Eagle's Eye World View...a Boston College International Student Blog

ArtsFest Bringing a Close to the Year

2010-05-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Today is the last day of BC's Arts Festival, a three day event celebrating the arts at BC. This 12th annual festival brings together the BC community as well as the surrounding Boston community for art events ranging from Dance Showcases from BC's dance groups (including the Chinese Students' Association, Fuego del Corazon, BC Irish Dance, the Japanese Club, the Korean Students' Association, the South Asian Student Association and many more), art demonstrations, theater performances, a BC fashion show and even a Children's Activities Day where kids come to campus to march with the BC Marching Band, have their faces painted, create some pottery and the list goes on...

As BC students, we can help organize or volunteer at the festival, attend the free performances, eat chocolate dipped strawberries (compliments of BC's dining services), watch or perform with the dance groups and SO much more.

ArtsFest weekend has probably been one of my favorite weekends at BC. O'Neill Plaza has been filled with music and people all weekend and I will be sad to see it finish after tonight, but there's always next year!

-Christina

Freshman Year in Retrospect!

2010-04-30T16:21:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! It's almost May and the end of the semester is quickly approaching. Finals in just two weeks! This school year has really flown by and I've enjoyed every minute of it. From acclimating to life away from home and adjusting to college coursework, this year has been a series of learning experiences for me. A few of my fellow bloggers have written about their favorite things from freshman year and it started me thinking about what my most memorable experiences have been.

One of the best things about my BC experience thus far has been living on the Multicultural floor in my dorm. Everyone on the floor has gotten to know each other really well and it is a nice community to come back to at the end of the day. All of us came in being far away from our families and not knowing many people at BC and it was great how quickly we all became friends. Many people keep their doors open on a regular basis and you always see kids out in the halls studying together or talking. I've learned so much from both the international students I've met on my floor and those like myself that just love learning about other cultures and parts of the word. The Multicultural floor is always located in one of the dorms on Upper Campus, so if any of you are interested in participating in a residential program in which you can interact with students from a wide array of backgrounds then I would definitely recommend applying on the housing application. While the majority of the students on my floor are rooming together next year, we aren't all living in the same building so I'm going to miss it a lot!

Another one of my favorite aspects of BC has been interacting with the Jesuits on campus. The Jesuits is an order of priests in the Catholic Church. In addition to presiding at masses, many of them are also university professors that teach courses in a variety of disciplines. While I've yet to have a Jesuit as a professor, I've heard several of them speak at various events on campus throughout the year—the wisdom and advice they offer is nothing less than inspiring and encourages you to reflect on your life and experiences in order to determine your place in the world. While the Jesuits are priests, one need not be Catholic to benefit from their breadth of knowledge. They often address topics on campus that are unrelated to religion and theology. For those of you that will be joining us here on the Heights this September, I would recommend getting to know some of the Jesuits on campus—you'll learn a lot! They are all very approachable and are always interested in talking with students.

With that said, I hope that all of you have a great end of the school year and a relaxing summer. Congratulations to all of the seniors who will be graduating—I hope to see some of you here in Chestnut Hill in the fall! Best wishes to everyone.

Take care,

Courtney Colgan

A&S 2013

Freshmen Year

2010-04-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

I hope things are going well for you, congratulations once again on being accepted and I hope you look forward to starting your first year here at BC. Most of you should be starting orientation soon and finishing up Highschool. Freshmen year is nearly over now for me so things are starting to wind down, it has been quite a year. A couple more weeks of school and exams and it's back home for me. This year has really been quite a trek. Although I found it difficult to adjust at the beginning, I really feel like I have found my niche here at BC.

When I first got here, I think weather was the biggest factor. Coming from such a tropical climate, it was hard to get used to the weather because it got so cold so quickly. It even snowed in october! So definitely bring enough layers to keep warm!

