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Meghan's Blog
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 Sweetest Goodbye
Sunday, Jun. 8, 2008
at 11:14 AM
Cullen has been calling me all week saying he is on summer break. I get it. Santa Clara ends spring quarter later than most schools. But, I don’t mind. I love being here. I don’t want to leave!
I feel like yesterday was September and I was just saying goodbye to my family. It’s so weird that by Friday afternoon I’ll be a sophomore. The term “froshie” or “baby” will never again refer to me. Thank goodness.
Looking back, the year flew. I leave school feeling like I accomplished so much in such a short period of time. I’m excited to go home and see all of my high school friends—but at the same time, I’m sad to be saying goodbye to all of the friends I’ve met here. I am truly blessed for all of the people I have met at school. We’ve made some fabulous memories together: moments I will treasure for the rest of my life.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about my day-to-day life at Santa Clara as a freshman. Best of luck next year. I’ll see you around!
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Don't stop till you get enough
Sunday, Jun. 8, 2008
at 11:12 AM
As summer break approaches, I find myself squeezing in more and more events. Late nights talking in the lounge, stargazing on the knoll, Bronco runs, sunset runs, plain old bonding. Within the last week, I’ve seen the midnight premiere of Sex and the City and danced for FOUR HOURS at the Glow-in-the-Dark Kanye concert. It has been a remarkable quarter, a memorable year. I can’t believe it is almost over.
The funny thing about late nights and early mornings is a little thing called sleep deprivation. This means you are forgetful, sometimes cranky, and always lethargic. On Wednesday night, I fell asleep at my desk. It wasn’t until 2 a.m. that I realized that my research paper was due at 6 a.m. in my teacher’s mailbox (She did this so we would all have it in by Wednesday afternoon.). I raced over to Campus Safety in my pajamas, paper in hand, and headed over to the ever-lovely St. Joseph hall. It was creepy walking up the wooden staircase in a too quiet, temporarily abandoned building. Least to say, I sprinted home. Alarm clock went off five hours later when it was time for me to deliver the newspaper around school. By golf cart. Probably one of the best mornings of the year!
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San Francisco Weekend
Monday, Jun. 2, 2008
at 7:53 PM
Memorial Day—a day to remember the 1.1 million American service members who have died in battle and to remember why they gave up their lives.
This long weekend the entire campus shut down. Everyone cleared out of the dorms to go on adventures to Tahoe, Santa Cruz (the fires made it 3 exits close to school), L.A., Yosemite and San Francisco. Benson closed early everyday, which really frustrated me because there was nowhere to eat after 2:30 p.m. Good thing Safeway is so close to school. On Monday, food was supplied at the barbeque with Father McCarthy.
The highlight of my weekend had to be with my best friends in San Francisco to celebrate Maddie’s birthday. Our legs were sore at the end of the day from climbing uphill on the crowded streets. We went to a delicious and nutritious sushi restaurant at night which was overrun by a bunch of high schoolers on their way to prom. The train home felt like an express and we were back to reality of studying in the library too soon.
We have sixteen days left of school. Is it weird that I don’t want to leave?
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Service
Monday, May. 19, 2008
at 12:12 PM
We had a mandatory advising meeting on Monday. One of the business professors talked to a group of 20 students about the core curriculum for Santa Clara and requirements for the Business school. I haven’t decided what my major is so the session was pretty helpful for me. Since I’m deciding between Finance and Accounting, I’m planning my schedule so I fulfill lower division prerequisites for both of them.
Tuesday was less stressful. I had the opportunity to see one of my favorite Disney characters in San Jose! I went to “Beauty and the Beast” at the American Musical Theatre. I had such a good time singing along to all the songs. It was a trip down memory lane--I can’t believe how many quality Disney movies came out during my childhood. I feel badly for today’s youth and the junk that is on the T.V.
On Wednesday, my friends and I volunteered to work with the Glaucoma Research Foundation for a couple hours to take a much needed break from studying. The rest of the week flew by, nothing too exciting to report.
