2010 YouTube Video Contest Announced!!

As the social media intern for the Department of Marketing and Communications I've been working on a little project to announce to everyone...



This year's 2010 YouTube Video Contest will be : "Why I Like St. Mike's" Students from all years are encouraged to make a 30-90 second video telling us/showing us why they like St. Mike's. It can be a skit, song, dance, anything!

The first place winner will receive $250, 2nd place $100, and 3rd place $50!

Participants need to pick up an entry form with the contest rules and regulations at Hoehl Welcome Center. Videos and completed entry forms must be submitted and returned to Hoehl by November 12th, 2010.

Please e-mail me if you have any questions mmcgonagle@smcvt.edu

Don't forget to read the Official Contest Rules carefully.

Official Contest Rules:

PLEASE READ THESE RULES CAREFULLY

Sponsor, Administrator, Prize Provider: Saint Michael's College, 1 Winooski Park, Colchester, VT 054391.

Acceptance of Official Rules: By entering the Contest operated by Saint Michael's College you ("you", "yourself", "Participant") hereby accept and agree to these official rules (the "Official Contest Rules") of this Contest, and the decisions of the Administrator and the Contest Entities in connection with this Contest, whose decisions are final.

2. Eligibility: This Contest is offered and open to persons who are (a) currently enrolled in at least 12 credits at Saint Michael's College, and are determined by the Registrar as "matriculated" students of Saint Michael's College; (b) at least 18 or age of majority in state of residence or older at the date of entry in this Contest. Employees, alumni, and trustees are not eligible to participate in this Contest.

3. How to Enter the Contest and Submit the Promotion Video: To enter this Contest, during the applicable Entry Period each Participant must go to http://www.youtube.com/ and upload their video. Videos must be uploaded and a completed entry form must be completed and returned to Hoehl Welcome Center by November 12th, 2010.

Videos must be between 30-90 in length. Participants must use the following tags on their video: Saint Michael's College, smcvt, Burlington, Vermont, St. Mikes, btv, college, university, I Like St. Mike’s. The Participant Video must be of your original creation and only show yourself or people that have agreed to appear in Participant's Video. The Participant Video must incorporate a theme of “I Like St. Mike’s”. Videos need to display why the participant “like’s St. Mike’s” (at least) .

Videos may not include copyrighted material or music and consent must be given by all those included in the video.

The performance incorporated into and embodied in the Participant Video entry must be in English and shall not be disparaging, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, offensive, indecent, or in any way promote or incite violence, racial hatred, terrorism, or illegal acts, or be otherwise objectionable in Saint Michael's College sole discretion. Additionally, Saint Michael's College can deem in their sole discretion to refuse videos that are sexually explicit, sexually suggestive, offensive, illegal, pornographic, obscene, in bad taste, or which otherwise may reflect unfavorably on Saint Michael's College. These videos are not eligible and will be disqualified.

4. Entry Period: The contest will run from October 1st at 12:00:00 PM EST and ends on November 12th at 11:59:59 PM EST. Only eligible Participant Videos uploaded to YouTube with a completed entry form during the applicable Entry Period will be entered into the Contest and be eligible for voting and the prize.

5. Prizes: First place will receive $250. If there are fewer than 10 submissions to the contest, two prizes will be awarded. First place will receive $250 and second place will receive $100. If 10 or more videos are submitted, there will be a third prize added of $50.

6. Judging: The Participant Video will be evaluated and selected by a panel of judges (the "Judging Panel") comprised of representatives of Saint Michael's College and local media representatives, whose decisions will be final and binding in all respects. The Judging Panel will judge all of the Participant Videos uploaded based on criteria decided by the Office of Marketing and Communications.

