Vlog: P-Day

Here are those contacts I mentioned:

Twitter: @LaurenKopchik

Email: lkopchik@mail.smcvt.edu

:)

Family Weekend and a Spontaneous Monday

Good evening everyone!

As finals are approaching and the year is quickly wrapping up, it becomes increasingly difficult to stop and appreciate the smaller moments. Between papers, projects, and exams, students are trying to stay on top of their work.

However, it's important during times like these to take a few minutes to relax, and I was lucky enough to have my family come visit me during Parents Weekend. My parents and sister, as well as my aunt, uncle, and younger cousins, all joined me for a fun weekend at SMC with the Dean's Reception as the main event.

The Dean's Reception is an event held to recognize the academic achievements of students who made the Dean's List during the fall semester. The Dean and President Neuhauser speak, as well as a few honorary students, and there are light refreshments. Attending the event was also really interesting because various seniors were set up around the gymnasium to present the work they did for their Capstone projects, so the night also served as an academic symposium.

That was just one thing that was going on over Family Weekend. There were a lot of other events, both on and off campus, including student concerts, theatrical presentations, and a bowling night at our local bowling alley. I showed my family around campus, and we did tons of stuff around the Burlington area. I was surprised (and, as an avid reader, quite pleased!) that my little cousins' favorite part of the trip seemed to be the Word Garden right here on campus. They just got a kick out of it!

My youngest cousin, Giancarlo, writes on the chalkboard at the Word Garden. He also enjoyed playing with the word rocks and being able to physically create sentences. Such a good learning tool, for all ages--young and old, the Word Garden is a hit!

Some inspirational words found at the Garden, above and below.

It says, "Row the boat on the lake of enthusiasm."

Like I said, we also did a lot of things off-campus, like visit the Lake Champlain Chocolate Factory and a few local markets and eateries. My Aunt Cathy loved Church Street--it was her first time visiting!

I was so sad on Sunday to see my family leave--my room is now half-empty because I packed away a bunch of stuff for them to bring home that I know I won't need in my last few weeks. Between the empty room and the sadness of my weekend being over, I felt like a wreck on Monday! It was also a bit strange because I hadn't seen my friends for most of the weekend, so yesterday afternoon I visited my friends Shawn and Danny over in Joyce Hall--I knew everyone would be there because that's the usual hangout spot! Everyone there must have been in the same strange mood as me, because suddenly Cait suggested a trip downtown to Ben and Jerry's for a Vermonster and we were all jumping at the chance!

A Vermonster is the ultimate Ben and Jerry's challenge...20 scoops of ice cream, piles of whipped cream, tons of toppings, all inside one giant bucket. I was in a group with 5 other friends: Cait, Danny, Shawn, Tanya and Maya. It took all six of us over half an hour to finish eating it!

Those are some before and after photos. Everyone said that Shawn and I ate the most...I think they were right. Neither of us wanted dinner that night!

After we finished the challenge, we hung around on Church Street for a while. We had a great time!

Me, Tanya, Cait and Shawn sitting on the cow at Ben and Jerry's. Cows are Tanya's favorite animal!

Shawn, Danny, Cait, Tanya and Maya sitting on the rocks on Church Street--too full after all that ice cream!

We never really leave campus on a school night, so this was a truly special occasion. I felt bad when I got back because a few other friends missed out...but that just means we'll need to do the Vermonster again some other day. :)

So, that was my lovely weekend and awesome Monday. Since time is running down to the wire, I won't be as present for the next few days due to studying. However, I look forward to making a post this weekend! I think I'm going to make a post about housing. :) Until next time!

Peace,

Ren

Announcement: Sunday is Vlog Day!

Founder's Society

Last night I went with my friends Cait, Alex and Merrill (congrats to Cait and Alex on their tour-guide status!) to the last Founder's Society meeting of the year. To sum up very simply what Founders Society does, I'll use the following quote from the Saint Mike's website:

"The Founders Society is Saint Michael's student ambassador organization. Ambassadors work with Admission and Alumni Relations staff to foster strong relationships with prospective students and alumni through a variety of campus and off-campus activities."

So basically, Founders Society does a ton of really cool stuff to get the word out about Saint Mike's. It is in charge of the SMC blogosphere as well as coordinating tours for prospective students and organizing events like the Phone-a-Thon, which is when current students get together and call prospective students to talk about why they like Saint Mike's.