However, this weekend was a completely different story! My friend, Carrie, traveled all the way from Chicago this weekend to see me. We had a ball! The nice thing about being on the quarter system is that everyone’s high school friends have been visiting. As you might have guessed, it makes life at school much more exciting. I mean, you want to show them a fun time and make them want to transfer/envy you since you go to THE BEST SCHOOL. Care and I didn’t get to do a lot around the area because there was plenty of activity right off campus. We went to our Relay for Life race--a 24 hour event--in the afternoon and at night we bowled in honor of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Sunday came and went! My the hours fly by...
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Monterey and Tahoe Adventures
Monday, May. 12, 2008
at 12:05 PM
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No sleep
Wednesday, May. 7, 2008
at 1:03 PM
We had our first of many Loyola CF formations on Saturday. I had no idea how fun it was going to be! I went to Julian Street Inn (typically sponsored by SCCAP) for the first time. We arrived at the San Jose homeless shelter at 5 a.m.—it’s amazing how lack of sleep makes you hyper. Hector and I were running around banging pots and singing along to the radio. By 7 a.m., we had prepared chocolate chip pancakes, sausages, fruit salad and hash browns for the residents. It was the perfect opportunity to develop friendships with inspiring people while gaining insights into pressing social problems. Most of the residents were “on the margin.”
In other news, I’m writing as a sports reporter for The Santa Clara (our school newspaper). I decided to take the job since I won’t be writing for the BlogSCU next year and I’ll have some extra downtime. Hopefully, it won’t be too difficult since I seem to be at all the Bronco sports games anyway!
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Sports are finishing
Friday, May. 2, 2008
at 4:12 PM
It might only be week 5, but most of the sports teams are finishing their seasons. We had our final field hockey tournament of the year. I can’t believe it is over! We had so much fun playing in the hot-hot sun. Thank goodness none of us got heat stroke. Even though we didn’t beat Stanford, we have high hopes for next year. After all, they are a Division I team and it is our first year being a CLUB team. Big difference.
I raced back to school for Global Village (The MCC closed down Market and the Alameda for six hours on Sunday to showcase international food and dance). Unfortunately, I did not arrive on time. The MCC coordinators were already taking everything down which was a bummer. I did manage to get a snapshot for a sneak of how it looked!
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Earth Week
Friday, Apr. 25, 2008
at 1:22 PM
Leave it to Santa Clara to make Earth Day a week of celebrations: The GREEN club (GrassRoots Environmental Efforts Now) at school kicked off the festivities with an environmentally-conscious fair in the Santa Clara Mall; the fair’s slogan was “Sustainability: It’s up to US!” There were all sorts of different booths specializing in educating students to be green. The Recycling Club, Solar Decathalon, Green Party and SCCAP were all passing out informative packets of how small adjustments to your daily routine can positively impact the environment. (There also was a rock climbing wall—not sure why, but it looked pretty cool.)
Bon Apetit also took Earth Week seriously. They have switched from plastic to biodegradable silverware. Yesterday, the caterers didn’t serve any meat in the cafeteria. There were posters to explain the change: “Assembly-line meat factories consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world’s tropical rain forests.”
W-O-W. Who knew you could learn something with such importance while standing in line to pay for your food?!
Off to field hockey practice…
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Midterms Already?
Monday, Apr. 21, 2008
at 12:05 PM
The funny thing about going to college is the transition of “do you pay attention in class” to “evaluating your knowledge.” In high school, teachers usually gave chapter tests and then one final exam at the end of the year. In college, or at least at Santa Clara, I have found that I am no longer taking these “are you paying attention tests.” Instead, I’m faced with “let’s evaluate your knowledge” and mark it as 20-30% of your final grade. These “evaluations” are called “mid-terms.”
