The Great Big Blog of....Christopher Gray!

Summer Livin'

2010-05-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been super busy and its only summer vacation! I finished up classes at the beginning of the month which was a huge relief. I did really well this semester which hopefully will carry over to next fall.

I started in admissions two weeks ago, working with some other ambassadors. On the side I'm still working at Nike, so I'm basically working 7 days a week and sometimes at two jobs in one day. Making that money!

This Sunday I'll be heading down to New Jersey to see my friend Alisha before she goes abroad for two months. She's going to Ethiopia, Madrid, and Portugal for school and to see family. With all my friends studying abroad, it makes me wonder what would have happened if I studied abroad. It's definitely something you should look into if you're even mildly thinking about it.

Alright fellow blog readers, until next time...

-CG

Almost Done!

2010-04-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

Hello blog readers! Sorry I have been slacking on the updating. With classes winding down, cramming for finals has been winding up. With five classes, my studying has been mostly staying up late and waking up early. Every semester I always try and get ahead as much as possible. This year I thought I was in a really good position for most of my classes but with finals a week away, it doesn't seem that way anymore. Luckily my International Management class is over as of right now. My Management Information Systems class will be done tomorrow at 11:30 when I present my final project and hand in my essay. For my last three classes, I have a 10 page paper due Wednesday, a speech due Monday, and an exam on Wednesday. It definitely could be worse, but I'm not in the clear just yet.

Things have been winding down in the office, only to pick up again on May 17th. My summer schedule is looking like working in the admissions office 9 AM to 4 PM or 1 PM on the days I work at Nike from 2 PM to 7 PM.

I really can't wait for summer vacation. Obviously every student says that, but this year seems like it's been a long one and summer vacation is going to feel so good. Also I'm excited to take my personal trainer exam in the summer. I'm going to try and get certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) which is one of the best certifications you can get. Unfortunately it's pretty expensive, but I hope it'll be worth it in the end.

Now it's off to the library to finish my final project for Management Information Systems. Happy Hump Day everyone!

-CG

Two Successful Showcases!

2010-04-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our second and final showcase of the semester and it was a huge success! We had anticipated it would be much larger than our previous one a few weeks ago and it definitely was. Even better, we had amazing weather yet again. That's two for two! Unfortunately I didn't speak at this one but I gave three tours to students from all over. I'm pretty sure I met students from every state in New England as well as New York, New Jersey, and California. I even saw a family who was at the admitted student reception in New York last week.

Speaking of that session, it was also a huge success. Two admission counselors, myself and another ambassador traveled down to Tarrytown, New York to speak with admitted students from the area. We had a good turnout and it was definitely a lot of fun.

Thursday I'll be headed to New Jersey for the first time. I've never been to New Jersey except driving through it to get to South Carolina. I'm visiting my friend Alisha who goes to Seton Hall. I'm excited to head down there since I haven't seen her since spring break, I think we have plans to go into New York City on Saturday which will be fun. I'm so used to Boston, it's going to be nice to experience a whole new city.
I'm taking the Bolt Bus which is a really cool company because if you're the first one to buy a ticket for a particular departure or return, it only costs $1. Unfortunately my tickets cost me $10 there and $15 back but oh well, still pretty inexpensive for a round trip to New York City. Supposedly the Bolt Buses are really nice. They offer free Wi-Fi, outlets, and more leg space than any other bus company. Too bad the ride is 4.5 hours long, I'll probably just sleep the entire way.

Time to head to Nike Town and sell some shoes!

-CG

April Showers Bring May Flowers...So What Does April Sunshine Bring?

2010-04-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

Lately the weather has been amazing here in Boston and everyone has been getting a bit of spring fever. My Easter weekend was pretty casual and very short. I left for Connecticut Saturday night and came back to Boston Sunday afternoon. I think I was actually home for less than 24 hours, but it was nice seeing my family as well.

Tomorrow I leave for New York to speak to admitted students in the area. I'm really excited to go because I've never been to that area of New York. Last year I went to Connecticut to speak to admitted students and I had a blast. I can only imagine how much fun New York will be. Except I'll probably be working on school work on the drive there. Booooo.

I'm sorry to inform all of you, but I won't be participating in the first ever Mr. Suffolk pageant. I know this may come to a surprise and a disappointment to some, but I honestly just don't have the time to prepare for it. I really wish I could commit myself to it, but it doesn't look like that'll be happening. However another ambassador, Mr. John McDonnell is competing in it so you all should still come and support him in his quest for becoming the first ever, Mr. Suffolk.

Opening day was Sunday night and the Red Sox won 9-7 over the New York Yankees. It was a great game for opening day and the city was definitely alive with spirit. The great thing about attending school in Boston is that you don't have to go to every game to feel like a part of the liveliness. Sometimes its even more fun to just watch the game with a bunch of friends.

This Sunday will be our second and last Showcase of the semester. If you didn't get a chance to come to the first one, you most certainly can come to this one. The Showcase includes speakers from admissions, new student orientation and trustee ambassadors, as well as a classroom experience by a professor. Then you are allowed to go on a campus tour, speak with representatives from every academic department, or speak with representatives from student activities such as clubs and organizations here on campus. It's definitely a long day but its full of information and if you're seriously considering Suffolk University, I highly recommend you coming to check it out.

Alright it's time for class and work at my second job. Blog ya later!

-CG

Back in the Swing of Things

2010-03-27T11:22:00.001-07:00

We're back from Spring Break! It's hard to believe we only have five weeks of class left before finals. Where did the semester go? Finishing up the semester also means final projects, papers, and presentations. OYE!

The end of my spring break was very relaxing. I came back to Boston on Wednesday, probably not such a great idea to come back on St. Patrick's day but I made it anyways. Thursday I went up to Beverly to visit a fellow ambassador, Rachel! Beverly is such a beautiful town. Rachel showed me around her town, luckily it was such a beautiful day out we were able to walk around and enjoy the weather! Here's a picture of one of the beaches right near her house...

Friday was the first day my roofdeck was open. I'm so excited to have a roofdeck for the entire summer. The view is amazing, and there's nothing better than sitting up there with friends just relaxing. Here's part of my view of the city from my roofdeck....

My friend Alisha also came up from New Jersey on Friday so she came over with another ambassador, Haley to enjoy the warm weather on my roof! Here's a picture of me and Alisha, clearly she likes to make funny pictures :)

Saturday we traveled to Newport, Rhode Island to see Haley's mom and tour the area. We drove around the cliff and saw the mansions and had lunch outside because it was such a nice day out. I hadn't been back to Newport since high school when I was there for a Junior National Golf Tournament so it was nice to see some familiar sights. After Newport we drove back to Boston and enjoyed another night on the roofdeck. Definitely in the summer swing. Here's a picture of Me, Haley and Alisha at lunch.

Sunday was just a relaxation day, we all went to lunch with our friend Geralyn at Panera Bread and then to dinner at Zuma's which is in Fanueil Hall. Unfortunately school started again on Monday and things just picked up from there. I felt like I was going non-stop all week. Wednesday was by far the worst day where I went straight through from 7 am to 7 pm without any breaks. I had an interview at Nike Town on Newbury Street for a position and I heard back from them the other day saying that I made it to the next round in the interview process. I'm really excited and hope I get the job there.

Tomorrow is our first SHOWCASE event of the year. We are supposed to have a big turnout and I'm speaking in the morning and afternoon session so I'm really excited. I love speaking to students and families. It's going to be a long day, 8 am to 4 pm but I'm ready for it! AND the forecast says its supposed to be 50 and sunny. Now that may not seem like much but everytime we have a Showcase event, it pours. Not just a sprinkle or light rain, it downpours, so having a good forecast is amazing!

Alright its time for me to put the finishing touches on my speech for tomorrow. Hopefully I see some of you there!

-CG

It Beginning to Look A Lot Like.....SUMMER!

2010-03-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday blog followers! I'm excited to inform you that I am currently blogging from my roofdeck! It's been over six months since my roofdeck was closed for the winter and today is the first day it is offically open! I'm very excited about this because it means summer is on its way. Speaking of summer, the weather here has been absolutely amazing. After last week when it was practically a hurricane, this week has been full of sun and warm temperatures.

My spring break has been pretty laid back, which feels great! I'm pretty happy I didn't go away and spend thousands of dollars at a resort in Cabo or South Beach. Although the tan would have been nice! I went home for a few days and traveled to Rhode Island to play golf with a friend from my high school golf team. I also had dinner with my friend Geralyn which was a great surprise! I actually was traveling back to Boston on St. Patrick's day so unfortunately I missed out on all the corned beef and cabbage. Oh well! Yesterday I ended up going to Beverly, Mass., which is about 30 minutes north of here. I visited my friend Rachel and spent all day up there. It was so beautiful, Beverly is so scenic with its waterfront and quaint little stores. It was such a nice day out too, Rachel and I walked around the town and one of the local parks. I ended up staying to go out to a place called Tavern in the Square. I got to meet some of Rachel's friends from home and just have a nice relaxing evening. I must say however, I experienced a Nick's roast beef sandwich which is claimed to be one of the best. I'd have to agree, it was AMAZING!

I'm trying to start studying for my personal trainer exam, but it's pretty hard with school work. Luckily I don't take my test until August 7th so I have a lot of time, but there is so much material to cover I feel like I'm getting a degree!

I also haven't made much headway in practicing my routine for the Mr. Suffolk pageant. I know what I'm doing and I actually even wrote down the routine so I can sort of memorize it, but I have yet to start practicing. I should probably get on that ASAP!

Well this is about all the technology I can handle on such a nice day so its time to go back tanning and listening to some tunes.

-CG

Spring Break!

2010-03-10T19:50:00.001-08:00

I didn't even realize that my spring break started at 11:15 this morning when I forgot my class tomorrow was canceled. NOT. Of course I knew I would be on spring break a few days early! Tonight I was able to go out to dinner to Felt in downtown crossing with some Chicago high school counselors, undergraduate admission staff, and other ambassadors. It was really fun and I got to speak with a few counselors about their high schools and students.

So I found something to do during Spring Break, besides relax and get ready for these last few weeks of the semester. I'm going to be competing in Suffolk's first ever, Mr. Suffolk pageant. I'm not sure how I feel about this considering I've never done anything like this before, but I think it will be fun. So during Spring Break I'm going to have to come up with some sort of talent to showcase. Ut oh!

