100th post - An End of an Era

So, it's been a while. 

In that time, a lot has happened. 

There were hellos, goodbyes, and see you laters. 

An emotional time by all.

Here I've included some of my last events at Saint Mike's.

It's been hard to leave but I'll be fighting to get back to Vermont as soon as possible!

Friday of Senior Week, 5 AM Sunrise. Beautiful.

Baccalaureate BBQ with friends and family

      One of my BFFs Alex and I!                                                                         Peter and John from the theatre faculty! 

#smcvtalumni with Jake

Feeling fancy free

I would be no where without the great support of my family.

The next part of my journey has led me to another mountain range and lake in Cooperstown, NY. 

With that comes something I'm looking into doing something different. A Wandering Nomad has taken me through my time at Saint Michael's and I'm investigating some other options. I'll keep you posted if you want to keep up with me :)

As always, sending all my love to you, 

Katelyn :)

A Home Away From Home: McCarthy Arts Center

As a theatre major, a majority of my time is spent in the McCarthy Arts Center. I keep saying if there was one thing that I could change about Saint Mike's, it would be that McCarthy would have dorms! 

A view from the Playhouse when I was a spotlight operator for SHOUT! The Mod Musical

This space has served many purposes in my life at Saint Mike's: theatre classes, Drama Club meetings, Mainstage Shows, Drama Club Shows, and Saint Michael's Playhouse.

The Booth! Where I operate the show as a stage manager.

A look from inside the booth, and my script for calling the show!

This mini-tour shows you into a large chuck of my life at Saint Mike's! Be sure to check out my post on our new renovated seats! Here's the before info, and the after will be updated soon! 

The last night of Godspell is tomorrow, my senior seminar in theatre, and my last Saint Michael's College Mainstage. There will be many feelings tomorrow. I am so lucky to have shared this experience with a wonderful cast and crew!

As always, sending my love, 

Katelyn 

Girl's Dressing Room: Prepping for Godspell night #5!

Video Killed the Radio Star? WWPV 88.7 The Mike

Radio Station!

Ever since I found out you could have a radio show at Saint Mike's , I was thrilled at the prospect! Unfortunately, I had no time to do so. A few weeks ago I was walking home and my friend Deejai chatted with me about going to the radio station. Our friends Boates, a fellow blogger along with our friend Dom, another blogger, have a radio show Fridays from 12-2!  You can actually tune in live online here to listen! Dom was home for the weekend so for a little while I got to sit and listen to music with the guys! Even got to chat about some Vermont things that were happening and made pretty great segways into songs. 

Up close and personal

Some of my new favorite songs that I learned about that day include:

Pharrell: Hunter

Childish Gambino - Earth the Oldest Computer

Opportunities like this really solidify my choice to come to Saint Mike's! It's so easy to tag along with a friend and experience something new!

What's next for me? SPRING BREAK!

Look for a post or two about what that means for me - aka lots of sleep and cuddling with my dogs!

Hoping your Friday is marvelous, 

Katelyn

P.S. Don't get the reference? Check out this music video which was the first to air on MTV! 

The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star 

FIELD TRIP!

This semester I'm taking a course in Public History - something that I'm interested in pursuing after graduation. EEP! With this class, we are using some of our time to actually visit museums, homesteads, historical sites, to actually look at the purpose they serve. Tuesday of last week, we made our way over to Shelburne Museum, a short 15-20 minute drive from campus. 

Shelburne Museum is an unique space offered to Vermont. It uses buildings from all over New England, expanding time and space, to display exhibits and items of the time. This was my first visit to the museum, but you can guarantee I'll be back before I leave SMC! 

Due to the season, only the Pizzagalli Center was open. It is the center for art and education on the museum campus, allowing the museum to be open year round. We stopped by to see two exhibits in the center: John Bisbee: New Blooms and Supercool Glass. These exhibits are open until late May-early June so stop by and see them for yourself!

"Pinwheels" by John Bisbee

A awesome piece of work from a local glass artist
who I didn't pick up the name - I want this in my house!
(pretty sure it's this guy)

I love being able to go out and experience any museums and the information they have within the walls. Right now I'm currently applying for jobs all across the board, including art galleries, art and history museums, anywhere! I really want to work in arts administration and seeing pieces like these are so encouraging! 

We'll be going on other field trips too - we just went to Ethan Allen homestead yesterday and checked out what information is necessary to put in an exhibit to demonstrate its point of view. 