I had gone to a Founders meeting at the very beginning of the year, and had a good time getting information from its members about their different jobs and what they do to contribute in helping prospective students gain the whole Saint Mike's experience. I also participated in a Founders event at one of our accepted students days, when I had lunch with a few graduating high school seniors and told them about my own Saint Michael's experience. I had always wanted to get more involved with the Founders Society, so I was really glad that I attended this past meeting.

I met a few of the other bloggers there and had a blast exchanging tips and hearing about how they became interested in Founders Society. I had come on a special night, as it was their last meeting of the year and coordinators were giving out awards to various members for their hard work and dedication. I was impressed at how close everyone in the group seemed to be, even though it's a large society. It was just like a big family reunion!

Going to this meeting really helped open my eyes to the Founders Society, and I can't wait to attend meetings and become more involved next year--in fact, I'm sad that I missed out on so much this year! I'm also going to work on becoming even more involved with other groups next year as well, including signing up for more MOVE events, Green Up (a student environmental organization), and the Wilderness Club.

Here's one of the latest videos from a few of the folks in the Founders Society. This video is part of the SMC Kribs series, which looks at all of the housing options we have on campus. Check out the SMC YouTube Channel to see more informative and hilarious footage!

Peace,
Ren

It's Always the Little Things

Have you ever noticed that the smallest details are really the ones that make (or break) your day?

I started off the morning a bit negatively, waking up with hiccups and getting frustrated because I couldn't find my phone. I slowly began turning my day around as I met up with friends for breakfast and enjoyed the weather on my way to class. But the thing that really made me smile today was when I returned to my dorm after lunch, and went to the bathroom where I encountered these uplifting messages:

Isn't this precious? I absolutely love the girls on my floor. Many of us are extremely close, but even the few girls that I don't see often contribute to the dynamic of our hall. We all get along well, and we're an awesome support system for each other. I'm definitely going to miss Lyons 4th floor South next year, but I am so happy to have had them as my floor-mates during my first year at SMC.

Peace,

Ren

First Vlog: For Shawn

Around Town: The Waterfront

Hello, dear readers!

This past weekend has brought me from my cramped little room outside into the fabulous weather. It has warmed up and everyone seems to be ready for summer!

To celebrate, my friends and I headed into town on Friday night. We ate dinner at Sky Burger on Church Street, and then we walked down the hill to Lake Champlain where we watched a gorgeous sunset. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera because a friend is borrowing it, but I took a few with my phone and my friends Sheila and Shawn don't mind me sharing some of theirs either!

This is actually one that Shawn took at Sky Burger...it's one of my favorite places to eat. They have some amazing veggie burgers and milkshakes! Our group is huge--we had eleven people--and our table took up almost the whole length of the tiny restaurant! I'm sitting between Cait and Maya, and you might recognize Alex across from me...click on her name to check out her awesome blog!

I had a black bean burger, and I need to go out with these people more often because they all gave me their pickles!

Isn't it beautiful?

I managed to sneakily snap this picture of Sheila taking a picture! Liz sits behind her peacefully on the dock.

Sheila and I sitting on the docks...I think Liz took this one! 

I love the way the boathouse looks, all lit up at night!

It was a lovely night, and the fun continued all weekend. You can check out our amazing kite-flying skills at my friend Jessica's blog. It was such a good time!

I hope you all find time to get out there and enjoy this amazing weather!

Peace,
Ren

My MOVE Trip: Big Thicket, Texas 2012

We have an awesome volunteer program here at Saint Mike's called MOVE (Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts).  We do a ton of local projects, and there are all kinds of programs you can sign up for each week to help out the community in some way, whether it's cooking for the hungry, playing with shelter animals, or hanging out with some local kids or elderly people. There are a lot of outdoor volunteer opportunities too, like working in the organic garden or cleaning up public outdoor areas.

Some of the coolest opportunities MOVE offers are the extended service trips. There are domestic and international trips that take place over winter, spring and summer breaks, completely dedicated to volunteer service. I spent a week of my winter break working in the Big Thicket National Preserve near Beaumont, Texas.

My trip was so amazing and enlightening, and fortunately I had the opportunity to prepare a scholarship project about it to present on a panel. It was called "How are you MOVED?" and each of the panelists spoke about what they took away from their trips. I was really nervous to do this, since the panel I was on was for faculty members and my voice gets all shaky when I have to speak in public. However, I really enjoyed presenting, because I realized I had so much to say about the experience.

