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Chelsea's Blog Chelsea Bouligny '15 is a freshman blogger from Houston, TX, who plans to major in Political Science. She is excited to get to know all the people in her RLC and explore all that Northern California has to offer with them!
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Wednesday, May. 16, 2012
It is almost week 7 here and I just finished my first round of midterms. This quarter seems to be going by much faster than the other two because it is almost Memorial Day! The past two weeks I have been mostly focusing on school and making plans for the upcoming year. I am making housing arrangements, deciding on where to store some of my bigger dorm items, picking fall quarter classes, and so many other details for my sophomore year.
The exciting thing is that I am almost done with freshman year! It is weird to think that a year of school has almost gone by because I did not expect it to go by this quickly. I have my Confirmation Mass this Sunday and my mom is coming out to visit me as well, which I am really excited about. I am very lucky that I have not had to go more than two months without seeing my family but I still get homesick so my mom coming this weekend is much needed! As you know, or if you don’t, I have been going through the process of being Confirmed here at Santa Clara and I am really excited that it is finally here! I started my Confirmation classes through Campus Ministry at the beginning of the quarter. It is only an hour a week that I go and reflect on my faith and different teachings of the Church. It is almost a retreat for me to just relax and catch my breath for an hour and block out the SCU world for my own thoughts and feelings.
I also went to my first SF Giant’s game! I was supposed to go for college night a couple weeks ago, but I had a midterm the next day and opted to study and go at another time. So two of my friends and myself ventured off to San Francisco to see the giants play the Milwaukee Brewers! It was a lot of fun and I will for sure have to go back soon. Getting to AT&T Park was really easy because it is across the street from the CalTrain station. I put a picture below of my friends Lindsay and Sarah and I outside the stadium. It was a great day trip and I can cross one of my spring quarter goals off my list!
In the next week I will be preparing for finals and getting things ready for me to return home to Houston. I am really excited to go home for the summer because it might be the only summer I can spend at home before I start to apply for internships and I miss my family and friends. It will be nice to be back in the south! I hope everyone has a great rest of the week!
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Monday, Apr. 23, 2012
This past week I finally settled into my new schedule. It is week four here and usually it does not take me as long to get back in the swing of things, but with all the nice weather we have been having it has been a little hard to focus. All last week the sun was out and most of the lawns on campus were filled with students playing around with friends, tanning, reading, sleeping, doing homework and some teachers even took their classes outside. I am pretty sure the pool had a high attendance this week as well! I, of course, took advantage of the sun and spent the weekend outside with my friends; I even got a little bit of homework done at the patio tables outside the library. I am going into my third week of Confirmation classes and I am really enjoying it. Having an hour during the week to come and reflect on my faith, or even just think about the week, is really nice, especially because of the fast pace of ten week quarters. The campus ministry services here are great! I try my best to attend student mass on Sunday nights, and there are numerous ways to get involved. I am someone that is a little shy when it comes to showing my faith, and I appreciate that I have never once felt pressured by Campus Ministry here, and other religions are always welcomed.
In other news I am trying to take a day trip to Santa Cruz soon because of the nice weather, and college night for the SF Giants is May 1! I am registering for fall class in about a week, which is very bizarre because it does not seem like my freshman year is almost over. Something that I am having trouble with is trying to figure out if I want to double major in something or minor in something. As you know I am currently a Political Science major and still am very interested in that, but I am considering double majoring in Communications or minoring international business or retail management. On one hand I think majoring in Communications would be great but having any kind of business minor would be great to. So as of right now I am unsure. I know someone of you are undecided on your majors and that is perfectly fine, I know a lot of people that come in undeclared and then choose a major later on. Seeing that you have until the end of sophomore year to declare gives plenty of time for you to decide on what you are interested in. I also know students that have come in thinking they know what they want but change their minds when the stumble upon another interest. Both ways are perfectly fine and with the quarter system it leaves time to take classes in many different areas but still graduate in four years. Don’t stress over what major you think you want to pursue, just come to SCU and see what interests you. My week is a little busy as midterms are coming up, but somehow I will try to relax and have a little bit of fun! Of course, if anyone has any comments or questions, please feel free to email me at cbouligny@scu.edu or find me on Facebook. Have a great week!
