Andrew's Blog
Name: Andrew Infanger
Major(s): Theology, Minor in Art and Pastoral Ministry
Hometown: Ballwin, Missouri
Extracurricular activities: Resident Student Association (RSA), University Ministry, racquetball, Polish Club
Hobbies/interests: Watching a new movie every week, playing guitar, racquetball, going downtown, sleeping in, reading, video games
Class of: 2010
Contact Andrew with questions and comments: infaandr@dom.edu
Title: The Last Week
Date: 5/1/10
Once I have moved back home I might take a day to comprehend the whole thing, but I don't have much time to sit around. At the end of May I will be headed off to Alaska, and I need to get in better shape before then. I only have a couple weeks to get all my things ready so I don't think I will be sitting around. When I come back from Alaska I leave later that day to go to Ohio and then to Utah to start my year as a Dominican Volunteer. I want to drive out to Utah before I go to Alaska to drop off some of my stuff before I go back again in August, but my one friend who was going to go with me backed out, so hopefully I can find someone else to go with. The farthest I have ever driven west before is Montana, and Utah is just about as far and I think people get weary thinking about being in a car for that long. Also, I am picky about who I let drive with me. Driving is dangerous and I don't want to die just yet. So anyone who is reading this, if you know someone who is interested in driving to Utah in mid-May, let me know.
I think about all of the boring things people will be doing this summer and I feel bad for them, but I guess people do what they have to do.
Title: Making Decisions
Date: 4/29/10
So the day I come back from Alaska, I will be heading to Ohio for an orientation session and then off to SLC for my year. I will be working with the St. Catherine of Siena Newman Center and parish. A Newman center is a Catholic Campus Ministry center located at public or non-Catholic universities. The center seems like a perfect fit for me so I'm pretty excited. When I came back people were asking me how it went and if I had decided to go there or not next year. I was a little reluctant to say anything because I wanted a day or two to come to my decision for sure, but after I decided, I told anyone who asked and people have been very supportive. I spoke with my grandparents last night and they are excited for me.
Overall I think that this is a good decision and am looking forward to next year, though I know I will have some challenges coming up this summer in Alaska to get through, as well as some more things I need to get done next week like final exams and attempting to reformat my computer and installing Windows 7 without losing all of my information on my computer.
Title: Series of "Lasts"
Date: 4/19/10
I had my first real job interview over the weekend. It was in St. Louis, so I went home for the weekend. My parents have helped me a lot with regards to resumes and things like that, so they were glad to see that I had a job interview. I arrived in St. louis late the night before my interview and got my things ready for the next day. I put my suit out, picked out my shirt, tie, etc... The next morning I woke up and got ready. I actually arrived at the school I was interviewing at really early, so I drove around the neighborhood it was in, to see what the area was like. The interview went well and I think I did fine, so hopefully it works out.
Later that night, I visited some friends from the camp I used to work at. They were having a garage sale the next day, so I helped them put up signs around the neighborhood. The weather was beautiful and it was a nice break from the hectic stuff going on at school and the interview I had earlier in the day. We talked about what everyone will be doing in the future. Two of my friends are going back to college after taking time off and exploring the country, driving from coast to coast. Another friend of mine is doing an internship in Iraq over the summer, helping kids with heart disease, to have surgery and raising money for them. She spent time in Tanzania in Africa as well a year ago. She is a very determined person and very inspiring.
The bus ride back to school wasn't exactly bittersweet, but it was the last time I will be going back to school. I have been "going back to school" for four years now, so it's strange to think that this is the last time that I'm going through this routine. I got back to school early in the evening. The weather was great, the trees were green and overall it was a nice weekend. Most of my friends were out in the quad listening to some music that CAB was playing and having a barbecue. School is coming to an end and I think I will be having a series of "lasts" coming up, much like my last ride back to school. My last class, my last test, my last late night doing homework, etc... It's strange thinking that next year I won't have homework. I don't know If I will miss the homework, but I will miss some other things.
Title: End of the Year Thoughts
Date: 4/15/10
The school year is nearing an end, and it seems like there is no end in sight with regards to the amount of homework I have. It seems that these past couple of weeks I've had more work than I've had throughout most of my college career. I guess that would be assumed because I am a senior and seniors are supposed to be better at doing work, but I think I would have been much better suited with this amount of work my junior year.
I have a lot on my mind with regard to where I will work next year and things like that, that it just adds to the amount of stress. I don't want to make it sound too bad though. I haven't had a break down nor do I think I will have one. All of the work makes it hard to appreciate the final days of school however. It is a lot different than high school, where the last days of school seemed to be relaxed and full of free dress days, field days, and other fun parties. There is no field day at school. That might be a good idea-to have a field day. I think it would be hard to start a field day here, and most people wouldn't participate.
Things may get a little less stressful, as soon as I am done with my thesis. I have to present my thesis on August 28th, which I think is 14 days from today. I still have about ten pages to type for my thesis but I should be able to manage it. Ten pages is starting to seem like average. The rest of my classes are starting to heat up as well, with presentations, final projects and papers all seeming to be due around the same time next week. I have been drinking a lot of coffee lately. Things like papers, projects and coffee seem to go together, as long as you don't spill the coffee on them.
Title: Between Spring Break and Easter
Date: 3/24/10
Spring break was pretty relaxing this year. I visited my grandparents in Florida and spent the days either on the beach, in a canoe, or just relaxing on their porch. It is not your typical MTV spring break experience. It is more like spring break meets the Golden Girls, whatever that might look like. Anyway it was very relaxing.
Right now I am working on my thesis as well as getting ready for some projects that I have coming up for the end of the semester.
For Easter break I will be driving back to St. Louis with my friend Shelley to spend time with my family and friends. It will be my last official break during my college career. Fortunately I have plenty of work to do so I don't know how much of a break it will actually be.
In the meantime I have the rest of this week and next week to get through. This Thursday I am participating in the stations of the cross with University Ministry. This weekend I am driving to the Sinsinawa Mound again to pick up bread for a fundraiser. It will be a total of around 8 hours of driving but it is for a good cause. The bread is a fundraiser for Kathy Heskin's (A Dominican Professor) service trip to Minnesota during the beginning of summer break. I am not going this year but it is a fun drive to pick up bread. And I love bread, especially orange rolls.
Title: Nearing the End
Date: 2/22/10
Usually I am thinking at this point in the year, "I can't wait for school to end." This year I am nervous about it ending because I am graduating, but also because I have a lot of work I need to get done in just a couple months. I have to write a thesis, finish my service project for my sexual ethics class, as well as all the final projects and tests and everything else that comes along with a full course load.
Along with all of that I have to worry about what I am going to do next year and the "rest of my life." I know I don't have to have my entire life figured out, but having a couple years of it decided upon would be OK with me.