It's really nice that BC is an easy commute to Boston which makes it easy to go to Chinatown and get a taste for the asian culture of Boston. There are also a lot of take out places around Newton and Chestnut Hill. New Hong Kong, lobster wok, or No.1 Noodle House. Whatever you prefer, or if you are feeling a like you want to get out of your dorm room but not quite commute that long into the city there are a couple of places in Cleveland Circle that are great to go to with reasonable prices. Bangkok Bistro, Fins, Cityside, Bluestone Bistro, Boloco, or even Chipotle.

There are also a lot of cinemas around the area. There is a cinema in fenway which is just a couple stops down from the reservoir T by the commonwealth avenue bus.

I think a great way into BC's community is also being part of athletics, even if you are not a D1 athlete, BC gives a lot of opportunities for you to get involved. Intramurals, club sports, BC is huge on athletics. I was able to be a part of the waterpolo team and even though it's a club team, it's a huge commitment and the club is very competitive. The waterpolo club acheived national champions again this year so definitely don't underestimate club or intramural sports!

Anyways, I hope this helps a little for you to transition into BC!

Carolyn (wongcr@bc.edu)

Freshman Memories of BC - Part 3

2010-04-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

Many of you are from countries where the climate is generally constant, and, most of the time, I’m assuming you are used to warmer weather. At BC, you will experience all 4 seasons – from the heat of summer to the bitter cold of winter. My final blog post in my 3 part collection will show why enjoying the seasons produced some of my greatest memories.

The start of the fall term is beautiful. It is warm, but not hot, and you can still wear shorts, tanks and sandals. Enjoying the weather isn’t very difficult – you can study outside, throw a football or lounge in the sun. As fall progresses, the leaves on the trees change colour and fall. In my opinion, this is the nicest time of the year at BC! One of my favourite memories is having a leaf fight with my friends. It sounds silly, but it was so much fun!

Next up is winter, generally known as the most dreary month at BC. If you are from a warm climate, this can come as quick a shock! The cold doesn’t mean you have to stay indoors, though. You can go skiing, or skating at Boston’s Frog Pond, or you can build a snowman and have a snowball fight with friends. I can remember an impromptu snowball fight with my dorm-mates during the first snowstorm of the year. Winter can be fun, as long as you dress warmly. Warming up with a cup of hot chocolate can’t hurt either!

Spring is upon us now, and is a welcome change from winter. The flowers are in bloom and the trees are budding – absolutely beautiful! The days seem longer and it gets progressively warmer every week. Spring activities are similar to fall ones, which almost seems appropriate, since the school year ends where it seems to have begun.

That’s all for now; enjoy whatever weather you happen to have!

- Brianna

BC Curriculum

2010-04-29T19:32:00.001-07:00

Hey Class of 2014, Amy Ye here again! This time I’m gonna talk about the curriculum structure of BC, especially the university core courses. As a student in the College of Arts and Science, I will mainly focus on the graduation requirements for A&S students. For students in other schools, what I heard is that they have to take additional school-required core courses for graduation.
OK, let’s return to the topic of curriculum structure. Student at BC are required to take 38 courses in total to graduate. Courses like Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or British A-Level, can only fulfills certain requirements for courses. (For example, if you get a 4 or higher score on AP Calculus AB, you don’t have to take a Calculus course at BC. And for more details, check out the following website: http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/process/advstanding.html) Such policy actually implies that those AP or IB courses took in high school will not reduce a student’s workload. In a word, Students have to take 38 courses anyways, regardless of how many APs they have. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that AP or IB student do not have any advantages. Many APs or IBs means that it is easier for students to have a second major or concentration without overloading courses in a semester. In terms of the university core courses, regardless of which school a student is from, he or she has to fulfill all the requirements of university core courses. Overall, there are 15 university core courses to fulfill during student’s 4 year experience at BC. Specifically, there is one course in writing; one in literature; two in social science; two in natural science; two in philosophy; two in theology; two in history; one in mathematics; one in fine arts and one in cultural diversity. Besides the university cores, in the mean time, students also have to take all of the required course in his or her concentration in order to graduate.
I really recommend students to take advantage of the “degree audit” program in your agora portal account. Start early, have yourself organized and enjoy your life at BC! I really hope the above information can more or less help you out with your course plans in the following 4 years’ academic career. Also, if you still have any questions, feel free to email me. I would be really glad to answer all your questions!
Amy Ye

