Ropes Course.

Hey Everyone!

First and foremost, I'm really glad Bianca posted because I didn't want to hog the blog, plus I was pretty curious as to what John Hopkins was like. (I've been reading about it all summer, lol)

So, you're probably wondering if training is over.. It's not. However, today was one of the most rewarding days of my life, and I just had to share it. As part of RA training we go through a Ropes Course, that is actually right behind the tennis courts here on Siena. We work with our teams, build trust, and get through different tasks together. Our first task as a team was to make a "Trust Circle". It basically entails one person in the middle with their eyes close and being passed along in the circle. (I'm sure you've seen/done it) I was the first volunteer, and I actually couldn't do it. I was scared of being dropped. After everyone else did it successfully, our next trust builder was actually a "Levitating" exercise. Again, I was the first volunteer, and again, I was scared but I didn't back out this time. Basically, the person in the middle has one "back person", and the rest of the team holds you so you're "levitating" off the ground. They then sway you back to the ground so that you don't even know you're on the ground. It was awesome, and it made me trust my team, a lot. After those two exercises, we made our way through the woods (literally, the woods) to our first stop on the course. Our first team exercise on the course was "Wild Wires". Basically, it's two wires tied to trees that start closely together and slowly separate out. The task is simple: You and your partner, who is on the wire across from you, have to make it as far as you can go on the ropes. The task isn't as simple as it sounds though. You have to find balance, and strength because it requires a lot of both of those to stay on the wires. We had supporters between us, and behind us, and my entire team made it at least halfway through until falling. The exercise build our trust, and more importantly our communication with each other. (remember, most of us just met monday) The next course that we went to was also "simple". It had two platforms, and a rope and we had to swing from one to the other.. We all made it, no big deal. Then, we all had to fit on these platforms that were maybe 5 ft long and 3 ft wide... There were 13 of us! We did it, and then each of us had to get to the platform across from us via rope. We did it again! Now, it was time for the true curve ball; We had to swing and do the task BLINDFOLDED! And, guess what.. WE DID IT! This was my favorite because you really felt the trust between all of us. We were all holding onto each other, trying not to fall off, and to much credit to us, NOT ONE OF US touched the dirt. We all stayed on that platform like champs, even when someone completely crashed into us from the rope. After that, all the different teams came together by this 14 ft wall with a single rope. It was a challenge by choice exercise, and as I'm sure you can assume the objective was to get up the wall. Not everyone did it, but, the goal was for us to really conquer our fears and demons and to learn to rely on each other. Now, my biggest fear in life is heights. I shake, I get nervous, and I experience anxiety. I don't even go on rollercoasters! Because of this fear, I kind of just stayed in the back of the group, and watched about 10 people go up the wall. Each of them struggled, but the people on the bottom and the people at the top of the rope helped them through it. After seeing them all get through it with support (remember, all it is a rope and a flat wall... no harness), I decided to go! I stood in the middle by the rope, and looked around at everyone and told them I was terrified, but, they all reassured me that I was going to be okay. After the person who was on top came down, I just started climbing. It was really difficult because the wall was slippery from the rain, but after a struggle, I made it up the wall! I stood at the top of that wall, looked down, and couldnt believe I did it! I'm still in shock to be honest. When I got up there the entire group cheered, and it was because of their support that I got up that wall. For me, it was so rewarding, and really telling of what my year is going to be like. There are going to be things that I'm going to be scared to do, or that are going to be difficult to overcome, but, I can do it, as long as I have the support of those around me. Sure, I'm going to stumble and slip and feel like I can't do it, but, at the end of the day, there are going to be people all around me willing to give me their support. I think that's so important to remember. We all have our mishaps, we all feel overwhelmed sometimes, but, we have to remember that there is ALWAYS help, as long as we look for it. I know for me, whenever I feel like I can't do something, I'm going to think back to today and the feeling I had when I got on top of that wall. I didn't do it gracefully, but I did it, and in the end that is all that matters.

That's all for today, and hopefully next time I come around these parts of the internet I will have found a picture of me doing the wall for you all (I know someone has one, I just have to find it).