I've also been thinking about jobs and I've decided to become a personal trainer until I find a career-worthy job. Atleast it'll pay the bills for a while and hopefully it will be somewhat fun since I love working out. This summer I plan on getting certified and working in a local gym.

-CG

Four More Days

2010-03-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

You know that feeling you got when you were in middle school and nice days arrived and you only had a few weeks of school left? The feeling of anticipation of summer vacation and being outside as much as possible. Well I have that feeling right now! This weekend in Boston was filled with amazing weather. Saturday it topped off at 55 and today was the same exact thing! Tomorrow its supposed to be in the 50s as well and I'm seriously thinking about wearing shorts to school tomorrow. You know its serious when you can wear shorts to school.

With Spring Break a week away, I'm glad my professors gave midterms last week and not this week. All my friends crammed for tests this weekend while I enjoyed a nice relaxing weekend in the greenway. I wasn't the only one there though, it was filled with people out enjoying the nice weather. I even enjoyed it with a few ambassadors John and Nicole!

Saturday I hosted Students with Students which is our student run information session. It went really well but sadly the turnout was pretty small, especially for such a nice day. Although our first showcase event is this month and I'm excited to see a lot of students and families.

With the warm weather coming, it also means golf season is right around the corner. I got the first email of the season from coach telling us about a potential pre-season tournament the weekend before Easter. Guess that means practice will start soon. Atleast with the moderate weather, practice can start earlier and won't be as harsh in the cold.

Now its off the prepare for the week and get everything ready for my last week of classes before break!

-CG

What a Getaway

2010-02-28T15:37:00.000-08:00

Just got back from a mini getaway to Conway, New Hampshire and it was so much fun! My friend Haley invited me to stay with her and her family up in New Hampshire and go to Shawnee Peak to go snowboarding. We all had so much fun, it was me, Haley, her sister Alyssa and boyfriend Joel, her parents, and our friend Geralyn. The weather was CRAZY. When I drove up to meet them it was snowing just a little bit, but when we got to the mountain, it turned into a blizzard. At one point we were at the top of the mountain and you couldn't see the bottom! It was so much fun being at the mountain with a group of friends. It made me wish my parents were into winter sports. Here are some pictures from the weekend...

I made Geralyn a mini snowman while we were waiting at the bottom of the mountain. She named him Chip haha.

Haley and I riding the chairlift.

Geralyn, me, and Haley at the bottom of the mountain!

Now that the weekend is over, its back to school. This week I get back my two midterms I took last week so that'll be interesting. I'm excited but also a little nervous. I also have my presentation in Educational Psychology this week which will be good. I'm happy my group is getting our presentation done before spring break.

Speaking of spring break, I'm hoping to make it out to Lake Tahoe and go snowboarding for a while. If not, I'll probably just stay around here and go snowboarding up in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Now its time to do some homework for the week :(

-CG

Weeks Are Just Flying by Here at Suffolk University

2010-02-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

I just finished my 6th week of the semester so we're almost halfway done. Two midterms down, one presentation to go and I feel like Spring is getting very close. This past weekend here in Boston the weather was beautiful. It was 50 and it seemed like Spring had finally come. Then the forecast for this week has been miserable. I looked at the weather and for the next TEN days the forecast read, "Snow showers, heavy rain, showers, light rain, snow flurries, light snow, rain, snow, dusting of snow, mist, slush, sleet, freezing rain". I think you get the picture. I was so ready for Spring and everything that goes with it. Shorts, T-shirts, no heavy jackets, frisbee in the greenway, frozen yogurt, roof deck dance parties, you know the usual. BUT the rain has ruined it! I know its only the beginning of March and I'm sure there's going to be a huge storm at some point, but this weekend really got me in the Spring mood.

Suffolk has been putting on some good events for students lately. A few weeks ago we had a trip to Wachusett mountain for $35 for a full day of skiing/snowboarding. This Saturday we have a trip up to Loon, New Hampshire to go to Loon Mountain. The tickets were only $45 and it includes a round trip bus ticket, all day lift ticket, and rentals if needed. A lift ticket at Loon on a Saturday is usually $80 so that's a huge savings right there! We also have been selling Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins tickets lately. Tonight the Celtics play the Cavaliers and we sold tickets for $30. Today we also started selling Bruins-Canadians tickets for $20. This is just a tiny little bit of what you could be doing here on campus. Off campus there is a Black Eyed Peas and LMFAO in Boston on Friday. My roommate's girlfriend is going and she said tickets were really cheap. Another great thing to do here in the city!

My plans for the weekend are to go home tomorrow, probably go to the casino. Saturday I'm going to try and snowboard all day. Not sure where yet, I have a few possibilities. Sunday will definitely be dedicated to doing homework and getting ready for the week.

-CG

Never Back Down

2010-02-23T13:33:00.000-08:00

Hello fellow blog readers! I'm running out of titles for my posts so I'm going to start just using things that I have come across recently. I watched the movie Never Back Down starring Cam Gigandet and Sean Faris last night so sure, that's my blog title.

Today I took my first midterm of the semester and it was BRUTAL. I studied by behind off and prepared as much as possible, but when your professor says, "not many students pass my midterms" it was pretty discouraging. There were 44 multiple choice questions and 3 essays that each had about 5 parts to each question. Luckily we were able to pick 2 out of the 3 essays. Everyone in the class had the same mind set going into the class, "this is going to be hard". And yes it was, it was harder than a concrete block in the middle of an iceberg chillin' in Antarctica. Ok maybe that was an exaggeration. I actually think I did well on the essay part, which is good because it was worth twice as much as the multiple choice section.

I have a group lesson plan due next Tuesday for my Educational Psychology class as well as a midterm in my Operations Management class this Wednesday. Things are definitely starting to pick up on the academic side. Spring break anyone?

-CG

It's Midterm Time Already??

2010-02-18T10:23:00.000-08:00

I feel like the semester just started and I already have midterms!!! AHHHHH. Next week I have a midterm in my Management Information Systems class which is going to be the hardest exam ever. Its only on four chapters but they're really intense and all on information systems and stuff like that. Not my idea of an interesting topic but oh well, what can you do. This weekend will be spent reading and studying, then some more reading and studying.

This week we've had information sessions and they've gone really well so far. I was able to speak at one on Tuesday and got to answer some intriguing questions. There are still some upcoming events here on campus if anyone missed an information session but wants to visit. We have Saturday tours on February 27, April 17, and April 24. There's a student to student information session on Saturday March 6. During April vacation (20-22) we will have another wave of information sessions. We also have specific NESAD (New England School of Art and Design) information sessions on February 26 and April 23. And of course we have daily tours at 10, 11, 1 and 3.

When I was speaking with students and their families last Monday and Tuesday, it made me think about housing deposits and how many students have actually done that. Many students had been accepted back in December and had yet to deposit. When talking about housing, most of them wanted to live on campus. It's really important to deposit as soon as possible because it will help secure a spot in one of our dormitories. If you're not aware of our housing procedure, we DON"T guarantee housing to any of our students. Unfortunately we have a limited number of spaces to house students and we give it out on a first come, first serve basis. The deposit of $600 is fully refundable until May 1st so don't worry if you may think Suffolk may not be for you. However if its your 1,2,3,4, or even 5 school on your list, but you definitely know you want to live on campus, I strongly suggest in sending in your deposit as soon as possible.

For all you accepted students reading my blog, CONGRATULATIONS!

This is an exciting time for you and you should be proud of yourself! Some helpful hints on choosing the college you'll attend for the next four years:

- Make sure to visit a school more than once, even more than twice. You're always going to get a different view and perspective of the school each time you visit.
- See what the school can offer you, ie (athletics, clubs, majors, on and off campus activities)
- You may think you want a super large school or a microscopic school, but think long and hard about that, because you may end up finding you don't want to be a big fish in a small pond, or just a number in a sea of faces.
- Make sure you're making the decision and not your parents, even though your parents may push a certain school or a certain location, make sure you choose a school on your criteria and not your parents, after all you're the one who's going to be there, not your parents.
- If you have no idea what you want to major in, make sure the school you pick allows you to freely choose classes and experiment in different areas of study. This will allow you to see what you may be interested in and what really turns you off.

These next four years of your life are going to be amazing, no matter where you spend your college career. Don't stress out over trying to make a decision, you'll know when you've made the right one.

-CG

My iPod is on Replay

2010-02-15T21:50:00.000-08:00

Ever find a song you just can't stop listening to and legit listen to it a thousand times? That would be me as of right now. With a new week starting, I need a new workout playlist, but really just because I've been listening to the same one since November. I came across the song Break Your Heart by Taio Cruz and I haven't stopped listening to it since I've added it to my iTunes!

The long weekend was nice and definitely refreshing. Snowboarded twice, although the 2nd time was cut short because my friend dislocated his shoulder and me and my roommate had to bring him to the emergency room. My friend TJ turned 21 so I took him to Mohegan Sun. I won $100, unfortunately TJ only won $5 haha. Went out dancing with some friends on Valentines Day. It was a singles night, not going to lie, I'm not a fan of Valentines Day. Now I have a three day week before the weekend!

This week is going to be busy in the office however! We have information sessions and early action information sessions all week from 10:00-5:00 basically. So inbetween classes I'll be running back to the admissions office helping out with tours and speaking. All that good stuff! If you haven't signed up for an information session yet but want to come, do it! If you can't sign up online you're allowed to sign up in person. There will be a student panel of Trustee Ambassadors (me!) as well as representatives from Financial Aid, Residence Life and Undergraduate Admissions. There also will be a campus tour and a mock classroom as well!

Today we had a mini information session which went very well. The director of undergraduate admissions (John Hamel) hosted it and it was great to finally be back in the swing of special events. I love special events because it's almost always a huge turnout and I love being able to answer your questions and help you guys with stuff. I really feel like I'm making a difference and helping you make a better decision on college. Trust me, I remember my college search and it was probably the most stressful two and a half years of my life!

Have a great February vacation for all you high schoolers!

-CG

Class, Gym, Snowboarding (CGS)

2010-02-12T18:26:00.000-08:00

In the words of Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, GTL! Ok well not GTL in my case because one I can't stand fake tans, and two doing laundry is tedious, so how about CGS, because that's what my life has been about for the past few months.

I've realized that I'm being a terrible blogger and haven't been blogging as much as I should have. And I've also realized that I keep saying this in all my blogs and never do anything about it. So from now on I'm going to dedicate one day a week to blogging.