Freshman Memories of BC - Part 2

2010-04-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite moments at BC came at the very beginning of my journey here, at International Student Orientation. Even though I’m from Canada and I had been to the US many times, I decided to attend orientation, knowing that my culture wasn’t very different from here. I wasn’t sure at the time how much I would benefit from it, but all I can say is that it is one of the best decisions I ever made!

When I first arrived on campus in late August, I moved into my room and met the other international students (ISs) and international assistants (IAs) for dinner. Each student is assigned an assistant for orientation, and for the rest of the school year. It was really nice to know someone here who had been through it before and who could give me advice. Even though I didn’t have “culture shock,” my IA, Allie, quickly became my friend and advised me on everything from dining halls, to classes, to what to do in my spare time.

Throughout orientation, we played icebreakers to get to know each other better, attended fun activities and listened to several lectures on technical details, such as visas and healthcare. This orientation was a lot of fun, since IAs organized events at night outside of the scheduled activities. I remember going on a boat cruise, grabbing dinner in the city, hanging out in residence, and the like. This was probably my favourite part of orientation, since you had a new set of friends who you could interact with in an informal setting.

I hope that all international students, regardless of where you are from, choose to go to orientation. I learned a lot about BC and made a great group of friends that I’m still in contact with now, all these months later.

Easter Break (3rd day) - Experiencing Break With an African American Family

2010-04-27T19:53:00.001-07:00

So it is the last day of my stay in my Roommate's place. Instead of living with his parents, he lives with his grandparents. His grandparents are very fun. They moved from North Carolina to Boston 30 some years ago. What a long trip! Although both of them are retired, they remain active in the community. Grandpa is really good at fixing cars. I guess I have to ask him for help, since I just got my driver learner's permit. Grandma is always fun to talk to. Her cooking skill is phenomenal, wow~ The REal Fried Chicken!!!!!!

From left to right (Grandma ---- Me ---- Grandpa) Umm..... I think you are smart enough to figure it out.

On our way to The Sunday Church. A lot of school bus.

Easter Sunday

What a delicious lamb

Easter eggs (Family will place money bills into these eggs, and hide them. The kinds (usually under 5) will have to find these eggs. Of course, the adult can help them as well by giving tips.) This is a ritual of Easter holiday.

Easter Sunday Lunch.

My roommate's cousin's son. ("Let me drive, plz!!!")

My roommate's sister's son.

(I wish I can sleep like this when I am in school)

Last glance of the house. It is green, like a house in Alice in Wonderland.

Thank you Sha-Lee, I had a great Easter Break. Thank you for inviting me to your place!!!!

Boston Duck Tours

2010-04-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

Our duck!

Boston Common

A beautiful view of the Charles River

Shot from when we went into the water

Hi all,

Last weekend, I went on a Boston Duck Tour. I'll tell you a little bit about my experience! I've been to Boston a few times prior to college and have lived here since August, but I have never had the chance to go on a duck tour!

I really recommend it to students from here or around the area. I especially recommend it to International Students and your families. It's a great way to see Boston in a short amount of time! I've been to the Prudential area many times, but I never realized how beautiful the area was until I went on the duck tour.

As for the tickets, I know there a few areas where you can buy them, but I bought mine in Prudential Center, right across from Barnes and Noble. You can also get a student discount. I think it was $26.00 for one ticket.