Weekends seem to be short especially during the second half of a school year. I try to get a little homework done each day and then the bulk of it on Sunday. This weekend is my roommate's birthday. We are all 22 now. I think we are going out to some bar later in the evening. Fortunately I don't have to worry about spending all my money because I don't have any to spend! I just bought a plane ticket this summer and my funds have all gone away for a bit, but February is a short month so I will get my next check from my student worker job soon enough.
I might be going home next weekend to go to my friend/ neighbor's concert, although I don't know for sure. If I can get a ride (to St. Louis) with my friend Patrick, I will go, but if I can't I won't go. I waited too long to buy a bus/train ticket so now they are pretty expensive. Hopefully we end up going though because I don't think I will be going home for spring break.
Title: February Reflection
Date: 2/11/10
The month of February has arrived and seems to be moving really quickly. It feels like just last week I came back from winter break. I'm taking a full class schedule, but it hasn't been stressing me out too much. My portrait drawing class requires a lot of work but it isn't particularly hard, so as long as I put in the time, it's no big deal. My theology and seminar classes also require a lot of reading, but the homework isn't hard. My creative writing class is the one straining my mental faculties. I guess it's because I don't just sit and read what other people have to say on the issue, but I usually come up with my own completely new ideas and convey them so they are understandable to others. It's actually fun, but also time consuming.
Another thing that I need to start doing is my senior thesis project. I plan on writing a long paper, not a creative thesis or art work or anything. I'm a theology major, so it has to reflect what I've learned throughout my years at Dominican University, studying theology. It makes me wonder, what did I learn? I won't go into detail but it has been quite a bit. Although, it seems that most of my learning occurred outside of my theology and other college courses.
I've learned about the similarities and differences between youth and adolescence. One thing I haven't learned is to successfully keep my room clean, but I'm not too worried about that. As long as I keep my personal items from smelling bad, then I think I'm doing a pretty good job. The next item that I need to learn is what job I want, where I will live, and what I will do with the rest of my life. Those are pretty big questions, but I'm not worried.
Title: March for Life
Date: 1/26/10
Currently, there are a lot of tensions in our country, mostly surrounding health care and other issues. I will not attempt to explain or debate any of these. One thing that I appreciate about Dominican is their encouragement of students to enter into that debate. Generally, I would consider myself to be moderately liberal in the overall political climate. There are not a lot of grossly liberal activities on campus, while at the same time there are no college republicans on campus or their simply inactive.
This past weekend I attended the annual March for Life in Washington D.C. It was my fourth time going, and I have to credit Dominican with allowing me to attend for the past several years. Each year they have sponsored at least half of the cost, if not more, for me to attend. The trip entails a bus ride to Washington D.C., several nights in a hotel, as well as admission to a conference on life issues on campus. The bus ride was about 15 hours, and I slept fitfully both ways but did not get sick this year upon returning to Illinois. The first day in D.C. ended with a mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. There were thousands of people there and close to a thousand more religious people (those who have taken vows to live religious lives, whether as priests or sisters).
The following day the college group from Chicago met with the offices of a congressman and two senators, and learned more about the political debate around health care and recent happenings. That afternoon was the march itself, which included a gathering of around 300,000 people. The next day was a conference for college students, which helped people network and gain resources to build up organizations that support views on the holistic dignity of human life on their own campuses. The bus ride back that evening was just as long as the ride there, but I was so tired that it seemed a lot shorter. I find it hard to sleep on a bus, but I wouldn't want to miss a cheap trip to Washington D.C. to support a cause I believe to be worthy. A lot of students on campus feel nervous discussing controversial issues, but generally they are receptive to what I have to say when they ask questions, and no one to date has ever been angered by the fact that I hold specific views or that I express them among my peers.
Title: Back to School
Date: 1/20/10
School is officially back in session. I will give you a quick breakdown of my classes and all so you can see what a second semester senior theology major is up to. I am enrolled in sexual ethics, sacraments of the Catholic Church, portrait drawing, virtues and values senior seminar and creative writing.
Creative writing is my only "fun" class, being that I don't need any more literature or English credits but am taking it anyway. I had high hopes of perhaps writing an award-winning novel some day but our teacher assured us that none of us would so I am not worrying about it anymore.
I am still working ten hours a week with campus security, and found out that my sexual ethics class is also a service learning class. This means that I have to do 15-20 hours of service this semester in conjunction with my class. At first I was pretty irritated that I had to add this to my schedule, but the more I reflected on this, the more I realized that service would make a great addition to my schedule. It fits well not because I have a lot of time, but because it is something I have been avoiding for a while. Generally when I avoid things that are good for me, like exercise, eating healthy, going to church, spending time with friends etc... it means that I am letting stress get to me and I tend to become unhappy. It is nice once and a while to have something that is good for me but I have been avoiding having forced on me. I wouldn't say service learning is "forced" on anyone. I could just as easily drop the class, but after the first wave of irritation at the teacher goes away, I start to look forward to spending time away from school doing service. Another good thing is that service always looks good on a resume, and having a good resume never hurt anyone.
Title: Finals Week
Date: 12/26/09
Final exams week has ended and I now have time think about what happened. At first it seemed like I would have plenty of free time during finals this year because I was only taking four classes, but that was not the case. I had finals in Art History, Theology, Printmaking and Human Resource Management.
Art history was a 10-12 page paper. I finished that a week before it was due, so I didn't have to worry about it. I also finished my Printmaking final early. Theology and Human Resource Management were both traditional tests, and I had to study for them. My experience with finals in college is that the tests aren't any more challenging than finals in High School, but the final papers and projects tend to be a bit more comprehensive and take more time. This is especially true in art classes from my experience, but probably in most subjects.
In high school, art projects were generally done in class. In college, projects are generally done outside of class, and they require a lot more time. Another thing that was somewhat stressful was figuring out how I was going to get home. I don't live in Chicago, and I don't have a car, so I need to find rides home or buy tickets for plane or train to get home. Lately I have been trying to save money and the environment a bit and have been car pooling with people who are already driving. I give the people who drive me home money to help out, but it is definitely less than a plane or bus. I generally save up laundry if I can to do it at home. It is free for me to do at home, and sometimes my mom will do it for me. I have joked that once during my college career I will mail home my laundry. My parents think I am joking, but I am not.
This winter break will be very busy. I am going to visit my Aunt, Uncle and cousins in New York for Christmas and am coming home on the 30th. On the 31st I plan on going on a camping trip with a couple people from school until Jan. 2. On Jan. 4 I am going to Omaha, NE to visit my girlfriend and her family for a couple days. School starts on the 14th I think, and I am not in a hurry to get back to work.
Title: Dancing at Hollyball
Date: 12/21/09
This past weekend I went to Hollyball with my girlfriend Stephanie and a group of my friends.
Hollyball is a politically correct winter themed dance. I really don't know much of the tradition
behind Hollyball, I don't think it is one of those dances that is really a "big deal" on campus.