Even though there are another two weeks before the mid-quarter break, teachers are flooding our academic schedules. So, even though it is only Week 3 of Spring Quarter, I’ve already had three. Not fun.
I don’t even want to think about all the papers I have due. Luckily, the weather has been overcast and chilly so I haven’t ventured outside for hours on end.
Another thing that has been stressing me out is summer.
What? How can summer be stressful, you say?
It’s called “The Summer Job.” Me=unemployed
I decided I needed to find a job before I flew home on vacation. Yesterday, after my lovely 8:00 a.m. Operating and Management class, I traveled into the far corner of the Benson complex. Destination: The Career Center.
It felt daunting at first—after all, wasn’t The Career Center for seniors? Didn’t all the hustle and bustle revolve around getting them settled post-graduation.
Apparently not. I learned The Career Center is the hub of career help for all Santa Clara students. In fact, The Career Center told me they wished more underclassman would come in so they could “help them get onto that career path road!”
Hmmm. I was torn. I was hoping to get some direction—I am still undeclared in the business school and I have little idea of what kind of job I want when I graduate. But, did I really want to start my job search at 18? Figuring out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life? Answering that inescapable, interview question:
WHO IS MEGHAN SKARZYNSKI?
When it came time for my appointment, I realized there was nothing I really had to worry about. I spent about a half-hour talking to one of the advisors about my resume, what I do around school and what interests me.
Although I didn’t walk out employed, I felt better prepared of how to go about looking for a job. The advisor told me everything we had discussed could be found on SCU’s Career Center website.
Ah, the perks of being a Santa Clara student: “How to Land a Job” right at our fingertips!
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Catfight on the Catwalk
Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2008
at 1:02 PM
Sandra Bullock is one of my favorite actresses. I loved her in “While you were sleeping”—classic chick flick. Do you remember her in “Miss Congeniality”?
BECAUSE HER PERFORMANCE WAS REENACTED LAST NIGHT!
We had our annual Mr. Loyola pageant in the Sobrato Commons. It was absolutely hysterical. The boys did a cat walk on the way in and started shaking their behinds like their was no tomorrow. Many of the audience members were blue-in-the-face. None of the judges could make a serious expression. Emcees Zampelli and Schultz were a hoot too—taking full advantage of the wild Loyola men’s personalities. I never knew that hidden talent lived in this building!
Brandon had some terrific throwback dance moves for the Black Eyed Peas’ “Let’s get it started.” Blake performed a flawless 10-minute guitar solo with Tom Petty on guitar hero. Andy dunked on 7 ft-ish hoop five times. Wearing only his cross-country shorts and a cowboy hat, Chris sang Kelly Clarkson’s “Since you been gone.” Tony imitated a techno rave with his DJing skills. During the finale, I was worried about a catfight on the catwalk as they all fought for the attention of the crowd. The mood wasn’t too intense—I provided my bubble machine for cheer!
My pictures don’t do the performances justice. The men in Loyola cannot be captured in one moment. I’m stoked to go to Mr. RLC at the end of the quarter. I’m sure it will be quite the show!
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Every vote counts
Monday, Apr. 14, 2008
at 1:00 PM
One of the most important things I’ve learned this year is to always be open-minded. I’ve had the opportunity to experience a diverse array of cultures and religious beliefs (among many others) while attending school at Santa Clara. This past week was no exception: political views were the hot topic.
The main focus of the week was observing one of my favorite aspects of being an American citizen: participating in our democratic government. On Sunday, I had the privilege to hear Senator Obama speak (and shake his hand!!). It was so exciting to hear him talk about the future. His charisma reminded me of the stories I’ve read about President Kennedy. When I arrived back to school later that afternoon, the school’s sidewalks had been covered in chalk. What looked like graffiti was in fact catchy slogans for hopeful SCU Associated Student presidential candidates for the 2008 school year. Since then, campaigning has been absolutely everywhere: from signing nominations in support of students, “Meet the Candidates” socials, the Facebook groups or even the posters around campus bulletin boards—Bronco pride has been a record high.