The tour lasts about an hour and a half and they take you everywhere! We visited Prudential, Copley, North Station (where TD Garden is- home of the Celtics), Charles River, Harvard, North End (Little Italy- really good Italian restaurants!), Quincy Market (a famous tourist place), Boston Common, Theater District, and more. The duck, which you will see in pictures, can also go in the water. The tour guide was really funny and he let people drive the boat/duck. The tour was really informative, as we were guided to famous historical sites and given a brief background about the area.

Enjoy the pictures!

For more information, here is their website:

http://www.bostonducktours.com/

Cristina

What to do in the Winter

2010-04-27T18:34:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone,

Many of you probably live in a region of the world that doesn't get snow very often - but here in Boston, snow is common from early December until the end of February and sometimes lasts until late March. But luckily - there are many things to do in the Winer!

I love to ski, although the closest ski mountain is about 40 minutes away. There are a bunch of mountains within 2-3 hours, however, and you can rent a car, take a bus, or find a friend with a car and go on ski trips, with most mountains staying open until the first week of April! Also, there are several ski trips to northern Vermont and Canada throughout the year that hundreds of students take advantage of, and you can rent skis (or a snowboard) at every mountain! The Plex (our Recreation center) offered a day ski-trip with transportation, rental equipment, and ski pass for only about 65 $!

Also, there are many places to go ice-skating. During the winter, there are occasionally ice-skating nights at Conte Forum (our athletics arena) which is free courtesy of the Undergraduate Government, and you can go to the Boston Commons and ice-skate there!

Besides, its always fun to walk around in the freshly falling snow or have a snow-ball fight with friends. The campus is really quiet and beautiful when it snows, although classes rarely get cancelled. I'm from New England, so I love snow in the Winter - but if you've never experienced it - you'll love it.

Ryan

Harlem Globetrotters

2010-04-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

I was recently at TD Garden to watch the Harlem Globetrotters that were in Boston one weekend. TD Garden is home to the Boston Celtics and the Boston Bruins. Both household names in the Boston area. I'm a huge Celtics fan myself, and love watching basketball so I was thrilled when I went to go watch the Harlem Globetrotters.

TD Garden is located in Boston's Downtown North section on Causeway Street, walking distance away from the North End and Faneuil Hall. It is located at the North Station T stop, and you can't possibly miss TD Garden once you get off.

If you've never heard of the Globetrotters, I've attached a video. They are a an exhibition basketball team that travel all around the world. They mix basketball, entertainment, and comedy, and their a group of fantastic athletes that are very amusing to watch.

There are so many things in Boston to do and I was so glad to be able to watch the Harlem Globetrotters perform in such a fantastic arena.

Hope you guys enjoy the Video! Til' next time!

Carolyn

(wongcr@bc.edu)

Chinatown Buzz

2010-04-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

I'm currently a freshmen at BC, and I'm from Hong Kong so I like my asian cuisine quite a bit. I might make a trip to chinatown every other weekend and catch up with a couple of friends at an asian restaurant. Chinatown is about a 45 minute commute from main campus. It depends on how the buses run because they come less often on the weekends than weekdays. Once you get a bus from main campus to the Reservoir T stop it's pretty much straight on towards government center to Park Street T stop, a shortwalk to the Downtown Crossing Orange line and one stop away is Chinatown, or once you know your way around better, you can take the Green line from the Reservoir T stop to Boylston and it's a short walk to Chinatown. One of my favorite restaurants that I go to often is called Shabu-Zen. It's a japanese restaurant and my favorite dish is the hot pot. You can get a full plate of vegetables, a full plate of meat, and your choice of noodles or rice to accompany it all for $11.00 USD!! They offer a variety of meats and seafood.

Just down the street is a supermarket full of asian snacks, including chocolate koalas, pocky, hi-chew you name it! The place is called C-Mart and it is possibly my favorite place to buy snacks!

Hope you guys can try it!!

Carolyn (wongcr@bc.edu)

Spring Football Game and the Wolf Cry Singers

2010-04-27T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hey there everyone!

