The Roomates

Hope everyone had a good week! Valentines day has come and past eh? Sad to say I didn't have a valentine, but hey maybe next year. This week has been hectic between tests, labs and projects , but lately I've been worried more about the housing for next year. Getting a good group of roommates more specifically. Over the summer break, I met my roommate while at orientation. That was a pretty big deal for me because I wanted someone who I not only got along with, but wouldn't be a distraction for me to get my homework done. Though I ended up getting Andrew as my roommate I also got another student, which has turned out fine. He's a great kid and we all get along. Life is good with the two of them. Looking towards next year, I couldn't see only one person in particular I wanted to room with. As I talked to my buddy down the hall about the situation and another buddy I had on the hockey team, we decided, why not get a quad? Three of us were down to room, so it was up to us to decide on a fourth. We quickly decided that our other friend from the second floor was going to be a perfect fit. Even though we have our choice of roommates we still have to wait to see how good a housing number one of us gets before our plan can be put into action. The lottery for housing is random for the most part, but those kids with better GPA's are drawn first as I've been told. I hope that with the stiff competition and few available quads that our group gets our choice of living. My grades are good, but I'm not known for being too lucky so I guess we'll see how everything plays out.

Keep it real ya'll, Josh

Valentine's Day, Shmalentine's Day

This is the worst day in the world to be single. All my housemates are buying flowers and going out for dinner and blah blah. I'm listening to my iPod doing homework on a beautiful afternoon...but hey, I'm not bitter or anything haha :)

So as Lauren pointed out I DID NOT WIN Mr. Siena....really bummed. I had 9 people from home come up to cheer me on, including my parents and sister for the 4th time. My best friend came up for the first time. Now let me say, it was an awesome show and we broke the record for the amount raised for Habitat for Humanity. BUT, as much as I love Bryan (the winner) I must say that I think the judges botched it a little. I mean, not only was it my 4th time, but I wore a zebra pattern halter-top dress (yes, ladies I DO know what that is), nailed my song, had giveaways for the crowd, the whole place (600 ppl) was even chanting my name!! My parents were even kinda disappointed I didn't win!!! Haha when your mom is proud that you were wearing a dress, you know something is wrong! Anyways, I can't even say that there's always next year :( Oh well. I'll remain title-less...although I did win best talent, which I guess is some consolation.

Tomorrow is a huge Presidential Scholars day. Maybe some of you will even be here...Last weekend went well ad we're all very excited for this weekend too. Anyways I hope you enjoy your Valentine's Day!

P.S Rehearsals for the play are going well. I ALMOST have all my lines memorized...I might recommend coming to see it if anyone is into theater. I can certainly get anyone interested more info! BYE!

RA on duty...

I am currently sitting in the RA office of Hennepin Hall. Yes, thats right, I'm an RA, or Residence Assistant. During the year I make nametags, put up bulletin boards, create a community on the floor, and am occassionally on duty for the evening.

It is actually a pretty fun job. You get to meet a lot of other people, such as the other RAs on campus and the students who live in your building. You also get the added bonus of a paycheck every other week. That reminds me, I have to pick up my paycheck tomorrow. yay!
Here's a picture of the Hennepin Hall RA staff from the fall when we had RA training.

So, today was a pretty long day. I had an interview in the morning because I had applied for the SAINT position. That means I help out during freshman orientation in the fall. (If you end up coming to Siena, keep an eye out for me!) I would move in a week early and help students adjust to campus and attend the sessions.

I also had to help one of my professors install a program on his computer. He was having issues and sent out a cry for help via email. Then, I had my one on one meeting with my RD, Adam. We meet every other week just to touch base and see how everything is going.

Then later in the evening I went to the Asian Students Association's Valentines Day Dinner. They had amazing food and chocolate covered fruit!!

After that I met a friend in the library to study for an exam I have tomorrow.

And then I had bhangra practice. We finished choreographing the girl's dance earlier in the day, so we had to teach the other girls. It was a fairly laid back practice, so it was fun.

And now I find myself in the RA office, writing to all of you. It's been a long day and im pretty excited to go take a shower and go to bed. I get off duty at 12:00, so one more hour and I'll be free.