I’m definitely looking forward to all of the campaign promises to be put into action!
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Sneak preview!
Monday, Apr. 14, 2008
at 12:59 PM
Hey friends! It was such a pleasant surprise meeting you this past weekend at our Preview Days. I had no idea how many of you were going to recognize me. I couldn’t stop laughing during the beginning of the fair. Anywho, I compiled a list of questions people asked me in hopes that this will help others, too.
FYI: I’M ABSOLUTELY THRILLED ALL OF YOU ARE COMING. I HOPE YOU WILL LOVE SANTA CLARA LIFE AS MUCH AS ME!
Fun classes you shouldn’t pass up:
“Business 70” with Richard Williams
“Ethics and Globalization” with Dr. David DeCosse
“General Chemistry” with Dr. Steve Reaney
“The Christian Tradition” with Father McCarthy
“Emerging Leaders” with Bill Mains (This is the class I was speaking about at the fair. It is a great way to kick-start your freshman year. Basically, it is the foundation to learning how you can be a leader at SCU and beyond. You meet all the “big names” of SCU within your first 10 weeks of school. It is perfect if you are unsure of what you want to do while you are here or if you are wondering what your niche is/how you will fit in!)
Student Body Ratio:
Men 46%, Women 54%
From CA 57%
Live in Residence halls 92%
Athletics:
NCAA Division I, West Coast Conference
Club and Intramural Sports
Awards that you asked about (impressed that you knew so many!):
U.S. News and World Report #2 comprehensive university in the West
*we’re on our way to #1 with our fabulous, new library!
U.S Business Week’s #27 for undergraduate program at the Leavey School of Business
*the new business school building will be ready for you in the fall!
U.S. News and World Report’s # 20 for undergraduate program at School of Engineering
Let me know if I forgot anything: you can just post messages on the blog with your e-mail and I’ll get back to you!
P.S. It is never to soon to start packing…
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A Rush of Colors
Monday, Apr. 7, 2008
at 11:31 PM
I had one of the best and likely most memorable times of my life this weekend! I traveled to Stanford’s Manzanita Park with a bunch of my friends from our school’s Hindu Student Council and Interfaith Council to celebrate the Hindu spring festival, Holi. Observed in India and Nepal, Holi is a two day “Festival of Colors” in honor of spring. Originally, Holi was a special rite performed by married women for the happiness and well-being of their families and the full moon (Raka) was the deity worshipped by them.
We spent the day throwing colored powder (gulal) and water at each other. Alison, Laura, Annie and I were covered head to toe in yellow, green and red. It was quite freeing—and fabulous. Nitasha loved singing along to the various songs devoted to Holi. I had a lot of fun dancing with her and Anusuya to the non-stop music of popular Holi numbers like "O Rang Barse" (the anthem of India’s festival). With all the people smiling and dancing in rhythm, I felt like I was at a Bhangra performance!
I can’t wait to go next year!
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The Start of Something New
Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2008
at 10:30 PM
Whew!
I can’t believe it’s spring quarter. Where have the days gone? I’m going to be a sophomore and you are on your way to coming here…or at least, deciding whether SCU is right for you. I can’t tell you if it is, but I can relay my experience thus far:
Right now, I’m sitting in the Saint Clare room. It’s late and I’m thinking I need to make a run to the café for another caffeine kick. What happened to relaxing the first week of school? Sleeping at a reasonable hour?
[To catch you up: Saint Clare is on the third floor of the library. YES! The library has finally opened to all of its splendor. I, and the rest of the student body, have been pulled like magnets to it since opening day. It’s crazy what a building can do to you. I really like it because there is a spot for everyone. There are spots to focus, work and “work.” I’ll be sure to update the blog with some handy pictures!
Spring break was a blast! I went home to the snow and had a lovely time building snow forts, snowman and snow-angels. Hot chocolate tastes better when there is frost on your windows.]