CGS. What is it you may ask. Class-Gym-Snowboarding. My version of GTL. Gym-Tanning-Laundry for all you who don't watch the Jersey Shore (shame on you!). My classes have been great, with lots of work. I've been working really hard lately and it's paying off in my classes which is really gratifying. Gym. I've been hitting the gym pretty much everyday for the past few months. Now before you go and make assumptions that I'm trying to be a meathead or trying to show off a hot bod, you're wrong. Well maybe the hot bod part is correct, just kidding! After Thanksgiving this year I realized I definitely needed to get back into shape and I've been working extra hard to do that. Its been paying off and hopefully by summer I'll have that Taylor Lautner body. Uhhhhh its a good thing no one reads my blog. Snowboarding. I have been snowboarding probably more this year then ever. It's great because I have a season pass to a local mountain. My roommate and friend also got one this year so we've been going as much as possible. It's definitely nice to be able to get out of the city and hit the mountain every now and then. It's almost like an escape :)

So in the admissions office things are picking up and its easy to see! We have many events coming up that all you prospective students should take a look at and sign up for! This upcoming Saturday (tomorrow) and Monday we have mini information sessions. These are great events if you want to get some extra information about Suffolk. Then for all you lucky high schoolers, next week is a whole week of mini information sessions during your February break! We have some specially designated Early Action information sessions at specific times that will be geared more for the students who were accepted under our Early Action procedure. These will be great if you haven't visited our campus yet or if you just want to see it again. I always tell students on my tours to look at schools they think they might attend atleast two or three times. You're going to get different impressions of a school each time you visit so the more the better! For those of you who are just SO busy on the weekdays, we have Saturday tours almost every Saturday in the next two months. These involve a campus tour by our ambassadors who are truely amazing :). But if you want the full list of events and activities, log onto Suffolk.edu and click the admissions and financial aid link at the top. Then click undergraduate admissions and click visit Suffolk! Under Embark you can see our whole list of events and times/dates. So what are you waiting for? Go check it out!

If any of you want to ask a question or just want some extra information, don't hesitate to contact our undergraduate admissions office at admission@suffolk.edu or you can even email me at cmgray@suffolk.edu.

Have a great weekend everyone and stay warm!

-CG

First Blog of the Semester

2010-01-25T17:06:00.000-08:00

Alright everyone, I know I've been falling off with blogging lately, but I'm going to get back on track, promise! So the semester started last Tuesday and ever since then, I've definitely been doing a lot of work. I'm currently taking educational psychology, interpersonal effectiveness, international management, management information systems, and operations management. Basically I've had a lot of readings which are just time consuming, I really haven't had much work to do.

So far I'm really enjoying my classes for the most part. I love my educational psychology class and the professor I have is the head of the education department which is pretty nice. It made me wish I was in education from the start, but atleast I'll still be able to take education classes before graduating. And of course my intention is to go to graduate school for higher education or college counseling so there will be plenty of opportunities to take more education classes.

Today was the first day back in the office and there was a flood! How crazy is that? March 6th is the only Students with Students information session this semester, so I highly suggest signing up for it. You can sign up by going to suffolk.edu/admissions and under Embark, find students with students information session. Students with students is special because there are no admissions staff there. Well almost none, Suffolk probably wouldn't let us students run an event entirely by ourselves so there is one admission staff member there, but he/she is never in the room with us when you guys get to ask us questions. You'll get to hear from about 5 students and then there's a huge question and answer session. I think its one of our most popular information sessions, so sign up now!

Time to start some homework, I'll try better to blog more often these coming weeks!

-CG

First Blog of 2010

2010-01-03T14:58:00.000-08:00

Happy new year everyone! Hope you all had a great new years and are enjoying your winter break. I'm not going to lie, this new year has started off a bit rough for me, but its partially my own fault. But first I'll recap the past few weeks!

Christmas day night, yeah does that even make sense? Well the night of Christmas day I went snowboarding with some of my friends from home. It snowed while we were there which was cool and it was the first riding session at night this year! Then I came back to Boston because my friend Alisha came up to visit me from New Jersey. We had a great time even though she was only here for a little while. Saturday night her bus got in late so we went out to dinner at Ned Devine's in Faneuil Hall, then we went to an improv show at the Improv Asylum in the North End. I had never been to an improv show there before but it was so funny! We literally couldn't stop laughing the entire time we were there. We also watched District 9 which was a decent movie, we were a little lost on the story line but it wasn't a bad movie. Sunday we were lazy and watched football but went out to dinner in the North End at Al Dente. It was really good and its one of the more affordable restaurants in the North End so I highly suggest it! We grabbed dessert at Mike's Pastry, a must have when in the North End and then she had to leave to go back to Jersey.

Monday I went down to Mohegan Sun with a few of my high school friends. And then Tuesday I went snowboarding at Wachusset. I was pumped because the mountain got fresh snow Monday night so I was ready to ride all day long. I only made it 5 runs. What I didn't think about was that Sunday it was really warm, almost in the 50s and a lot of the snow melted and then refroze when it snowed Monday. Since we didn't get more than a few inches, the mountain was basically an ice rink. My first few runs I realized that the mountain was really slippery and it wasn't going to be an easy day. On my 5th run of the day, there was a skier in front of me carving back and forth. I went to pass her but she cut back at the last second and I had to try and stop quickly. Unfortunately my board hit an ice patch and I landed straight on my left shoulder. Barely making it down the mountain I figured I busted it pretty bad. I ended up going to Mass. General Hospital and found out I had a seperated shoulder. Awesome. My arm was in a sling for a few days but I stopped wearing it because it was so annoying!

I spent New Year's in Boston, but it wasn't exactly what you would call a great New Year's. My arm being in a sling kind of killed it for me. But I still made it out to Haley and Rachel's and brought in the new year with friends.

I'm getting excited to start spring semester with new classes and get back into the swing of things. I'm taking five classes again while also working in admissions so I'll be busy like usual, but I'm not a teaching assistant this semseter so I'll have a little more free time.

That's all for now, have a great week everyone!

-CG

It's Christmas?! No Way!!

2009-12-24T12:06:00.000-08:00

So about me blogging all the time.... whoops, definitely forgot over these past few weeks! Right now I'm currently home helping my parents get ready for Christmas Dinner at our house tomorrow. A lot has happened in the past few weeks so I'll try and recap it, it'll be the sparknote version since it has been 2 weeks.

Winter ball was AMAZING! I went with a huge group of friends and I couldn't have had a better time. It was on the 35th floor of the State Street building in the Financial District. The views from the ballroom were breathtaking. No lie. You could see all of Boston out the windows and being able to dance right there was great! That Saturday was an "Ugly Sweater Party" at Rachel and Haley's. I wasn't planning on attending because I was supposed to work at night, but that morning my manager called me asking if I could come in early and work. So working early enabled me to go to the party, which was a blast. Everyone had super ugly sweaters which made it really fun.

Then came finals week. Most stressful four days of the semester. Luckily I only had a final on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. I felt I did pretty well on my finals and we just got our grades back this past week and it turns out I did. I'm really happy with my grades because this semester was rough changing majors and all. I'm really looking forward to next semester and taking classes I'm interested in. After finals week, I needed some much needed rest.

So Sunday with the snow storm raging outside my apartment, I sat inside and watched footbal, movies, and tv shows all day. It was nice to do absolutely nothing, but I definitely got bored after a while and realized I would never want to live alone. Although I didn't rest much because Tuesday I went up to Bretton Woods in New Hampshire to snowboard with my friend TJ. It was a 3 hour drive which took a lot out of us, but once we got into the mountains and started seeing all the resorts, we got pumped to be there. We spent all day on the mountain and left when it closed. We didn't get back into the city until 7ish and decided to go out to dinner at TGI Friday's with our friends Haley and Rachel. Then the very next day we decided to hit another mountain for a second full day of snowboarding. We ended up going to Wachusett in Princeton, MA, only an hour and a half away. We definitely didn't feel like driving another 3 hours back to New Hampshire or Vermont.

Today I drove home to go to our family Christmas Eve dinner at my Uncle's house. I decided to leave Boston early so I could get home and relax, but my mom had other ideas for me when I walked in the door. Tomorrow everyone in our family comes to my house, and afterwards I'm going to drive back to Boston, but before getting home, I'm going to stop at Wachusett for some night riding. Yes I'm going to snowboard on Christmas day.

Time to get ready to see the family!

-CG

3 Days of Class Left!

2009-12-07T11:28:00.000-08:00

Last week flew by and this week is going to fly by just as fast! Well hopefully! Last week I had my Organizational Behavior presentation. My group killed our presentation, we were one of the best in the class I must say. Today I had a presentation in Data Decision and Analysis. It went smoothly but it was kind of awkward because all of the groups came to a consensus outside of class that we all didn't really know what to present. My group was the first one to present today so I guess that was good and bad. Good in being that there were no expectations, bad in that we couldn't change our presentation if we missed something. I have three more days of class and then this semester is over, THANK GOD! This has been by far the worst semester of my college career. Probably because I was so unmotivated at the beginning and switched my major.

On the sports front, Notre Dame's coach Charlie Weis was let go after finishing the season 6-6. Really disappointing because 1) I had much higher expectations for Weis and Notre Dame and 2) Jimmy Clausen declared for the NFL Draft rather than playing in his senior season. Notre Dame also declined a bowl game this season which I thought was unfortunate. Clausen will be one of the top quarterbacks in this years draft, along with Tim Tebow of Florida, Colt McCoy of Texas, and Sam Bradford of Oklahoma.

My UConn Huskies received a bowl game however against South Carolina in the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama. UConn had a strong season ending 7-5 but with multiple close losses. They lost to undefeated Cincinnati by 2, Pittsburgh by 3, West Virginia by 4, and North Carolina by 2. Either way, I'm really excited to watch UConn in a bowl game this January.

UConn basketball is coming along, although I have a feeling its not going to be the season I want it to be. They just played Harvard which should have been a blow out and barely won, 79-73. They play Kentucky next which is going to be a tough game. At 6-1 their only loss is to Duke, but it wasn't even a close game and so far UConn has only played easy opponents, besides Duke. Kentucky will definitely test their defense and scoring might be tough. They lost so many players last year that this season might be a rebuilding season, but in UConn Country, we're always looking for a National Championship.

With winter break almost here, I've been thinking about a second job. I won't be working in the admissions office over break, so it will just be Banana Republic and I'm not getting too many hours there. I've been looking for jobs, but right now everything is seasonal and I really want to find a part time job that won't end in January.