I'll be sure to keep you posted on what other adventures we'll be having!
Katelyn :)

Recharging

This time in the semester is usually the time where the semester starts to get a little long. Lucky enough, we got granted a day off last Friday! Since I don't have classes on Thursday, I decided to hop on the train home to spend some quality time with my parents and dogs. I was able to go to NYC with Saint Michael's Playhouse to observe auditions during the break.
It was such a great experience - we saw over 130 people in one day! It helped me gain another idea of what I could do in the theatre world. 

Another way to recharge during the semester that I like to do is going on retreat. I applied to go on the Emmaus retreat offered through Campus Ministry and got welcomed to go on the retreat last weekend! It was held at St. Anne's Shrine up at Isle La Motte - a beautiful retreat space of the Edmundites, complete with new cabins this year! If I could live there I would! It's a gorgeous space right on Lake Champlain and perfect for a retreat. 

This weekend was filled with the method of Ignatian Contemplation and Spirituality for prayer - which I loved! Using scripture, meditation, songs, talks, and prayerful thoughts, it was a great way to reconnect with God and recharge myself for the last bit of this semester. I came off the retreat relaxed and rejuvenated, knowing that I could make time to work on my spiritual needs and having this new community to support me on my faith journey.

A wonderful picture from the weekend
from my friend Kelly!
(instagram:kainsworth17)

What's great about Saint Mike's is that there are so many opportunities to pursue your faith. You don't have to be religious to participate, making all feel welcome to be as involved as you want to be. For me, this was an important part of my college experience and I can't imagine being anywhere else where I could explore my faith and have such wonderful Campus Ministry. 

Today marks the start of Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent for Christians. Campus Ministry puts out a blog of Lenten Reflections which you can see here! Students, faculty, and staff come together to provide prayers for the season - a great collaborative effort!

What are you doing for Lent? Giving up Alliot fries? Girl Scout cookies? Being more proactive in your community by volunteering? This year I haven't decided what I'm doing, but I hope to use it as a reminder for the Lenten season!

As always, sending my love to you and yours, 
Katelyn :)

Gettin' Creative in the Kitchen

One of my favorite things about living in a townhouse is having a kitchen! This means that I have a reduced meal plan, 40 swipes per semester to spend in Alliot or at Sloane on North Campus. So far I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what is easy, delicious, and sometimes nutritious for me to eat!

Since I am stage managing Godspell this semester, I don't have a lot of time to prepare dinners. Luckily enough I can use weekends to make meals that will last the week. Check out a few of my favorite concoctions!

Delicious Chili recipe I modified with extra veggies

Home-made meatballs, easy to  freeze!

And a Strawberry Banana Smoothie!
I love to drink my fruit!

And a GREAT DESSERT:
Melted chocolate for fondue!

What else should I make?

Katelyn :) 

KKDs - Free Lunch for a Year?!

Something that is great about being in Burlington is that there are so many opportunities to experience local culture! For me, one of those places is Kountry Kart Deli. The first time I went there was my first-year here at Saint Mike's and I fell in love with the Shiner. It's a combo of egg, cheese, choice of meat, on a bulkie roll toasted, with a hash brown. Just the thought of it makes me salivating! 

Most local businesses are on Facebook and it's a great way to keep tabs on what's new and happening around Burlington. I liked KKDs on Facebook and entered a contest to win free lunch for a year. 

AND I WON! I was so stoked! 

The posting!

Cajun Chicken Caesar Wrap = YUM!

I can't wait to experience more of what the KKD menu has to offer! I've got to figure out my plan of attack to go through the menu before I graduate!

Hope you have some luck going your way,

Katelyn

KCACTF: Plays

At KCACTF, we had the opportunity to see four different plays. I was lucky enough to be able to go to three plays, all that had to load-in and set up within one day and perform that night. It was crazy to see how fast everything came together. There was some beautiful craftsmenship on the sets as well. 

The first play we saw was Painted Alice, an Alice in Wonderland story about an artist who was having trouble finding out what art she was supposed to create. She ends up falling through her canvas and has marvelous experiences to discover her passion again. It was a creative musical with a large cast.

My favorite part of this play was the Caterpillar! He had a suit coat with long tails that really helped his image. He was a great character and I wanted to hear more from him as the play went on!