Until next time,

Indira

Mr. Siena & tons of workkkkk

Hello all! I hope every one's week went well! Mine like totally flew by, and I seriously feel like that's how all the weeks are going. We go home for "spring break" in like 2 weeks. Cool, spring break in February. Awesome? Ha ha :o)

Anyways, nothing too exciting from this week. But I did get a 97 on my first exam of the semester! Whoopee. Hopefully that will carry through with all of my classes. Doubtful.

I really want to go see a good movie. Any suggestions? I haven't seen like a really good movie in a really long time. OOOO!!! The Grammys are on tonight, yay! I should probably put those on considering they start at 8.

Today I had a Presidential Scholar come and stay with me. Her name was Nikki, and seriously such a sweetheart! She said Siena was her first choice, which is so awesome. On top of that, she was from Long Island. Best place in the world! I mean, besides Siena of course! No but on a more serious note, she really did love the campus, and I think coming and staying with an actual student was great, and I really think Presidential Scholars, and any over night program for that matter is really important. Its good to get a feel for the school while shadowing an actual student ya know?

Okay, so last night was Mr. Siena, the 4th annual to be exact. And let me say, while I think the winner did a WONDERFUL and amazing job, I was really disappointed that Conor didn't win! I think he deserved it after trying all four years. I was actually really sad for him :o( But he did win another title, which is good. All the contestants in the Mr. Siena contest were all really good and sooooo funny. Love it.

Anyways, I know this blog was kinda a stream of consciousness, but hey, interesting though! Catch up with you next time!*

Mr. Siena 2009

And our new, Mr. Siena 2009 is...

Yes thats right, every year at Siena we have a Mr. Siena competition. It is actually a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. In this men's pagent, 10 Siena men compete in three categories: Habitat wear, Talent, and Formal Wear. It's a huge event every year and I'm willing to bet a good portion of campus was there last night.

The show started at 9:00 and started with a dance routine performed by our lovely 10 contestants. I was actually in a small portion of the show! I was helping him with his talent act. He had decided to sing, so we made a mock American Idol and I was Paula Abdul.

Unfortunately, my friend did not win, but its all in good fun. The show was amazing and Brian Schroder was crowned the new Mr. Siena 2009. He's currently a sophomore and was actually in the show last year.

I would post a picture, but I don't have any from the show. Perhaps later in the week I'll post one, so keep tuned!

:o) Until next time,

Indira

SIRA

Hi Everyone,

How are you? I hope all is well! 

I can't believe it's already February and we are already rapidly approaching midterms! Classes are going so well but I just can't believe how fast time is going by. 

Once you guys come to Siena (hopefully!), I will be a junior! I don't believe it! It's actually really upsetting, so I won't say anymore about that. 

Two good friends of mine just recently created a new club on campus! It's called Siena Investment and Research Association! It's a club open to all majors, however it specializes for students who want to make contacts with the business world and who really want to learn all about the business world. We have corporate sponsors from Northwestern Mutual, Nestle Corporation, Citizens Bank and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Within SIRA, there are five divisions, Global Markets Division, Economic Advisory Division, Marketing Relations Division, Accounting and Business Ethics Division and the Investment Banking division.

The club focuses on current economic and financial events and each division creates a research project on any topic that fits within their division. Each division has a faculty advisor and a corporate advisor. This is an awesome club.

Actually as of yesterday, I was hired as Vice President and Chief Accountant of the Accounting and Business Ethics Division! I cannot wait to get started and accomplish great work for this club. I am going to pick five students to join my team and then we will decide what to research. When we are ready, we are going to put on a 20 minute presentation, along with a paper for the whole campus and our corporate sponsors. 

I cannot wait to start going through resumes and interviewing applicants for my division!

I'll let you know what we decide to research! 

Lastly, any Presidential Scholars?!?!?

I am hosting someone this weekend and am very excited.

I will be around all weekend, so if you read the blogs and recognize me, talk to me!

Or ask around! I hopefully look forward to meeting you all!

-Patrick

Everybody's Workin For the Weekend!

Hey all- So it's Friday night, about 10:30...and instead of going out with all my friends for a fun enjoyable night, I decided to blog for you guys! Haha sorta kidding. I mean you're all very special to me, but I'm trying to conserve some energy. You see tomorrow night is the 4th Annual Mr. Siena Competition/Pageant/Contest/Ridiculously Embarrassing Night. I'm the only person at Siena to have been in all 4. NO, I haven't won...yet! It's the largest non-mandatory, non-sporting event on campus. We should get about 600 people in attendance tomorrow. It will feature choreographed dances, talents, formal wear, questions and answers, and more. I will be singing for my talent...we'll see how it goes. Be sure to check Youtube in the coming days if you want to see what it is like! Wish me luck.