I made a little scrapbook on mixbook.com to use as a guide for my speech. The following are a few of the ideas I addressed:

This was the cover of my scrapbook. I was so happy that I had such an awesome time on my first MOVE trip--it  definitely will not be my last!

I wanted to set my first page up like a little yearbook. There were 11 of us on this trip, and each person was such a key character with a different personality. Everyone added to the dynamic of the group, and we really hit it off. The center picture if the Field Research Station, where we had accommodations to stay for the week.

On our first day, we met a young ranger named Elliot. He spoke to us for a while about the Big Thicket, and how it's such a diverse ecosystem because so much was pushed south from the Ice Age. After thousands of years, these different ecosystems adapted and began to thrive together, which is why the Thicket is so diverse. During his talk, he was describing how dense the forest is, and how hot and humid it becomes in the summer. He told us, "When the wind blows in the Thicket, you can see it, and you can hear it, but you can't feel it." Then, later on, we were taking a hike through a really dense area of the woods. I heard this rustling noise and looked up to see the tops of the trees swaying and leaves falling down around me. But Elliot was right, because I couldn't feel the wind! It suddenly gave me this incredibly small feeling.

That's why my favorite picture from the trip is the one on the top left side, looking up at the tree. I think it's the only picture I took that captured that feeling. I told everyone at the panel that I also like the leaf in this picture, too, because in real life this leaf is tiny but looking at it from this angle makes it seem huge. I was thinking that a leaf is such a small detail in a whole forest. But without leaves, what would the forest be? So even though it's small, this leaf makes a huge impact. That's kind of how we felt too. Here was this group of college students, staying for only a week, being dwarfed by these massive trees and doing such a small amount of work in such a gigantic place. But the important thing is that we were there, and like those little leaves, we made an impact too.

All of these pictures were taken the day we went to the Sandylands to clear trails. The Sandylands are an interesting part of the Thicket. The soil is sandier, hence the name, and the trees are more sparse. However, the brush is grassy and dense, so cutting these trails was quite the challenge! That's me in the top right corner of the left page, wielding my machete. I never thought I'd ever use a machete in my life!

This was such a cool experience because we were all pushed to our limits. We accomplished so much that we had never even dreamed of...and by the end of that day, we had cleared about a mile of trails that would be opened up for public use!

I almost got a little choked up at this part of the presentation, because Maxine is one of the most inspiring people I've ever met. She's an 83-year-old native Texan who is absolutely obsessed with the Big Thicket. She accompanied us one day in the middle of the week, and brought us to this tree on the left page. It was one of the biggest, most beautiful trees I have ever seen. Planted by Lance Rosier, "father of the Big Thicket," this elm was over 150 years old. Our task for the day was to clear the area around it--the saplings growing up near it were rubbing against its bark, which isn't good for such and old tree because it can open up "wounds" and become easily "infected."

After we completed this task, Maxine said she had to show us something. She took off through the Thicket, not even following a particular path, like a true trailblazer. She really knows her way around, because in a few minutes she stopped us in front of this old mulberry tree, which is in the first three pictures on the right page. Maxine had grown up with this tree, and unfortunately it was dying. Parts of it were rotten and scorched. She told us we were going to have a "tree funeral."

I love nature, but I had never thought of doing something like this before. As we were gathered around the tree and Maxine began to say a few words, I thought, why not have a tree funeral? Trees provide life, oxygen, and such an abundance of resources. Where would people be without trees? I will always remember this day because at that moment I learned something about respect--it's not something that only humans deserve.

As we were leaving the site of the tree, I thanked Maxine for bringing us to see it. She patted my shoulder and said, "I just wanted to share that with people who truly care." I realized then that our group really did care, and we really were making a difference. It was beautiful, and Maxine is someone I will remember for the rest of my life. 

On the last two days of our trip, we spent all of our time planting trees. Longleaf pines are essential to the Big Thicket's ecosystem. We had heard about them all week, and were so excited to plant them. The little seedlings looked like brown carrots with the soil packed around their roots, and that eventually became a joke with the whole group. We used dibble bars, which were these long poles with dull spikes on the end that could be driven straight into the ground. Then we'd take a seedling and place it into the small hole that the dibble made. This was an efficient process, and by the end of two days we had planted 10,000 trees. Isn't that crazy? Our little group, doing so much in so little time. It was amazing, and those trees will grow tall and strong as a reminder of the work we did there. Our impact will live on for hundreds of years.