Fine, it has been relatively relaxing so far. I love coming back to school the first day and walking around and seeing all of my friends. It adds an extra excitement into the whole “school” aspect. I’m going to have more downtime this quarter to enjoy other parts of college rather than just taking core classes; I practically cut my workload in half—I’m taking four classes (four four units) instead of seven (five four units, two two units).
The funny thing is, I’m pretty sure I’ll be working just as hard.
Some things never change. But, hey. It’s spring—the start of something new!
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Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Friday, Mar. 14, 2008
at 3:37 PM
Even though it is week 10 of the quarter, I was surprised to find multiple changes this week to campus life. First, Father Locatelli announced that he is resigning as president of Santa Clara University. I don’t know yet how this will affect my personal SCU experience, but I’ve heard from others that school (as I know it) will be much different. Second, the weather has changed from sunny and wonderful to windy and brisk. This means no more shorts but a windbreaker and rain boots out of the closet. Third, there is no more recreational activities. Intramural sports have finished and the pool is closed. The only students out exercising are ones racing to class. Why? Because it was dead week—we all had our noses in our books. Even at the gym, people were studying on the elliptical machines (Since SCU is all about educating the mind, body and soul, we like to work on our multitasking even during our “study breaks.”). Fourth, my flex card is low. I’m almost out of money to do my laundry. Clearly, this is NOT good. I’m currently scavengering for quarters for one last load during finals week. My fifth and favorite change I have observed is the upgraded kindness from my guy friends. This is so they can mooch off of me and my girlfriends for our extra dining points…aka we have plenty of meal credits left because we don’t have the urge to drink MuscleMilk three times a day.
I’m gearing up for the long weekend of studying. I have a feeling I will lock myself up in the Sobrato Seminar Room so I’m not tempted by distractions.
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All good things
Friday, Mar. 7, 2008
at 7:42 PM
We had the most beautiful week! The sky was cloudless and the sun shone brightly everyday. I definitely indulged in the (not so) rare weather.
Since I finished taking all my midterms this week—yes, week 9—and registered for all my spring classes, I was thankful to be able to do prep homework for finals outside. Most of us have been enjoying naps on the lawn to reboot for our long nights of studying.
We also wanted to take advantage of hanging around the pool since it closed this weekend until September. After class, my friends and I would sit poolside and rehearse our numerous presentations for the upcoming week. I have a feeling we won’t be as relaxed when we are standing in front of a room of 30 students…plus our professor who is grading us for 20% of our final grade. Eek!
I am looking forward to the new library opening March 31. It seems so far away but I figure it will only be a week after Spring Break. I heard there are study spaces on porches off the sides. I haven’t noticed this when I walk by, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Last night, we celebrated Arianna’s birthday at Chevy’s Mexican Restaurant. I can’t wait to go back! It was a much needed break from Benson. We will return soon for another birthday extravaganza!
The highlight of Sunday was the self-defense seminar I went to. All of the proceeds went to WOMAN Inc., which is a battered women's shelter in San Francisco. It made me happy to see such a great turn out for an important cause.
However, the most noteworthy event that happened to me this was my acceptance to be Community Facilitator for the Loyola RLC—in Sobrato Hall. It’s a huge honor to be selected. I’m actually quite overjoyed! The letter said we will be starting our orientation for the position in April—so another new part of my life to look forward to!
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Fighting the attack of ?winter? sickness
Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008
at 9:40 AM
“I’m living in the land where the seasons never change.”
The great perk of going to school in California is the weather: It never gets cold!
Okay, that’s not fair. A bunch of my SoCal friends complain of the “frigid mornings and nights” but I haven’t noticed. It makes going to the athletic games a lot more fun. When we are still pitching and it is only the 3rd inning, I don’t have to worry about freezing after the sun goes down (Have I mentioned how I LOVE our ball park? It is amazing! I thought our basketball courts were snazzy but I think our baseball stadium is strong competition.).
