Hey guys!

Sorry I have not been keeping up with the blog. Sophomore year got a little ahead of me. But as I said in one of my previous posts: the lack of entries is not because there isn’t enough to do, but because there is just so much going on! This month especially has been busy not only with class work, but also campus wide events.

The garden house where all the beautiful flowers are kept before the grounds-team plants them around campus!

Once spring starts to actually show its face on campus, clubs schedule events for almost every weekend. This weekend happened to be both Battle of the Bands and the biannual Farmers Market sponsored by the Eco-Action club. Unfortunately, it was raining for the Battle of the Bands event on Saturday, but everyone still had a great time and there was a fairly decent crowd! The usually more than a handful of bands compete in this contest to see who will open for the Spring Concert during the last week of school before finals. It’s always a ton of fun to see all the different bands and you’ll always recognize someone on stage even if you don’t know them personally. A bunch of seniors from band compete every year in Battle of the Bands, so a good amount of people from marching band all went to watch the seniors play. The crowd generally embraced the rain and as always it turned out to be a very fun event to prelude Spring Weekend.

Battle of the Bands on Kimball Quad this year.

Battle of the Bands last year–it was much nicer weather.

The marching band senior’s band competed for Battle of the Bands and made it to the second round!

The Farmers Market was also a nice Sunday break from homework. Eco-Action was able to get stands for preserves, coffee, alpaca products, granola, and flowers. The local farmers are always so nice and so far I have bought at least one thing from each Farmers Market. This semester I ended up getting three different types of organic granola (they are SO good). Last year the alpaca farm actually brought the alpacas with them to hang out on Kimball Quad, however this year the alpacas had just been shaved and so they were not able to make the trip out to Worcester. Here is a picture of the alpacas from last year, though!

Alpacas from last year’s Farmer’s Market.

So much is happening on the Hill this month and next month including academic conferences on Wednesday and the concert band concert on Sunday, so I will be staying more on top of blogging as the semester comes to a close.

Thanks and have a great day!

Hey, guys!
Welcome back!  After a long summer break I am finally back on campus and even in the few weeks I’ve been on campus this semester is already shaping up to be the best so far! Despite the fact that I missed my family a good amount last year, I found myself more often than not wishing I was back on the Hill.  August mainly consisted of me eagerly counting down the days until early move in for summer band camp.

This year I am living in a double in Loyola Hall, a dorm located closer to the bottom of the hill.  My roommate and I were incredibly lucky this year to get a room in Loyola because it has air condition and each room has it’s own bathroom.  The air conditioning becomes obsolete after the first month on the Hill, but for those first few weeks it is a God send.  My roommate and I also have a lot more room to work with this year compared to our freshmen dorms.  Also–the room is carpeted! 🙂

This is what my room looked like the day I moved in.

The INCREDIBLE bathroom that is inside my dorm room!

Band camp was incredibly rewarding this summer. The new freshmen are amazing and it’s visibly noticeable how well we all work together. It was a difficult week, with the schedule going from 7:30am to 7:30pm almost everyday with no breaks besides meals, but we accomplished so much during that week that it was more than worth some tired feet and sore backs.

Band members just casually hanging out before rehearsal.

Academically, I am really looking forward to this semester. I am taking two English classes, one Computer Science course, and one class under the Classics department. The English classes—Early British Literature and 18th Century Satire—are incredibly good so far. Early British Literature is one of only two more introductory courses I need to take for the English major, but 18th Century Satire is my first real English elective course. I love how focused the topic is—we’re only looking at one genre over one century.

The Classics class—Classical Drama—is in the same strain as my English classes, but from a different perspective. I’m very excited to read some ancient Greek plays and see how Classics students approach literature. Finally, my Computer Science course—Computer Systems and Organization—is probably the class I’m most looking forward to. This semester I’ll be learning about the hardware inside computers and at some point I’ll be making my own circuits! However, I will still be doing some regular programming on the side because I am TA-ing a Computer Science lab this semester.

As you can see, this semester there’s a lot going on between classes, marching band, concert band, executive board for band, and TA-ing. It will be a lot of work, but I honestly love everything I do enough to put in a little more work each week. See you guys soon!

Best wishes,
Emily Vogelsperger

Hey, guys!
I apologize for the incredibly long time between posts—if anything, the fact that I have trouble finding time to write tells you that life at Holy Cross is never boring and I am constantly busy. 🙂  That statement couldn’t be more true in the month of March.  In fact, there is so much to say, that I need to break it up into a few posts (my fault for not looking ahead!).
This first post is about the beginning of my best month at Holy Cross so far–March.

Spring break was March 5th through the 13th, and despite the fact that we only had been on the hill for six weeks since we had returned from our long winter break at home, I appreciated the fact that I got to spend more time with my family.  However, because I went home, I missed the opportunity to go to Lehigh and play in the band for the Patriot League championship game.  Which was an incredible game!
My dad and I cheered and watched the game from Elmhurst, IL.  I don’t normally follow basketball only because it’s never really interested me before, but holy cow was that game close!!  (My family was very confused to see me watching basketball…)  There are no words to describe how excited I was when the second period buzzer sounded and the players stormed the court.  People’s snapchat stories were flooded with videos of fans and students watching from all over the country and even from the stands themselves.

This video from the Patriot League’s YouTube page shows clips from the whole game, but most importantly the ending.

 
Now, being completely in the dark about all things basketball, I had no idea that this win meant that the Holy Cross men’s basketball team was now competing in the NCAA “March Madness” bracket.  So my excitement only grew when the band was notified that we would be traveling with the basketball team to Dayton, Ohio to cheer them on in the First Four.

The band is so ready for the First Four!