Xoxo,
Chelsea
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Thursday, Apr. 19, 2012
It is the third week of spring quarter here and already I am busy, as usual…
Classes are a little bit overwhelming, but nothing that I can’t handle. Last quarter was really hard and somehow I made it through finals alive, but now that it is spring, I can start over with four new classes. This quarter I am taking Economics 1, Dance 2, Political Science 2, and Multicultural Literature. So far I enjoy all my classes, but my hardest one is by far the Economics course…somehow I will have to make it work. Besides school I have had a little bit of time to relax with friends. I took a late-night trip to see The Hunger Games for the second time at a local theater that was a lot of fun! I also went into San Francisco over the Easter holiday, which was really nice. My goal this quarter is to get to Santa Cruz, so…fingers crossed.
I know many of you have heard back from SCU and your other college choices, which is so exciting! This is the time that you make your decision of where you will be learning in the next year and it is a little daunting if you think about it. Last weekend was Preview Days for admitted students, and hopefully many of you were able to come. I know our campus was flooded with prospective students getting a glance at our beautiful campus and what life would be like here next year! If you have the opportunity and have not yet seen the campus I encourage you to! It really helped me to make my decision about coming here, plus it’s a trip to California!
If anyone has questions about classes, housing, a typical day for me, clubs, sports, on-campus jobs, things to do on the weekend, Greek life or anything at all, please do not hesitate to ask. I know this time is crucial for decisions so please email me at cbouligny@scu.edu or find me on Facebook! Have a great week!
Xoxo,
Chelsea
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Sunday, Mar. 11, 2012
Meanwhile in the library…
I don’t have too much to report. In the last two weeks, I have been getting ready for finals. Somehow they snuck up on me…the quarter went by so fast and I cant believe its almost spring break.
The year in general is going by quickly. Last week was “dead week” as many students call it because there is very little homework and is mostly a week of review over material learned in class. Most of my teachers abided by this but did give me assignments I have to turn in by finals week. So far I have completed one paper, one presentation and one final but I still have two tests and two papers until I have officially done with winter quarter. It seems like a lot and most of the time I feel like I am drowning in homework but somehow I will manage to get it all done.
This quarter has kicked my butt compared to fall quarter, classes are harder and the quarter is shorter so when I say I am ready for some TLC it is the biggest understatement. Everyone here at SCU is in school mode and the library is full most nights but luckily the library is open 24 hours during finals week which is very nice for those who want to stay late or get an early start.
I SERIOUSLY recommend the study rooms. They are really nice to get with a group of friends and work in a small room and its especially useful if you have a group project in a particular class; but words to the wise reserve these in advance because they fill up super fast during finals week! I am currently in a study room with a friend and it is really nice to just be on our own and happen to be in the same political science class so it is easier to study together for that. We do get off task sometimes but for the most part we get work done.
Well that is all for me…it is Sunday night and still have a lot of work to get done. Wish me luck on finals! Of course if anyone has questions please feel free to email me at cbouligny@scu.edu or find me on Facebook.
Have a great week! Happy spring break!
Xoxo,
Chelsea
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Monday, Mar. 5, 2012
It has been a while since I last blogged, but a lot has happened since the end of January. It is getting close to the end of the quarter and finals are fast approaching. It is just starting to warm up here and a lot of students are studying out side, including me! This quarter has been much harder than the Fall for a number reasons. First, I choose harder classes, now that I am pretty sure I am sticking with political science I decided that I should try and challenge myself. Another reason is the winter is quarter is a little shorter than fall and spring, or at least it feels like it is, so the pace is a little more intense than I am used to. One of the reasons I love this school is the face pace – it keeps me on track for the most part because it is not hard to get behind in classes. Even being sick, which happens often, can cause problems with keeping up in classes. Being busy is the biggest understatement of the year, especially for Santa Clara students. Classes keep you pretty busy and if you add extracurricular activities, hanging out with friends, or relaxing, time starts to become limited. But still I love the quarter system because essentially I am ahead of my friends who are on semesters. They only have eight classes a year, roughly, where I will have twelve. The only downfall is how late I get out of school.