Only a small portion of the school goes to dances anyway. It was held at the Carleton hotel in Oak
Park which is a small strangely decorated hotel, and if you go to school here, your parents will
most likely be encouraged to stay there for visits. There are cheaper hotels around, but that's
besides the point.
There is a small ballroom with a wooden dance floor in the center, most likely used for wedding
receptions more often than dances. One good thing about the dance is that the Campus Activities
Board arranged for there to be a whole slew of hors d'oeuvres served by real waiters directly to my
table. I have never been to a dance before where I was served snack foods. The food was good and it
kept coming, and when it looked like they were taking it away, they brought out cheese cake and
little treats called petit fours, which I think translates into bite-sized pieces of cake that are
tasty. That was good.
The music was good too. Usually I don't like music at dances because they play the same thing that you hear on the radio, and I don't much like the radio. There was a good mix of music, and some of it was music that I could actually dance to. I don't know if you would call what I do dancing, but whatever it is that I do, I could do it and didn't feel too uncomfortable. This is the first time I have gone and it could be the last time because I am graduating this year, but who knows maybe I could go again if I am in the Chicago area.
Title: A Busy Weekend
Date: 12/7/09
This weekend was busy for me. For the past couple weeks, I have been planning a retreat for high
school students at St. Luke's Parish in River Forest, IL, which was this weekend. It was for
freshmen and sophomores in high school. Myself along with several other Dominican students were
adult leaders on the retreat. It went fairly well but it was so short that it seemed to be over a
lot quicker.
There was a fair amount of food left when the retreat ended, and I was blessed to be able to
take the food back to my dorm room to feed my roommates. We have two refrigerators stacked on top
of each other in our room so there was plenty of room for a big tin of garlic bread, and tin of
spaghetti, and a gallon of milk to go along with the cheesecake already in our fridge. There was
enough garlic bread to feed about 15 people but my roommates and I took care of it in two days. It
is Monday and we have already finished it. The spaghetti is taking a little longer to eat but I'm
sure it will disappear soon as well.
Later on Saturday evening, my roommates and I went into the city for a cartoon network new show screening. When we got there they gave everyone free tote bags made from recycled cartoon network billboards, and each bag had inside them free gifts. I got a pair of socks from the show "Metalocolypse,” two CD's, a pair of sunglasses and a band poster for some bands I had never heard of. By the time we got back to Dominican from my long day I was very tired and went to my room to go to sleep. I didn't do much homework this weekend, but I really enjoyed the weekend. Finals start in a week so hopefully I will start studying for them before finals week actually starts.
Title: A Trip to the Mound
Date: 11/30/09
Last weekend I went to the Sinsinawa Mound with my friends Patrick and Jon to pick up Mound
bread. For people who aren't familiar with Dominican, both the mound and the mound bread will need
some explaining. Dominican is sponsored and founded by Sinsinawa Dominican sisters. They were
founded specifically by Samuel Mazzuchelli in Sinsinawa Wisconsin and the mother house for the
order is on a big hill in Sinsinawa, WI. This hill is nicknamed "the Mound."
The sisters used to make all forms of bread, pies, and pastries there. The bread is still made
there but no longer by the sisters, although they run the bakery, they do not physically make it.
The bread is tasty and we sell it as a fund raiser for trips that different classes take. I took a
class called "Native American Spirituality" last spring and went to South Dakota and Montana at the
end of the course. Although I am not going again this year, the fund raiser is for people going on
that trip this coming spring. Because I went last year, I am helping out this year.
The trip to the Mound was fairly exciting and took about three hours. We didn't get lost or pulled over which is good. After we had picked up the bread we went to the gift shop and bought some more bread to eat ourselves. We bought the orange rolls which were cinammon rolls with orange vanilla sugar frosting, and they tasted like an orange full of frosting. They were some of the tastiest pastries I have ever eaten, and we ate enough rolls to feed eight people in several minutes. Unfortunately I finished them in the van on the way back and didn't bring any water with me and was quite thirsty for the remainder of the car ride. We arrived back at school around 8 p.m. with a 15 passenger van full of bread. I would recommend anyone who comes to Dominican take a trip to the Mound at least once during their four years here (Or however long it takes you to graduate).
Here is a video that I took of our road trip to the Sinsinawa Mound. Enjoy!
Title: Helping Out
Date: 11/18/09
This past weekend I volunteered at a thrift store called New-To-You in the near west suburbs of Chicago. Several friends and myself piled into a mini-van at 9:30 a.m. and drove over to the thrift store. I had never been before, but several of my friends had been. When they came back from the store in the past they raved about the good times they had and the fun clothes they bought to contribute to the store once they were done volunteering as well. This time was no exception. There were many different personality types running the store. There was Collette, the manager. She was very direct and obvious manager material. There were older women who helped appraise items in the back. There were middle aged men who worked in a workshop area, doing light repairs on furniture and keeping things running physically smooth in the store. There were teenagers from local schools putting in volunteer hours and small children who sat in the back because their parents were volunteering. In fact the whole store was run by volunteers, except the manager. The proceeds from the sales went to support three separate Christian schools in Chicago.
I have not volunteered much in the regular sense, helping the poor, etc this year, and this made me want to do it more often. There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer one's time on and off campus, and I don't have many excuses for not volunteering off campus. I don't have any service learning classes this year with required service, so I don't have to volunteer for a requirement, but I should still do it more. The school practically hands you volunteer opportunities as well. The deadline for alternative break applications is November 30th. There is a service learning expo filled with opportunities to volunteer off campus, but the brochures I picked up from that spilled into the back recesses of my cavernous desk (my desk is taller than I am and I have to get on top of my bed to see the top), along with so many other obligations that I have forgotten about this year. This weekend however, I have a chance to help out with Habitat for Humanity, and I am excited.
Title: Alternative Break Program
Date: 11/3/09
This past week I started working on a poster for the Alternative Break program, which is run through University Ministry as well as other offices such as service learning. I decided that I wanted to make the best poster that was ever made. I realize now that it probably won't be the best ever made, but while working on it I started thinking about whether or not I want to attend an alternative spring break trip myself.
The reason I wouldn't attend an alternate break program is that that is the weekend I get to see my grandparents each year. They live in Florida and don't come out to St. Louis to visit, but will let me fly out to visit them over spring break for a week. It is not a typical "Spring Break" in Florida. There is no wild beach party or anything like that. I spend a lot of time talking with my grandparents about their own lives and about my life. I get to step away from my computer or cell phone and busy schedule and take time to read, swim, canoe, go on walks, visit with my other relatives who come and visit. It is hard to decide whether or not I want to spend time for my family or spend time helping others. I get to see my family other times usually, and have been going to Florida for 22 years now (I am 22), but I still have to decide whether or not I want to see my family. Right now I am leaning towards visiting family. It may be my last "spring break" as a college student, but I may also have more time to see them once I am out of college. Another issue is I have never done an alternative spring break. I have done service immersion trips and other types of volunteer service, but never over spring break and never to any of the areas that we are supposed to go to. I have until November 30th to decide, so I will be thinking about it until then.
