Saints Day Liturgy

 

Good afternoon everyone,

Today I would like to take a second to share with you all something special about Albertus Magnus College.  Every year we have a mass in memory of deceased friends and alumni.  It is a special ceremony and this year I got to be a part of it.  I was the cross barer  and I also was able to read a psalm.  At first I was really nervous.  The cross weighed a lot more than what I had anticipated.  It was also difficult to put it back into the stand on the alter.  I felt like a train wreck but everyone said I did well.  Then, when it came to my psalm reading, I was even more nervous.  I did not look up once at all. 

Even though my nerves got the best of me, I felt really good to be a part of something.  I was in a ceremony that honored our deceased loved ones.  It reminded me of all the loved ones I too have lost.  It is nice to have something special to honor them.

AMCWVB

Being a student-athlete can be difficult at times, but it is most definitely worth it.  Last Saturday, was my volleyball team’s last game.  It was a tough season, but it was my favorite out of the three years I have been here so far.  The connection between the coaches and players is indescribable.  We all rely on each other as a unit.  I can honestly say we were more than a team.  We created a family.  In most of our huddles, you could hear, “Let’s do this for the family.”  We truly all love one another and I would not want it any other way.

 

This season, my team had a really good start.  We had a seven game winning streak.  We felt like we were going to be unstoppable.  Then we started our conference games.  Our seven game winning streaks quickly turned into a seven game losing streak.  We still had a couple more wins before the season ended.  Our record ended at 9-14.  I know my team is a little disappointed with the numbers, but compared to my freshman year, this team has changed drastically.  My freshman year the women’s volleyball team only won three games.  We tripled that score this season.  I am very happy with how far we have come as a team and I hope next year we do even better.  Wish us luck!!

 



 http://athletics.albertus.edu/sports/wvball/index

 

 

http://athletics.albertus.edu/sports/wvball/index