7. IMPORTANT: By sending your Participant Video, you agree to the "Official Contest Rules" and grant Saint Michael's College an irrevocable, perpetual, world wide, royalty free license, in Participants original video materials incorporated into the Participant Video, to publish the Participant Video with no compensation to you other than possibly getting your Participant Video published on the smcvt.edu website. Participant Videos submitted must be suitable for presentation in a public forum, in the sole determination of Saint Michael's College. Saint Michael's College reserves the right to reproduce the Participant Videos in full or edit and enhance the Participant Videos at their discretion. Saint Michael's College is authorized to use the Participant Videos as they see fit, including usage in advertising. All Participant Videos are licensed to Saint Michael's College in a perpetual and royalty free manner. There is a limit of one (1) Participant Video Entry.

Wednesday Knight Talk with Wilderness Program leader Drennan Hicks '11

1.What is the Wilderness Program? What kind of programs and activities do you sponsor?

The Wilderness Program is one the the largest student organizations on campus. We run student- lead trips just about every weekend in the fall and winter in many different outdoor sports and activities. All of our instructors are trained to a professional level making us very different from other outdoor programs. We offer programs in whitewater kayaking, sea kayaking, whitewater rafting, hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, ice climbing, snowshoeing, mountaineering, telemark skiing, back-country skiing, and learn to ski and snowboard programs. We also offer many technical skills classes and extended trips during winter and spring breaks.

2.How has the Wilderness Program benefited you as a student/athlete/person?
The Wilderness Program has allowed me to continue to purse my outdoor interests. I have always loved outdoor sports and the Wilderness Program has allowed me the opportunity to develop excellent technical skills as well and leadership and teaching skills while leading trips. Plus I have the chance to take people into the outdoors and teach them the things I have always enjoyed. I have always liked introducing people to new outdoors sports. I have also met many new people; instructor that always want to be going out and doing things, and participants that I might not have met on campus.

3.What has been your greatest challenge? Greatest achievement?
My greatest challenge has been developing all of my skills. Every instructors has their own personal technical skills that must be solid, but even more important are the skills relating to your participants. We are working with many different people from many different backgrounds and each trip presents a new challenge for the instructor. I think over my 4 years I have improved my skills in teaching, group management, and dealing with whatever situation may rise on a trip. I believe my greatest achievement is gaining my Single Pitch Instructor certification for rock climbing. Next month I am taking the final test to complete my certification.
4.What is the most popular program or activity? What is your favorite activity?
Every program is incredibly popular. Nearly every trip every weekend is full during the fall and winter. A large portion of our student body participates in a trip every year. Many of the trips fill up a few weeks in advance, because people want to make sure they get what they want. My personal favorites are the climbing trips, I am a climbing instructor for the the program so I spend most of my time leading our introduction and second level rock and ice climbing trips.

5.How do you balance academics with all of your activities?
It is difficult balancing academics and my outdoor activities, if I could I would be doing something every day. What I have tried to do every year is set a few days aside to concentrate on work, and some days that I will try and go climbing. I usually try and get everything done I need to before taking a day to climb or lead a trip, because school is the main reason for being here. Sometimes it turns into me doing work after a long day of climbing or leading a trip all day and coming back and sitting down and doing work right away, but it is always worth it.


6.What would you say to someone that is thinking of participating in the program but might be afraid?
To people that might be afraid to go out on a trip I would tell them that I can pretty much guarantee I have seen someone more afraid then you are. Every instructor in the program has professional certifications and spends days and days in the field refining there skills, and learning more. We are there on the trip so people can enjoy all of our great activities in the safest environment possible.

Check back for more Knight Talk posts every Wednesday! :)
Mairead

Wednesday Knight Talk with Women's Rugby President Ellen Missert '11!

Every Wednesday this semester I will be doing a post highlighting a club, sport, or fun program here at St. Mike's. My featured Wednesday "Knight Talk" this week is highlighting Women's Rugby Senior President Ellen Missert. Here's what she had to say!

1. When did you start playing rugby? What made you decide to join?
My roommate Sam and I decided to play spring semester freshman year. We were both athletes in high school, decided not to play a varsity sport at St. Mike's, and just wanted to be part of a team again.