On a lighter note, I met with the registrar today to go over my senior audit. The registrar goes over your academic record and makes sure you have taken all of the classes that you need to graduate, and that your GPA is high enough. It looks like I am on schedule to graduate, so that was pretty good news.
Title: Long Weekend and hiking
Date: 10/28/09
We had our fall break this weekend. It was pretty exciting. I got to sleep in two days in a row, which makes out to be a really exciting weekend. I normally don't get to sleep in so I was looking forward to it. A lot of people went home for the three day weekend, but seeing as I live in St. Louis, going home is more complicated, and I wouldn't be able to sleep in if I had to get up early to catch a bus. It is important to have a plan as to what you are going to do during a long weekend or a break at Dominican because there are not a lot of people around so you have to be prepared to do something.
One thing I did this weekend was drive over to Palos and the forest preserves over there. When someone thinks of Chicago they don't usually think of the outdoors or forests or anything like that, and they are generally right. Chicago is interesting in its great skyline and downtown, and is a wonder on its own and a wonder different from that we might find in nature. But there are little nooks and crannies of nature around that you can find if you know where to look. My friend Shannon and I went for a several mile hike in the forest preserve and it was a nice break from the city. The leaves are all turning from their summer greens into their fall reds, oranges, yellows, and all the in between colors that I can't think of right now were on the trees and on the ground floating through the air. We saw two deer, some woodpeckers, some frogs and some other animals, and the air was just cool enough to keep me from breaking a sweat, but not cold enough that I was cold. As we were walking back to the car, it started raining and it rained for the whole hour walk back, but it wasn't a driving rain, just a light mist.
We drove back to school just in time for dinner, and it was a great end to a relaxing weekend. I didn't go anywhere far away, didn't have to wake up early or really worry about any work or homework or anything. This next weekend is Halloween and I have papers and tests coming up so I doubt that I will have many relaxing weekends coming up soon until Thanksgiving, which actually is coming up sooner than I think. The semester is half way over; it goes by quickly.
Title: Homecoming
Date: 10/22/09
The homecoming dance was this past weekend. Homecoming is not the biggest deal on campus. There is no football team to have a big parade, no banners for them to run through or do any of the other things that might happen on a traditional homecoming, but the dance was fun. My friend Lauren was in charge of organizing the dance, and my friend Mike was the DJ for the dance. I arrived late, making my fashionably late entrance. I wore suspenders, no tie. It was somewhat formal but not really formal, and you could wear whatever you felt like. I don't really "dance," I am not quite sure what you would call what I did, but whatever it was, I did it and it was at the Priory campus in the auditorium.
I just got back from a retreat as well. It was called the Student Leaders and Ministers retreat, or SLAM for short, and I learned quite a bit. I am involved in University Ministry, and applied and was accepted to the Student Leader and Minister team. The retreat allowed us to focus on our faith as well as why we were on the team, and then come up with some concrete plans as to what we should do the coming year. I was put in a group that is in charge of planning the "Busy Students Retreat." It is for students who are too busy to go somewhere for an entire weekend but still want to take some time out of their daily lives. It's in November, and I am looking forward to it. This next weekend is our "fall break," which is more like just a regular week without my art class. We only have Friday off this year, so we still have to go to school the rest of the week. It seems short, but considering we had four full months of summer and a long Christmas break, I can't complain too much. I am not going anywhere, but a lot of people go home for breaks like this so I will have to entertain myself. My girlfriend is going to Minnesota to visit some friends. I might get some work out of the way for next week, go for a walk or watch a movie/read/sleep in. We will see. I usually go somewhere myself over fall break, and it seems like this is the first weekend in a long time where I really don't have anything planned, so hopefully it will be good.
Title: Comparing schools
Date: 10/9/09
This past weekend my girlfriend Stephanie took me took a Notre Dame football game with her family. This doesn't seem like it would have anything to do with Dominican, but it gave me a frame of reference as to how I can view the years I have spent at Dominican. The campus at Notre Dame is much bigger. It doesn't even compare. At first that seems like a really cool thing, and it is. You meet a lot of new people all the time. There is an amazing school spirit and a lot of other great things about a big school. It made me think of the things I like about Dominican, however. I can go to the dining hall for four years and know almost everyone in it. I am the opposite of lost, and could quite well imagine getting lost on a campus with as many people as Notre Dame. I can write an article in the newspaper even though I am not an aspiring journalist, and have people all over campus recognize me and tell me they appreciate what I wrote. I have never had a class with over 25 people in it. I have never had a professor who didn't know me by name, and most still know me from years past even though I haven't taken another class from them.
Going to the football game was a new experience, and completely different from sports on campus here at Dominican. There isn't the same spirit on campus here as there is there. There is no elite or favored athlete on campus at Dominican, no famous quarterback or anything like that. We are all on the same level more or less. As someone who has been turned off by extensively competitive sporting activities in the past, I like that. Another thing I like about Dominican versus a bigger school is its proximity to the city. Last week I needed wood carving tools for my printmaking class, so in between classes my friend dropped me off at the L, and I went downtown to the art store to pick them up, and took the L and the bus back in time for my evening class. It is a great break at the times a small school can seem too small. I can step into a city that is overwhelming in size. There are a lot of things that Notre Dame has that Dominican doesn't, but I am glad that I chose Dominican. I would have probably made friends there as I have here, but they wouldn't be the same. I think that is the biggest difference.
Title: Busy semester and roommates
Date: 10/2/09
School has begun in full swing. In hopes that I could take a light course load, I only registered for four classes instead of the usual five or six. The spare time I was hoping for seems to be disappearing before I know it. The different groups I am involved with this year seem to be taking that extra time. A group of students and I have begun meeting in the ministry center on Tuesday nights to discuss our faith and pray together. It is a good compliment to my major as well as my own personal life and has become a time I look forward to every week. I also began writing for the school newspaper. I have only written one opinion article, and I don't consider myself much of a journalist, but it went well and people seemed to like my article overall.
This coming weekend my girlfriend and I are going to a Notre Dame football game with her parents and her brother. I have never met her brother, and it is always interesting to meet new family members. When I visited her over the summer, I met her parents as well as some of her cousins, friends, and her grandma.
My roommates read my last blog and seemed upset that I did not mention their names so I will do so now. One of my roommates is Derek Zdeb, and he is from Park Ridge, Illinois. He plays baseball and tends to keep the room smelly with his sweaty post-practice clothes. He is a computer science major and really likes doing things with computers. My other roommate is Jon Campbell and he is from Homewood, Illinois. He is studying graphic design. It is nice to have someone who knows something about computers in the room, in case anything goes wrong with my own computer. Jon is colorblind, so I don't seek him for advice when putting together fancy outfits for my nights out, but he helps critique my own artwork. Jon doesn't really exercise but does a great job at remaining sweaty. He also claims to have brought 30 t-shirts so he only has to do laundry once a month. I don't know how he fits all his clothes in the closet, but I guess he can pull it off.