The last play we saw was Dead Man's Cell Phone. I read this play in my Modern and Contemporary Theatre course two years ago and couldn't wait to see what it would look like performed. It was quite the amusing story as we followed Jean on her journey to connect with the Gottliebs, through a dead man's cell phone. 

My favorite play that I saw that week was Pentecost. This play spoke to me on an intellectual level as my senses were exposed to all things I am studying: Theatre, History, Medieval Studies, Classical Studies, and Religious Studies. I COULD NOT believe what I was watching; I was enthralled as the combination of art historians,  12 different languages, art, theatre, EVERYTHING! It was put on by a fellow Vermont college, Middlebury. Check out more about the production here!

Giotto's Lamentation, very much
the inspiration in this play

I love when art inspires more art. I hope you become inspired in some way today!

Sending thoughts of inspiration your way,

Katelyn

KCACTF: Workshops

Baby It's Cold Outside

At Saint Michael's, being in Vermont means you need to be prepared for all sorts of weather that is thrown your way. This week is especially cold. We're experiencing temperatures of -22 degrees! If that doesn't give you a chill, I don't know what will. Unintentional rhyming. 

Any who, here are a few pictures that capture a week in January for me! I'm looking forward to the days where the weather will be a cozy +32 degrees and it'll feel like summer!

Prepared to weather the weather,
 in style!

A typical snowy walk on the way to
work at 7:15 AM.

I found a delicious cafe off of Church St.,
a perfect way to warm up with a caramel latte!
(Visit New Moon if you have the chance!)

I'll have to keep you posted on what warm and fun activities I'm doing to keep me out of the cold...although it involves walking across campus in the cold. Thank goodness for fleece-lined tights and layers!
Sending warm thoughts and hugs your way, especially to everyone in New England who's getting hit by the snow - I wish I had a snow day to play in the snow!
Katelyn :)

The Beginning of the End: The Eve of my Last Semester at Saint Michael's College

I know I have said this before, but truly this is the beginning of the end of my academic career here at Saint Michael's. Now I don't want to get all sappy (I'll leave that for May), but instead, speak to something that has made my SMC experience simply wonderful. 

As you're scrolling through this post, feel free to listen to this song (Live Like That by Sidewalk Prophets) , as it was the main song for our VITA retreat this weekend:

Being apart of VITA Team has shaped me as an individual, leader, and team member. Most recently Team members were invited back early to participate in a retreat and planning process for the semester. 

When the day got closer and closer to go back to SMC, I was apprehensive. Why did I say yes to go back early? Why do I need to leave home? What did this mean for me, physically, emotionally, spiritually? 

Once our VITA Team reached Saint Anne's Shrine on Isle La Motte, about an hour from campus, my anxieties were subdued.  The Edmundites, along with benefactors and donations, built five gorgeous cabins so that SMC retreats could be held in a specific area instead of having to be moved around every semester. 

The cabins themselves are absolutely amazing, feeling very shiny, new, and cozy. The only thing that I missed was a fireplace! It was the perfect setting for our retreat. 

It was a great opportunity to connect as a VITA Team. We don't normally have the opportunity to be all in one space together as we all run different parts: LINK, Connections, Dessert and the Divine, Taize, and Socials. Meeting before the semester was ideal because we're all so busy doing so many things that we don't get to share in our faith all together at the same time all that often. 

The Christ Candle in the center, to each of our own candles,
demonstrating that we each have the light of Christ within us.

The theme for the retreat was "Celebrating Our Stories".  We focused on how God is working in and through our lives in obvious and not so obvious ways. I learned so much about myself and my VITA community that really set the tone for this semester. It was a welcome beginning to this last semester at Saint Mike's. I was able to reflect on where I've been and where I want to be. 

Times of prayer, reflection, and discussion enabled us to see that there are many stories that we can relate to, even if the details aren't the same. We were writing squares based off of questions and Scripture passages our Campus Minister Anna had chosen for the weekend. In the end, all of our squares were combined and we were able to see how even though there are parts that are different in our stories and our lives, they all come together to create something beautiful.

Our "Patchwork Quilt"

I am so grateful that I was able to start off my semester with this beautiful opportunity and I can face the semester head-on feeling refreshed and revitalized. 

Now I am off to finish unpacking and organizing for our first day of classes tomorrow! EEP! I can't wait to see all my friends coming back from break and make more SMC memories. 

As always, sending my love to you and yours!

Katelyn :)