Officially a Graduate

May 16th, 2010. Commencement Ceremony.

It's official, I've graduated from Siena with a Bachelor of Arts degree!

I can't believe the past four years have gone by so fast! Siena was a great experience, and if I could turn back time, I'd definitely go to Siena again. Looking back, it was the right choice for me. I could talk forever about Siena, but it really won't mean anything to you until you visit Siena yourself and get a personalized tour from one of our many tour guides.

So good luck to all you out there looking at potential colleges. Hopefully if you decide to come to Siena, your experience will be as rich as mine.

Adios! y Buenos Suerte!

Indira

READ this Summer!

No shoes, no shirts, no problems.

Hey Everyone!

It's finally summer time. I was at Siena until the 17th to close the Townhouses, but now I am back on the good old Island (Long Island) for the summer.

My summer consists of two jobs, 3 vacations, and hopefully some down time in between. I'm working at Macs again as an "Everything" girl. I do everything from sorting the plates in the kitchen, to designing marketing campaigns, to up-keeping the website. There's no real "job title" for what I do, but it keeps me busy. I'll also be working at a dental office doing insurance claims, and hopefully helping them launch their new website.

What I am enjoying about my summer jobs is seeing my education at Siena come into play. My main focus at Macs this summer is creating Marketing campaigns. I designed 3 separate designs and proposals within the past 36 hours and they've each been a huge success. Who says you don't learn anything in college?

But, I'm off to pack for my first vacation: CANCUN!!!

I'll give you an update when I come home :)

1 Month 27 Days 18 Hours & 4min till a Semester in AFRICA!

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been super busy the last few weeks and haven't gotten to blog! Right now I am back home on Long Island just getting together the rest of my paper work for my visa to SOUTH AFRICA! I am so excited I leave July 11th and come back Novemeber 17th! This is the University I will be going to!



Certainly not your five minute walk to classes at Siena, but with those mountains I can def. handle it. Siena's Study Abroad Department really gives you the opportunity to go just about anywhere. A friend of mine is going to India and another Vietnam!



<3 Liv

3 Classes, 1 Exam, and a Thesis Defense :-)

Sorry Mike... I had to copy you! Although, it looks like I might have a lighter load than you as we face the end of our time here at Siena.

This is it. I just had my last Tuesday-Thursday class at Siena (for those of you who do not know what this is, classes either fall on Monday-Wednesday-Fri or Tuesday-Thursday). I also had my last thesis meeting ever... By the way, my thesis defense is on Monday, May 3rd at 7pm in the Library (L26) for those of you who might be interested in coming!
This is just a bunch of "lasts," and I don't like it!

Soon I will be a Siena alum, moving on to earn my Ph.D. in Biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
But before that, I want to enjoy my last two weeks here. As weird as it sounds, I'm going to try to enjoy the stress of finals, my defense, poster presentations, inductions, and studying. And I'm going to enjoy Senior Week with all of the friends that I have grown up with over these past four years.

*sigh*

~Bianca

4 Classes, Two Exams, and a Thesis Defense

That just about sums up my remaining academic obligations as a Siena College student. I've really been soaking up my remaining weeks - or, perhaps better - days at Siena. It really has flown on by, and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here.

Importantly, though, Siena has provided me with a quality education. I'm not finished yet and I'll be headed to law school, particularly, Washington and Lee University School of Law. Now, as I've mentioned, I am from Mechanicville, a grand total of twenty-five minutes from Siena. Washington and Lee is in Lexington, Virginia, about nine hours from home. That's what I call broadening one's horizons! There are some similarities to Siena from what I can tell, such as emphasis on fostering a tight-knit community. So, law school will be a new experience both academically and culturally, and I am very much looking forward to it.

Not just yet, though. Until graduation I'll be taking in every bit of Siena I have left!

Take Care,
Mike DiSiena

"Lawyers, I suppose, were children once."
~Charles Lamb

Last Week!

Hey Everyone!

