Hello, readers! For those of you new to this blog, my name is Aidan Ruppert and I am a sophomore from Rochester, N.Y. I found writing about college life to be a rewarding experience throughout my first year at Holy Cross, and I was lucky enough to be offered the same opportunity for this year!
Seeing as this is my very first post of the new semester, I figure that it may be worthwhile to offer a brief timeline of my experiences on The Hill thus far. Here are some of the significant events that have transpired:
August 28, 2019: I actually moved in early for training for an organization I am a member of: Counseling Outreach Peer Educators (COPE). In short, COPE is a peer-educator organization devoted to serving as student ambassadors for the Counseling Center, as well as sponsoring programming designed to promote emotional well-being on campus. The orientation took place over the span of six days, and involved extensive training on mental health concerns, particularly as they pertain to college students. It was a fun and informative week, plus it was super nice to settle into my new home before my friends arrived on campus.
September 4, 2019: This was the first day of classes for the Fall 2019 semester. I am currently enrolled in four classes: PSYC-200 (Statistics), Cognition and Memory, German 301, and Sociology 101. Although I am currently a Psychology major, I am also interested in potentially adding Sociology and/or German as a major and minor, respectively. I have found that my classes are significantly more challenging this semester, but I am certainly doing my best to keep up with all the work!
September 29, 2019: The first Open House of Fall 2019 was on this particular Sunday. As you may recall, I spent time working as a “Greeter” in the Office of Admissions last year. This year, I was actually offered a position on the executive board of the Admissions Outreach program, which has proven to be a great leadership opportunity thus far. My fellow E-Board members and I were tasked with creating schedules for all Open House volunteers, as well as ensuring that the event ran smoothly, which it did!
October 1, 2019: October marked the beginning of my new SPUD program! Whereas last year I served as a tutor for an entire class of high school students, this year I am working as a one-on-one tutor to a sixth-grader at Nativity School of Worcester. I have already found that I am much better suited to this style of tutoring, and I really enjoy the atmosphere of the school. I am definitely looking forward to a new year of SPUD!
Well there you have it! It has been a challenging, but rewarding start to my second year at Holy Cross. Currently, most students are away from campus for Fall break. I, however, chose to stay on campus in order to get ahead in my classes, work out, and have some time to relax throughout the week. Thankfully, this also (finally) gives me time to get back to posting on this blog! I hope you enjoyed this post, and I’m looking forward to getting back to writing regularly. Peace!