Nevertheless, I’ve been bundling up recently. I don’t want to get myself sick before finals—that’s the worse. Thank goodness Cellar sells Airborne and EmergenC. I don’t know what I’d do without the daily runs to pump extra Vitamin C in me.
I feel like everyone in my hall gets sick whenever we have exams because we are stressed and then our immune system gets weak from studying all night and…it’s not pleasant.
In fact, William has been seriously ill. His mom flew in from Minnesota this week to take care of him. He has mono, post viral infection, double ear infection and strep throat.
Good news is Will is recovering quickly. He came back to school today and we went to Greg’s club volleyball game together (They lost to Cal. Ugh.). Tonight, I’m headed with Michelle to “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.” It sounds risqué!
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Pat at the Boxing Ballet
Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008
at 9:34 AM
Chloe, Ella and I went to our first boxing tournament this weekend. Our friend, Patrick “Philly Pat,” was performing in his first fight. We were all very nervous for him after watching movies like “Rocky” and “Cinderella Man.” I mean, all he had protecting him was a cushion of a helmet and a mouth guard. It was quite nerve-racking watching. I was afraid he was going to get hurt—just last week he was knocked unconscious at practice. A) Not fun B) not helpful for the business midterm he took 12 hours later.
Luckily, Pat had been practicing all year. He has fast feet! I felt like he was dancing around the ring the entire match. But, I know there isn’t any bloodshed at the ballet so I wasn’t exactly confused about what was happening. Even though you only box for 2 minutes a set, his match set, each second felt like an eternity. We were all worried something bad was going to happen to him since the SCU EMTs would stand up every time his opponent threw a punch.
Good thing he didn’t throw too many! Pat totally rocked the San Jose boxer. He won the match in an impressive show of strength and finesse. We were all pleased and thankful he won’t have another match anytime soon!
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Art Speaks
Friday, Feb. 22, 2008
at 10:32 AM
Today, my friend, Meghan Kh, and I traveled through SCU’s Tunnel of Oppression. Designed to raise awareness and promote diversity education, the Tunnel of Oppression was an interactive learning experience for all members of the SCU community. As participants in the Tunnel, we were called upon to experience, reflect and act.
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Spring Break Countdown: 33 Days
Monday, Feb. 18, 2008
at 6:00 PM
I can’t believe the long weekend is over! I’m flying home from Chicago today. I’d wish I could’ve stayed longer but academia calls. Three days goes by way too fast especially when you are having quality bonding time with the Fam.
This past weekend at Santa Clara was Parents’ Weekend. The school looked amazing—there were people working on its aesthetic appeal for hours on end and students started matching their clothes and cleaning up their rooms. It’s those 72 hours when EVERYONE is on their best behavior.
So, why did I skip out?
Because it was time to say “Goodbye” sunshine and “Hello” rain, sleet and snow!
Okay, fine. I came home to be with my mom and dad and my absolutely crazy—but, nonetheless, fantastically awesome—siblings. And, my dog, Lunchbucket. I think she was the most excited to have me home. J I was even able to see Aunt Julie, Uncle Sam and Sadie. We are still waiting for Thor’s arrival (name subject to change!).
We had a successful hockey weekend. Sophie and Greta won their hockey league championship game, Jake knocked his opponents around on the ice, Mack was a wall at Orland and Luke used his tenacity to win 3rd for his league wrap-up at Lake Placid.
I played cheerleader at the games. Apparently, I embarrassed my brothers with my “California dancing.” I know now moving your body like a cyclone is only appropriate in your own room.
Since everyone was out and about Chicagoland, I didn’t get to spend every waking minute with the family. Considering how unhappy I was when Lunchbucket would jump on my bed to wake me up in the morning, it’s probably a good thing they weren’t with me the whole time.
All in all, George Washington’s birthday let me enjoy a memorable trip home. I’m crossing my fingers that they’ll fly out this weekend to visit for my mom’s birthday!
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