I think it goes without saying that I was excited to be back in the Midwest where the land is flat and Jimmy Johns can be found on every corner. (Yes, I really miss Jimmy Johns. Does it show?)  However, the real excitement was the game.  I had no idea I’d be in for the most stressful game of my life—the second one in only a few weeks.
A bus sponsored by the college brought a lot of students down from Massachusetts to Ohio to watch the game.  The arena was actually filled with a lot of purple shirts despite the fact that we were states away from “home.”  As expected of a game in the NCAA, the First Four game was even closer than the Patriot League game.  I don’t think I have screamed that much during a sporting event in my entire life.  Everyone was bleeding purple, without a doubt.

BLEED PURPLE BLEED PURPLE

That game will be one of my best and most long lasting memories of my college experience for years to come—and it’s only my freshman year!  Watching the Holy Cross men’s basketball team win that game was the most incredible experience of my life.  I am so privileged to have been able to travel with them.

But more is to come!  After winning in Dayton, we got the opportunity to travel all the way to Spokane, Washington to face the number one seed—The Oregon Ducks.
(Continued in the next post)

Spokane or Bust

Best wishes,
Emily Vogelsperger

P.S. I apologize if this post is long and very “story-like” but there were just too many things to say and I tried my best to compress them!

Hey guys!
It’s been quite a while, so I apologize for not updating—it’s just been so busy! Winter break was a badly needed rest from long nights studying and early 9 AM classes. However, before it was even half over I found myself itching to get back on campus. Now that everyone is back, it feels like we never left. It was actually pretty surprising how easy it was to get back into the swing of things.
Second semester looks incredibly promising! With harder classes, more responsibilities, and best of all SNOW! I had heard from upperclassmen that last year Worcester was the snowiest city in the nation. Up until now, the weather hasn’t been incredibly similar to last winter. But recently that all changed!! I honestly didn’t think I could fall in love with the beauty of the campus even more, but I stand corrected. Here are some pictures!

At some point, every HC student takes a picture of this scene during winter.

I just love it when it snows so much that the trees have the white lining.

My friend Abby and I enjoying the first heavy snowfall!

Snow, however, wasn’t the only eventful thing on campus last week. Last semester I auditioned to be in the pit band for HC’s spring musical: Chicago! (Ironic—I know) Last week was all rehearsals and shows, so I was pretty occupied. But it was beyond worth it! We heard some people commenting on how it was the best pit band Holy Cross has seen in a while. In fact—all five shows sold out within two days! The musical was a blast and the best part was that most of my friends from band were in the pit as well.

My friends and I fooling around before the Saturday night showing of Chicago!

Marching band season is over and we are now moving into Concert Band where I have recently taken the position of co-librarian with another freshman. It’s a lot of work, but I love being able to contribute to the band in a significant way.

That’s a very condensed update with how things are going lately! I hope to write every Friday or every other Friday in the near future.
See you guys soon! Stay warm!

Best wishes,
Emily Vogelsperger

Hey, guys!

While my blog may be quiet, my life on the hill certainly isn’t.  However, I was able to get a much needed break just two weeks ago during the college’s week long Fall Break (nope–I’m not talking about Thanksgiving Break 😉 ).  Yep, you heard me right–we get a week long break in the middle of the first semester!  This is great for many reasons, but my favorite being the fact that I was able to return home for the first time since moving in.  The timing was simply perfect, because around October I started feeling little pangs of longing for deep dish pizza, Lake Michigan, and, of course, my family.  I absolutely loved being back home again; however, as much as I missed home, during my week long vacation I found myself thinking about Holy Cross.  By the time I was getting ready to return to campus I was beyond excited to get back to my life on the Hill.

Worcester may not be Chicago, but it has certainly become my second home.  I will say that it scared me a little bit to see myself wishing to be back on campus while I was in the one place I had been longing to return to for two months.  But I’ve realized now that it’s just all part of the transition.  I am living here for an extended period of time.  Initially, college may not feel like home, but the more time I spend at Holy Cross, with the breathtaking campus and the equally amazing people, the more my definition of “home” changes.

Also, who can resist the gorgeous fall colors?

Even the ivy changes color here.

Best wishes,

Emily Vogelsperger

Hey, guys! My name is Emily and I am so incredibly excited to share my experiences on the hill with you this year! As a native of the Chicagoland area in Illinois, many people have asked me why I decided to go to college so far away. In short, I knew Holy Cross was the perfect fit for me. (However, I will talk more on that as the blogs continue. 🙂 ) I have only just started my journey here at Holy Cross, yet it strangely feels like I’ve been here for months. Even now as I’m writing this, I am thinking back on the weeks I’ve been here and it’s really shocking to see how so many things have happened in such a short amount of time.

Homecoming was last week and even though we unfortunately lost, the whole weekend was a lot of fun! I am proud to say, readers, that during homecoming week I officially marched in my first marching band show! (It really is a great accomplishment for me.) Despite the fact that I have never marched in a band before, I felt very comfortable during our first performance of our halftime show. Not only is the band director so welcoming to people who have never marched before, but also the upperclassmen are so incredibly supportive that it almost feels like I’ve been marching all my life.

Fall is finally upon us here on Mount St. James so everyone has been breaking out the fancy fall boots and coats. Fall-themed food is supposed to appear in Kimball this coming week so I am very excited to finally jump into fall! I’ve heard fall in New England is gorgeous. I’m hoping to add pictures next blog post. This campus really is incredibly beautiful, especially at night when you can see the twinkling lights of Worcester from the top of the hill.

Currently I am in the Science Library inside the Science Complex getting ready to study for my Computer Science 131 midterm that I have next Tuesday, so I will see you guys next week!

Best wishes,

Emily Vogelsperger