See you all so soon!

The Pictures I Promised...

The lab bench I worked at. Notice my safety glasses at the bottom left :-)



Kristen! She was the graduate student I worked with.


The Devreotes lab. It was huge!


My poster!


Students (including me in the front right) from our program in front of the Hopkins Hospital.


I got artistic with my photography.


Clarissa, my roommate, and I on the shuttle on our way to work.


Another student, Neha, and me with a crab at Dr. Devreotes' Crab Feast (Dr. Devreotes is behind us). It's a right of passage in Baltimore to learn how to break apart and eat your own crab. Old Bay spice is a must.


Lots and lots of crabs covered in Old Bay.


Camden Yards (Orioles vs. Nationals)

As it stands, I am a week away from my return to Siena. But, as a sort of summer finale I ventured to Boston with a couple of my comrades with three major goals. First, one of us wanted to take a tour of the Sam Adam's Brewery in Jamaica Plains, Boston (ironically founded by Puritans). The tour was quite enjoyable, think Willie Wonka - minus the candy, Oompa-Loompas, and certifiable tour guide. After that we headed to Boston's North End, home to some of the best Italian cooking you'll ever find. My personal request was a stop at Mike's Pastry, which serves the best cannoli I have ever had (and trust me, I have had many). In my view, cannoli are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Come 7:00 PM we entered Fenway Park to watch what turned out to be a great game between the Chicago White Sox and the 'Home Sox,' as they were referred to in the customary 7th inning stretch rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

In any case, time to shift gears and start getting ready for Siena, which I am very much looking forward too!

Rainy Rainy Day

Hey everyone...

So I don't know if it's raining where any of you are, but it is pouring here. Apparently everyone here in Upstate NY is used to this weather by now. I didn't get to experience the constant rain when I was in Baltimore this summer. We always had clear skies and muggy heat. My mom told me that it rained almost every day in June up here (I live in Niskayuna, by the way). Anyway, I really hope this weather clears up for tomorrow. I'm having friends over for one last gathering before we all head back to school. *fingers crossed*

I spent last week in Cape Cod with my family. It was the first time I really got to relax all summer since I spent most of it in the lab at Hopkins. Unfortunately, I'm taking my GRE on September 1st, so I couldn't relax too too much. I'm really nervous about this one. I've heard from most graduate students that the GRE doesn't count for much. It's just another measure of one's ability to be a good student and thinker. But they say the most important things are research experience and stellar letters of recommendation. So I'm trying really hard not to sweat the GRE too much, but I'm going to be nervous regardless.

Has anyone looked at the GRE material yet? It's kind of frustrating. The verbal section is useful, but it includes words that are rarely used today. So in order to get a higher-than-average score, one has to memorize lists and lists of "antediluvian" terms. See, I'm trying to incorporate these words into my everyday language, but it just sounds silly. And the math section is also useful, I suppose, but you can't use a calculator and there are a lot of really really time-consuming problems (where you have to do long division with decimals and find percentages and proportions all at once). So it takes forever to do a problem that could have taken 1 minute. This test is definitely going to put my brain to the test. *sigh* Oh well. Wish me luck!

I am looking forward to going back to school though. I just received all of my textbooks, so I'm starting to get into school-mode. I think senior year will be a fun one.

Anywho...
I'm off to run some errands in the pouring rain. TTYL!

~Bianca

P.S. I'll put up some Hopkins pictures soon. I promise.

Dream Job!

Hey Everyone!

I know it's a little late, but I just got home from a great day.. at work! (unbelievable, right?). Tonight we had a very big Bacardi event in our upstairs private dining. The owners of the Bacardi company were there, and it was a "Mojito Workshop". All the guests learned how to make their own mojitos (I, unfortunately, missed out on the lesson... but, after making over 200 mojitos today for the rest of the guests, I think I get the jist of it), while dining on a delicious dinner. But, what was really great about this event, was that it was my project. What most people don't realize about a restaurant, is all the behind the scenes, which is what I did.

