Back from Easter!

Hello everyone. I apologize for the long delay since I last wrote. My only excuse is being busy with school and lacrosse! Today was the first day of classes after the long Easter weekend. We had Friday and Monday off from school so we could go home for a couple of days. The lacrosse team didn't end up having much of a break because we had practice on Friday, and immediately after that we were loading the bus to drive down to Pace University in New York for a game Saturday. I ended up coming home Saturday night and was able to spend at least Easter day with my family. It is always a treat to get to go back home after being at school for a long time. I remember telling myself last summer how I couldn't wait to get away from home. Now, there are times when I can't wait to go back! Getting to see your family becomes a nice surprise, simply because you don't get to see them very much at all. Luckily for me, I play lacrosse and my parents like to come to the games. Yet, for most students, they don't get to see their parents until a break comes around. There is usually a break every six weeks I would say. Our spring break was in March, and we just had a long weekend for Easter. Christmas break was about a full month, which was really nice. For the most part, I spend my breaks visiting family and friends. I work for my uncle if there is anything I can do. It is always nice to get home cooked meals as well! (No offense to Alliot)

Now, I am preparing for the most stressful week of my life: FINALS WEEK. The past week, and this week have already been absolutely loaded with work. I have two final papers that I'm working on, Chemistry and Biology lab final reports, and then studying for two finals! It can get a bit crazy at times. But I keep telling myself, make it through these next three weeks and I'll be free... at least for a couple months. I will be enjoying my last weeks of my first year of college as much as I can. I just can't believe I am done my first year of college. Time flies!

Wish me luck in these next couple of weeks.

-Nate

Long Week!

This past week has been crazy! Between classes, lacrosse, homework, and scheduling classes for next semester I have barely had any time to myself. Being an in season athlete, while majoring in Biology is no easy task.

We didn't have any games this week, but have been preparing for our next game against the number one team in our league, Le Moyne College. We are currently third in the NE-10 league, which is one of the best standings we have ever had. Much of this week at practice has been setting up plays and scouting our upcoming opponent. We usually practice for about two hours every day. Yet, I usually get there a half hour early to get dressed, and another half hour after practice getting undressed and showering, so the entire extravaganza is about three hours. After this, it is usually strait to Alliot for some dinner with the team. I enjoy Alliot a lot, but I'll save talking about food for another time! Dinner is usually about an hour. This is when I realize, BAM! There go four hours out of my day that usually last from about 3 or 4 to 7 or 8 at night. Time for homework. Starting my work at 8 p.m. isn't my favorite thing to do, but it is something I have no control over being an athlete. It is definitely a sacrifice. Most of the time I have about 4 hours of homework a night. Although there are times when I have no work, and other nights (like last night) when I have 5 or 6 hours of work. Of course it doesn't help that I procrastinate a lot, but sometimes you don't have a choice. For example, my Peace and Justice class this past week was LOADED with work. Over this past weekend, we had to read an entire book and write a 2 page reflection by Sunday night, then we had to read a 10 page article and write another reflection by Wednesday night, and THEN we had to write a 7 page paper on racism in America by today, Friday. Not to mention all the other work I had in my other three classes! I was very busy to say the least.

Finding time to do things that I like to do for myself can be very limited, so when I finally do get that time it is a treat. I have to get off here and start packing for the 6 hour drive to Le Moyne tonight. I will be sure to give an update soon.

Take care,

Nate

Room Selection!

First of all, I apologize for the lack of posts in the last week. I have been extremely busy with homework, labs, and lacrosse and I meant to write but just never had the time to. But I'm writing now!

Today, we played Merrimack College who was ranked as the fourth team in the country. After a very intense and hard fought game, we ended up winning 8-6. It felt real good to win this game, not only because we beat such a good team but also because I felt the team needed a morale boost that will give us energy for the next couple of games. Although I didn't play much, it was great to see the team succeed as a whole when the game was on the line.

Back to the point of this post! Today was freshman room selection day, a much anticipated event that involves a ton of stress and split second decisions! The way the room selections work is each student is randomly given a lottery number which will determine when you get to choose your room. Unfortunately if you have a high number, you end up picking your room last and by then there aren't many options. Luckily, my room mate Michel Mendez received a pretty low lottery number and so we used his in order to get the best housing options. If the know the person you plan on rooming with has a lower lottery number than you, you can use that person's number in order to get ahead of the game. We waited in line for about ten minutes in order to check in, and then we were sent to another line for another fifteen minutes where we waited to choose our room. The entire time I, along with everyone else around me, were nervous in trying to decide where we would room. People were all talking to each other ,

"Where are you going to go, Bro?"

"I heard the rooms on North campus are a lot bigger..."

"Yeah but I don't know if I would like being off main campus all year".

People were all giving their opinion on where the best places to live were, and there were positives and negatives to all the possibilities. It all got me confused and unsure of what I wanted to do.

