Hello to everyone and thank you for taking the time to read about my life at Holy Cross as a freshman! I know that a lot of you who are reading this right now are prospective students and are, by this point, most likely fully immersed in the college application process. I remember what that was like for me last year all too well! You have to worry about writing application essays, obtaining recommendations, filling out financial aid forms, etc. It may seem like it won’t ever end now, but trust me, it’s all worth it in the end when you’re holding your acceptance letters in your hands in a couple months!
For me, Holy Cross was my number one choice right from the beginning. Besides the schools that I had visited during my older brother’s college search, Holy Cross was really the first school that I decided to visit and it never faded from the top of the list. I eagerly applied Early Decision and anxiously waited to see if my hard work had paid off by excitedly checking the mail every single day right after school. It seemed that my letter would never come, though, as the days became longer and indeed a voice message left on my cell phone while I was working on a Friday afternoon dismayed me even more. It was a representative from the Holy Cross Admissions Office politely requesting me to call back as soon as I could.
Driving home, I remember going over the application I had submitted earlier in my head. What had I forgotten to pass in? I was so nervous, but my mom made me sit down the next morning and call them back to see what the problem was. Sitting at my kitchen table, I dialed the number slowly, and greeted the person on the other line who cheerfully dissolved all of my concerns. I can’t explain the feelings of relief and joy when, much to my surprise, she said, “Congratulations! You have been accepted to Holy Cross!” Utterly speechless, I can’t even remember what I said to her, but it must have been pretty funny for her to hear my incredulous mutterings of thank-yous. After I hung up the phone, my mom and I celebrated. We called my dad, brother, other family members, and friends. It was a very good day.
This is my favorite memory of my first interactions with Holy Cross. Though I had gone to campus tours, an open house, and an interview, the acceptance phone call really made me feel welcome. It’s funny to look back at how excited I was almost a year ago, and how excited I still am today to be lucky enough to be here. The sense of community, one of my main motivations for coming here, is wonderful. After almost two months, I’ve already made some great friends here, become acclimated to college life, and have joined some organizations that I know will only enhance my time here.
The workload is very intense, but I’m managing well I think. We all look forward to the weekends when we can have a little down time. Last Friday, some friends and I went to see the movie Up, which is a fantastic movie for all ages–and I’m not just saying that because I’m 18 and still watching Pixar movies! They showed the movie right here on campus and what’s even better is that it was free! That’s a pretty sweet deal as far as I’m concerned! After the movie, we saw a comedy show hosted by the Campus Activities Board (a group of which I am a proud member!) and it was absolutely hilarious! I have quickly become a fan of the on-campus activities offered on the weekends.
Saturday was homecoming here so I went with some friends to the football game. It was so cold! But we managed to endure long enough to see our team win–go HC!!!
Here we are at the game! From left to right: Mary Jo, me, Jules (one of my lucky roommates!), and Megan. We're actually standing behind the field because Mary Jo's family was nice enough to invite us to tail gate with them! Look at us in our very spirited HC attire!
So overall I’m having a great time here and still managing to keep up the demanding work from my four classes. I’m looking forward very much to family weekend coming up this weekend! Oh, and before I forget, on a side note, it snowed here on Sunday. Can you believe it? It actually snowed quite hard and it’s only October! I’ve been living in Massachusetts for my whole life and I still can’t believe the weird weather patterns here! I know that it’s going to be a very interesting year and I have so much more to tell all of you! But for now, I have to run so have a great day everyone!
Ciao! :]