The event was blasted through e-mail last Friday to 42,000 people and it was completely booked by Friday evening. We had over 700 phone calls for the event (no exaggeration.. I answer the phones at work). People were calling up until last minute to try and enter the workshop. We had a three page waiting list! Now, with an event this large, a lot of planning has to go into it. This week, my job, along with my normal duties, was to do floorplans, seating charts, table set-ups, and menus, but not just for upstairs, for downstairs as well, because that dining room was completely booked too. The plan I made was fool-proof. Upstairs, since it was a hand- selected menu to go with Mojitos, we had sheets for each waiter and their tables to tally their orders. One copy stayed with them, one went to the kitchen. Then, we had to make tables for the workshop. I arranged the tables, who sat where, and, I seated each party to make sure that they were at the correct table. After everyone was seated, the real fun began. I ran big trays of food up the grand staircase, served people, ran drinks, along with helping out downstairs as well. I was everywhere; in the kitchen yelling at the executive chef because my food wasn't ready, I was in the upstairs kitchen plating desserts and ceviche, I was in the bar making drinks.. whatever needed to be done, really. It was that crazy busy! The Bacardi party ended at around 10, but then we had to clean up, and we still had a lot of tables downstairs (including my brother in the private room with his firm... that was fun... I had to serve them a few times, and they proclaimed they loved me more than him). But, my favorite part of the evening was when the owner of the Bacardi company came up to me, and told me what a great time he had. He was so impressed with how organized it was, and how delicious the food was, and how great the staff was. ( he didn't know I helped plan, he just knew I was one of his waiters). It made my day, and it made everyone elses day because he told us he wants to do more promotions with us. I'm just so proud of how great everything went! It was a lot of work, but, in the end, it was so very worth it.

Anyway, TEN MORE DAYS!! I'm getting very excited to move back.. But, I'm going to miss home. It's such a great predicament, because I love being home, but, I love being at school. Don't forget, if you haven't already done so.. Sign up for Pathfinders at www.siena.edu/pathfinders. And, if you guys have any questions about anything, feel free to e-mail me: la08geli@siena.edu. It's what I'm here for.

See you all soon :)

P.S- Bianca, thanks for the compliment! Photography is just a hobby for me though :)

P.S.S- Attached is a photo of the restaurant I work at from the outside that I took :)

A Return to Normalcy

Like I said, the next time you would here from I'd be in my hometown, Mechanicville (population 5,001), but, sad to say, no fishing to date. In the few days I've been back, I've been spending my time doing far less important stuff, such as studying for the upcoming Law School Admissions Test, going to the dentist, and getting my eyes checked (stronger glasses are definitely in my future). Hopefully I'll get some fishing in before classes start at Siena in about thirty days.

So, you're probably wondering why on earth I posted a picture of a half-naked man surrounded by other men around a bed. Don't worry, I anticipated your curiosity. Let me explain. Before I left New York City I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Now, I had been there once before during a sixth grade field trip, but the trip was so regimented that we saw a grand total of one exhibit (granted, it was the world-famous Egypt exhibit). So I decided to spend one of my days off from my internship at the museum. The place is massive. I spent seven hours (yes, seven) walking through the museum and I'm still not sure that I saw everything. My favorite exhibits were the European paintings exhibit and the Medieval art exhibit (both of which put to shame the modern art exhibit....Who likes that stuff anyway?). So, aimlessly wondering through the paintings I spot the picture you see posted, "The Death of Socrates" by Jacques Louis David. The only reason I noticed the picture was that it is used as the cover of the Phaedo, a Platonic dialogue, which I just read for a class last semester. So, here is the heroically portrayed Socrates, having been condemned to death by Athens, about to drink the poisonous hemlock that will kill him. He is confidently pointing upward, signifying to his followers his belief in the immortality of the soul.

Well, enough lessons on Greek philosophy for now (or forever if philosophy is just not your thing). I hope you all, fellow bloggers included, are enjoying these last few weeks of summer!

It's the end of the road...