2. What is your favorite part about the season?
Saturdays, most definitely. Everyone loves a solid game day. It is the type of game where you try and tackle the other team as hard as you can, but at the end of the game, we are all friends. When you travel internationally, the minute you tell a foreign rugby player that you also play, you are immediately friends and probably just made their day.

3. What are some challenges you face while in season?
Like any extracurricular, it can be a challenge managing rugby with school work. Everyone on the team always finds a way to handle it and you have the support of 30 team members there with you in the library until late, cramming. We are all there for each other.

4. How has rugby beneffitted you as a St.Mike's student, person, teammate etc.?
I honestly don't know what I would be doing if I hadn't joined rugby. I have made some of the best friends of my life between both the girls and guys team. Also, knowing that I can run and tackle for a constant 80 minutes and survive it, kind of gives me the confidence to do anything.

5.How do you get yourself motivated through hard practices or games?
I just try and think of all the people who are shocked that I play rugby and hit even harder for them :) Plus, it builds character!

6. What is your season like? When do you practice, have games etc.?
We practice Tues-Thurs on North and then on Friday's, we practice on the 3's field, followed by a team dinner. Every Saturday we have a home or away game. We play teams throughout New England and will seldomly have overnight trips. Two years ago we took a trip to the Beast of the East tournament in Rhode Island.

Finally, 7. do you have any advice for someone thinking about playing rugby or someone who doesn't know a lot about the sport?
PLAY! We only have one member on the team who had ever played rugby before. All of us learned when we started. Grab a chair or blanket and come out on Saturday's to watch our team and the guys team play. It's a wicked awesome game and you can't help but not fall in love with the sport.

Check back on each Wednesday for more Knight Talk with an SMC Club, Sport or Program!

SMC...How I've missed you!!

Hello everyone!

SO I'm finally back to school and can't even tell you how much I've missed this place. It's taken me a whole week to catch up with all my friends, some of whom I haven't seen in a year, unpack my mounds of stuff, and decorate my new townhouse! So many things have changed this year but I'm happy to be taking everything day by day and loving every minute of it.
Last Saturday I packed up all my things and left one of the greatest summers of my life to embark on my senior year. I had such an amazing summer on the Vineyard and met so many amazing people, families, and I felt so blessed to be living such a life! I mean...it was a little stressful leaving myself one day to pack up but I did it somehow. I moved into Townhouse 321 on Sunday afternoon and then it hit me...
This.Is.My.Last.Year.

I mean I always knew this day would come but seriously?!?!? Where did the time go. It was so good to see my roommates though Sam, Ellen, and Cassy who I hadn't seen in months because they had all studied abroad as well.
The next few days were beyond stressful. My thought process in Ireland (if I had any at all) when choosing my classes was not organized and I had a lot of rescheduling to do. I finally got my act together and I'm taking Marketing, Film Photography, American Literature, Media Law and Ethics and then my internship with the Department of Marketing and Communications!
That brings me to my next exciting/scary thing, my internship. Like I said previously, I still feel (and some say look) like the 18 year old girl who came to St. Mike's thinking that four years would feel like forty. I was sadly mistaken and now its come time for me to hear scary words like "budgeting" "career" and finally, my personal fave "real world". But aside from being initially shocked, I feel like I'm going to learn a lot with my internship and as the secretary of communications on the Student Association this year.
All in all, I'm hoping to learn, have an amazing year and somehow be ready for that nasty G word (graduation) when the time comes.