Now I need to find something to wear to Winter Ball on Thursday. A Black Tie affair that I probably won't be wearing black to.

-CG

Black Friday and College Sports

2009-11-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

Hello All!

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving and ate lots of turkey! I've been back in Boston for a few days now, but I got to spend some time at home earlier in the week. I went home Tuesday night and played poker with all my friends like we used to in high school. It was great catching up with all the guys and telling stories. Wednesday I played golf with two of my teammates from high school which was great. Later that night I went to Mohegan Sun with my friend Lindsay which was amazing. Thursday morning I drove back to Boston to have Thanksgiving at my cousin's house with my family. I definitely ate my weight in turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables, apple pie, and ice cream. Better start going to the gym again!

Now the craziness starts. At 11 PM I decided to go to the Wrentham Outlets that opened at midnight for some shopping. I went with my friend TJ and it turned into a 5 hour trip. We left Boston at 11:45 and didn't get to the outlets until 2:30. It's usually a 45 minute drive, but the highway was a parking lot and trying to find a parking spot at the outlets took forever. There were so many people there that it was almost impossible to walk. Even though it was crazy, I still got some good deals, I bought new snowboarding pants and a jacket from Oakley that normally would have cost a few hundred dollars but I only paid $130. I didn't get home until about 4:30 and passed out right when I walked in the door. Then Friday I worked 1-8 at Banana Republic. For never working on Black Friday or working retail before, I really had no idea what to expect. I've always worked in the restaurant industry which isn't the same on Black Friday as a retail store. Banana was definitely packed when I came in at 1. It was non-stop, running to the back for more clothes, running to and from the changing rooms with different sizes, talking to multiple customers at once, and trying to keep my part of the store neat. I was exhausted after working, but unfortunately I had to work again Saturday at 8 am. Luckily it wasn't as busy that early in the morning, so I took it easy and when I got home, pretty much watched movies and sports all day.

Friday my UConn Huskies lost to Duke in the NIT Tip Off finals in New York. I was pretty upset with the game because I felt the officiating was definitely one-sided in favor of Duke. I know that's not an excuse by any means, but its tough when calls are blatently going in Duke's favor.

Currently I'm watching the Notre Dame-Stanford game. Unfortunately it looks like this will be Charlie Weis' last game as Notre Dame's head coach. When I first heard Charlie Weis was going to become the coach of Notre Dame 4 years ago, I was stoked! It was just what Notre Dame needed and Weis was successful at first getting them to a few bowl games. However the past few years have been rough and it looks like Notre Dame will be under a new coach next year.

Next Saturday will be the Florida-Alabama game in the SEC title matchup. I really am hoping for the upset but I feel Tim Tebow is just too strong of a player to let that happen. Either way, its going to be a great game that I can't wait for.

That's it for now, I'll blog ya later!

-CG

New England - Golf and Snowboarding

2009-11-24T12:46:00.000-08:00

Alright so I'm blogging from my apartment, 1) because I'm in the middle of packing all my laundry into trash bags so my Mom can do it for me when I get home, 2) because I'm super excited that my plans have changed slightly, and 3) because I'm going to try and start blogging more often, (I'm secretly an A list celebrity).

So like I said, my plans changed. I'm going home to play golf with two of my high school teammates at Foxwoods Resort and Casino, at their Lake of Isles course.

Then I'm probably going to spend some time at the Casino "catching up" with my friends. We've been playing golf together since we were like 8 so it'll be a good time. Then I believe I will be driving the 20 minutes inbetween Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun to go see some of my other friends that are spending the night at Mohegan. I have to say I'm partial to Mohegan, its definitely a much friendlier, bigger, and more fun casino than Foxwoods.

Then Thursday morning I will be coming back to Boston to have Thanksgiving at my cousin's house in Watertown (those plans didn't change). But Friday I have plans to go to Sunday River in Maine to go snowboarding. I'm pumped because I've had the itch to go to the mountain and I've never been this early in the season. Although leaving at 6 am to get there at 9 is going to be really unfortunate.

This morning was amazing in the fact that I got to sleep in! It was glorious, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I had breakfast with my friend Geralyn, last time I'd see her until after break which was nice. Then I went into the office to say goodbye to some last ambassadors and went home. I also got notice that I have to serve jury duty in January. I've decided that I'm going to postpone it because I don't want to miss class for jury duty, especially if I'm not getting paid. And although serving in a jury during an exciting case might be cool, the chances of me being assigned an exciting case are slim to none. So I rather wait for a time when I don't have class or work to serve my civic duties :).

Alright back to packing and cleaning my apartment before I hit the road for Connecticut.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope you all have a great holiday and eat lots of turkey!!

-CG-izzle

First Break of the Year!

2009-11-23T11:08:00.000-08:00

I am officially on Thanksgiving break and it feels amazing! Although I am still here in Boston (and will be throughout break), I am done with classes. I do have my SU 101 section tonight at 4:00 but all I have to do is collect their final paper and eat pizza with my students. Doesn't sound too hard right? So this break will be the first real (not 3 day weekend) break from school. I'm definitely excited but also a little torn. I'm not going home to Connecticut for break because my cousins who live in Watertown (just outside the city) want to host Thanksgiving as their last Thanksgiving here on the East coast before moving back to California. I'm kind of happy to be staying in the city for Thanksgiving because I never have, but at the same time I'm going to miss going home a lot. I'll definitely be missing the hometown football game and tailgating with all my friends, meeting up with all my golf team friends at the local breakfast place, and seeing all my neighbors. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go home for a day or so, so I can atleast see everyone. I'm working black Friday at Banana Republic and I'm sort of afraid because I've never worked in retail before and black Friday is probably one of the worst if not the worst day to work.

This weekend we had an Ambassador get together at Kristin's apartment for a "Not Your Average Thanksgiving Dinner". There was so much food that I felt like I was Adam Richmond from Man vs. Food trying to accomplish the impossible. There was baked ziti, eggplant parm, garlic bread, sushi boat, mashed potatoes, salad, pizza dip, funfetti cake, cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake, and assorted bakery goods. It was the most food in a college apartment at one time that I've ever seen. Here are some pictures from the night, there were thousands (yes thousands), but these are the elite:

(Me, John, Matt - chic as usual)

The Whole Family (minus TJ, Beckee, Julie, and Allison)

(The Fellas - minus TJ who was in San Diego)

The Ladies (minus Beckee who was in Chicago, Julie who with her sister, and Allison who was celebrating her roommate's birthday)

As you can see, we clean up pretty well! Speaking of cleaning up, Winter Ball is in a few weeks and I can't wait! It's at the State Street building in downtown crossing and its supposed to have one of the best views in the city. As well as Winter Ball, the ambassadors are having an ugly sweater party which will be fun as well! I need to find an ugly sweater though so when I go home at some point, I'll probably borrow one from my dad.

I know I haven't blogged in a while so I'm missing a lot of details about the past month or so, but I'm going to blog a lot while over break and Christmas break so don't worry, more blogs are coming!

Stay classy Boston!

-CG

Do What You Want In Life, Never Settle

2009-10-29T14:55:00.000-07:00

So I'm halfway through my Junior year of college (although I wish I was a Freshman again), and I have had a quarter-life crisis. Unfortunately I have been really unmotivated in class lately and I have realized why. Currently I'm an accounting major with a minor in finance. The reason why I chose accounting going into college was because I took a few courses in high school and did extraordinarily well so I figured that would be a good field to major in. After my first few accounting classes last year, I was still really excited but this year after sitting through half a semester of two more accounting classes, I began to think maybe accounting isn't for me. After going to a few interviews for accounting internships, I started to seriously think of a change of major. This was a huge deal to me since I still want to graduate on time, but at the same time want to be doing something that makes me happy. After thinking about this for a while, I decided that I need to do something that works with people. Friends, family and co-workers have always told me I have great interpersonal skills and my personality would be wasted sitting behind a desk everyday crunching numbers. I never really thought much about it until now. I love speaking to students and being part of something that has an effect on students' lives. This made me really think about education. I never really thought about teaching because I knew their salaries were never comparable to an accountants, but after deeper thought, I realized I rather be happy with my job and get paid less, then dread going to work and hate life, even if it meant I would make more every year. The only problem with becoming a teacher is that I'm currently enrolled in the business school and if I were to switch majors now, I would be on track to graduate a year late. I could take an alternate route in getting accredited to become a teacher in a public school, but that would also take a long time and I would still be stuck with a bachelor's degree in business. This made me think of a few other options.

Being a Trustee Ambassador, I began to think about college recruiting and being a counselor. The good thing about being a college counselor is that I could be one with a business degree. Furthermore, I could get my Master's in higher education and/or college admission counseling. I definitely want to hold a Master's degree to help further my career, and I could definitely see me working in an admissions office for a while. This also made me think a little further in that I love working for Suffolk now, so hopefully someday there will be an open admission position that I could apply for. If I ever got the chance to work for Suffolk, I would definitely take it right away. But for now my plan is this:

- Graduate from Suffolk University with a bachelor's degree in Management.
(I'm switching to a management major because it's the best chance of me having the highest GPA possible, which will be crucial in applying to grad school)
-Find an open admissions position in a college/university in the Boston area
-Attend Graduate school for my Master's in Education
-Eventually work for Suffolk University

You're probably thinking that I'm crazy and you're totally correct, to a point. Being happy in life is something that I value and everyone should too. Working for an accounting firm day in and day out was not going to make me happy, even though I was good at it when I tried. But clearly I haven't been motivated lately to try and my grades have shown that. I think I'm doing the right thing now and I'm really excited.

Advice to prospective students/incoming Freshman:
-Don't feel like you have to choose a major right away, definitely pick a major that you know you want to be a part of
-Test out different fields of study you might be interested in
-Don't always think if you know what you want to do, you're all set, it may not end up that way
-Ask as many questions as possible about possible majors
-Do what makes you happy, don't let others tell you what to do

This has definitely been the most philosophical, indepth blog I've ever written.

-CG

Seasons Change and Life Moves On

2009-10-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

The seasons are definitely changing here in Boston. I was driving in the suburbs with my roommate the other day and we were noticing how all the leaves were changing. I remember when my homework was to bring in different color leaves to glue to a piece of paper. I would give anything to have homework like that again. Living in downtown Boston sometimes makes you forget about fall because there just aren't enough trees around. I love fall, but it definitely makes me frustrated because I know winter is right around the corner.