I'm writing this time to tell about the great time I just had this weekend at the Spring Football game. It is something the team does every year in April as an exhibition for students and the public. The team plays itself, defense vs offense, down in Alumni Stadium. Anyone who wants to attend can because it's free. I didn't make it to the game last spring but I went this Saturday and it was a lot of fun. My parents were here for the weekend so they came along too and we spent the afternoon watching the game with some of my friends.

The Spring Football game is a lot of fun because besides just getting to watch the team play itself there is also an opportunity to go down on the field afterwards and have the team sign autographs. There was a group of little boys sitting in front of my friends and I, they all had their faces painted and were wearing BC gear that their parents had bought for them that day prior to the game. They were super cute and totally into the game and were having a great time, which is really what that day is all about. You get to see your Eagles play some football, you get to meet the team, the bookstore holds a big sale in the stadium, and the day just ends up being a fun filled day for everyone.

My parents and I decided to leave the game early so that I could show them campus, but also because we wanted to go see the Wolf Cry Singers. The Wolf Cry Singers are a group of Native American women who performed various songs and dances up in O'Neill Plaza, outside of the Library. Their performance was for about two hours and it was so cool to see. It's not very often that you get to hear traditional Native American songs performed so it was definitely a great experience, both my parents and I really enjoyed ourselves. The whole event was but on by one of the cultural groups here on campus.

Well, those are just two things that I did here in Boston last weekend. It was a lot of fun and definitely a very entertaining Saturday!

Serafina (zeringo@bc.edu)

Freshman Memories of BC - Part 1

2010-04-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

As my freshman year comes to an end, I wanted to list my 3 favourite moments at Boston College, in no particular order. In this post, I want to talk about BC hockey, a craze I definitely picked up on during my time here. Boston love hockey, it’s as simple as that. Plus, BC has one of, if not the, best hockey team in the nation. Just like at football games, fans wear their Superfan t-shirts or jerseys and cheer on their team. BC has established a few hockey rivalries over the years, but none is as prominent as the one with Boston University. It was by far the most attended game at BC this season, and while we fell in overtime, it was a thrilling experience to be a part of.

BC hockey competes in 3 big tournaments – the Beanpot (between Boston schools), Hockey East (with our conference rivals) and the NCAA tournament (with the best teams in the nation). Not only did we win one, but we won all three! Watching BC defeat Maine in overtime in the Hockey East final was exhilarating! Our championship banner proudly hangs in Boston’s TD Garden until next year’s tournament.

After Hockey East came the NCAA tournament, where the best 16 teams in the nation vie for the coveted national championship. This year, the regional round was held in Worcester, MA, where BC easily defeated Alaska and Yale. Next stop was Detroit, MI, where we beat Miami (OH), the number one team in the nation, and Wisconsin to win the title. There was nothing more exciting than gathering in the dorm’s common room with friends and watching our team accomplish the sweep of the tournaments. A few weeks ago, BC held a rally in O’Neill plaza for our team. Hundreds of students turned out to see the national championship banner fall, listen to speeches and meet the teams for autographs afterward.

As a sports fan and proud Superfan, there was no better way for me to start my time here, then by seeing the BC hockey team dominate this season, culminating in the elusive NCAA championship. We have high hopes for next year – let’s do it again, boys!

- Brianna (nassifb@bc.edu)

Nights on the Heights

2010-04-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

Hello again,

Everyone is always talking about how many things there are to do on campus at Boston College. I thought I would introduce you to this great organization called Nights on the Heights, which is responsible for planning some of those activities. Nights on the Heights is a student organization that plans different events on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights from 9 pm - 2 am throughout the year. These events might include Build-a-Bear, T-shirt tie dying, dances, or trivia nights. The best part is that it is all completely free! Last Friday night my friends and I went to a Nights on the Heights cake decorating, and it was a lot of fun. Nights on the Heights provided the cakes and the icing, and we were allowed to do whatever we wanted. My friends and I decided to make an Under the Sea themed cake:

We even got to eat it afterwards! So if you are ever on campus and wondering what to do, check out the Nights on the Heights calendar and you are bound to find something fun.

