Whoaaaaaa!

Hello All! I hope everyone is doing well today, because even though I'm feeling a little under the weather, I'm in a wonderful mood! Honestly, I don't really know why haha, but I'm just in a great mood. Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful St. Patty's Day, I spent mine in night class :o( It wasn't too bad though, we discussed a movie I really enjoyed, and my teacher actually let us out kinda early, which is always nice. OOOOO! And did everyone watch Siena in the NCAA tournament!? It was so amazing, I was so proud of my team. Even though we lost to Louisville, it could've been so much worse, I mean we really could've gotten our butts kicked, BUT WE DIDN'T! We really had them shaking in their boots, which was actually a nice feeling :o) We tried so hard, and I can be nothing but proud of our school<3

Another exciting thing going on in my life: I went to a editorial workshop this past Friday for The New York Times. I went with the editor and chief or the Promethean, Kelly Peckholdt, and we had such a great time! I learned to much while I was there, and I'm hoping the skills I learned will be beneficial to me when I go to London next fall. Which by the way, I am so excited for!

Also! Relay for Life is coming up here on Siena campus on April 17. I have started a team in my Uncle John's name, and all of my friends have joined. It really is amazing how they all have been so incredibly supportive! If anyone would like to read about the cause, or make a donation of any kind, here's the link to my team!

Anyway, time for homework :o( Boo! Talk to you soon!

-Laur*

...and the crowd goes wild!

WOW, what a game! The Franciscans on campus must have been praying hard for the miracle finish yesterday when our men's basketball team won a double overtime game against Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. If you haven't been following the Saints too closely, let me briefly set the stage for you.

Going into this season, our basketball team was favored to win the MAAC (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Winning every home game, and playing tough competition along the way (including some of the best teams in the country such as Pittsburgh and Kansas), the Saints finished the season undefeated at home earned the best seeding in the MAAC Tournament, the winner of which would move on to the NCAA Tournament, known as "The Big Dance." Fortunately, Siena won the MAAC Tournament as expected, and was given the opportunity to compete in the next round.

That brings us to yesterday, when Siena was pitted against Ohio State, a team that played in the National Championship Game just two years ago. But don't take my word for it, listen to what ESPN has to say... http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=294000048

Alright, lets root for the Saints this Sunday at 5:20 on CBS as they play #1 seeded Louisville!!!

What a Week!

Hey everyone!
Greg here writing to you again from Siena, Italy.
Its been such an amazing past few weeks. Last week we were off 10 days for our spring break. My friends and I planned a huge trip to London, England; Glasgow, Scotland; and Dublin Ireland. It was such an amazing vacation and I had such a blast! We also got to meet up with some of our friends who are abroad in London and Dublin. Traveling in Europe is SO easy and so inexpensive. Some of my other friends went to places like Turkey, Hungry, Greece, etc. Coming back to Italy at the end was kind of strange because we were away in English-speaking countries that were so similar to America for so long. Being away really showed me how different the Italian study abroad experience is from that in London. My friends who are in London absolutely looooveee it there...but they are definitely lacking the whole cultural aspect of it that I am enjoying so so much in Italy. Anyway this week my parents actually came to visit so they were here for the week. We've been here to Siena, Italy, before but they were excited to come back and visit me and see my school and such. This week we also had an excursion to this little town called Montalcino where we went to tour a Winery. It was SO cool to see how they make the wine and how its stored in huge huge barrels. Then we got to sample some and learn the differences. I absolutely love wine. Food & Wine are like the Italian trinity...if that makes any sense? But ive been thinking how its so wild how quickly time goes by and theres only like 50-something days left! I am definitely looking forward to home because I miss it so so much, but i KNOW once i'm home for 24 hours im going to be suffering lol and want to be back in Italy (it alwaysssss happens...)
Anyway this week started the beginning of nicer weather ( I hope it stays). Its been so beautiful out!! I am actually sitting outside right now in the Piazza del Campo, which is like the main piazza in our town. There are hundreds of people out here!! I absolutely love just sitting and people watching! (or blogging for you guys..or being on facebook, haha).
I have to at some point actually get some work done though!
Anyway, I put up some photos from my travels. Check them out!
http://picasaweb.google.it/greg.papa/SienaItaly?feat=directlink

Ciao!!
Gregorio

BIRTHDAY!

Hi Everyone!

How is everything?

I am sorry that I have not blogged in a little while, as I have been rather busy. 

Anyway, TONIGHT AT 9:40 PM on CBS, our Siena Saints take on the Ohio State Buckeyes!

GO SAINTS!

Anyway, yesterday was my 20th birthday! I can't believe it! I'm definitely getting up there!

I have a twin sister (I'm 5 minutes older) so I decided to come home for the weekend and spend my birthday with my family!

How is everyone's college search going?

Talk to you soon,

Patrick

*I have attached a picture of my family and myself cutting the birthday cake!

Civic Awareness

A common accusation laid against kids our age by older folks is that we are politically apathetic. Well, I have had about enough of hearing that and so I, with a little help from fellow members of the Political Science Society here at Siena, will be establishing a political newsletter where students will be able to sound off on a number of political issues relevant to today. I'm really excited about the opportunity to start something like this. While we here at Siena have a popular student newspaper known as The Promethean, the focus of the paper is broad and doesn't typically devote a great deal of time to political issues. As soon as I came to Siena as a freshman I felt there was a need for some sort of publication oriented toward current events and contentious political issues that get everybody's blood boiling. Hopefully the forthcoming political newsletter will serve this purpose!