So golf season has ended, it was a decent season. Unfortunately I had to miss my Conference Championship due to an admissions event, however playing at the cape was really fun this year. We had a great team at the cape, and even though the weather was really bad, we still had a lot of fun.

I have been extremely busy with school and work that I barely have time to breathe. My weekends have been packed with golf, work, and friends. Since turning 21, my bank account has been struggling big time. I'm beginning to think I need to pick up another job. My friend Nicole just started working at Banana Republic and told me they're still hiring so I might try for a job there. The nice thing is that you get 50% off anything you buy at Banana Republic or the Gap.

I finally traded in my BlackBerry for an iPhone this weekend. My roommate and I have been thinking about getting one for a while and this weekend we finally did it. We both left Verizon at the same time and joined AT&T. Not going to lie, for the money, the iPhone is the way to go. It's actually the same amount for a BlackBerry plan at Verizon than for an iPhone plan at AT&T. My roommate and I decided to get a family plan with AT&T (we said we were cousins) which made it cheaper for us each month. Since I got my iPhone on Sunday, I have not been able to put it down at all. I'm truely addicted to it already.

Celtics opening night tonight at 7 against the Cavs!

-CG

I'm Getting Old...

2009-10-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

So I've been 21 for almost two months now, and I never realized until now that I'm getting old. I've been to a dozen 21st birthdays in the past few weeks and its made me realize, all my friends are getting older, which means I am. Scary.

My roommate turned 21 two days ago which has turned this week into quite the adventure. My friend Allison turned 21 last night. My best friend from home turned 21 two days ago as well, its crazy! Last night I went to the karaoke bar for Allison's birthday, I'm definitely not a good singer. But that's the point of karaoke right? I think its more fun when people aren't good at it rather than people being amazing singers intimidating everyone else.

I have an interview with Walter and Shuffain P.C. on Monday and I'm really nervous yet anxious at the same time. Funny how those two emotions always collide with each other. I'm definitely nervous because it's my first real interview for an accounting job, yet I'm kind of excited/anxious for it too.

The first golf tournament of the season is this weekend down in Connecticut. It's at the same course last year where our team did really well. I'm excited to go back home for the weekend, but unfortunately I won't be seeing any of my family. My dad is currently roadtripping it to the West coast. He left back in the end of September and won't be back until the end of October. Lucky him. My mom unfortunately doesn't have the time to come see me play so unfortunately no one will be following me on the course like usual. Oh well.

I just became a member of the zipcar community and it is awesome! Zipcars are cars you can rent by the hour or for the day and use them at your disposal. There are zipcars all over the city of Boston and all you do is pay a simple membership fee. So far I've only driven the BMW, (yeah that's right). I drove it to practice the other day because I couldn't make practice on time, and also to Sonic in Peabody. Yes there is a Sonic in New England. How crazy is that?? But zipcars are really convenient and even though I have my car parked in Watertown, it's a lot easier for me to use zipcars for small things here in the city.

Now I get to decorate the Welcome Center with Kristina for our fall events. Sorry Rach, you missed out! :)

-CG

Tons of Work

2009-09-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

So three weeks into the semester and I definitely feel like I've been in school for months now. I have a ton of homework every night now and I feel like its going to be a semester where I'm going to have to work a lot to keep my head above water.

Today was the Temple Street Fair where a ton of our clubs had tables out on one street. It was insane. There were hundreds of students walking in one street getting tons of free stuff. Its a great time to join a club as well as get free lunch and a ton of free stuff.

Tomorrow is Meet the Firms night which is a night where local and regional accounting firms come to recruit students for internships and careers. This is the first time I'm going to be attending and I'm a little nervous. There are a few accounting firms that I definitely want to speak with. I just recently applied for a few internships with KPMG, Ernst and Young, and Walter and Shuffain. I'm beginning to get a little nervous about finding an internship, but I definitely have to find one so I can't drag my feet.

This Saturday is our first Students with Students Information Session. Students with Students is really fun because there aren't any counselors or admissions staff there, only us ambassadors. It gives prospective students a better idea of what Suffolk is like through a student's point of view because they know no one is telling us what to say. There's a fun group of us working it so I'm excited.

Now I have my office hours for SU 101. Blog ya later!

-CG

Starting the Second Half of My College Career

2009-09-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

So a week into my first semester as a Junior and I can most certainly tell you the workload is a lot more. I'm currently taking Intermediate Accounting, Federal Taxation, Business Finance, Data Decision and Management, and Organizational Behavior. On top of that, I'm a Teaching Assistant for SU 101 which is like taking a 6th class. And then of course I'm still a Trustee Ambassador and trying to maintain my status as golf team Captain.

It's great seeing all of my friends and I know a ton of people in all of my classes. A lot of my friends have moved into apartments this year which is new and exciting. I even have some younger friends attending Suffolk so its fun to see them every now and then.

My SU 101 class is great. We've only met once but the class is very dynamic and its a lot of fun. The professor I'm teaching it with is awesome and we share a lot of the course work. We have a lot of fun with the class since it is a 1 credit course.

I'm attending an accounting event called Meet the Firms next week for the first time and I'm pretty anxious/nervous about it. There are going to be about 35 different accounting firms there meeting with students for possible internships. I have my resume and cover letter but I need to print off copies for the event. I'm a little nervous about meeting with some of the bigger firms and I'm not even sure why I'm nervous. I'm definitely excited about it, I just want to make sure I'm fully prepared for it.

Now that I'm 21, I'm going to my first 21 birthday party for one of my friends. I was one of the first out of all my friends to turn 21 so now all of them are slowly turning 21. It's kind of exciting because its like starting a new chapter in our lives, not to be philosophical or anything haha. But anyways, she's doing a bar crawl so I'll probably meet up with her halfway through and finish the night with everyone at the Harp which is next to the TD Banknorth Garden.

That's all for now, I'm going to try and be a good "blogger" and blog whenever I can this year so hopefully there are more to come.

-CG

Is It Fall?

2009-07-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

So after the weather was amazing at the end of the semester, it turned horrible and has been for the past few months. We haven't had one full week of sun, yet alone 3 straight days of sun. It's been rainy and dreary almost everyday and it's beginning to get on my nerves! I feel like summer lasted for a week and now its fall. Just the other day it was 50 degrees, in JULY! With the weather being so terrible, its been hard to enjoy my summer vacation, but I'm definitely making the best out of it.

I'm still working in admissions during the week and working at home during the weekends. Unfortunately I have not been able to save up that much money because I keep going out to dinner during the week in Boston. I really need to start saving some money so I can have some spending money next year.

I have plans to go to a few concerts coming up. August 1st I'm traveling down to Foxwoods to see David Cook with my friend Lindsay. Then August 6th I'm traveling down to the Comcast Center in Hartford to see O.A.R. and Matt Nathanson with a bunch of friends from work back in Connecticut. September 11th I'm seeing Kings of Leon at the Comcast Center in Massachusetts and then the next day I'm seeing Rascal Flatts at the same theater. I'm really excited to see all of these concerts. Unfortunately I haven't been able to golf that much with the terrible weather but I'm playing Thursday with a few friends from Suffolk. I'm not sure if I'll be playing for the team this year because I have so much on my plate already with my Ambassador position, teaching assistant and school. I really want to play but I know I need to find an internship soon too.

I'm 39 days away from turning 21 and I can't wait. I'm planning a huge party at my place for my friends from home and from Boston. Since most of my friends won't be 21, I rather have them all be at my place than go out to a bar with only a few of them.

Well hopefully the weather picks up a little bit.

-CG

First Day Back

2009-05-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day back in the admissions office after a few weeks off. It's good to see some familiar faces and catch up over the past few weeks. So far my summer vacation has been pretty good with no complaints. I've been relaxing a lot and just doing a whole lot of nothing. When its nice outside I'll go out and play catch or throw the frisbee with friends. When it rains, and unfortunately we've had a good amount of rain lately, I'll watch a movie or something.

My summer class started last week and it seems pretty interested for science. I'm not a total science fan so I wasn't exactly looking forward to it, but it seems interesting enough to hold my attention for a few weeks. Unfortunately I had homework assigned after the first class so last night I spent about an hour doing some minor research. I never thought I'd have to be doing homework during summer vacation.

I've been going home on the weekends to work at the bar back home I've been working at for the past two years. Its nice to have a little break from the city every now and then. I like working there too because I've been there so long and know everyone that its really laid back.

So far on my summer vacation I've gone to a Red Sox game and a Third Eye Blind concert. Both were amazing and I had a great time. I went to the Red Sox game with Allison and the concert with my friend Melissa. I can't wait for summer concerts. Getting there early to BBQ all day is definitely a huge part of a summer concert. I'm definitely seeing Rascal Flatts later this summer, I've seen them almost every summer for the past few years.

I really have beach fever right now and want to go soon. I bought a new skimboard for the year and really can't wait to hit a wave with the new board. I'm definitely going to be making some beach trips in the near future.

That's it for now, I don't have much to say.

-CG

Sweet Sweet Summer

2009-05-06T16:41:00.000-07:00

So I've officially been on summer vacation for a week now and it's been absolutely amazing. This is my first summer in Boston and I've been having so much fun. With the warm weather I've been hanging out in the Greenway which is right at the end of the North End where I live. It's a great place to throw the frisbee, tan with friends, even have a picnic. It's been raining here the past few days, but I saw the new X-Men movie with my friend Kristin. It was a really good movie, definitely more intense then the last ones. There are a few movies coming out this summer I really want to see, Transformers 2, G.I. Joe, and Terminator Salvation. Three guy movies I know I know.

It's been a great time to be a Boston sports fan with the Celtics, Red Sox and Bruins still in season. The Celtics had a great first round playoff series against the Chicago Bulls and now are facing the Orlando Magic while the Bruins cruised by their first round opponent the Montreal Canadiens. The Sox aren't looking bad, I got to go to a game the other day when they played the New York Yankees. My seats were ridiculous but just to show you, this is where I was sitting....

8 rows behind homeplate!!!

Well that's it for now, I'll do my best to continue blogging!

CG

Summer Time and the Livin's Easy!