I haven't had a chance to take any pictures of my little house yet. But here's a picture of us outside our lovely new home!
The roomies and I have been working away and have just made the addition of some very comfy couches (obtained on a budget price, obviously) and some harvest-y, fall decorations. Pictures to come, don't you worry!
Swimming will be starting up very soon and I'm really excited to get back into the water. In addition, we have a lot of cool things coming up on campus this fall. This weekend is the Welcome Back Bash sponsored by the SA! We're going to be having fun slip n slides, bbq's, music, and activities all outside on the 300's rugby field...conveniently located right outside my house!
I hope everyone is starting to get back into the swing of things...I know its going to be a challenging year with lots of changes and transitions but I'm excited for everything to come! I'll keep you posted and thanks so much for following :)

The Island Life...

A little more than a month ago I boarded a plane leaving behind one of the best experiences I ever will have in my life. Leaving Ireland, I gained a new perspective about the world, some amazing friends I will have for life and 15 extra kilos in oversize luggage. I was only "home" to see my friends and family for about a week and a half when I quickly dusted off my summer clothes and headed for another place I call my "home", Martha's Vineyard.

I can't remember the first time I went to the island, but I think I was about six when my Auntie rented her first house in Edgartown. It's funny that when you are little, everything looks a lot different then it does now. I remember renting bikes with training wheels, going to my now favorite place The Seafood Shanty, and my 4 year old brother discovering his favorite food was lobster at an alarming young age. Ever since then, I've been back almost every summer and its amazing how the experience is completely different each time.

This summer, I came to the island to live with another family and embark on another unknown experience. Although I was in the same country, state, and only within a few miles and a short ferry ride away, I still found myself having the same nerves and feelings as if I was going abroad. Since then, I've settled in and realized I had absolutely nothing to worry about because so far it's been an amazing summer.

I've seriously lucked out living with a great, welcoming family and being able to babysit such funny and cute little kids! I've also been working on an internship for a company called What's Up Martha, doing social media work, public relations and throwing some fun events on the island! I've met new friends and met up with some of the old while just thinking how lucky I am to experience such a great place for the summer. During the day while the parents are at work, I take the kids to the beach, library or any other adventures they might feel upto. I have a new found appreciation for my own mom taking us to the beach when we were little. It's not easy carrying boogie boards, towels, pales, shovel, coolers, and kids to the beach and then packing it all up again after a few hours!

Right now, my Mom, Aunt and Uncle, and cousin are here to visit for the week :) Last night, we were talking about graduation and I couldn't help but feel completely overwhelmed thinking about leaving St.Mike's and traveling into full force adult-hood. I'm so excited to get back to St. Mike's and see all of my friends that I haven't seen in almost a year! But at the same time, I don't want to be wishing away anything and I think I have so much more to learn. I'm so excited for the incoming freshman because they have the best years of their lives ahead!

So that's just a little update for now! Here are some pictures I've been taking the past few weeks. The island has had amazing weather...perfect for artsy pictures! Another reminder to anyone at all if you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me (mmcgonagle@smcvt.edu) , formspring me (on the right) and ask away. Talk to you all soon!

A beautiful beach in Chilmark, up island...

Edgartown harbor at night

The kiddies hard at work at the beach :)

There's no place like home...

Hi Everyone!

So huge delay in postage and lots to catch up on!! Biggest news being....I'm FINALLY home!!

I have been home for exactly one week...and its taken me this long to actually realize I'm not in Ireland anymore and my severely overweight baggage isn't going to unpack itself...

My last days in Ireland were amazing. My parents came for a week and we were able to visit relatives in Belfast, Dublin, and had a great time visiting Galway. The vacation went far too quick though and I think we all wished that we had more time. It was so nice to see family, with my family. I loved hearing all of the funny stories from my uncles, meeting some cousins, and showing my brother, mom and dad all about my new life here in Ireland.

I had my last final dinner with my API program and our resident directors, Finn, Kevin, and Maeve. We had an amazing meal at one of the nicest restaurants in Galway and then we were able to spend our last night out and watch the sunset by the bay. I was so grateful to have them here for all of us the last 5 months and they truly made our experience that much better!