Title: The beginning of school
Date: 9/24/09
This school year started off with the six hour drive from St. Louis to Chicago. It is usually uneventful, and this time was no exception. By the time we arrived, my parents were both tired but not too cranky yet and we unloaded my stuff with a moving cart without a hitch. After we finished loading everything into my room, my mom made my bed and I started putting things away in the closet. I did not get to finish everything because there were still a lot of furniture pieces that were not in the room yet. I had my refrigerator stored at a friend’s house for the summer and would not be picking it up for several days. The other refrigerator and microwave wouldn’t come until my two roommates arrived the next day. The couch came several days later as well as the bunk bed loft. I bought the loft from the person who was using the room last year. It allows us to raise up one of the beds even though there is no bed under it. That way we have our couch underneath the lofted bed, which faces the big flat screen TV that is in the corner of the room.
I have never lived with two other people in such closed space for this long before so I am kind of interested to see how the year plays out. I don’t really have any worries about specifics. The only thing that I can think of is the room may get messy and smelly. One of my roommates is on the baseball team so he has all his sweaty clothes and gear. The baseball gear combined with the two other people’s stuff in the room may make for some smelly nights.
I am also fairly lucky that I did not need to bring a TV or a microwave or any furniture. Both my roommates live in Chicago suburbs and brought their own furniture and appliances. Overall, the room looks pretty nice. I like the rooms in Power Hall better than Centennial or Mazzuchelli because they don’t have white fake tile floor. The floor in Power Hall is a dark red/maroon and doesn’t show dirt and scuff marks the way the other floors do. The closets are solid dark wood and are set back into the walls so they add a nice touch. The windows are new, unlike Mazzuchelli, and actually open without sending off shards of rotting wood or getting stuck. Also they don’t rattle or howl in the wind at night the way the windows in Mazzuchelli did last year. The only bad thing about the room is there is no cabinet behind the mirror this year. You have to bring something to put your toiletries in or else they will just be on the sink or the window sill. I brought some metal crate pieces that you assemble and can turn into makeshift shelving. In the past I have used them to put my clothes in but they were great for a little shelf next to the sink as well.
I am looking forward to this year. It is my last year so hopefully it turns out as well as I hope.
Title: Preparations for the new year
Date: 8/16/09
The summer seems to be winding down. As usually happens, I don't seem to get done everything that I had planned. I haven't gone on an adventurous camping trip. I haven't gotten lost anywhere. I didn't see any shooting stars during the latest meteor shower. But I did do a lot of things that I planned on doing. I worked, not too much, but enough to save up for school and spending money for the next year. I spent plenty of times with my friends for what could be my last summer staying at home. I am still unsure as to what I am doing after I graduate this coming school year. I am somewhat excited/nervous for this coming school year. I am not nervous about moving back to school, I have done that a couple times and it is nothing new to me anymore. I don't really get homesick or burnt out every year. I am more nervous about what comes next when I graduate. I don't really have anything in particular in mind, and my major doesn't really have a specific job that people flow into afterwards the way education or accounting or nursing or other majors such as that would. The only thing to do is to not worry too much or have too many preconceived notions and go through with it all, hoping for the best.
There are some things I have to do to get ready for school. I need to remember which things I did not use for school last year. I am a theology major and somehow I ended up with three bibles in my room, but one usually does the trick. I don't need the bag of tennis balls that I brought last year, or the trench coat. I didn't wear it once. I need to go to the store and buy extra toothpaste and soap and maybe a carrier to put my toiletries in, instead of bringing the soap into the shower wrapped up in a ball of paper towels. I don't have a car at school and it makes things just a tad bit inconvenient to have to go to Target to buy supplies. The school's bookstore does not carry too much in the way of personal items as one might think. It is less of a convenience store the way some other school stores are that I have seen, and more of just a plain bookstore, as its name would suggest. I have to finish up writing my journals for my internship which could take a little bit of time, as well as putting in some last minute hours in at work to save up some more money for next year. I can only work ten hours on campus, so saving up money is hard during school. The winter months make it hard to get around on my bike, so having an off campus job is hard, although I was a nanny during my sophomore year. The most important thing I need to do is get organized. I need to buy a new calendar, buy my books and notebooks, and get my mindset straight about how I want to approach the year academically. I take a look at what I did last year and try to change. I need to put my alarm clock across the room so I can wake up on time and not skip class, as well as go to bed on time so I am not so tired that I shut off my alarm without knowing it.
I am looking forward to next year despite all the things that I am thinking about and worrying about. I will be rooming with two people I have never lived with before and that will be interesting. Hopefully there will not be too many video games/loud ruckus that I get distracted, but I know I have little spots and rooms on campus that I can get away to if I need to relax. Overall, the summer has been great but I am ready for school.
Title: Summer in St. Louis
Date: 7/1/09
The beginning of my summer was a whirlwind of activity. School got out on May 1, and I didn't arrive home until May 20. I spent the first two weeks or so of summer vacation on a class trip to South Dakota and Montana. We slept in sleeping bags on church floors and cooked our own food over campfires and stoves. The trip was for a class on Native American spirituality.
The day I returned from the trip and went to St. Louis where I live, I started working at Papa Johns Pizza, delivering and making pizzas. It is not the best job ever and can be pretty stressful at times, but they were willing to hire me back right away for the summer. Considering the job market right now, I felt pretty lucky. I have been working about 20 hours a week and in between have been reading, sleeping, and volunteering at my parish youth group in Ballwin, Missouri.
There is always a bit of transition coming from dorm life to home life. At school I don't have to ask permission to go anywhere, I don't have anyone to wake up when I come in late, and I don't have to be on time for meals. At home I use my parents cars, so I have to coordinate things around their schedule. I can't make much noise when I come home at night, and I can't have people over at all hours. I can't blare my music in my room the way I can in the dorms. An angry parent is much scarier than an angry RA.
My friends back home are pretty similar to my friends at school. We like to play video games and eat, which seems to be pretty consistent wherever I go. One of my favorite things about being back home is the fact that I can go hiking in and around St. Louis, and there isn't much opportunity in Chicago to go hiking. Sometimes the skyscrapers downtown make a good backdrop to a long walk, but I tend to like trees and hills, bluffs and rivers over tall buildings and concrete streets. It gets pretty hot here, usually about ten degrees warmer than in Chicago, so it is a nice break from the cool weather, but by the end of the summer I am ready to see some snow in the long Chicago winters. I do miss my friends from school, and I miss the atmosphere of Chicago, and the lights at night. For me, summer is a good break, but by the end it is usually just long enough.