This is the last week of classes for all of us and its very hectic. Its truly amazing how quickly time goes by. I was recently talking with one of my friends about this year and I realized how great this year was. My first accomplishment was finally declaring a major (applause!). Its a relief to be on a track, even though I still have a whole list of things I want to do in life. My second accomplishment this year was finally officially becoming an RA. Being a resident assistant truly changed my life.I've met some great people (including my boyfriend, Dylan =]) and I know that many of the boys and I will still be friends even after they've left "mommys nest". My third major accomplishment this year was being able to juggle everything. Its so easy to become self absorbed when you see everything on your plate, overflowing onto the table but I didn't let that happen. My juggling had many mishaps, but I'm fortunate in that I always have family and friends supporting me.

Overall, this was a great year for me, and I can't wait for my junior year... Even though I'm still flabbergasted at the fact that two years have flown by SO quickly.


Until the summer,
Leanne

Graduation

Wow, four years of Siena really does go by fast! It has really started to hit me lately that I'm almost done with Siena! We are currently in our last week of classes, and then next week is Finals! The actual graduation day is set for Sunday, May 16th.

I've been talking to my parents about plans for graduation and moving out. My mom was actually mentioning how proud she was of me, and how she wouldn't miss my graduation or any of the other celebrations for anything!

Many of the clubs are now coming to an end as well, so the leadership is being passed on to the next year's e-board. It is nice to pass on the responsibility of a club or organization to someone else, but it also makes you realize that you are moving on. Being the Captain of the Bhangra team certainly kept me busy, so passing on the responsibility isn't so bad, but at the same time, I'm really going to miss the team!

Moreover, I realized that academics are going to be very different for me! Next year I'll be going to Medical School. That means for the first two years, I basically attend lectures, study, and take exams. I'm pretty much done writing papers and my science classes won't have lab. Well, except for our anatomy lab in which we dissect cadavers, but that's not exactly the same thing as biochem lab.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that life passes by fast! If I've learned anything from it all, it is certainly to enjoy every minute of it! So be spontaneous, have some fun, achieve great things, and make some great memories of it all!

:o) To Siena's class of 2010, and to all the high school seniors about to graduate as well, Congratulations!

"Your Names Are Inscribed On Fames Immortal Scroll"

One of the privileges of my time here at Siena has been attending, twice now, a trip to Gettysburg with my fellow students. The trip is organized and led by John Vallely, one of our librarians and a lecturer on U.S Military History. Each year Mr. Vallely takes students to the Battlefield and explains in detail the history of the battle and the significance underlying the many monuments found throughout the grounds. The stories of the sacrifices of those that fought those fateful days in 1863 were truly moving, and Mr. Vallely did an expert job in making the monuments come alive through his account of the battle.

While I'm a political science and philosophy major, I've always loved History, particularly U.S. History. Last year, when the opportunity presented itself to go to Gettysburg, a place I had never gone to before, I jumped at it. I am so glad I did then, and that I was able to do so again. One cannot go to those grounds, made sacred by the blood shed by tens of thousands of American soldiers, and leave unaffected. There are 1,400 monuments preserving the memory of the battle, but the one that strikes me most is the monument, pictured above, to the North Carolinians that fought for the Confederacy (for another angle, see here. The North Carolina monument, designed by the same fellow that designed Mount Rushmore, depicts the faces of actual men that fought in the battle, forever facing the field where Pickett's Charge occured. Behind the monument reads these moving words "To the eternal glory of the North Carolina soldiers. Who on this battlefield displayed heroism unsurpassed sacrificing all in support of their cause. Their valorous deeds will be enshrined in the hearts of men long after these transient memorials have crumbled into dust."

Defending a Year and a Half of Work

So, I just got the go ahead today to schedule my Honors Thesis Defense, which is where my very hard work will be presented to the Siena College community, as well as to others who might choose to attend. I wrote my thesis on something called Just War Theory and how the changing character of war calls for modifications to this theory (it sounds like it could be dry, but I promise it is actually quite exciting!).
You may be wondering why I chose this topic since I am a Biology major. Well, the great thing about Honors Theses is that you can write pretty much about anything you want, even if it is outside your area of study. I happen to be a fan of philosophy, and I wanted to really do something substantial with this interest in my last year here. So here I am... with an almost finished work! I've written it all, and now I'm just revising here and there.
But anyway, my defense is probably going to be in the first week of May. I will be sure to post the date and time on here so anyone who is interested can attend. Pretty please???

Off to revise!

~Bianca

P.S. Here's a fun fact about the Honors Thesis... we get several copies of our work bound in the form of an actual book, and one copy stays in our library here!