Throughout the trip, we had reflections every night where we would just sit down together and explain our thoughts about the day's work. One thing that kept coming up was about how our trip is sort of different than the other MOVE trips, in that we're not working directly with people. The other trips often do work like serving the homeless or helping classes at underprivileged schools, while all of our work took place out in the wilderness with barely anyone around. The main question one night was, what are we doing to help people?

The answer came pretty quickly. We realized that serving the environment is serving people. Everyone in the world has one thing in common: we all share the Earth. That means we need to protect it, take care of it, and make sure that it stays in shape for future generations.  

Saint Mike's is a small campus, but I can guarantee that if I hadn't gone on this trip, I would have never met most of these people. I was terrified to embark on this journey across the country with a bunch of people I barely knew. But I reminded myself that I wanted to reconnect with nature and do more service as well as get out of my comfort zone, and this was an excellent way to do just that. I left Saint Mike's with a group of friendly strangers, and I returned with ten new friends who, each in their own way, had changed me for the better.

"You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place...like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll miss the person you are now at this time and place, because you'll never be this way ever again." This quote truly wrapped up everything I felt about my MOVE trip. The Big Thicket was a special place, and I was there at a really special time. I will never be the same because of it, and I couldn't be happier.

So, that was my experience! After I finished presenting, I found a few of my group members who had come to support me. They were almost in tears! We all talked about how much we missed Texas, and I realized that this is why I really love these people--we may not have seen each other in a while, as we're all extremely busy, but as soon as we get together again we're back in Texas and the conversation is as easy as ever.

Michael Samara, the Dean of Students, came up to me after my presentation to shake my hand. He thanked me for sharing my story, and Dave Kells from the Counseling Staff told me it was touching and something that "needs to be heard." As I walked outside, a woman approached me and told me how much she had enjoyed my presentation and ending quote. She said it was beautiful and inspiring. I was so happy to hear the positive feedback and know that simply telling my story sparked something within so many people. That's really what it's all about, and that's why I will continue to serve.

Peace,
Ren

Week Recap: Registration, Ben and Jerry's, Stress and Sanity

It's interesting that sometimes the shortest weeks are not only the busiest, but sometimes seem like the longest.

I started off the week slowly, like I normally do, since I don't have class on Mondays this semester. Being the procrastinator that I am, Monday is a HUGE laundry/homework day for me, and I try to get everything done while my friends are in class. BAD HABIT. I shouldn't wait for the last minute. No more days off for me!

Luckily, it seems I'll be able to avoid that and force myself to organize this coming semester. Tuesday was my registration day, and with the way my schedule worked out, I'll have class every day. However, my day didn't run so smoothly, and it left me in a bad mood for most of the week until my friends came to the rescue and got me out of my slump.

Registration isn't always an easy process, so it's important to be prepared. Before our given registration date, all students must meet with their academic advisors--this would be a professor who works within the department of our majors, who works with us one-on-one to help figure out schedules, study abroad options, internships, and anything we might need advice for. After discussing the classes we want to take, advisors clear students for registration on Knightvision, the web program we use for class registration.

Then, on the assigned registration day, students log on to Knightvision and select their classes. I woke up on Tuesday morning and tried to register, and on my first try I was only able to get into one class.

This was when I panicked a little. Unlike previous semesters, I didn't have a Plan B--I really only wanted to take these four classes, and I hadn't properly prepared myself for getting into another class if my first choices didn't work out. I looked into the reasons why I didn't get some of my classes...for Environmental Studies, it said that it was open to majors and minors only. Knightvision also told me that I had already taken the Religious Studies course I tried to enroll into. And the third class had simply filled up before my registration was submitted (this happens sometimes because so many students press "submit" at the same time--exactly 7 AM when registration opens--and since there are only so many spaces, students' requests can be turned down).

All I wanted to do that morning was yell at my computer screen!

Not to worry though! Once I stopped freaking out, I got my bearings together. First, I emailed the registrar's office, telling them about the problems I was having with my first two classes. Next, I sent an email to the professor whose class I didn't get into, asking if I could stop by her office so we could meet and possibly see about petitioning into her class. This is how some people get into full classes--you get a petition form from the registrar's office and write down why you want to take the course, and then the professor signs it, allowing you into the class even though the spaces are full.