My last week in Ireland was crazy to say the least. Everyone was packing, people were dropping out like flies and I had to pack up everything I owned and quired these last 5 months. It was stressful but we all helped each other through it. The last day in our apartment looked like 5 bombs hit my room! It was crazy, my bags were so heavy and I needed to somehow make it to Dublin City to meet my very hospitable friend Fiona! The last few days were so stressful trying to pack and make sure I hadn't forgotten anything so it was SO nice to be able to relax and spend time at her house. We went to see her college, Trinity College in Dublin, went to the seaside Hoath during their hottest few days they had seen in years and then her mom dropped me off at the airport early Monday morning.

Since I've been home, I have gone through many bags of Tostitos chips and taken several trips to Mary Lou's coffee :). I've loved spending Memorial Day with my family and helping out getting the house ready for summer and seeing all of my friends. It's also so weird being 21 here! I feel like I'm seriously getting old...

This week, I need to unpack, repack, clean, organize and do everything I can in preparation for my other big move back to the Vineyard for the summer. I'm so excited because a lot of my friends will be returning and I think its going to be a great opportunity to Nanny and spend time out on my favorite Island! I also have to go through my tens of thousands of abroad pictures and upload them...So look for a few picture and quick little blogs coming soon!

While I've returned home I have realized how many of my friends and family have been anxiously following all my blogs, adventures and stories abroad. It's so nice to hear how people have been reading and truly makes me realize how ridiculously lucky I was to have such an amazing experience. Although I'm so happy to be home, I miss Ireland and the amazing places and people I met there. Keep reading for my adventures on Martha's Vineyard (I promise to post more than last summer..hehe) and my transition back into reality! Talk to you all soon!

The days are winding down...

Hi again!

My semester is winding down, and I can't beleive how fast everything is going by! People in our program have already started to leave and the number of people who are still here is dwindling down. Now that I'm all done with college, I've still been having so much fun here and taking advantage of my time left in this beautiful place!

Last week, my roommate and my friend here both turned 21! We were able to go out to dinner at a mexican restaurant in town ( I've missed mexican!), have a little party at our house and then go out with everyone here. The weather has been really nice here. I've been able to wear flip flops around and it makes me excited and miss Sagamore Beach a little too!

This weekend I had some of the best times I've had so far here. On saturday we went to a part of Galway called Salthill. It's not too far at all but they have such a pretty beach with a diving board! It was a little windy the day we went but the sun was still out. The water was FREEZING but my crazy friend was the only brave one to jump off the diving board. You'd think with me being on swim team, I'd be all for it but really you couldn't pay me to get in that water! I was able to take lots of pictures too. Here's a picture of all of us at the beach and I was able to figure out how to take black and white pictures on my camera! woohoo

On Saturdays and sometimes on Sundays Galway has a market downtown where local artists, farmers, and anyone who wants to can set up a stall and sell things. On Saturday before we left for the beach we went and got delicious crepes and bagels, (there are also donuts too!!) On Sunday we went down to the market again, and sat along the bay and walked around town. I've also been working on a scrapbook I've been making of my time here. I've saved a bunch of random receipts, pamphlets, stickers, train tickets and odds and ends of all the places and things I've done this semester. It's been taking me a few days to go through everything but it's going to be so good (and sad) to look back and see how much I've seen and done here!

This week I'm VERY excited because my parents are leaving Wednesday and will be arriving early Thursday morning! I'm meeting them in Dublin and then we are traveling to Belfast, Donegal, Giants Causeway and then back here to Galway. It's going to be so nice to see my mom , dad and my brother. I think they are really excited too! Tomorrow, we have one of our last program meetings and we are going to have pizza together and maybe participate in some irish dancing...I haven't practiced in a while so I'll have to see just how rusty I am haha!

My friends at SMC have already finished their semesters and all of their finals! I hope everyone made it home safely and that they've already started a great summer! :) I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on the family's visit and everything to follow in my last few days! Talk to you soon!