The past month I have mostly been focused on classes. I have started the process of Confirmation. Being that I am Catholic, it only made since to look into confirmation services when I decided to come to SCU. When I found out that the school offers confirmation services every other year for current students, alumni, and faculty, I decided to go ahead and do it. It is one class a week in the spring quarter leading up to the Confirmation service in May.
A couple weeks ago was parents weekend and my family flew out to spend the weekend with me. It was really nice to have them here, I am much more home sick this quarter than I was in the fall, so having them here even for three days was nice. We, of course, went to In-N-Out burger, the mall, and spent a really fun day in San Francisco. We decided we would bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, which ended up being a lot of fun. The ten-mile bike ride starts at Fisherman’s wharf and follows the shoreline up to the bridge. We ended in Sausalito and took the ferry back across the bay. It was a lot of fun and something my family and I will never forget.
It was hard saying goodbye to them, but spring break is not to far away and with all the warm weather, the remaining weeks of winter quarter will fly by! I am sitting outside by the Benson fountain studying with my friend Lindsay. All over campus people are tanning, playing Frisbee, or just sitting outside trying to get some work done. It is picturesque here and every one is enjoying it, even on a Sunday. This upcoming week I will be busy with school as usual – round two of midterms are just ending, but finals are not far away. As always, if you have a question please feel free to email me at cbouligny@scu.edu or find me on Facebook! Have a great week!
Xoxo,
Chelsea
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Monday, Jan. 23, 2012
I am officially settled into life here at SCU. It took about a week to return to my old ways of spending nights in the library and sitting in class everyday, but I finally got back into the swing of things.
Last weekend I went to San Francisco over the MLK holiday. My friends and I took a zip car (which is the best thing ever) up to the city for the day and did some sightseeing. We went to Union Square, ate lunch at the Nordstrom café, took pictures on Crissy Beach, went to the top of Coit Tower, drove down Lombard Street, walked around Pier 39, and made a stop at Ghirardelli Square. It was a long, but fun-filled day, which is just what we needed after a long week of classes. The one thing about the quarter system is how quickly tests and assignments come up. It is the end of week two and already midterms are being brought up in my classes. It makes for very little room to slack off, which for me is a good thing because I get off task easily.
Something I have been asked through emails is if I get bored here at SCU? I also asked the same question when I was making my final college decision. The answer is NO! I have way too many options of things to do in the Bay Area. Being that the school is located in the Silicon Valley, it is very easy to get around. I have only completed one quarter and already I have visited San Francisco twice, been to a Stanford game, walked around downtown Palo Alto, been to Valley Fair (the mall) and Santana row many times and eaten at the yummy In-N-Out burger. There are so many things to do and it is very easy to get around. Just take a zip car, the bus or the Cal train and you will be anywhere in no time.
Another question I have received is, since SCU does not have a football team, do students cheer for other teams? The answer is YES! Not only the San Francisco 49’ers, but since Stanford is so close, a lot students get together and watch the game or even buy tickets to go to a game. School spirit can be easily seen around campus with our basketball and soccer teams being the most popular. Because I am from the south, not having school spirit was a little concerning for me, but I can honestly say I love being a Bronco!
This next week is going to be filled with classes as usual. If anyone has a questions please feel free to email me at cbouligny@scu.edu or find me on Facebook.
Have a great week!
Xoxo,
Chelsea
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Monday, Jan. 16, 2012
Hello everyone!
Being back here at Santa Clara was a little strange at first. After about four weeks off from school I got a little too used to the comforts of home, but I couldn’t be happier being back with my Santa Clara family! The first week of classes went smoothly…This quarter, I’m taking a full load or 16 units – English 2, Art History 2, Intro to U.S. Politics and Intro to Interpersonal Communication. So far all my classes are very interesting. I do have 8 a.m. classes everyday, so I must be in bed early in order to concentrate in the morning…but thank goodness for naps!