I heard back from the registrar's office almost immediately--they are really on top of their work, even on Registration Day! Apparently, my Knightvision account didn't recognize that I had declared my minor, even though the process had been completed (the "process" is simply to have your advisor and the head of the department you want to minor in sign a form and give it to the registrar, where they fix your account). I couldn't get into the Religious Studies course because I had enrolled in one my first semester, and even though I dropped it to take another class, my account never recognized that I ended up not taking it. The people that I spoke to from the registrar were so nice--I've never had to deal with fixing my schedule like this before, so I thought I was going to have to go to the office to straighten everything out, but they did everything for me right then and there!

At the end of the day, I heard back from the professor I had emailed. In my frenzy that morning, I had completely forgotten that there would be Open Registration the next day. This is when anyone from the my registration group, Monday and Tuesday, can log back on and try to get into classes they may not have gotten into the first time around. She reminded me to try that, and said that if I still couldn't get in, she would sign my petition form. So, I woke up early the next morning and pressed that "submit" button at exactly 7 AM. There was only one spot left in the class, and I got in! I was SO happy!

So, everything worked out perfectly in the end. However, Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty stressful. Not only was there registration to worry about, but I had class papers and projects to work on as well, and I had to prepare myself for a run-through for my MOVE presentation (more on that in a post next week!). I was running on low energy and lack of sleep, and my room was a mess. I'll admit it...by Tuesday afternoon, I was pretty cranky.

I definitely needed a pick-me-up, and on Tuesday afternoon it was (literally) delivered to my doorstep!

It was Free Ice Cream Day at Ben and Jerry's. I had completely forgotten about it, what with all the craziness going on. Then, I heard some friends talking about it, and they asked if I'd go with them. Since I was busy with work for my classes the next day and feeling pretty irritable, I told them I probably wouldn't be able to go. So I was working on homework when suddenly my friend Nate called me and told me to come outside. I told him I was busy...why was it so important for me to come outside this very second? He kept insisting, so I finally took the trek down four flights of stairs and into the quad...and boy, was I surprised!

Right there, pulled up between two buildings, was a Ben and Jerry's ice cream truck! There were handing out free ice cream to everyone!

Quick happiness fix!

I tried a new flavor--Peanut Butter and Banana Greek Yogurt. It was delicious! Best of all, it lightened my mood right up. I ran into a bunch of friends at the ice cream truck, and they persuaded me to go into Burlington for more freebies!

I had such a great time with my friends Nate and Liz. They lifted my spirits a bit, and I tried another new flavor, this time Chocolate Nougat. By the time I got back to campus, I was in a jovial mood again.

Even though I had a pile of homework to return to, I was feeling rejuvenated and ready to tackle it. The hour or so that it took to clear my head was well worth it, and I was able to get a refreshing perspective of things. Sometimes, the best thing to do when you're stressed is to just walk away from it and come back once you regain your sanity.

After my rough patch on Tuesday, Wednesday was still stressful but I was able to keep my cool. Especially after my whole schedule was fixed, I could feel the stress melting away. It felt good to get things accomplished, especially since Wednesdays are by far the longest day of the week for me--I have to get up early for a class, then I have a 3-hour class in the afternoon, and then normally I have something going on in the evenings. But each thing was like a check off of my to-do list, and before I knew it I could relax! I had one more day of classes left, and then I was going home for break. No class on Friday meant an even shorter, 3-day week for me!

This gave me cause for celebration, so that night I went to my friend Shawn's room where a bunch of us got together to watch Finding Nemo. We are all such kids at heart...we love that movie! We were quoting every line and speaking in whale to each other. Over all, it was a tremendously fun night. It was the perfect ending to a stressful couple of days.

I thought of how happy I was to be going home the next day. But as I looked around the room, I also thought of how I wouldn't be able to see any of these people over the long weekend. Suddenly, that made me sad! I realized how much I was going to miss our ritual of getting together for nightly homework groups or just hanging out on the weekends, and this was only for four days...imagine what the summer would be like!

That's when I realized that so many people at Saint Mike's have truly become like family to me. Sometimes, I can't even believe that I had no idea who they were only a year ago. I think it's amazing that these people know what I need when I'm having an off day, whether it's Ben and Jerry's, a hug, a fun movie, or even just a smile. They remind me why I'm so lucky to be where I am, in an environment where I'm supported in everything I do and there are always people to help when I need it.