So tomorrow is my very last day at Johns Hopkins.
I'm having mixed feelings about it... it's kind of bittersweet. On the one hand, I can't wait to go home, see my family and friends, and go on vacation in Cape Cod. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed. And I can't wait to get out of the lab.
But on the other hand, I've grown attached to Baltimore, the other students in my program, the researchers in my lab. I've even grown attached the the DNA I've been playing around with for the past 10 weeks.
*sigh*

So I've found a couple of minutes to blog as I'm getting ready for our final banquet/reception. I'm definitely dressing up for this one, as mostly everyday I have been wearing jeans and sneakers in the lab. I'm also doing a little ballet performance at the banquet (wish me luck!).

When I get a free minute after all of this crazy wrapping-up chaos, I'm definitely going to post some pictures for you guys on here.

But I'm off to enjoy my final 2 days and take in as much as I can.
:-)

~B

P.S. Leanne, I love the picture you posted! It is really artistic. Have you considered photography?? ;-)

Three Weeks :)

Hey Everyone!

It's been a while. How's your summer going? I see Bianca and Mike are finishing up their internships, and research... that must be so exciting! Everything here has been relatively calm; These past two weeks have been chock-full of work. (80 hours the past two weeks). It's been fun though. I've been doing a lot of Marketing for the restaurant, ( a sign I designed is now right outside, drawing in new clientele.. a very proud moment for me) and I've even had the chance to bartend (granted, I wasn't pulling a Tom Cruise in "Cocktail", but I made a $20 tip from just one person). It's been a great experience for me, and has definitely been a worthwhile time. What's great about this job is that I've been involved in every aspect of the restaurant. Inventory, cooking, calling vendors and getting my deliveries on time (vendors work on their own time schedule, no matter how big of a party you have coming in), working with catering, waitressing, hostessing, managing.. You name it, I've done it, lol.

My life hasn't been all work though. You know the old saying; Work hard, play harder. I've been visiting the beach to maintain my Cabo tan, and have just been hanging out with friends. On Friday I had a date with one of the greatest guys on Earth; My Daddy. For Fathers Day I bought him tickets for a Mets Game (Mets fan are there, for better or... this season). Of course, it was raining that day, and I was super nervous it was going to be cancelled, but, I lucked out, and it was just a 40 minute rain delay. During the delay I showed my Dad the new stadium, and he was just floored at how gorgeous the stadium is. The tickets we had gave us access to the Caesars Club, so we ate a delicious dinner there right before the game. Our seats were right on the right field side, and they were perfect. The Mets hit two homeruns, and even though they lost, it wasn't a bad game to watch. They played alright, it just wasn't the pitchers night. When you look at the Mets line-up, majority of our all stars are on the DL, so their horrendous standings is almost understandable.

Friday, my brother also came home to have a date with my Mom. They had a great time, but Saturday morning was an interesting one. We were all getting ready for a family event, and my brother totally hogged the bathroom. Although it was annoying at the time (Seriously, how long does it take to do your hair when your head is shaved?), looking back it was rather amusing. I felt like we were younger again, literally brawling in the hallway for the shower. Unfortunately for me, he's borrowing my car for the week, so I'm carless and I feel like I'm 15 with my Learning Permit all over again. It's okay though, he told me he's getting me a great present :). Saturday, since my Dad had to work, my mom and I had a date together. We went to Huntington and shopped around. My favorite book store had a sidewalk book store, and all the books ranged from one dollar to three. Needless to say, I had a field day. After my shopping spree, we went to our family restaurant and enjoyed a delicious dinner. My cousin Ron sent out his new special to our table, and it was so delicious. Long Island Clams, stuffed with crabmeat and then baked in the oven.. it makes my mouth water just typing it!

Anyway, I only have three weeks left till I go home.. I mean, back to Siena. I'm excited to start again. It's going to be a great year. Now, if you still haven't done so, sign up for pathfinders at: www.siena.edu/pathfinders. Hope you're all excited to start your first college semester- remember, if you have any questions (like what type of bedrisers to get, don't hesitate to ask).

See you all soon :)
Leanne

P.S- You had to be expecting this by now; Attached is a picture I took of Macs (the restaurant I work at) for the new catering folder.