2009-04-30T16:24:00.001-07:00

So yesterday I was officially on summer vacation at 9 AM! It was an amazing feel. The weather here has been insane. One day it will be 90 and the next 60 and then back to 80 and then back to 50. That's New England for ya! This summer is going to be amazing, I already have good feelings about it. I'm working in the admission office during the week and then every other weekend I'm going home to work at the bar I've been working at for the past 2.5 years. I've been outside every minute its been nice here. I can't stand people who stay inside while its nice. I just don't understand how you can be inside when its beautiful outside! Especially when in New England the weather changes so much, I definitely take advantage of the nice days here!

My finals went good and I feel I did a good job. My accounting final was a little harder than I thought it would be, but I still feel I did really good on it. Business Law was easy and so was marketing. Globalization was tough but I knew that going into it. I studied as much as possible so I can only hope I did well. I did an extra credit assignment just in case so I'm sure my final grade will still be good.

I went shopping the other day and bought some new sunglasses and clothes. I definitely felt the need to drop some cash after finals. Unfortunately I dropped about 350 on clothes and sunglasses but whatever, you only live once right?! Not going to lie, my sunglasses are bangin! They're Ralph Lauren and I'm really happy with them haha.

Anyways my friends are beginning to return home from abroad and I couldn't be happier. Haley returned a few days ago and actually called me today which was a total surprise. Then Geralyn, Rachel, Kirsten, Alaina, and Melissa return on Sunday. Unfortunately Olga and Allison don't return until June. The Monday after they return, Geralyn and Melissa are going to a Third Eye Blind concert with me so it'll be a good mini reunion!

So being the first full day of summer vacation, I'm going to enjoy tonight to the fullest. But I felt the need to update since I haven't blogged in a really long time! (sorry Sara!)

Blog ya later!

CG

3000 Word Paper

2009-04-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

So I have a 3,000 word paper due in a few weeks, and I'm ashamed to say I only have about 100 words. It's on Global Warming and I'm only allowed to use facts from this pod cast I had to listen to. It's definitely taking me some time to figure out what to write, but I'm confident I'll get it done. I have another group project due in a week and my group is just finishing up what needs to be done. I have a business law test on Wednesday that I need to study for, but other than that, my classes are pretty much wrapped up! Unfortunately a week after classes end, I start another class for a month and a half. Oh well.

I finally found an apartment I want to live in next year! My roommate and I found on in the North End that is absolutely fabulous! It's a two bedroom, two FULL bathroom top floor apartment. It even has a fire place! And the roof deck is amazing with the best view in the North End easily. Not to mention it's right across the street from Ernestos which is one of the best pizza places in the North End. I'm really exciting about moving into a more modern, mature apartment. I'll also be 21 when I move in so house parties aren't really going to be a big thing for me. Me and my roommate have kind of stopped the whole house party scene because it's always the same everytime. I'm definitely ready to go to bars instead!

I have plans to see Third Eye Blind this summer in Boston and Rascal Flatts in Connecticut. I'm super excited since I haven't seen either of them in a while. I used to go to concerts all the time, but recently I just haven't gone.

Back to my 3000 word paper.....

CG

April Showers

2009-04-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

Is it really April already? I can't believe my Sophomore year is coming to a close. I have less than a month left of classes and finals. I registered for my Junior year classes last week and got all the classes I needed. Next year I'll be taking Federal Taxation Accounting, Intermediate Accounting I, Data and Decision Analysis, Organizational Behavior, and Business Finance. I'm also taking a summer class for the first part of the summer with Kristin! We're taking our science requirement so we can get it out of the way.

I traveled to Farmington, Connecticut last Wednesday to speak to admitted students. It was really fun and I had a good time. I had to speak for about five minutes which was fun and then I answered questions. Allison went with me and we got to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner beforehand. We had a lot of fun on the car ride down with Dan. Definitely had some good bonding time. My parents also showed up which was nice since I haven't seen them in a while. I made a little note about parents in my speech which I think made them happy.

Golf practice started last week. Unfortunately we only have three matches in the spring. Our fall schedule is much larger and we travel a lot more. I can only play in one of the tournaments because of other obligations with the admissions office. I have stopped working in the office because I don't want to go over my hours. With Sunday's showcase and another reception on Friday, most of my hours will be used up. I have about 5 extra hours that I'll use for my last three tours I give on Monday's. I'm kind of happy about not having to work in the office during Finals Week, but also I'm going to miss seeing all my friends at work. Luckily I'll see some of them in the office during the summer.

I have been super tired lately and I think it's because I've been working hard these past few days. I've been trying to get ahead in my classes before finals week so I've been doing some extra work here and there.

My realtor found two apartments that me and my roommate haven't seen so we're going to look at them on Thursday. Hopefully we'll like one of them enough to put down a deposit. I hate having things hang over my head, especially when it has to do with my living situation for next year.

I talked to Geralyn last night for the first time in a while which was really nice. All my friends in London come home on May 3rd which is exciting for me, but I definitely can understand them not wanting to leave Europe. Although Third Eye Blind is playing in Boston on May 11th and Geralyn and I will most definitely be seeing them!

Cheers!

CG

One Showcase Down, One More To Go

2009-03-30T10:33:00.001-07:00

So I worked my first ever showcase yesterday and it was quite a busy day! First waking up at 7 AM on a Sunday is hard enough. I was running late but Kristin called me telling me she was already waiting on the street for me, so while rushing out of my apartment, I forgot my Red Bull I bought the night before. That was pretty brutal, but luckily I was able to down a cup of coffee in the office before we started work. When I got to the office, I was handed a 5 page itinerary of the days events and I was blown away at how much work there was to be done and how many people were there helping. I had to help blow up balloons to put with signs and other small things. We blew up over 75 balloons. The hard part was walking across campus in the pouring rain with the ridiculous wind, trying to hold onto the balloons and keep them from tangling up. Allison and I were very unsuccessful and 25 of our balloons turned into one big mess. We finally untangled all of them and headed back to the Law School to prepare for the speaking part of the day. I was in a room where Alice spoke (another ambassador) as well as John Hammel (director of admissions) Misty Gray (an alumni) and Sebastian Royo (College of Arts and Science Associate Dean, Director of the Madrid Campus). Our room was packed and people actually had to stand along the sides and back. From there it turned into a madhouse. After the presentation, I had to help students and families find their ways to their academic information sessions which were spread throughout the campus. I was trying to direct a group of like 65 people which was next to impossible. By the time I made it to the dorms at 10 Somerset Street, I lost the majority of my group. After that I was able to eat PIZZA thanks to Sara, which was fabulous since I was soaked head to toe. Then I helped direct people from the second session at the Law School to their academic information sessions. I pretty much stood on the corner of Beacon Street and Tremont Street asking people if they knew where they were going. And pretty much everyone said they had no idea. I figured that corner was a good medium between the Law School and their destination so hopefully I helped some people find their way. Then I went back to the Sawyer building to give a tour. My tour group size changed dramatically from one building to another. I started with about 30 students and families. Then when I got to the dorms, my group increased to about 75 students and families because Allison's tour group heard my speech and decided to join. Then by the time I got to the Library I lost a few families and my group was manageable at about 30 students again. At my last stop I had about 10 students and families. It was a crazy day. Next Sunday I am speaking for the Sawyer Business School. I've been working on my speech and I'm pretty much done with it. I've been working on my speech for Wednesday when I travel to Connecticut to talk to admitted students in the Farmington area. I think my parents might be stopping by and saying hello since I'll be in the area.

With rain all day yesterday and rain today, I'm definitely not enjoying the weather. I definitely complain about the weather too much, but I really don't like bad weather. I should probably look into moving to a nicer climate when I graduate, but I love the city of Boston just way too much!

On the school front, my projects haven't really moved forward that much. My globalization project has hit a standstill but I'm not worried about it. Accounting and Marketing are moving right along and Principles of Business Law hasn't changed much. I'm beginning to get summer fever and can't pay attention to class, but I know it's really important to focus extra hard these next few weeks.

That's it for now, I need to change my blog layout.

-CG

Another Week Down, 4 To Go

2009-03-26T13:12:00.001-07:00

So I know it's not good to wish days away or be happy about time passing by, but I'll be honest and say I really can't wait for summer. Even though I love life during school, I really need a long break to energize. I'm starting to work less hours in the office because I worked so many earlier in the semester. We're only allowed to work 150 hours and if we go over, we d0n't get paid unfortunately. I love Suffolk but I don't really want to give tours for free :).

I have a few plans for this weekend which I'm excited for. Friday is my friend's birthday so I'll definitely be partaking in the celebrations. Saturday I'm going shopping with Kristin and Allison on Newbury Street, the Copley Mall, and the Prudential Center. Then we're going out to dinner with Nick. I'm really excited to get some new clothes and I really need some new sunglasses. Then Sunday is the first of two Showcases here at Suffolk. I have to be at the school at 8:00 AM! So I'll definitely be going to bed early Saturday night.

This week of classes was pretty easy and laid back. In Principles of Business Law we got back our midterms we took before Spring Break. I got an 85 and he said he curved the tests dramatically so I'm content with the grade. In Globalization our group projects are starting to pick up and our group hasn't really gotten the ball rolling yet. Luckily we still have a month until we have to present and with our group members, I'm not worried about it. Accounting is moving along, I'm definitely learning a lot more in an Honors section. Marketing is beginning to wrap up as my professor has started talking about the final and reviewing. I met with my undergraduate counselor today who basically told me what classes I definitely need to take next semester. I plan on taking a summer science class to cross that off my list of mandatory classes I have to take before graduation. Unfortunately being an Accounting major, many of my courses are "bottleneck" courses and I can't take any other courses until I complete the first ones. I'm going to have to take 5 courses next year which is going to be new since I've always had 4 classes each semester. I'll definitely be working hard next year but I'm ready!

Countdowns:

Summer Vacation - 34 Days
My Birthday - 142 Days
Virginia Beach - 147 Days

Five Weeks To Go!!!

2009-03-24T13:08:00.001-07:00

Back from spring break, I only have five more weeks of class until finals week. I have the worst case of spring fever and can't wait for the weather to be nice. I just want to be able to wear T-shirts and shorts again. It has truely been New England weather here in Boston lately, one day it'll be 60 and sunny and the next day will be 30 and gloomy. The rain hasn't stayed away either as I feel its rained atleast once a week for the past month.