 I'm sure this is not the last time you'll hear something like this from me--my friends and I talk about how we're a family all of the time! But I think that's really the true beauty of it. Here, a bad day never turns into a terrible day...nobody ever lets it.

Peace,
Lauren

Getting Home

Good morning everyone!

I am blogging to you all from my home in Poughkeepsie, New York. We have a four-day weekend for the Easter holiday. It's so nice to be back with my family, even just for a few days.

Normally, I ride home with a friend, but she was back already recovering from an illness (thank goodness she's feeling better now!). My parents were unable to trek up to Vermont to get me, so I had to look into finding another way home.

Thankfully, there are so many options available to get from Vermont to New York and New England. First off, there's always other people at Saint Mike's who are traveling in your direction. Simply asking around will most likely get you a ride...and a new friend! We have an "on-campus classifieds" list called the Knightlist, where you can enter information--whether you're looking to buy or sell an old TV, want a job, or a ride, you can make a post there. There's also Amtrak, Greyhound, and Megabus, which was my choice of transportation.

Megabus is an inexpensive transportation service that stops in various New York and New England cities, including Saratoga NY, Boston, NYC, and Hartford CT, among many others. The Burlington pick-up stop is at UVM in front of the Royal Tyler Theater, about a 10-minute ride from Saint Mike's.

The chariot awaits!

The cool thing about Megabus is that you can get a ticket for really cheap--my friend once bought a seat for three dollars! Mine cost a bit more, it was $13, but as far as paying for transportation goes it's much cheaper than I would have expected.

The bus is massive and really long, and it has accommodations like a bathroom and WiFi. I took the bus to Saratoga Springs, where my sister was able to pick me up and drive me home.

So that's it, I'm here safe and sound. :) Have a lovely day everyone!

Peace,
Lauren

Hello there!

I am so excited to be joining the blogging world as an SMC blogger. Let's jump right in!

My name is Lauren (though some of my friends call me Ren), and I'm a first-year here at Saint Mike's. So much has happened in only one and a half semesters! In fact, I feel like time has passed so quickly, and I was feeling a bit nostalgic so I decided to do a recap of some of my favorite fall-semester moments using some old pictures:

 These two photos were taken on one of our very first days after moving in! It was our first time riding the bus into Burlington, and we all hardly knew each other! Above are Greta (L) and Sheila (R), and Danny and Cait are on the left making "serious" faces.

Here, I'm at Ben and Jerry's with my friend Frances, who goes to UVM--only a few minutes away from SMC! Frances and I went to high school together with Sheila, who is the one who took this lovely picture. Every time I look at this, I have to laugh at the random stranger behind us smiling at the camera!

 A bunch of friends joined Tanya (right) and I when we got our noses pierced together. At this time, Tanya and I had only known each other for a few weeks, but we've been friends ever since! After the piercings, we went with Cait and Danny (above) to Bruegger's Bagels, an awesome place to eat on Church Street.

We have such beautiful views in Vermont! There's a small open field just across the street from main campus where my friends and I like to have picnics in nice weather. 

Cait and her roommate Hannah, as well as my friends Tanya and Maya, all went with me to the Halloween Dance. I don't know which was more fun, actually going to the dance together or just getting ready for it!

 To the right we have a bunch of us girls at Christmastime! In addition to the Secret Santa I did for my floor-mates, we had another one between me and some of my friends. I had Sheila for my Secret Santa!

Shawn and I have a running joke of leaving notes on each other's doors. He likes to fill up my entire dry-erase board with his tiny handwriting so that it takes absolutely forever for me to read! One day, Tanya and Maya decided to leave this surprise message for him. I love coming back to my room at the end of the day to find notes from my friends!  

Liz (left) and Sarah enjoyed an IHOP breakfast at Umall!

Tanya and I decided to occupy the laundry room one day during finals week to study while waiting for our clothes. We ended up hanging out there for hours!

So, that was my first semester in only a handful of pictures. There were so many other moments, like birthdays, campus events, club activities, and of course my MOVE trip, which I will discuss in another post soon! Have a lovely night everyone :)

Peace,

Ren

PS- You can read more about me on (can you guess?) my About Me page, just click on those words to see it! Remember, if you have any questions just contact me via email (lkopchik@mail.smcvt.edu) or Twitter (@LaurenKopchik)!