Ask anyone at Babson what their favorite night on campus is and I’m pretty sure the answer is Halloween. Every year seems to top the last and this one was no exception. Thursday night began festivities with a big pub night and lots of costumes. I pulled together a little something lying around our suite, Pebbles Flinstone, pink wig and all. There were plenty of witches, wizards, and even Obama was there. But everyone knows Thursday is for you B costume.

And everyone did know, because A costumes were definitely out on Saturday. My suitemates and I dressed fully in black, slipped on our bald caps, and proceeded to paint any exposed skin blue. We were the Blue man Group. The weather was incredible: warm air, a bit of wind, and the rain held off until after the blue paint came off. It was a perfect night for a hayride up to Pepsico Party. With a tractor pulling a pumpkin patch style cart around campus, you can imagine the excitement it generated and the lines there were to get on!

A few stand out costumes: Legos, Lax Bros, The Mighty Ducks, The Biggest Loser, and the cast of the movie Hangover!

Can’t I just be a permanent student? My suite-mates and I grapple with this idea almost daily. Especially as the job search emails from CCD come in weekly, friends are interviewing, and other people are even receiving job offers! I’ve put a lot of effort into avoiding all of the above, but it  has come time, even for me, to start thinking about what it is that interests me. I’ve spent a bit of time, when I should be studying for my economics exam, looking on various websites about teaching English abroad or looking at applications for Teach For America. All seem like interesting outlets for me at the moment as I explore what it is I should be doing with my life.

If there’s one thing to take away from the entrepreneurial spirit of Babson it’s something I learned in my EPS class sophomore year. If anyone has read The Monk and the Riddle by Randy Komisar, then you may have taken this away as well. You should do what you love now, don’t wait until later to be happy. It’s what entrepreneurship is all about isn’t it? Doing something you’re passionate about. I suppose I’m still looking for that!

“If you dont like the weather in New England, just wait a minute, it will change”

My friend told me her grandmother used to say that to her. Yesterday was some of the strangest October weather I have ever seen! and if you didn’t like the snow yesterday, its ok, its sunny and much warmer today! I must admit, it was pretty exciting to run around outside yesterday for a little bit in the snow! But I’m glad to be back to a bit of fall normalcy today. Green leaves on the trees and snow covering them just isn’t right!

This past weekend was fun. I signed up for the Beaver Bowl Tournament with my suitemates and it was an awesome event! Questions were hard!! but the food was great, and there’s nothing like a little friendly competition among classmates. Saturday began family weekend with the cruickshank race and Men and women’s soccer playing for Make a Wish Foundation! The sun even made it feel like it was warm outside! It’s nice to see people around on campus, it always adds to that feeling of being home for me when I see other familiar faces and a busy bustling campus. Its hard not to feel a bit of sadness and miss something even though I haven’t left it yet!

Family and Friends weekend has arrived at Babson, this weekend there is an amazing array of activities for visitors to participate in. It is always great to meet the many family members throughout the weekend. I plan to see the Babson Players performance tonight who always put on a great show.

My last blog post was just prior to New Student Orientation and I cannot believe it is already six weeks later. The amount of activity that has taken place has been amazing. One of our big events is the FME Kickoff featuringDoug Hall from the Eureka Ranch who spoke to the entire first year class and he challenged them to think big and to not be afraid to fail.

Students have attended lectures, created and delivered rocket pitches, participated in community service opportunities and learned a tremendous amount from faculty, fellow students and staff. Many first year students are amazed at how quickly the time has passed.

The fall New England weather has also arrived; it is a little cooler on campus these days. However, we are at peak foliage, and the campus looks outstanding. I have included a photo taken earlier this week.   It does not get any better than a fall weekend on a New England college college campus.

It’s only a three day week! That’s all I’ve been telling myself as I prepare for a tough week of two exams, a project and a lab report! Columbus Day has allowed for a lovely four day weekend which flew by as I celebrated friend’s birthdays and visited an alum. The weather was beautiful on the cape, a nice sunny, crisp fall weekend only to be abruptly reminded of the looming deadlines ahead when I trudged to work in the pouring rain this morning!

It’s funny to hear the talk around campus of the FME exams, the OEM and MCE deadlines and be reminded of the whirlwind panic that I was once sucked into as well. I even admit to falling into that trap still! But then I remember that I’ve gone to class, done the work, and will study and realize that’s helped me make it this far, and I’m not about to fail out of college. It seems easy to fall into that hole when everyone else around you is studying and panicking over the same exam for the same classes, while juniors and seniors have a bit more freedom from the widespread scares of the stream drama. It doesn’t help that the word midterm is strongly misused, as at Babson you tend to have two of them! but thanks to that, the freak outs tend to lessen as the semester goes on!

This was the best and worst alumni weekend I’ve had at Babson. My first alumni weekend that I’m 21! I got to go into Boston on Friday night and see everyone that I haven’t seen since they graduated last year, two years ago, three years ago! Saw even more people on Saturday on the upper fields. It was so much fun seeing so many familiar faces and catching up with past teammates. There was an amazing buffet that I wish trim served every day (especially those smiley face fries please!) There was a petting zoo with goats, weird looking chickens and little ducklings! The rain stopped no one from standing out from under the tents to watch the boys soccer team fall to Union in over time.