Take Care,
Mike DiSiena

Bhangra!!!

Yes that's right, Bhangra is a North Indian style dance, and for those of you who read my earlier posts, I'm on the team at Siena! We've actually got a competition coming up on Saturday, March 21st.

Because of our upcoming competition, practice has been pretty intesnse! We've actually got two hour practices every day next week! Yes, its going to be pretty busy. But... the competition should be good! I'm excited.

So, in addition to Bhangra, school has been keeping me pretty busy. This week and next are filled with midterms for all the students. The library has been packed, and I'm sure its only going to get worse next week. I luckly only have one midterm in my Honors Ethics class which I took this morning. It was not too bad.

So, as an RA on campus, I've decided to put on a program during midterms called Childhood Therapy. It counts as a wellness program for me and serves as a stress-relief for the students. At this program, we have various different finger foods, all reminiscent of childhood, in addition to small arts, crafts, and games. I mean c'mon, who doesn't love to finger paint and play with glitter?? I actually put on this same program last semester and it was a huge hit! It has been my most successful program yet! This time, my program is this upcoming Wednesday. I'm pretty excited for it.

Well, I suppose I should go get some homework done. I've been loosing a lot of time to Bhangra practice.

Until next time,
Indira

Champions!!!

Hello everyone! Hope all is well on this lovely Sunday evening. This weekend has been one jam-packed with sports fun. Between basketball and hockey this campus has gotten excited over the dominating performances of their schools team. Basketball has been on the road to the MAAC tournament championship Saturday and Sunday. Both games that they played against Canisius and Fairfield were a slaughter. The overpowering performances have given the team a shot at the championship on Monday. I have no doubt in my mind that Siena will run away with their third consecutive MAAC championship tomorrow night! If any of you have the oppertunity to go and cheer the team on it would one of the most exciting games to see all year!....Aside from basketball, as I said early, hockey was also trying their luck at winning a championship. Yesterday we played against UNH in the semi-finals of the Super East championship and narrowly won 3-2 in over time. Today we played against William Patterson, a team we had been fighting to knock off the first spot this whole year and we creamed them. The first period was close with a 2 1 score, but then it opened up to a 8 1 Siena victory!! woot woot. Siena is in such high spirits after such an amazing weekend. On top of being excited for spring we now all have something else to talk about. The hockey team will advance to nationals in Michigan and basketball will hopefull cruise to the Big Dance. Watch for them on TV...

Peace ya'll, Josh Baillargeon

Spring Break

So, I realize that it has already been a full week after spring break, but I have been way too busy to update the blog. I had a long week full of exams, papers, research, and everything in between.

But back to spring break. I went down to the Dominican Republic with the Women's Center for a service trip. We stayed with a group of Franciscan Nuns who had a school. We worked in the school, teaching kids english and doing arts and crafts activities. In the afternoons, we also worked with an afterschool program. We sang songs, did arts and crafts, and read stories. Thursday was our tourist day where we went into the colonial district for some sight seeing and stopped by the souvenir shops. Friday was our beach day. We went down to the beach for the entire day because it was their Independance Day and the children did not have school. The water was crystal clear and so warm!

Overall, the trip was phenomenal. I had so much fun, and I really hope I can go back sometime soon. I exchanged email addresses with some of the sisters, teachers, and students, so hopefully I'll be able to keep in touch with them all. I feel like a changed person coming back. Being able to learn about and experience a different culture and lifestyle has changed my perspective on life. I am much more grateful for all that I have and now I am that much more motivated to give back to those who need it.

Below is a few pictures from the Dominican Republic. Enjoy!

Now that the weekend is upon us, there is great anticipation for Saturday's MAAC Tournament where our Siena Men's Basketball team can earn itself a ticket to the "Big Dance." This year, the Saints have the #1 seed, meaning that they have the best record in the conference and should have the easiest route to the championship. As though that advantage weren't enough, the Tournament is being held at the Times Union Center, where the men play their home games throughout the season. Rumor has it that all seats the venue has to offer will be open for purchase (that's 17,000 by the way), so it's going to be crazy! Siena will be playing the winner of tonight's game (either Loyola or Canisius), tomorrow at five o'clock (check your local listings). So lets hear it: GO SAINTS!

Spring break = officially over.

UGHHHHHHHHHH. Back in Albany and the cold weather, when I was just in Florida LAST WEEK SITTING ON THE BEACH. Grrr. Speaking of which, my trip was excellent! We were in St. Petersberg, which is a beach right outside of Tampa. My boyfriends grandma owns a condo down there, so we went down with his family and spent the week. So much fun, and I got a nice tan to boot! :o)

Any who, how is everyone else doing? Its snowing like crazy here, yet we still have classes. I feel like everyone else that I know has a snow day today except me! So unfair! :o( Back on Long Island, every high school is closed, and they have well over a foot! I'm sorry, but last time I checked, I was the one in ALBANY. Ha ha, Oh well, not too long before Easter right?

Yuck, midterms are coming. As an English major though, I don't have too many tests. Instead, I have to write four papers, which is way more fun...let me tell you...NOT. Ha ha, but Id so much rather write then study. For me its just easier ya know? Ah well, to each his own I guess.

Alright, well I should probably go and start one of these papers, considering the first of them is due tomorrow. Wonderful. Enjoy the snow everyone!