Until Next Time!

Ali McDonald

mcdonaay@gmail.com

Spring Concert

2010-04-25T20:16:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday night, the Fray came to Conte Forum (the basketball/hockey arena) for the annual spring concert. Since BC is a pretty big school with good resources, UGBC (the student government) is always able to bring in top flight groups to perform for the students. Past spring concert performers have included Eminem, Outkast, Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, Lupe Fiasco, etc. and the fall concert this year was Akon. There was a lot of buzz coming into it because names such as Passion Pit, MGMT, Drake, and Ke$ha were being thrown around. Many (including myself) were disappointed by the choosing of the Fray because we thought that it wouldn't be upbeat and fun. With that being said, I still decided to get a ticket and go check it out with a couple friends. The opening act was this group called Steel Train from New Jersey; they played mostly rock songs and the lead guitarist was definitely a character with his jumping around and various other on stage movements. After they finished up, we ended up waiting about half an hour for the Fray to get set up, and one could definitely feel some restlessness in the half-full Conte Forum. But when the Fray finally did take the stage, they put on a real good show. They played a variety of songs, including popular ones such as "You Found Me", "How to Save a Life", "She Is", "All at Once", and "Over my Head". At the end of the set, they left only to come back for an encore, in which they played two or three new songs as well as "Never Say Never". The lead singer and pianist was excellent and his vocals were so good that I could have sworn I was listening to a studio recording. All in all, it was a surprisingly good concert and I would say it was worth it. There are many cool opportunities like this available for you freshman year so be sure to check them out. Now I'm off to go write a paper for music class about the Fray's performance; thanks for reading!
-Geoffrey

Upper & Newton

2010-04-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

Hey class 2014! It’s me, Amy Ye, again! Still pondering on your first year housing options? This time I’d like to provide some information about housing at BC and hopefully my experience can help you decide which campus to choose.
I personally live on Upper Campus (BC students call it “Upper”), which locates on the west end of BC main campus. To sum up all the advantage s of Upper Campus by one word, I would use “convenience”. It is merely a five-minute walk from Upper to the Eagle’s Nest and McElroy Common, which are two wonderful places to enjoy great food offered by BC. Also, it only takes five minutes to walk from Upper to the shuttle bus station near McElory Common through which you can access Reservoir Subway Station and other banks, stores as well as restaurants in Cleveland Circle. Most importantly, students will tremendously benefit from Upper’s short distance to the main academic area. And usually you will only spend eight to ten minutes on walking to O’Neil Library or Fulton Hall. In a word, students really enjoy the various conveniences and the enormous amount of saved time brought by Upper.
On the other hand, to describe Newton (short for Newton Campus), I would prefer the phrase “community sense”. Newton Campus settles on the North side of Newton Centre, and 1.25 miles away from the main campus. Surrounded by the Edmands Park, Newton residents always deems it a segregated paradise for silent studying. As all the residents on Newton are freshmen (about 40% of the entire freshmen class), it is always easier to meet new peer friends in Newton and therefore create a sense of “Newton Community” or so-called “Newton Pride”. Moreover, Undergraduate students usually find that Newton provides an almost complete undergraduate experience, including six residence halls, a dining hall, library, post office, gyms, etc. The only necessary thing missing is undergraduate classes. All the academic facilities in Newton are utilized by BC Law School. Undergraduate students utilize the services of Boston College's shuttle bus, which runs from 7:00 am to 2:00 am each day of the academic year, to travel to the main campus for academic classes.
I hope my information provided here can more or less help you out on making your final decision. For more questions, feel free to email me by: yebe@bc.edu, or check out the following website: http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/process/tips/s-newtonupper.html

Bubble Tea

2010-04-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody~! My name is Amy Ye, and I’m from Wuxi, China. I’m currently a freshman in School of Arts and Sciences. For my first blog, I will be talking about this awesome bubble tea called Infusion Tea Spa. For those of you who are bubble tea lovers, I am sure that you will love this place. And for those of you who are not so familiar with bubble tea, let me first introduce you to this delicious drink.