Then my friends and I realized we were old, and we were about to be alumni. My last alumni weekend as an undergrad came and went leaving me with little more than a headache and bags under my eyes! Still an overall incredible weekend - I wish we had more just like them! (mostly for the smiley face fries).

The first month is almost over? How did that happen? The weeks feel like they are rolling by so slowly and yet it is shockingly three days away from October! It seems I’ve jumped right into the semester and haven’t slowed down yet. Fall ball (lacrosse) is in full swing now, practicing three days a week and doing CATZ (Competitive Athletic Training Zone) twice a week keeps me busy when I’m not in class or here in Academic Services. You’d think after almost three weeks of working out I wouldn’t be sore anymore, not the case!

I’m also full swing into the MCFE program. We’ve met with our client, completed all of our contracts and we’ll be doing a site visit this Thursday. I didn’t think all of this would be as fun as it is. It helps that I am genuinely interested in the company - a small women’s high end boutique in a suburb of Boston. It’s fun to do the research for it and think of marketing ideas for it as well. It’s not just consulting, its marketing, we’re involving real estate, we’ve written our own contracts, and discussed web design and PR as well. This project is very dependant on the company you choose, but having a real life company and hands on experience like this is really exciting.

My first full week of Senior year just came and went. My weekend was spent doing work mostly (I managed to find some time for play too!) They say it gets easier as you move up at Babson, am I taking the wrong classes for this to be true? I must be, because while I’m holed up in my room, sneaking out to watch episodes of Law and Order and eat, my suite-mates wander around looking for entertainment. Ok I mean, it is technically my fault, I am one of the few seniors overloading in their last two semesters. When most seniors have a nice light 16 credit (4 class) semester, I’m sitting in my room doing the work of a 19 credit course load. I probably should have paid more attention in class while I was abroad!

The pain is eased by the fact that I have chosen courses that genuinely interest me (even if I am spending the majority of daylight reading for them). While I may be having flash backs to FME while I sit in my prototyping class drawing context diagrams, its interesting this time around, I know what I’m learning this for and what the outcome of the work will be. My ethno-political conflict class, though my largest workload, is one of the most interesting classes I’ve taken at Babson. I like doing the reading, and its challenging, which as you continue your education you will realize is actually a great thing!

Speaking of not rushing your college career… I went to get my resume checked last week. It’s a new part of the senior checklist. In order to gain access to career  connections (to get the dredded three letter word..j-o-b). They ask you things like what do you want to be when you grow up, yikes! I’d like to wake up from this dream I’m having while snoozing in my FME class please!

After months of planning, Babson College gets ready to welcome the class of 2013 on Friday, August 28th 2009.  The program is filled with great opportunities for new students to get to each other as well as faculty, staff and returning students.   In addition, there are workshops, entertainers, and speakers that will make transition to Babson an experience to remember.   Please check the new orientation schedule, the transfer orientation schedule, and the family schedule, for the complete list of events.

Generally speaking you only have the opportunity to experience one college orientation.  This program is a chance to establish friendships that will last a lifetime. 

I would like to officially welcome the Babson class of 2013, and remember: to  “Explore. Connect.  Make it Happen.”

It is amazing how much you time you have to reflect while bouncing down the Hudson River. It is even more amazing to me that I have time to think about how rafting is related to my work with first year college students. One of my summer vacation adventures this summer was to raft with some family and friends down the Hudson River.How does this relate to the First Year Experience? Here goes:

Having the members of your boat work together as a team makes a difference.
Safely and successfully navigating class three white water rapids requires all occupants of the raft to work together. Similarly, students need to work together to help each other throughout the up and downs of the first year of college. Attempting to do it alone is significantly more difficult.

Listening to an experienced guide is important.
Having an experienced guide (in our case, 28 years of experience), instills confidence that you can tackle the white water. The guide also provides a sense of comfort that if you run into a difficult spot on the river, they will be able to get you through the situation. In the first year of college, there many experienced guides available for students. These guides (peer mentors, faculty advisors, class deans, FYS instructors, resident assistants) can provide guidance through many personal and academic challenges that students may face. The key is to listen to these guides at the appropriate times and avoid the difficult places if possible.

The river is unpredictable and ever changing.
Every day the river is different, water levels rise and fall, rocks that were not visible one day are suddenly there the next. You cannot control the whims of nature and nor should you think you can. The first year of college is unpredictable as well. Students should allow themselves to be nimble enough to bounce through the occasional obstacles that are thrown their way.

It is important to enjoy the ride.
A rafting experience should be enjoyable. It is an opportunity to be challenged physically while embracing the wonders of nature. You should take the time to look around when the waters are calm and appreciate what you are fortunate enough to be experiencing. The first year of college is an amazing ride that will go by quickly. You should embrace the moment and all the great opportunities you have, before you know it, you are pulling that raft out of the water and all that is left is the pictures and the stories.