These first two days back to class after break have been uneventful. My classes seem to be wrapping up even though theres still a few weeks left. In the admissions office things are definitely picking up. Our first showcase is this upcoming Sunday for all College of Arts and Science majors. Then on Wednesday I am traveling to Connecticut to speak with admitted students in Farmington. It's going to be close to my hometown and a few younger siblings of my friends might be there so it'll be nice to see some familiar faces! Then that next Sunday is the showcase for the Sawyer Business School which I'll be speaking at. I just found out today that I'll be able to work in the admissions office during the summer which I'm very excited about because I haven't found a steady summer job yet. I'll be able to work five days a week in the office which will be nice and then on the weekends I'm planning on going home to work at the bar I've been working at for the past two and a half years.

There's a summer Internship/Co-op Fair Thursday that I was planning on attending until I found out I could work in admissions this summer. I'll probably still go to give out resumes and cover letters since there will be over 30 different companies there. It'll be good to atleast get my name out in the business world. I've gotten a lot of responses from my mailings to companies, unfortunately none of them could hire another intern at this time. Co-ops and Internships are so important during college because when you graduate, everyone is going to have a degree. Having the experience in whatever field you're studying is what is going to set you apart from another applicant, that's why I started looking for internships this year. Most companies only hire Juniors or Seniors for internships but I thought I would give it a try. It's not the end of the world that I didn't find one, but I know I'll have to work hard next year.

Now I'm going to write my three speeches I'll be presenting in the next few weeks. Cheers!

CG

March Madness and Virginia Beach??

2009-03-19T12:09:00.001-07:00

Today is the first round of the NCAA tournament and like always, I'll be watching tv starting at noon. I always try to watch as many games as possible, its been a tradition for a while. I always make a few brackets and enter a few tournaments so the next few weeks are always a fun time. I have my favorite team, the UConn Huskies going all the way this year. It definitely won't be easy for them since this year so many teams have a solid chance at winning it all. Also, UConn's Jerome Dyson is injured which is a big hit to their roster.

I worked today and yesterday giving two tours. It was weird giving a tour when no one was around but I think the families still got the idea of Suffolk. There's a showcase event coming up in two Sundays and then I'm traveling to Connecticut for an admitted students reception. Then I'm working another showcase and then I'm speaking at a diversity reception. It's going to be a busy few weeks in the admissions office but I'm ready!

My spring break has been very relaxing and I am loving every minute of it. I know these next few weeks of school are going to hard and busy so I'm relaxing while I can.

On another note, me and Kristin (another ambassador) started planning a trip to Virginia Beach for this summer. I'm really excited about it because I've never been before. We're thinking of bringing two other ambassadors with us to make it a mini ambassador road trip. I haven't been on vacation since going to Montreal last summer so it'll be nice to go on a roadtrip with some friends. I've already gotten excited about it by looking all the different attractions down there.

My friend Geralyn skyped me earlier from London. Her spring break was last week and she went to Paris and Dublin. Her pictures made me super jealous but I'm glad that they had an amazing time. I can't believe that in a little over a month they'll all be home again. Although I'm very happy my friends will be home soon, I know they probably aren't as excited to come back to the US.

Connecticut is up 35-17 with 3:45 left in the first half.

CG

Spring Break and the Livin's Easy

2009-03-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

So spring break started for me on Thursday and I couldn't be any happier. I went home Thursday and came back to Boston on Sunday. It was a nice mini vacation away from the city but I'm definitely happy to be back. I worked Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at my bar back home. It was weird working at a bar again after taking so much time off, but it was fun. I also went out to breakfast to one of my favorite places back home which was awesome!

I've been just relaxing back in Boston. One of my roommates is in LA with his girlfriend and another is in San Francisco visiting a friend. My other roommate is here in Boston until Tuesday and then he's going to Connecticut with his girlfriend. I'm going to work Wednesday and Thursday but besides that I'm just relaxing, and it feels amazing!

I got accepted into becoming a Teaching Assistant for SU 101 next fall which I'm really excited about. I hope I get to work with a professor I know, but even if I don't, its not the end of the world. I'm really excited to become a teaching assistant because I like helping others.

I've been contacting a lot of accounting firms lately looking for an internship. A firm in San Francisco started looking at me which I'm pretty excited about. I've sent out tons of cover letters and resumes through emails to a lot of companies but recently I've started mailing them after Jill (another ambassador!) told me she got her internship that way. It makes sense too because I can understand how an email can get lost or not returned when you get a lot of them in a day. So I bought really nice paper and have been printing out my cover letters and resumes left and right. Hopefully someone will respond but if not, I guess I'll have to keep trying.

Now it's time to watch some Intervention. I'll definitely be writing later this week since I'm being so lazy. :)

CG

It's Been a While

2009-03-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

So I haven't blogged in a while but its because I've been extremely busy these past few weeks. With spring break right around the bend, all of my professors feel its the perfect time to give midterms and projects that are all due before break. I on the other hand, don't think its such a great idea. My Management-200 presentation was a few weeks ago and I feel like I did an amazing job. I was the presenter in my group and I had to present infront of about 75 students. On top of that, our presentation could not be longer than 3 minutes so I really had to cram a lot of information into that short amount of time. I even dressed up in a full business suit so I definitely felt like a businessman.

The rough draft of my Globalization project is due tomorrow and our group is looking in good shape. This is definitely one of the longest projects I've ever had to do. But it definitely feels good to accomplish something so large. Accounting is going very smoothly and I have a small presentation on Thursday on a case study my group and I did. Marketing is my only class where I don't have a midterm or a project.

Aside from school, work has been very busy. I worked a Students with Students information session last Saturday which was very fun. Four Ambassadors spoke about the different aspects of Suffolk and then we took them on a tour. I also spoke briefly at the Greater Boston Guidance Counselors Meeting at the Law School which was nice because I got a free dinner. This Thursday I am traveling to Dorchester with two other ambassadors to speak to 7th graders about college. I'm really excited to go because I feel I can truely inspire younger kids to think about college at an early age and help them see what is possible in their future.

I applied to be a Teaching Assistant for Suffolk University 101 next Fall. I'll hear back on Friday whether or not I got the job so hopefully the news is good. I'm also looking at possible internships for the summer. There's a chance I may get an internship in San Francisco in which would be AMAZING. My cousin said I could live with him and his wife while I had my internship and public transportation in the Bay Area is great! The company is Hemming Morse and its a medium sized accounting firm which mainly specializes in forensic accounting, which is what I want to be when I graduate. Not many people know what a forensic accountant does, but its kind of like a CSI only in the accounting field. It's more about white collar crimes than criminal crimes, although there are definitely criminal aspects to it.

That catches me up a little bit for now. I'll make sure to remember to keep blogging for all you followers!

-CG

Busy Busy Busy

2009-02-18T10:48:00.000-08:00

This week is only three days long and its probably one of my busiest weeks at school yet! Yesterday I had an information session from 10:00 to about 11:30. Then I had to run to accounting until 12:45. I had another information session from 1:00 to 2:30 which ran a little late. I thought I was going to be late for class until I found out it was cancelled. So I went back to the Admissions office and worked from about 3:00 to 5:00. It was a non-stop day that's for sure.

Today is going to be a much easier day, I only have one information session at 3:00. But tomorrow is going to be a repeat of Tuesday. Friday is our open house for Early Action students. I'm giving back to back tours which will be fun yet busy again.

I have a lot of projects that are going to be due soon as well as a midterm in my Globalization class. I really want a vacation soon. Spring break can't come soon enough! Atleast the weather is getting nicer so I don't have to look out my window everyday and see snow. I'm definitely a warm weather kind of person! Unfortunately I won't be going anywhere nice for spring break, I'll just be staying in Boston. A lot of my friends have made travel plans but I don't have the money to do anything special. Now I must get ready for another information session.

-CG

Stressed To The MAX!

2009-02-15T18:56:00.000-08:00

So I have been stressing out a lot lately. School has picked up real fast and I'm finding myself falling behind every now and then. Luckily my grades haven't shown my stress. I got my first accounting exam back this week and got a 115%! Although the class average was a 102% so I'm not sure if a 115% is even that good anymore. Can you believe that, a class average on a test is a 102? That's what you get if you take an honor's course I guess.

This week is going to be a busy week in the Admissions office. We have information sessions Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Then on Friday we have the Early Action Open House. I'm give two tours on Tuesday, one on Wednesday, and one on Thursday as well as working all day Friday.

I tried sushi for the first time Thursday night and it was amazing. I had always been afraid of trying sushi, but I'm pretty sure I'm hooked after just one time. I went with my friend Michelle to Ma Soba in Beacon Hill. It was soooooooo good, I had no idea what I've been missing all this time. I had a California Roll and a TNT Roll. I was told by everyone to not get too adventurous my first time so that's why I got the California Roll. It was crab, avocado, and rice which was good. The TNT Roll was really really good, it was spicy which I like. It had shrimp tempura on top with Ma Soba's special sauce, and then there was crab and avocado with rice in the roll.

My apartment situation has changed drastically in the past few weeks. Me and my roommates had an apartment all picked out and we signed our lease, but now things have changed so we're going through the whole process again. If you are looking for an apartment, I highly recommend going to the Off Campus Housing Office and letting them help you in finding an apartment. It's rough trying to find an apartment you like for the price you want. They can really help you get through the long process of leasing an apartment.

All for now, more to come.

-CG

Warmth!

2009-02-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

The weather this weekend was pretty moderate for the beginning of February. Instead of being in the single digits or negative numbers, it was around 40 which was a nice change! I'm really starting to get sick of snow and just want warm weather to come. I'm definitely not a winter person.

Saturday was a big day. I worked office hours for Nick from 10AM-2PM. It was me, Kristin, Matt, and Allison in the Welcome Center giving tours. Kristin and I gave two tours back to back. Our first group was pretty big and the second tour was pretty small. We weren't supposed to give a second tour but the amount of people in the second one was so large that we had to split it into two tours. The Early Action special event is coming up on the 20th. I'm actually excited to work it because my friend's little sister is going to attend so I'll get to see a familiar face.

My cousins from California arrived Saturday morning at 5AM! They caught the red eye flight out of San Francisco and had a direct flight to Logan. I went over my cousin's apartment in Watertown for dinner with my entire family. It was so great to see my mom and dad. I haven't seen them since Christmas break! Sunday we all had lunch at Ned Devine's in Faneuil Hall and then went to the Aquarium to see a 3D IMAX movie. I'm not going to lie, I fell asleep halfway through the movie. My cousins did too so I didn't feel so bad!

My friends studying in London, (I'm sure you all know who they are by now) just got back from a mini vacation in Rome. I definitely looked at all their pictures for a while. I was so happy they had an amazing time, but I may have been a little more jealous.