Last quarter before I left for thanksgiving I was given an assignment in my English class. My professor wanted us to pick a place on campus and analyze it by who “belonged” and who was considered a “stranger”. As I was writing the paper I came to realize that it would be a good thing to share with all of you. Looking back on my first quarter every freshman is a stranger, even going back to orientation. When you start college you are essentially staring over: you are at the bottom of the food chain and no one truly knows you. As the weeks passed I found my group of friends through my RLC, classes, sorority, clubs, and even workout classes. Eventually, I became less of a stranger and felt a part of the community. Walking around campus my first week of winter quarter was much different than my first week in the fall quarter. I, of course, knew where everything was and where I was going but, I had a group of friends I could text to grab lunch. I know the best professors for certain classes and I know my favorite spot to sit during Mass. I belong to this school and this community. I am so happy I choose this school after listening to friends back home complain about the college they choose. No matter if you choose to become a Bronco or not, make sure to choose the school that is right for YOU, no matter what!
This week was great but I have a three-day weekend! I might even go up to San Francisco for the day! As always feel free to email me at cbouligny@scu.edu or find me on Facebook!
Xoxo,
Chelsea
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Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011
I have never been busier in my life but I guess that’s college for you. Between classes, work, and trying maintain what little social life I have time for, it’s amazing that I find time to eat! Since I last posted, many things have happened; for one school has kicked up a notch and now I find myself spending a lot of time in the library. I recommend to study somewhere quiet because there is nothing more annoying that being in the library and having the person next to you talking. If you are the kind of person that can work with someone talking next to you then more power to you, but me, I like the quiet with my own music playing in the background. Avoid music with lyrics because you will find yourself singing the words and loose focus. I listen to Explosions in the Sky and sometimes Norah Jones. The type of music I listen to is always soft and depending on what I am working on, the music changes. For example while I’m writing to all of you, I am currently listening to Explosions in the Sky because it is only instrumental so I can still focus on what I’m writing and not on the words of a song. When I’m studying for math, which I am often because I am not very strong at it, I will listen to Norah Jones or Laura Izibor, both are soft so I can still focus on math. You can even use Pandora which is what a lot of people do and it introduces you to new artist that you might not have heard of.
In other news, school has been really intense since the beginning of November. By then, most students have survived their first round of midterms, projects, or papers, and being that I am a freshman, the professors turn up the difficulty for the next round. Before the Thanksgiving break I had my first “real” taste of the college difficulty. Don’t get me wrong, my first round of tests were not easy but round two was more like what I was expecting when I first got here. But, I survived and was even able to go home for Thanksgiving break!
Being home, even for only a week was great! I missed my own bed and of course my family and friends. It was nice to have a breather even for a little while and I shouldn’t even complain about the time period considering I had an entire week and most of my friends only had three or so days off. Just another SCU perk! The break gave me some time to catch up on some much needed rest and get reenergized for the last stretch of the quarter. With only six days left in the quarter, the library gets more crowded each day and the mood around campus has shifted. Its “do or die time” and everyone is buckling down to finish projects, papers and to study for tests. I myself have one test, three papers and a group project to work on that are all due sometime next week! I will be amazed when it is all finished and right now it seems like an impossible task but it somehow all gets done. This time last year I had already applied to SCU and knew this was the right place for me and I know I made the right choice. I love this school and even missed it a little when I went home for break. I hope all of you had a wonderful thanksgiving and as always if you would like to ask me a question feel free to email any time at cbouligny@scu.edu or find me on Facebook!
Xoxo,
Chelsea
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Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011
This past week has been very tiresome. Even though midterms are pretty much over for the time being, I am still exhausted. This past weekend was Halloween weekend, and it was a lot of fun! It was my first Halloween away from home and I missed passing out candy to kids in my neighborhood, but SCU’s version of Halloween is a good alternative. The third floor of my dorm let us come trick-or-treat, which was a lot of fun. Mostly it was just bowls of candy outside the door, but still candy is candy! There was also a pumpkin decorating party in my dorm and in Benson for all the students to enjoy. It was tons of fun and really got people into the holiday spirit.
