Another week passes by...

Hi Everyone!

I can't believe Summer is officially over! It's really upsetting. However, one really nice thing about Siena is that we really get all four seasons. When the leaves start changing colors and the temperature starts to drop, I am hard pressed to find a more beautiful place than right here in Loudonville. Lately, the weather has been awesome here and nothing beats eating dinner and having class outside!

Classes are going pretty well thus far, however junior year is tough. I am finally into my Finance curriculum and it's brutal. I am learning an exorbitant amount however, I am really putting the effort into each class.

This Thursday on campus, we are having an Academic Convocation celebrating the 800 year anniversary of the founding of the Franciscans. It is also the ten year anniversary of our Center for Franciscan Service and Advocacy. Every single person in our community participates, as this is an awesome occasion! Since I am have a fellowship with the Siena College Leadership Institute, I have the privilege of sitting with the faculty and Friars!

Regardless of your faith, you definitely embrace the Franciscan tradition here on campus. Whether it is our beautiful campus (as previously mentioned) or by practicing the values that the college instills in us everyday, we all have a little bit of the spirit of St. Francis and St. Clare in us!

I hope all is well with you and encourage you to keep reading and leaving comments!

Patrick Creegan

Happy Autumn (tomorrow!)

So it's been a little while since I last posted. I've been trying to get back into the school routine. This is what I have on my plate this semester: Biology of Vertebrates, Immunology, Social Work, Modern Dance (with Ellen Sinopoli, an amazing modern choreographer who I am so excited to be dancing with), and my Honors Thesis course. I am also trying to manage teaching 3 dance classes, tutoring, conducting plant biology research in the lab here at Siena, serving as president of Phi Sigma Gamma Sigma (biological honor society), and being a team leader for the club Read for the Stars (which is where a bunch of us college kids go into Arbor Hill Elementary to conduct a fun after school program for the kids there). It is going to be a crazy crazy busy semester. But I guess I have always thrived on being busy.
So far I really like all of my classes, and the work hasn't gotten too unmanageable yet, but it's only the third week.
Oh but guess what! I went white water rafting last weekend with a bunch of kids from here as an outing program. I usually would never try anything like that, but I just decided to go for it. And it was the best decision I ever ever made! White water rafting was so much fun. Scary. But really fun... and I think I'm going to go do it again!

But anyway, it's getting really late and I have an 8:30 lab tomorrow. How are all of your semesters starting off, guys?

TTYL :-)

~B

Back in the swing of things!

Hey Everyone!

It's been a while. For any newcomers, my name is Leanne Gelish and I am a SienaBlogger. I started blogging over the summer, and have been asked to continue for the school year. A little background information on me. I am a Sophomore Accounting Major from Long Island. Here on campus I am one of four coordinators for the admissions club called "Pathfinders", I write for The Promethean, and I am an Ambassador. For me, there's nothing more rewarding and fun than being involved, so I pile as much as I can onto my plate without anything overlapping.

Now, in between club meetings I do attend class. This semester I am taking 5 courses; 3 Business courses, one core, and one Honors Class. Along with my major, I am working towards an Honors Certificate in English, so I try and take the classes when they're available.

For my summer readers; RA TRAINING IS FINALLY FINISHED! (Yes, I am part of the Residential Life team as well). Although it was roughly over one hundred hours of training, it was also a lot of fun. On Monday after the Ropes Course, we went to Pyramid Lake and I got marooned on a sailboat and had to swim a mile and half back with my good friend. It was hilarious, and slightly exhausting. As part of training we had a contest between each team and the objective was to take as many pictures that pertain to the theme as possible... and, MY TEAM WON!!! Hopefully, I can attach the video for you because it pretty much sums up my 12 days of training.

Now, everyone is back on campus and the school year has finally started. It's been great seeing everyone again, and it's definitely great being back in classes. (I know... I'm a tad bit of a dork). Remember the Arkansas Wedding I wrote about? Well, my cousins deployment day is rapidly approaching so this weekend I went home to surprise him and say "goodbye". It was great being home (it's been about a month) and even better being able to see a lot of my family. I got to sample some new items for the menu at work, and it was so incredibly delicious. The rest of the evening was spent reminscing and laughing about all our memories together. It was hard saying "see you later" (it's not a goodbye) to him since we grew up together, but what he is doing is heroic and I admire him for his sacrifice.

Sunday was Pathfinder training and it was so much fun! Each of us worked really hard to make that day run as smoothly as possible, with as much education and fun as possible, and I think we accomplished that! Our Pathfinder group was so energetic, and I know we're going to have a great year.

This Sunday we have Open House (anyone attending?), and we have a lot of planning to do for that as well. I'm excited to see prospective students, give some tours and meet some families. It's going to be a great day!

Anyway, I have some homework to finish up, but, I'll be back soon!
Have a great week, everyone!

Home Sweet Home

Hi Everyone,

My name is Patrick Creegan and I am a Siena Blogger!

How are you? I can't believe we are back at Siena!!!

Since I am now a junior, I guess I am considered an upperclassman? If so, that's really depressing. My college experience is officially more than half over.

Classes are really tough this semester however they are going well. I am taking Finance 315 Advanced Investments, FINC 340 Insurance and Risk Management, Finance 302 Managerial Finance II, Accounting 300 and Computer Science Management Information Systems! Talk about a crazy class load.

Of all these classes, I am looking forward to my Advanced Investments class the most. I am not sure if you have ever visited Siena, but we have a beautiful trading room. This class is in the trading room! It's awesome working with Bloomberg terminals, Reuters and different financial systems. We are working on our first project, we have 100 million virtual dollars to invest as we please. I am looking into the Financial and Energy sectors in the market along with different corporate bonds. I am finally taking classes that directly pertain to my major!

Another advantage of being an "upperclassman" is the housing accommodations. I live in a four man townhouse in Cushing Village. Our house has two stories with two bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms. We have a living room, dining room and full kitchen! It's awesome!

I am arguably the world's worst cook, so I am pretty fortunate that my housemates cook quite well.

I have attached a picture from our first family dinner! Whole wheat pasta! We actually eat a lot of pasta! Hahaha.

There is also a picture of me, that way you can know who the author of these blogs are!!

Lastly, is anyone coming to our open house next weekend?

Looking forward to meeting you!

Sincerely,

Patrick Creegan