Off to a Great Start!

Hello Again!

It has been quite a long time since my last blog and for that I apologize. Upon arriving in the Bay Area this summer I immediately started working and then in the latter half of the summer I was taking classes and before I knew it the summer had passed me by! Needless to say, my last blog titled, "The First of Many California Blogs" was indeed the first and last blog from California. As a witty reader noted, I have left California but have no fear that my summer was a wonderful learning experience and a whole lot of fun. The internship at the National Sexuality Resource Center and the courses that I took through their summer institute were both fantastic opportunities. Likewise, I thoroughly enjoyed living as an RA at the English language school in Oakland. I won't quickly forget the friends I made this summer.

As the title of this blog implies, my senior year at Colby is off to a great start. I helped manage orientation this year which is always a whole lot of fun. The class of 2011 is not only made up of smart people, but they are all very prompt and were early to every event! It made for an orientation that went swimmingly.

The past week and a half of classes have been engaging. I am taking a full Colby load which is 16 credits spread across 4 classes. The four classes I am taking this semester include Queer Shakespeare with Laurie Osborne, Public Speaking with David Mills, Poetry I with Patrick Donnelly, and Girls, Pop-culture, & Education with Lyn Mikel Brown. There is a lot variety in my schedule and that makes me happy. Unfortunately, I have class on Fridays which I have been able to avoid since fall of sophomore year. Alas, no three day weekends this semester. I think I'll survive though.

Outside of class I still find myself incredibly busy which if you've read any of my previous blogs you know is pretty much status quo for this kid. This Tuesday marks the beginning of my third term on the Academic Affairs Committee working with one of my favorite administrators, VP of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty, Ed Yeterian. AAC, which is made up of students, faculty, and staff, is charged with the task of overseeing Colby's curriculum and educational policy. Similarly, I was reappointed for a second year to the Educational Policy Committee on the Board of Trustees.

In addition to my committee work I am returning for a second year to Colby Improv (Check us out during our two shows on the Saturday of Homecoming/Parent's Weekend), and November 1 will mark the beginning of my last season swimming for the Colby men's varsity team. Improv and swimming are the two best outlets after a lot of serious work.

This year I am adding two new activities to my schedule. The first will be serving as a representative of the swim team on the Student Athletic Advisory Committee with some of my other teammates. As a student organization we represent student athletes at Colby and represent the College at the NESCAC and NCAA level. My second new activity is serving as co-chair of the Senior Pledge with my good friend, Palmer McAuliff. Palmer and I are in charge of leading the annual drive of student philanthropy among the senior class to help raise funds for the Alumni fund. While the fundraising aspect is important, Palmer and I are both more excited about breaking the participation record from last year in an effort to leave a lasting legacy for the class of 2008. Senior Pledge is going to be a whole lot of fun!

On top of it all I'm working this year as the special assistant to the Director of Campus Life, Kelly Wharton. Part of this job entails being the operations manager of Cotter Union, Colby's student union. This includes managing the new student information desk located in the brand-new Pulver Pavilion as well as overseeing the equipment in the Lunder game room. It is a job that keeps me busy but is a whole lot of fun. Everyday is different and I love seeing so much of the student body on a fairly regular basis.

All in all, this semester is already out of the gates a fairly fast clip and I'm along for the ride. Keep your eyes peeled for my next blog which I promise will come along sooner than this one did, and focus on my residential experience this year. This year I am not a head resident and I am back in the dorms as just another resident. I love it. Especially since I have three phenomenal roommates!  More about them next time.

Happily on the Hill,

Patrick :)