Another way to get in the Halloween mood was decorating your door. Mostly everyone has something on their door, or they at least have their name on the door from welcome weekend. With it being Halloween, people put up decorations like cobwebs, ghosts, spiders or whatever they thought was spooky, my roommate and I put up ghosts that we found at Target. With today actually being Halloween, the last event is at the Locatelli Center tonight, called Halloween Fest. There will be caramel apples, henna tattoos, tarot card reading, a costume contest and a lot of other old school Halloween activities. My first Halloween has been a success here and I even dressed up as an astronaut one night!
With everything winding back down again, my tiredness is starting to settle in. Its week seven here and round two of midterms are around the corner and in about two weeks I will be heading home for Thanksgiving! This upcoming week will hopefully be fairly normal and this weekend, one of my closet friends from Houston is flying out to visit me! I am very excited to see her and need a little southern comfort.
If you would like to ask a question please do not hesitate to email me at cbouligny@scu.edu or message me on Facebook. Have a great week!
Xoxo,
Chelsea
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Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011
This past week has been crazy here at SCU. Midterms were in full swing and I can finally say I survived my first round. During midterm season everyone is always a bit on edge and the library is always crowded, but things are starting to settle down and get back to “normal” around here.
After studying for midterms I have learned why it is important to take a study break. For me it can be watching Modern Family on ABC (which is only thirty minutes and the funniest show ever!) or going to get something to eat…and I just recently discovered I like going to the student Mass in the Mission Church. Mass here is a very intimate experience, and even if you are not Catholic, I encourage everyone to go at least once. I ended up going to the 9pm student Mass last Sunday just to escape the library, plus I had been meaning to go. Being that I am Catholic, it was about time I go, but Mass was a lot different than I thought it was going to be. First of all, they move the altar into the middle of the Mission, which gives off that intimate feel because mostly everyone can see what is happening at the alter as opposed to the normal way with the altar being at the front of the church and everyone behind it. Secondly, there is a full choir every mass and band as well; the music is beautiful and both the choir and the band do a great job adding to that intimate feel. Lastly the Jesuit priests do such a great job at making you feel welcome and saying inspirational words during their homily. All in all, it’s a nice way to start off the week.
Not only did I have midterms to worry about I also am still trying to keep a social life and last week was no exception. Even if it is just sitting in the hall with your neighbors and talking one night, which is all I had time for this week, I still did it. Everyone needs a break plus it’s a great way to get to know your neighbors. I did manage to get off campus a couple times this week.
A couple friends and I made a trip to Valley Fair this weekend to do some Halloween shopping. Some advice…watch out for Valley Fair – it can become and pretty soon you will be there all the time, like I am. With Halloween coming up I have been trying to think up creative things to be this upcoming weekend. One of my costumes is an astronaut because I have the jumpsuit from my space camp days (yes, I was that kid) another idea is to be a flapper girl because I already have a black dress and getting the feathered headpiece is easy. Hopefully either will work and I will show pictures next week. Halloween here on campus is going to be a lot of fun. Each floor in my dorm is going trick or treating and there is pumpkin decorating in Benson on Wednesday. It should be lots of fun!
Lastly I did go off campus…again! A couple friends and I got tickets to the Stanford vs. Washington game this past Saturday and it was very fun, but getting there was a challenge. We missed the train up to Palo Alto, but ended up finding a ride with a friend and her dad. When we finally got to the stadium we had to the best time and really good seats…plus Stanford won! After the game we took a short walk over to downtown Palo Alto and ate dinner in the Cheese Cake Factory. Downtown Palo Alto is a must see, especially at night! Being that we missed the first train we made sure we got to the train station early and had no problems getting home. The pictures below are my friends and I at the game and myself next to the train tracks.
This week should go by smoothly since I have no midterms but you never know what is going to happen next here at SCU. As always feel free to email me at cbouligny@scu.edu or find me on facebook. Happy Halloween!
Xoxo,
Chelsea
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