Thanksgiving, Snow, Break, Life.

Happy Sunday! I hope you're all feeling as reinvigorated from this break as I am. This is the first time Saint Michael's has ever given a whole week off for Thanksgiving break, and needless to say I caught up on some much needed sleep. I also managed to do a good amount of work over break as well, so I'm feeling a little less stressed as we're coming toward the end of the semester in three weeks. How is it December tomorrow already?

Let's ditch that thought for now. I don't like to think about how graduation is coming.

On a brighter note, Thanksgiving with my family was a great time. My mom and dad had their best friends from work and their daughters come and join us, so we had about ten people including my Aunt and Grandma who also came. The food was amazing of course, and the fact that it was snowing on Thanksgiving made it even better.

My Thanksgiving feast! We add biscuits from Red Lobster to our meal every year because we're obsessed.

My backyard on Thanksgiving - it was beautiful!

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, so I said goodbye to my parents, cats, and dogs (which was particularly difficult) and headed off to campus once again.

My sunset drive back to school.

Although it was sad to leave, I'm glad I'm back on campus again. I missed my townhouse bed oddly enough, and I was glad to have a bit of space after being around my family for a week straight for long periods of time (they're great people of course, but you know how everyone starts to annoy you after being around them for a while).

I'm currently back at work writing up my research proposal for my Media Studies senior seminar, and I'm happy to say it's almost done! It's hard to believe two finals and a paper are all that stands between me and a whole month off. I have plans to visit a friend in Florida in January, so I can't wait to live in the sun for a bit and avoid this intense Vermont cold!

I hope you all had a great break and an awesome Thanksgiving if you celebrate it. I'm sure these next three weeks will be exciting and hectic all at once, so I'll keep you posted!

Senior Seminar Madness.

I can't even believe it's Thanksgiving break next week. Where did the time go? As I'm closing in on the end of the fall semester of my senior year, I'm reflecting a lot on what I want to do once I graduate (STOP, STOP IT RIGHT NOW). I plan on getting my resume worked on through career services here on campus next semester and looking into graphic design, advertising, or digital media jobs around the Vermont, New York City, and Boston areas. I'm excited to begin my future career, but as you can imagine I'm also feeling nervous that the time is coming so close and that I'll be leaving Saint Mike's the May. Oh man.

Let's drop that thought for a second. On a related note, I've been working on my proposal for my MJD senior seminar for my book I plan to publish next semester for my senior project with my partner Tara Keady. We are exploring the perceptions of gender and sexuality on a global scale. As you can imagine, it's been very work-intensive with such a broad topic as we try to narrow it down to what we want to cover within it. We've been going to LGBTQ events, interviewing members of the LGBTQ community as well as those who study it and put on events for the LGBTQ community. It's been such a rewarding experience so far, and I can't wait to see what next semester brings as we put it all together slowly but surely.

This is Johnny Chag, who works at the Vermont Pride Center in Burlington

This is Jesse Thomas, who has transitioned from a female to a male. His story is incredible.

This is a drag queen from the First Friday event we went to at Higher Ground for the LGBTQ community. They happen the first friday of every month!

I'm so thrilled that this research and the final product that comes with it will be a part of my life forever. Being a member of the LGBTQ community myself, I feel very attached to this topic, and it's been truly amazing to learn more about it and find myself connecting with it in ways I never thought imaginable. I think that's been the most rewarding part of college - finding the things that I'm most passionate about and learning about them as much as I can.

I hope you've all found your passion in life as well. If you haven't yet, don't worry - it comes when you least expect it.

That's it from me for now, I hope you all enjoy your break and eat your weight in turkey. Happy Wednesday!