Title: Easter Break
Date: 4/17/09
I spent my Easter break, which consists of Holy Thursday and Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday, at my aunt’s house in Mount Prospect, IL. It is about 40 minutes away from school. My parents drove in from St. Louis and picked me up, and drove me to my aunt’s. I made sure to bring all the important things a college student needs for a trip to a relatives house, namely homework and laundry. I am glad that I was able to eat at my aunt’s house. She is a great cook, and there is no meal service at Dominican over breaks, even short breaks like Easter.
I arrived at my aunt’s house and it was bustling with activity. My cat’s cousin (my aunt’s cat Spanky is literally my own cat’s cousin) was at the door and rubbed up against my leg, leaving a heavy coat of leftover fur on my pants. My cousin Mikey was screaming for me to play Legos with him. My cousin Elizabeth had three friends over who roamed the house, seemingly lost. Joseph had his girlfriend over, my brother arrived with his girlfriend, and my aunt had several of her friends as well as myself and my parents. I decided to head upstairs and play Legos with Mikey, and after about 20 minutes he was bored, but I wasn’t so I stayed in his room and finished my creation while he went and ran around outside. After I came downstairs my aunt served some appetizers, which I am not used to having at my house, out to dinner, or anywhere else really. We had dinner followed by poker, and then I went to bed.
The only downside to staying at my aunt’s house is the sleeping situation. I generally have to either share a bed with my cousin or put couch cushions on the ground and wrap myself with blankets to keep warm in their cold basement. The next day we woke up early for Mass, and afterwards, I played outside with Mikey as the rest of the family set up for the Easter egg hunt. Around 11:00 a.m., more of my cousins came over including my 4-year-old cousin Daniel and my 2-year-old cousin Isabella. I was greeted with a big Hellllllllllloooooo from Daniel and a hug, although I doubt he remembers seeing me considering the last time I saw him he couldn’t walk. The Easter egg hunt was exciting and entertaining, watching the little kids hop around the yard searching for eggs and getting way too excited when they found them. Dinner was good, and after dinner my parents drove me back to school so I could finish up on some homework before class on Monday. This was my first Easter away from home, but it didn’t really feel like it.
Title: Scheduling and Yoga
Date: 3/26/09
So I finally bought a calendar/planner last week. I have never used one in college, and although I generally make my meetings/deadlines on time, sometimes I will forget and show up late. I decided I should get with the program and get one. Here is a tip for anyone thinking about getting a planner. Getting a planner will not make your life less busy/complicated, it just makes you more aware of it! It is more convenient to know when things are going on or to be able to be on time for things.
I find it funny though that I bought a calendar right before the last month of school, I think any help the calendar could have been to me would have been in the beginning of the year when I was just getting settled into classes, or at least at the beginning of a semester. I somewhat wish I had been used to using one even before college so that I had the system down pat by the time I got here. It’s hard to remember what stuff to write down in it and what stuff not to.
I did another thing this last week that I don't normally do. I went with two of my friends to Bikram Yoga. I have never done Yoga before, so it was pretty intense. It was intense not just because it was a lot of stretching and breathing through the nose (I'm a mouth breather), both of which I never do. It was intense because the room is at quite literally about 100 degrees. I haven't sweated this much since high school wrestling practice. Another strange thing is people don't really wear clothes except their sporty underwear, so I got to see all of the “yogaers” (I don't know what to call them) in all of their God-given splendor, and especially sweaty. The lady leading it said it would pretty much cure all of my medical problems that I could ever have, so I would never need to go to a doctor again. All that happened was my legs were sore for a couple days and my allergies went away for about two hours. She recommended we come several times a week. Unfortunately, my current income doesn't allow me to spend $17.00 to stretch several times a week. I guess I will have to keep seeing the doctor under my parents’ insurance.
Easter is coming up soon, and my parents will be heading up to Chicago for Easter, which means I won't have to sit on a bus for 6 hours each way to go home and see them. And it also means they will be taking me out to dinner. Although not having a car and living far away has some negative points, it also has its perks. Your parents (not always though) will come visit you usually once a year and buy you stuff, specifically food. I like food. Speaking of food, I am going to eat dinner. Have a great week.
Title: A Warm Spring Break
Date: 3/8/09
I got a warm-up last week when the weather got up into the 50's and 60's before I left for spring break. At the same time Dominican decided to install a fishing pond just outside the dorms, so my friend John and I took advantage and set up a little "fishing trip." There was some sort of water main leak that caused water to gush out and fill the "mini quad" (or the quad between Power and Coughlin halls.) We took two chairs from the front of the dorms and got some sticks and twine and pretended like we were fishing, but really we were just enjoying the weather. We heard the joke, "did you catch anything...what about a cold?" many times and it really wasn't that funny, but I guess it was funnier than us pretending to fish in runoff water.
Skip ahead a few days and now I am actually in Florida where I could fish for real if I wanted to, if I didn't think fishing was pretty boring and if I knew what to do with a fish once you caught it. The last time I went fishing was in Ely, Minnesota, and a snapping turtle ate my fish off the stringer. That was five years ago. So now I am having a great time not fishing in Florida. My brother and I went out on a canoe for about an hour in the canals behind my grandparents’ house. We made an attempt to paddle out into the Robert's Bay, but were forced to turn around because the wind picked up and the waves became extremely choppy, the wind literally spun our canoe around and pushed us backwards. We decided we could possibly paddle out into the bay, but we didn't want to flip the canoe in the waves, and I am somewhat afraid of deep ocean water. In the afternoon we went to the beach where I fell asleep in the sand for two hours and got a sunburn.
My grandpa is fairly (by fairly I mean extremely) conservative and only watches Fox news, whereas my brother tends to be a bit more moderate, and our meals have consisted of my brother and my grandpa having political debates. He calls my brother "Obama" and joked saying he was going to write him out of the will. They made a truce though and said that they won't talk about politics anymore. After dinner we looked through old photo albums and talked about when my great grandpa died. My trip comes to an end on Wednesday when I will head back to St. Louis for the remainder of my spring break. (It began on Saturday.) I will be taking the Megabus back to Chicago on Sunday morning, so I am saving up my homework and reading for the six-hour trip. Then I begin the last stretch of school until summer starts.
Title: Rainy Day
Date: 2/26/09
It thundered today for the first time in months, but it is sort of a trick. I looked at the weather to see if it's going to get warmer outside, and it’s not. It is still supposed to be in the thirties for the next ten days at least. I generally don't get excited for school breaks because I enjoy staying at school, but I am visiting my grandparents in Sarasota, Florida for a week, so I am really excited for the break in scenery and weather.
Even though the building I live in is something like 90 years old, it isn't that bad. Some people in the other dorms have complained about their rooms getting too hot and them not being able to turn the heat down because they have electrical heating. All I have to do is throw my window wide open and prop open the window above my door and I get a nice breeze. There is also an essential for anyone living somewhere that doesn't have air conditioning. It's called the Chillow, and it is this cooling pad you can stick inside your pillow and it keeps your head cool at night!