I just applied to be a Teaching Assistant for SU 101 next year. SU 101 is a one credit course that helps Freshman students adjust to college life. It's mandatory for all Freshmen and is actually a really fun course. You get to go on a Duck Tour half way through the semester which is a nice break! The course teaches students about college life, but as well as personal growth, new responsibilities as a college student, and also life after college. My SU 101 course was really fun, I enjoyed practically every minute of it. It also helped that I had one of my best friends in the class too. I'm hoping that I get the job because I really want to help Freshman adjust to college since my transition wasn't as smooth as it could be.

I got my first Accounting exam grade back today. I was pretty nervous about it because I'm in the Honors sectioin this semester and I'm not even an Honors program student. I studied really hard for the exam and thought I did pretty well. The first thing I saw was that the class average on the test was a 101%! The test was worth 100 points but there was a possible of 130 points. I was really afraid that I wouldn't even beat the class average, but I ended up getting a 115%! That made me really proud of myself that I can do well in an accelerated course.

Until next time....

-CG

Ready For A Vacation

2009-02-04T14:19:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we got a small snow storm that lasted all day. It was kind of annoying because it was so windy out, that the snow was going practically sideways. I'm beginning to get really sick of the snow and just want warm weather to arrive.

My cousin and his wife from California are arriving Saturday morning. I'm so excited to see them! Lately I've been getting to see a lot of them with different family events. My other cousin got married in California and graduated from Boston University this spring so I got to see my West Coast family twice in the past few years. Saturday night I'm going to go to my cousin's apartment in Watertown for dinner with the whole family. My mom and dad are going to come up from Connecticut so it will be good to see them since I haven't since Christmas break. Monday my cousins are going to come into the city and go to the Boston Museum of Science. Then hopefully we will go out to dinner together. Tuesday they are going to come over to my apartment for dinner. I'm going to show off my impressive cooking skills! Then we're going to go to the Boston Bruins game against the San Jose Sharks. And then finally on Wednesday they fly back to California.

School is going really well for me right now. I have a lot of projects that are starting up and I can feel like school is really picking up. I have a group project in my Globalization class as well as my Management Seminar. Luckily my Globalization project isn't due until April. I have my first Accounting and Marketing tests of the semester tomorrow. I'm not really worried about Marketing but I know I'll be studying for Accounting for a while tonight.

I added some new pictures to my blog. I've actually never talked about any of them so I will now! The first two pictures are of me with Rachel and Haley, two other Ambassadors currently studying abroad. Then there's a picture of me and Geralyn, best friends! Then there's a picture of me playing in a national golf tournament in Newport, Rhode Island. It was so cold that day, practically a hurricane came through the day before. The next picture was taken in Montreal, Canada when me and some friends went up for a few days in the summer. The last picture is a picture of me with my cousin Sean and his wife Meghan in Newport when they were visiting from California.

Now I have to go to the library to work on my group project with my management team!

Until next time....

-CG

Getting Busy

2009-02-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

So now the semester is starting to pick up and I'm finding myself getting really busy with school work. My management seminar project is due at the end of the month and I've started working hard on it. In globalization I was just assigned a group project that is going to take up a lot of time. I'm a co-team leader so I have more responsibilities. Also accounting is starting to pick up. Since I'm an accounting major, I always put my accounting class first because I feel its most important to me.

Besides starting to work hard in school, my apartment search has been a bit stressful lately. Me and two of my current roommates found a place in the Back Bay that we really liked a few weeks ago. We put money down for our deposit and were told by our realitor that the place would be taken off the market. In reality though, the apartment was never taken off the market and the current landlord told us we had to sign our lease immediately to secure the apartment. Then our landlord told us that we had to wait to sign our lease for the current tenants to sign a non-renewal notice. Today I got a call from my realitor saying the apartment we looked at is in reality not on the market and the one above it is the one for sale. So on Friday me and my roommates will go look at that apartment. Our realitor told us it would be exactly the same as the one we looked at earlier, however he told us its $100 more a month. If it's exactly the same, shouldn't the rent be the same too? So that has been stressing me out just a little bit.

I'm kind of upset about the result of the Super Bowl yesterday. I really wanted the Cardinals to win. Mainly because I'm a huge Larry Fitzgerald fan because he went to the University of Pittsburgh which is in the Big East conference. I love all the teams in the Big East conference for football and basketball. Speaking of basketball, my UConn Huskies are ranked #1 in the nation now after Duke lost this week. Tonight they play #7 Louisville which will be an amazing game.

All for now.

-CG

Winter Blues

2009-01-30T16:41:00.000-08:00

I had no class today, although I did have to attend the first of three seminars for my Management 200 course. Unfortunately I had to attend a 3 hour seminar today. Then tomorrow I have to attend a 6 hour seminar. And to make matters worse, tomorrow's seminar starts at 10 AM. I am not a morning person at all! Other then that, I'm glad it's the weekend. I could use some much needed relaxation time.

I got to talk to Rachel, another ambassador studying in London at Regents College tonight which was nice. I haven't talked to her in a long time, it was great to catch up! Rachel and Haley who are both studying abroad this semester told me about the Ambassador position. So I guess you could say I kind of replaced them when they left :). I also got to talk to my best friend Geralyn. My friends Geralyn, Rachel, Kirsten, Melissa, and Alaina are all going to Bath tomorrow to do some tourist stuff. I'm so jealous that while studying in another country (which is amazing in itself) they get to tour some amazing places. I really want to study abroad but it's tough when you rent an apartment because you still have to pay rent. I could study abroad for 2 straight semesters, but I feel I would get too homesick or I would never want to leave.

I'm starting to get excited because my cousin from California is coming to visit from Feb. 7-11. I haven't seen him since he came out last May for my cousin's graduation from Boston University. I love seeing my cousin Sean because he and my cousin Erin (who graduated from BU) are my only family members around my age. I'll be going to a Bruins game the Tuesday before he leaves. I haven't been to a Bruins game in a long time. They're playing the San Jose Sharks so hopefully they'll win.

Until next time....

-CG

Starting To Pick Up

2009-01-29T15:04:00.000-08:00

So yesterday with the huge storm, school wasn't cancelled, but I made my own snow day and skipped my only two classes. Oooops. I did however have to go to work, which wasn't that bad. Made fun of Kristin :), did a little filing, the usual. Kristin is another ambassador, we are insta-friends. For those of you who don't know what insta-friends are, well, they're just friends that instantly become your friends because you're both so cool. Like us :). But back to the weather, after it snowed a good amount, it started to rain and then freeze, so all the roads were like skating rinks. This morning when I walked to class, it was an accomplishment not to fall.

Class today was easy, Accounting and Marketing. I did attend a Beta Alpha Psi meeting. BAP is an Accounting Fraternity that helps students find jobs and informs them on the real world of accounting. Representatives from Edelstein were there, which is a small Accounting group located right down the street. Two of the members of BAP were actually just hired by them, one of them is my friend from the golf team, Mike Settle. I'm beginning to worry about my future in the accounting profession. I want to become a forensic accountant and ultimately work for the FBI, CIA, SEC, IRS, or any one of those government agencies. I wanted to be a lawyer when I was younger, so I think that's where the law part of accounting plays a part. But for the past few months I've been really reconsidering my major and what I want to do in life. Last semester I was so close to transferring to the New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk to study interior design. I don't want to decorate homes or anything like that, I really like designing golf courses and club houses and stuff like that. I've always been drawn to architecture but never really pursued anything in that field. I really need to start thinking about my future and make some serious decisions, something I'm not good at.

Also, my realitor has been a real pain in the butt lately. Me and two of my current roommates found an apartment for next year. We deposited our money and had our co-signer forms filled out. He called me today saying we need to sign our lease on Monday before anyone else to make sure the apartment is ours. He told me earlier that our deposit secured the apartment and now he's saying something different. Something I don't want to deal with right now but have to.

I've been realizing lately that I miss my friends who are studying abroad. We were so close last semester that every weekend I would see them. Now I won't get to see them until May.

For now that's all.

-CG

New Semester, New Horizons

2009-01-28T11:38:00.001-08:00

So the new semester started a few weeks ago and it's actually been very good so far. I'm taking Honors Accounting, Princples of Business Law, Globalization, Marketing, as well as a Management Seminar. The past few weeks have been very busy. Starting my new job as an Ambassador has been very exciting. I work in admissions, helping with office work as well as give tours to prospective students. A few days ago I gave a tour to three Chicago Counselors who wanted to know more about Suffolk. After the tour I was invited to go out to dinner at the Union Oyster House with the Director of Admissions as well as the Chicago Counselors. It was definitely the best dinner I've had since Christmas Break hands down!

Besides school, I have been very busy with friends. Last weekend two girls in my apartment building had their birthdays so the weekend was very fun. Whenever we have people over our apartment, it turns out to be an amazing night. Last semester I had a group of friends that would come over every weekend. Unfortunately all but one of them have left Suffolk to study abroad this semester. Two of them are Ambassadors as well, Rachel and Haley. One of my best friends, Geralyn is studying in London. Luckily technology has made it possible for us to stay in touch with Skype, AIM, and MagicGate. Geralyn surpised me a few days ago by calling me, which I totally did not expect. I did not think it was possible for her to call me from London without paying a massive amount in phone charges. MagicGate however lets a person use a landline number to call through a computer, no matter where they are located. It's really cool and now I can call her whenever. Although she is five hours ahead of me so its kind of hard when I want to call her after dinner. Although Geralyn is one of my best friends, I love all of them, and if I didn't say it, I know I'd get in trouble with them :). Rachel, Kirsten, Alaina, Melissa, Olga, Bia, Allison, and Haley, I miss you all!

Now that I've talked about school, work, and my friends, I feel I should talk about Suffolk a little more. Since this is my first blog, I'll give everyone a little bio about myself. I'm originally from Tolland, Connecticut, which is right next to the University of Connecticut, so I'm a huge UConn Huskies fan. March Madness is definitely the highlight of my winters. I lived in the 150 Tremont Dorms my Freshman year and loved every minute of it. Now I currently live in the North End with three other roommates who all lived on my floor last year in the dorms. Next year three of us will be moving to the Back Bay area which is close to the Arlington T stop. While at school I am the captain of the Golf team. I was MVP my Freshman year which was totally a surprise to me. I probably won't be playing this Spring semester due to my Ambassador job.

For now that's my first blog!

Catch ya on the flip! - CG (nickname created by Geralyn)