Also, if any of you are Presidential Scholars coming to campus I'm really excited to see and meet you guys. I will be there in my suit and Siena tie ready to meet and greet you and your families! Travel safe and keep it up in school!

I think I promised you more Inauguration pictures, so here you go!

This one on the left is Michelle Obama in her limo. I had a great shot of Barack but the woman in front of me waved her hand as he was driving by so all I have is the thumb of her white glove where his head should be...miserable.



The next one is the Capitol just before the Inauguration ceremony.

The last picture is the Air and Space Museum where we had our Gala.

Honors Thesis!

I think I might have mentioned this a long time ago but I am one of several "Honors Fellows" at Siena College. Let me briefly explain. An Honors Fellow is an individual who is selected by the College-Wide Honors Program to engage in particularly challenging coursework throughout College. Part of the program includes writing a very lengthy paper known as your "Honors Thesis." This isn't just any old paper, this is a paper that requires taking three different classes in order to complete it. This semester I am beginning the first class, which focuses on the research component of the paper. Students are asked to think of a topic (just about any topic that you have a background in based on the classes you've taken up to that point), and start researching for it. The class meets once a week during which a small group of students discuss their progress.

At this point I have just selected a topic. Seeing how I am a political science and philosophy major, I thought it would be fun to look at the origins and development of the concept of executive power. In any case, I am looking forward to the whole process, which won't be completed until the end of my Senior year. Like I said, this ain't just any old paper!

Hope Everyboy is Doing Well,
Mike DiSiena

"Without education we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously." ~G.K. Chesterton

The Blogging Crew

Hope everyone had a good week. I'm stoked that it 's finally the weekend for sure. Homework and hockey are kicking my butt so I'm ready for a break. Aside from that, the other day I finally got to meet my fellow bloggers. We had meetings originally scheduled earlier on in the year, but they kept getting post-poned due to sickness or prior commitments. I would have to say I was a little nervous to meet the my fellow partners in crime. I didn't know what to expect of them or what they were like. The unknown makes me timid! :( But as I've come to find out, like all the other kids on campus it seems, they were very nice. Being the new kid I didn't really have much to talk about, although it was nice to just listen to what they had to say. We discussed about traveling abroad and attending the presidential inauguration. Two of my peers were planning on going to Europe for their study abroad. Greece and France seemed to be the topic of choice for the two of them. I was kind of jealous about their travels when I heard about their soon to be adventures. Last summer I ended up going with one of my buddies from home to Sweden. It was unbelievable. My friend showed me all around Gothenburg. I got to see both parts of Sweden and Germany. Europe is incredible. Siena encourages studying abroad and experiencing new cultures. Just about anywhere in the world you could imagine to visit is available for you to go and stay. If I had the time I would definitely take part. I don't know where I'd like to study. Maybe Norway or Finland, try and see the other two Scandinavian countries. But then again who knows, France and England are nice too!

Sorry everyone, but I have to go. Take it easy, Josh

News from the REAL Siena =]

Ciao tutti!
Gregorio here, writing to you again from Siena, Italy, where I am studying abroad for the semester. its about 9:45am here and I am sitting in the lounge at school working on a powerpoint presentation that I have to give. As I had said in my previous post, Italy is absolutely amazing...I love living here. This week is the last week of the "intensive" Italian language courses before the actual semester classes start. Butttttt, before that, the school is taking us all up to northern Italy to the Dolomites (Italian Alps) for a week! We're also going to be stopping in Verona (city where Romeo & Jiulet took place) as well as in Trento (Italian city that borders Austria). And when we come back on Thurs, me and a few friends made plans to go to Venizia (Venice), Italy for the famous "Carnivale." For those who don't know, Carnivale Venezia is kind of like Mardi Gras in the USA. I'm so excited. Then when we come back the actual semester courses begin.
Wed after school my class has a cooking workshop which i am so excited for....as a matter of fact my host-mother is the instructor! (its at her cooking school which is right next to ours). My roommate's class had his yesterday and he said it was so amazing and he learned so much. The weather here in Siena hasn't been too great...lots of rain...but apparently it is supposed to get better!
Anyway I'm going to get back to work, but here a few pictures!!

Ci Parliamo! (talk to you soon)