Despite all the rain, I can't complain too much because I only have to walk outside about 30 steps to get to my classes, unless I find a door propped open to the gym, in which case I don't have to walk outside at all. It was a sad day when I saw them sealing off the old entrance from the dorms to the school with plywood. Something about safety and what not; they want people to enter the dorms through one main entrance.
This afternoon I am attending a discussion with Bishop Gumbleton from Detroit. He is giving a talk later this evening in one of the auditoriums, but students get a chance to have a much more personal and interesting discussion with him in the ministry center, which I tend to like better than the talks. We had a similar thing with Kathy Kelly who is also a very interesting social activist if anyone has a chance to look her up on Wikipedia. I tend to find these kinds of talks more interesting than others they have on campus. I am not as involved as I would like to be in social justice, but I like to stay informed regardless. I generally glance at a couple papers each day in the library just to check what is up. And with the weather, there isn't much else to do but read.
Title: Thinking about Spring
Date: 2/12/09
Not a whole lot has been happening this semester. I have myself pretty much situated into my schedule which is good considering it’s about midterm time. Although, I forgot I had to work on Sunday and then today I showed up for work two hours early, but I guess that just about evens things out. Spring snuck in a little this week. The temperature got up into the fifties at least and maybe higher. I broke out the shorts and t-shirt, and even sat on a bench for a while. The grass was still too soggy from the snow to have good grass-sitting.
This semester seems to be much easier than the previous one. I don't seem to have as many papers or projects and overall the classes (except for Spanish) have been much easier. I hope none of my professors read this; they might assign some more work or something. In my free time I have been contemplating spring a lot more than normal, as well as playing guitar. My friend Hannah and I decided to start a band, but so far we haven't really gone much further than that.
I have also been watching a lot of the PBS Frontline series. They have just about every episode they have ever aired on the PBS website. With all my free time instead of doing productive things like reading for class or become more involved, I have been watching documentaries. While I wasn't watching PBS, I would usually be downloading music, but the program I used to download shut down their system. I went to log into Ruckus and got a pop up saying they shut down, no explanation or anything as to why it shut down. I don't like to buy music haphazardly, and I refuse to get iTunes or an iPod because I have already sold my soul to Microsoft and I don't want to split my sold soul in half to Apple. So now I am stuck with the music I have. It was quite irritating, almost as irritating as the Cyber-Cafe food service here, but I won't get into that.
My life seems like it is a bunch of random tangents lately and I think my blog fairly reflects that. I don't know if anyone watched the Superbowl, but I just thought of the "Pepsuber" ads which made my day. I love MacGruber, and Pepsuber made me happy, even though I really don't like Pepsi. Have a happy Valentines Day!
Title: Tired of Winter
Date: 2/5/09
Winter is starting to get a little old. At first it was nice to be able to put on a warm ugly sweater that you got for your birthday but never wanted to wear or to smell the cold air and occasional scent of a wood fire. Snow angels are fun, as are snowball fights and snowmen, but eventually the snow because to turn black, or yellow, or red, or some mix of the three. The cold air starts to make your teeth hurt, if you are a mouth breather like me, and the 30 yard walk from the dorms to the academic buildings becomes a burden, especially in sandals and a t-shirt. Your 80-year-old dorm room with poorly sealed windows is cold, especially the linoleum floor, so it is much easier to sleep through classes than in the fall or spring.
At first, trudging through snow can be fun, but by now I just want to lay out in the grass in the quad—not in the low lighting and silence of the reading room. I miss riding my bike. I am not one of those bike riders with the tight clothing and streamlined helmets and shoes. I am the kind you see with torn-up pants ankles because they keep getting caught in the gears. I don’t like riding on the streets because it’s scary, and in winter the sides are covered with snow/ice/water. Plus, I forgot my helmet at home. I generally ride on the sidewalks, but they are covered with snow too. Not owning a car is a bummer in the winter (as well as a blessing—no flat tires, no shoveling snow, no gas prices). Going to the bank or the store becomes more of an adventure sometimes.
I feel as though this whole global climate change/global warming thing just isn’t coming to Chicago. Around the world glaciers are melting, Greenland is pouring into the ocean and the ice caps are melting, but Chicago, it’s just cold. I actually did visit a school in Florida near where my grandparents lived, but I thought to myself “I would miss having all four seasons.” I suppose I would miss the seasons, but it is easy to forget about the others sometimes. So, if you didn’t catch it from the tone of this blog, it’s easy to complain in the winter.
Title: Study Abroad in Rome
Date: 1/21/09
Besides having a frightening experience on the streets of Rome, I actually did a lot of sightseeing in Rome. The purpose of the trip was a short study abroad class focusing on Church history, as well as some renaissance artwork. There were about 30 students who participated. Some of the highlights include a very long hike up to the top of St. Peters Basilica, and despite the slight rain, I could see most all of Rome. The Coliseum was pretty interesting. They have these people that stand out front dressed like Roman soldiers, and they get really upset when you take pictures of them without paying them. They may also chase you and try to take your camera off your neck and shout Italian profanities at you.
The Catacombs of St. Sebastian just outside the walls of Rome along the Appian Way are pretty much as you would imagine, but they are colder than you think. When you see the sarcophagi they look small, and you may wonder how they fit bodies inside of them, but in fact my friend and I both fit into them, so no worries. The guide said that there were approximately 7 miles of tunnels in just one of the catacombs that we were in. As soon as she said this, my friend looked at me and we both had the same thought, “let’s get lost!” Fortunately, we decided against this and made it out of the catacombs in about an hour.
Another interesting site was the church of San Clemente. It is a somewhat modern church (compared to the Coliseum or the catacombs) sitting on top of an ancient church which is sitting on top of old Roman barracks. It costs 5 Euros to go down into the ancient churches, but thanks to the magical skills of one of our trip leaders, Hugh McElwain, we were able to go down for only 3 Euros. Besides Rome, we went to Florence as well as Assisi. Perhaps I will go into the others later. Arrivederci! (One of the few Italian phrases I learned. Also they love Prego sauce, and they can’t stop talking about it. Go figure.)
Title: Racing through Rome
Date: 1/19/09
I had perhaps one of the most terrifying experiences of my life over Christmas break. On January 5th I left Chicago for a short study abroad trip to Rome, Italy. The trip was for a 3-credit course that covered Church history and a little bit of art. We went to Rome, Assisi and Florence, and visited famous churches, ancient catacombs and art galleries. The highlight of the trip was also one of the craziest things I have done. I have never skydived, I have never bungee-jumped, but now I can say that I rode a moped through the streets of Rome. Imagine a city the size of Chicago, except the streets are not straight, are not labeled, and most of them are cobblestone. Also pretend that there aren’t really lanes. Then add in over a million scooters and you are close. Finally put in practically no experience riding a moped and there you go! It was a very scary but exciting ride through Rome. If you could describe the streets of Rome as a food, it would be spaghetti, a big mess of spaghetti.