We were finally let into the room where we would choose our rooms for next year. I was expecting maybe a piece of paper highlighting the goods and the bads of each place, but that was wishful thinking! On the dry erase board at the front of the room, there were blue print images of the rooms that were open in each building. It was nice to see the different sizes of the rooms, but we were literally given 30 seconds to make a final decision! That annoyed me a little bit, but I guess it makes sense because they have to find housing for a large number of students in a short amount of time. Mich and I stared at the board, having no idea what we wanted to do. The rooms in the North campus buildings were in fact larger, but having to either drive, walk, bike, or get a bus ride to main campus every day could be a pain. On the other hand, the possible housing on main campus was not very good either. It was basically between a basement room in Ryan, or a bigger room in Hammel. Mich looked at me, and I looked at him. We were both thinking the same thing; bigger room! We chose to live in Hammel, even if it meant finding a way to class every day. Besides, I hope to have a car next year so I can drive us to Main campus every day.

I am glad we chose Hammel. Having the bigger room will be really nice. I have a futon I can bring for more sitting options instead of just our beds. It will also just give us more room to fit things we normally couldn't. I am excited for next year, but it also makes me realize that my first year of college is almost over which is just nuts!

Well, goodnight for now. I need some rest after staying up until 2 in the morning doing homework last night!

-Nate

Long Island Spring Break Update

The Balto Statue
Times Square
The St. Patrick's Day Parade

I'm sorry it has taken me a couple days to give an update on our trip. The past few days have been pretty busy to say the least. Last time I wrote, I was getting ready for our game against Seaton Hill on Monday. We suffered a tough loss by one goal, which wasn't the way we wanted to start off the season. I ended up getting some playing time in the fourth quarter when one of the starters got hurt. I scored two goals and was pretty happy with that, but it didn't make up the fact that we had lost. We played with heart so there wasn't much we could be upset about.

On Tuesday we had practice in the morning until around noon. We then went to a local mall to get lunch and walk around a bit. That was a nice break from all the practicing we had been doing. For dinner, we went to an Italian restaurant and had a massive meal of chicken parmesan, pasta, bread, and salad. It was all in preparation for the next day's game against Molloy.

Our game wasn't until six at night on Wednesday, so we had a lot of time to relax and mentally prepare. I caught up on some sleep, ate, and watched college basketball until it was finally time to leave around four. I could tell we were going to have a good game because everyone was so focused and on point during warm ups. The shots and passes were crisp, and everyone was feeling pumped up at the thought of getting another chance to win. We played awesome! From start to finish, we hustled and played so well together. It was an awesome game to watch, and we ended up winning 11-8. After the game, coach congratulated us on the win and decided to give us a little reward. He surprised us by telling us that we would be going into New York City for the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

I was really excited to go into the city because I had never been before in my life. I know, crazy. It was awesome to finally get that experience though. The only thing I didn't enjoy was the crazy amounts of people there. There were times when I couldn't even walk on the side walk because there were so many people. Not to mention it was the hottest day in a long time. We watched the parade for a about an hour, and then made our way to Times Square. I never knew billboards so large ever existed. I can understand why people say it is like daytime during the night hours there considering how many lights and signs there are. We finished the day with a walk through Central Park. That was my most favorite part of the day. The park itself is designed really well, and is perfect for walking, running, biking, or simply relaxing on the grass or rocks. We exited the park and hopped on the bus for a ride back to the hotel which I spent sleeping. That night, we had dinner prepared for us by one of the player's parents from the team. Being St. Patty's day, we had corned beef and cabbage and it was delicious!

Today, we had an early wake up call and had a quick breakfast before heading to the field for practice again. Practice was focused on how we will attempt to beat the number one team in Division II lacrosse; C.W. Post. We are definitely the under-dogs in this upcoming game, and therefore we have nothing to lose. We practiced hard and I believe we have some things that will give them a run for their money. After practice, some of the boys went to the beach for a couple hours, but I stayed at the hotel to get some homework done and watch the basketball games. I am really excited about this game tomorrow because I think we have a chance to do something that has never been done before.

As for now, I say goodnight. I have to get rest for the game tomorrow. Wish us luck. Go Purp!

-Nate

Road Trip!

Happy spring break to all my St. Mike's friends! I hope everyone has a great, relaxing time. As for me, along with the entire Lacrosse team are in Long Island for the week. We are going to be playing the first three games of our season while on this trip. Currently I am sitting in my hotel room watching t.v. with some friends and simply relaxing. It was about an 8 hour ride from St. Michael's down to Long Island. Most of the ride was spent watching some classic movies, listening to music, and sleeping. I didn't know this, but St. Mike's has its own Premier Coach bus with the St. Micheal's logo all over it. The bus itself has Wifi internet, which was awesome. I had no idea that was even possible, but it was very nice to have and helped me waste a lot of time! Of course there were plenty of snacks for the ride, and plenty of "eating 'cause you're bored" in order to waste more time occurred.

I was assigned a room with two other freshman from the team, and luckily we all have our own bed to sleep in. The hotel is only two years old, so all the rooms are extremely nice. Within a half hour we were back on the bus and heading to C.W. Post University to have practice and go over the game plan for tomorrow's game against Seton Hill College. After practice, we came back to the hotel for an awesome home cooked Italian meal from the parents of two players on our team. It was so nice to finally get some real home made food for once. I ate as much as I could.

For the rest of the night I am just going to relax and mentally prepare for our game tomorrow. I will most likely give my girlfriend Murielle a call and get some snacks before an early bed time. Wish us luck tomorrow! I'll be sure to give an update on our trip later this week

Until then,

-Nate