Halfway there?

So, I was sitting in my Media Law class the other day (hilarious class, by the way--who knew I'd ever be so fascinated by law) when Professor Griffith ever-so-nonchalantly dropped the ball and reminded us that our mid-term was coming up this week.

Now, I'm not too worried about the fact that we're having our mid-term as I've been listening in class, taking good notes and following along with everything well; what I'm worried about is that we're having our MID-TERM. As in, it's the MIDDLE of the TERM. Just...wow. Where did the time go?

I know I've been gone from the blogosphere for a few weeks. I've been pretty busy doing a TON of work, trying to keep up with a somewhat in-tact routine of eating well and exercising, sleeping, and also having an otherwise AWESOME semester. I'm still loving the townhouse life (although living with my best friends does make doing homework a tad difficult...I've got to go to the library more often). I'm also enjoying my classes, even when they're simultaneously driving me crazy. With three journalism courses and a history class, it's a LOT of writing. Guess it's a good thing that this is kind of what I want to do for a living. Sometimes when I get bogged down with work, I just have to remember that this is the work that I love. I've always been passionate about writing, including journalism, and other forms of media too. So it's actually pretty great, and I couldn't be in a better place!

Besides, it's nice to see myself making progress. Sometimes when you're just going day-to-day, do this or that, class every other day, hand in this homework assignment, test on Thursday, blah blah blah...well, it can be easy to lose sight of the big picture. But then I'm completely riveted by the discussions we have in class, or something I read in a magazine or see in a newspaper, and I'm like, oh yeah, I can be doing this for a living. So I'm glad that I was finally able to take Reporting for Media this semester, as it enabled me to write my first article for the Defender. It was cool working with my friends on the editorial staff and setting up interviews with really interesting people, and I had a great experience. I'm excited for my next Defender assignment, which will be in November.

I'm also working on creating a magazine for my Magazine Writing class. Really though, and ENTIRE magazine. Not only does this mean I have to work out a concept, audience demographic and the like, I also have to pitch and write feature stories, department articles, and even toward the end of the semester I'll be figuring out a design layout and taking cover pictures and putting the whole thing together. Basically it's the coolest and equally the most stressful project ever (and this is coming from someone who has already taken Global Comm...) but I am SO excited that I am going to have something tangible by the end of the semester. A project like this is kind of one of those things that you never stop working on--like, even when I'm not sitting down to type up a feature pitch or interview a source or do research, I'm still just constantly thinking about it. I am living the magazine. Or, you know, maybe I'm just getting too into it. Ah well.

By the way, the history class I mentioned is the Modern Middle East with Prof. O'Neil. I decided that since I am going to Morocco, a North African/Middle Eastern country, this class would be a great introduction to getting to know some of the commonalities in culture throughout the Middle East. Although we're not specifically talking about Morocco in class, I've found it really helpful for just some general information and I'm also finding it pretty fascinating. Never before had I really understood much about where the modern conflict in the Middle East comes from until taking this class, and I now feel much more informed.

So, what else have I been up to other than work? Well, I've been enjoying attending some events on campus, something that I made a goal to take more advantage of this semester. I'm also a weekly tour guide, which is super fun--I'm glad I get to continue with my summer job and keep telling prospective students my own Saint Mike's story. And, of course, I've been trying to spend as much weekend time as possible with friends. My housemates and all of my buddies, especially the ones I've known since my first year, are my Vermont family, and I can't function very long without them. In fact, my housemates and I all really needed a good day of stress-relieving bonding time together, so we went on a hike with the Wilderness Program last weekend. It was a beautiful day to enjoy the great outdoors, and hiking Camel's Hump was also a great workout!

A view from the top!

 

Alex, Cara and I after our hike up.

It was such a clear day (that's Lake Champlain way in back!)

It was a great time, and I definitely want to get some more hiking in this semester. Now is really prime time--it's nice and cool and all of the leaves are changing!

Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying this fast-paced semester as much as you can. Contact me if you want to know more about my Saint Mike's experience at lkopchik@mail.smcvt.edu or on Twitter @LaurenKopchik! :)

-Lauren

Tandem Biking, Mountain Hiking, and Other Shenanigans (Just an Average Week at SMC!)

Happy October and Happy Monday!

Last week I had to finish a project for my Nature and Outdoor Writing class called Encounters. Basically, we've been working on this project throughout the whole month of September, trying to spend as much time as possible outdoors and documenting what we saw. I spent a great deal of my month walking through the woods taking pictures...sounds awesome, right? It gets better though! We also get to spend a lot of our class time outdoors, and we journal about all of our adventures. Our class this past Thursday was a bike ride! We went to Local Motion, a local business that supports biking in Burlington, and rented bikes (a cost that we were luckily able to get funded by the school). I got to ride a tandem (two-seater) bike with my friend Nate. On the way back, I rode with Professor Sultze--we had some laughs trying to coordinate our pedaling. It was so much fun!

"You'd look sweet upon the seat...of a bicycle built for two!"

It was such a relaxing day, and I still can't believe that I got to go on a bike ride for class. It'll definitely be one of my favorite and most memorable classtimes ever!

Anyway, I started off by telling you about my Encounters project and kind of forgot where I was going with that. Woops! On Friday morning, only a few hours before I was to hand in my project, I was sitting outside on a bench with my friend and we saw a squirrel jump into a trash can. Now, the squirrels here at Saint Mike's are pretty crazy, so there was nothing new about that, but the problem was that there apparently wasn't enough trash in the can so the poor squirrel got stuck all the way at the bottom! It was trapped and couldn't get out.



So sad!

No fear, though. Saint Mike's students to the rescue! A few people crowded around as we took the lid off of the trash can and slowly tipped it on its side. The squirrel had been scared and was hissing at us (who knew they could hiss!), but it scampered away as soon as it was freed. I hope none of the other squirrels jumped in after we left! I decided to give the last page of my Encounters Project to this little squirrel. It certainly was an interesting encounter!

So, as you can see, I had an interesting few days. But it gets better! I was doing a lot of homework over the weekend, so I was happy to take a break. Earlier this month, I had signed up to take a hike with the Wilderness Program. The Saint Mike's Wilderness Program is really cool because it offers you a chance to go explore all of the awesome natural wonders of Vermont in a safe environment with people who share the same interests. Plus, it's pretty cheap! You can even borrow and equipment you might need so that you don't have to buy all of your own.

Each trip has student leaders who have been trained as wilderness instructors. Our group had two awesome leaders, plus four other students in all. I liked having a smaller group...we all got to talk and get to know each other while doing something we loved!

This was my first activity with the Wilderness Program. Every time I signed up for something last year, I unfortunately had to cancel. So, especially after a long week, you can imagine how pumped I was to hike Mt. Hunger!

A beautiful view of a waterfall about halfway up Mt. Hunger.

The hike was a 2.2-mile trail to the top, so 4.4 miles in all. Some areas were pretty steep while others were a more gradual ascent. As we got toward the top, it was much rockier, and we had to climb some parts of it. To be honest, it was quite the workout!

It was also pretty rainy, so it was difficult to see. I imagine that the view from the top would have been awesome, but we lucked out enough with the weather. At the summit, we stopped to eat lunch. It wasn't raining yet and there wasn't much wind. It was cool, but it felt nice after all of that hiking. It only started raining on our way back down, and there was enough tree cover that it wasn't bad at all.

The summit of Mt. Hunger on a foggy day.

Still, I was soaked by the time we got back. It was a bit slippery on the way down, especially in muddy areas. Being the clumsy person that I am, I definitely had to take it slow at some points. The group was really understanding though, and we all helped each other out.

I'm pretty sore today, but I can't wait to do another hike. Vermont is beautiful, and there are so many opportunities out there. I'm so excited to have another experience like this!