My friend and I thought it would be a fun thing to try, so we planned on renting scooters even before the trip began. When we walked into the rental place, we were a bit scared. The rental “ store” was an Italian guy’s apartment with a folding card table in the center. On the table were a bunch of scratched up helmets, a credit card machine and some maps. He gave us helmets, had us fill out a waiver and then pulled the mopeds out of the garage. He showed us how to turn them on and let us on our way. As soon as we pulled out onto the streets we were enveloped by traffic, scooters passing me on all sides, as well as cars. I felt like I was in a tornado of automobiles. Luckily the only time I fell off was in a parking lot. My friend was not so fortunate. He skidded out and crashed while taking a right hand turn, damaging the scooter and getting some minor road rash. A little bit of advice for anyone considering renting a scooter in Rome, don’t do it.
Title: Studying, Sleep and Santa
Date: 12/04/08
Thanksgiving break went pretty well. My brother picked me up on his way from Milwaukee and we drove home to St. Louis, it took about five hours. I ate pretty much non-stop at home and slept until 2:00 p.m. most days, so I would say it was pretty productive. We didn’t have any family over, just my parents, my brother and me. I came back to school on Sunday morning with my friend Lauren.
Finals week is next week, but fortunately (or unfortunately depending on who you are) most of my finals are papers and projects, so I only have to go to two of my classes during finals week. I got a job working for my friend’s dad’s snow removal business, so besides papers and projects, I have been pretty busy. I can sleep over winter break.
Thursday I will be dressing up as Santa for “pictures with Santa.” I am not quite sure why they picked me to do it; I don’t quite look like Santa, but oh well. My friend Mike comes home from London today, so we hopefully will get to hang out. I work security until midnight, and then I have to finish a paper for tomorrow. This weekend coming up I will be playing guitar at a retreat in River Forest on Friday night and Saturday morning, and I think on Saturday afternoon I am going to the Shedd Aquarium to visit the fish.
Next week is finals, and then I am going home. I usually don’t get too stressed out over stuff, but this week is starting to push it. I think what I look forward to most over break is being able to sleep in. Shoveling snow until 2:00 a.m. and then going to class at 8:30 a.m. is tiring. At home I could potentially sleep all day and never leave my room except to eat and go to the bathroom, unfortunately I don’t know how well that will work.
I plan on working at Papa John’s Pizza over break to earn a little more money before I go to Italy. Yep, Italy. I am pretty excited about it, and you should be too. I have never been to Europe and I hear it is a blast. I also get three credit hours for going on the trip. It sounds like a deal to me. My friend Todd knows some people in Rome, and he is going on the trip, so hopefully we can meet up with them and they can show us around a bit. We will get to see a lot, but I think it would be fun to go around with someone other than a tour guide. I hope everyone’s Thanksgiving went well and that everyone has a good winter break.
Title: Week of Adventures
Date: 11/20/08
This last week was fairly uneventful if I remember correctly. My friend Jon bought the game "Blitz the League" for XBox, and we have been playing that pretty often, usually when I should be doing homework. They showed the "The Dark Knight" in the Social Hall Wednesday night, and I was able to catch most of it. It was pretty good. I think my favorite part was when the computer that the movie was playing on was only projecting a blue screen. My friend got up and just shook the computer. At first we yelled at him, because shaking a computer does not work to fix it, but this actually worked. Then everyone broke out laughing and applauded, followed by someone shushing everyone because they couldn't hear.
My mother came from St. Louis to visit over the weekend. We went to the fall musical (Into the Woods) and had dinner in the social hall with my friends. Sunday we went to the worst restaurant in Chicago, Ed Debevics. The waitresses make fun of you and throw things at you. Of course their jokes aren't funny, and they can't dance, nor do they wear clothes that fit. I don't like it when the waitress’s bare stomach touches the table I am eating at. Anyway, my mom got a kick out of it, so I guess it wasn't all bad. Plus, I got free food, which is good because I may run out of meals before the semester is over.
This weekend looks pretty busy. I have two research papers to finish before Dec. 12th, and I need more sources to actually write them. I am participating in the 24-hour fast during Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, so I won’t be eating from Friday at midnight until Saturday at midnight, and I love eating. It seems like a lot, but it isn't that bad. Hunger comes in little waves and goes away. It feels somewhat like "survivorman" on the Discovery Channel (which is FARRRR better than Man vs. Wild, for many reasons. He carries his own camera gear, 50 lbs of it, and he doesn't have a camera crew to help him out if he’s in trouble, and he plays guitar and harmonica in the wilderness.).
On Saturday, I have to wake up at 8:45 a.m., which is somewhat irritating considering I normally wake up at around 2:00 p.m. on Saturday to make up for my lack of sleep during the week. I am going shopping to get prizes for an auction that RSA (Resident Student Association) is putting on. Then I might go to the Christmas lighting downtown to see what it is like. It seems pretty bright downtown at night anyway. My friend is having a birthday party at her apartment Saturday night too, so I might go to that. On Sunday, I am playing guitar at Mass and finishing homework. Monday afternoon I am putting on a concert in the chapel with a musician I met in high school and one of his friends (www.joelsteinmusic.com). Thanksgiving is coming soon and I am excited. Then it will be winter break, which will be about a month long. I love snow.
Title: Meet Andrew
Date: 11/11/08
Hi my name is Andrew, or as most of my friends know me at school, Pokey. I am a junior at Dominican, studying theology with a minor in art and pastoral ministry. I am not sure what I will do after college, but it’s coming pretty soon. I will probably do something that involves helping others, which is pretty broad I guess. Over the past couple summers I have worked at a summer camp and at a pizza place.
I am from the suburbs of St. Louis and usually go home on the major holidays. I found a great group of friends here and that’s who I spend most of my time with. There is usually one of them up at all hours if I need anything. During the week when we aren't doing school stuff we usually watch weird movies and play video games. We usually eat dinner together in the dining hall. I think they remind me of a dysfunctional family. I play racquetball twice a week, and I also play guitar at Mass on some Sundays.
Life at Dominican is pretty sweet. I am a five-minute walk from classes as well as food, and I get to go downtown whenever I want. Saturday my friend took me to a Thai restaurant on Michigan Ave, and Monday I went to see the band "In Flames" at the House of Blues. I have an aunt that lives about 40 minutes northwest of here so I took the Metra train to see her. Having the trains close by is pretty helpful.
When I am not out with friends or studying I can be caught reading random books I find, playing guitar in my room, or drawing in my sketchbook. I don't own an iPod, and I doubt I will get one until they are required to be an American. I love music, but I like to listen to what’s going on around me when I am not in my room. I love the outdoors, so sometimes the yellow glow of the city is irritating, but I can step out into the forest preserve to take a walk if I want. It is best in winter when the sound from the cars is muffled and there is snow everywhere. I'm looking forward to giving you a peek into my life throughout the coming weeks!