Bubble tea is a sweetly flavored tea beverage invented in Taiwan. Drink recipes may vary, but most bubble teas contain a tea base mixed with fruit (or fruit syrup) and/or milk. Bubble teas also usually contain small tapioca balls or pearls called "boba". Pearls made of jelly are also available in many places.

I’m a bubble tea fanatic, and I can tell you with confidence that you won’t be disappointed with Infusion Tea Spa. This little store is located in Allston, between Harvard Ave & Linden St. You can just take the T to Harvard Ave, and then walk straight to Linden St. And this store is right across Taipei 99, a Taiwanese cuisine restaurant. Infusion Tea Spa offers tons of different flavored bubble tea and you can also add different toppings, such as green beans, red beans, peanuts, etc. They also offer both hot and cold bubble teas. And whenever I go there, I would order Ginger Milk Tea with tapioca or Hot Jelly Grass Tea with red and green beans.

All right, that’s it for this time. Have a nice day!

Until next time,

Amy Ye

Greek Dancing in Boston, Opa!

2010-04-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

Yasas!

Last night I attended the Hellenic Intercollegiate Dance in Boston, a semi-formal dinner/dance for Greek students and graduates in the Boston Radisson Hotel. All proceeds from the event were donated to the the Philoxenia House Charity, which offers hospitality to people (mainly guests are from Cyprus and Greece) who come to Boston for medical treatment.

The dance was a HUGE hit as many Hellenic societies from all over Boston organized and attended for a fun night of traditional Greek dancing, lamb chops and great Greek company (some of the schools involved: BC, BU, MIT, Suffolk, Harvard, UMB, Hellenic, Providence College, UML, Tufts, Northeastern).

I think this dance is one of the many examples of clubs (in this case the Hellenic societies) from nearby colleges joining together to put on a great event. With so many colleges nearby, Boston is an amazing college city in which there are always opportunities to meet students from other schools.

If you are interested in getting involved with the BC Hellenic Society please let me know, I would love to help out any Greek buddies or anyone interested in the Greek culture!

-Christina

Challenge the challenges

2010-04-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
My name is Alice. This is my first blog ever and it is for SAP. I am so excited about it!

I am from Shenzhen, China. I am freshman and it is also my first time to study in another country. As an international student myself, I know what it means to live far away from your family and to learn to live in a completely different culture.

You will feel homesick especially when you just get to school; you will feel anxious since you have to do things yourself; you will feel cultureshocked by peoples' different ways of communicating and doing things; you will be academically challenged especially in classes that require high capacity of English and more readings, for example, normally classes like philosophy, political science, sociology, etc; and in the beginning, you will even feel uncomfortable to make American friends and reasons might be: you are not used to the everyday English that they speak since what you have usually learnt in school in your country is academic Englsh; or you are not orally fluent and feel intimitated to talk or you can not find topics to talk with them, etc.All of these can be possible challenges for you if it is you are from a different culture, if English is not your first language, if it is your first time to study in an all English environment, etc.

The reasons that I list some of the challenges here, are not to scare you but on the contrary, they are here to tell you that you are not alone and that we, as international students, have experienced the above scenarios once we got here; they also serve to give you a head up (a notice) for what you might expect when you come to study in the US, so that you can better prepare yourself to deal with these situations. These are challenges yet we can triumph them all by determination and efforts.

Remember that you are not alone since we are all here to help you. We rise and suffer as a family; and remember as eagles, you are EVER TO EXCEL!! Go eagles!!

I am heading to lower(a dining hall) now to get my favourite steak(my fav food), so talk to you later. Have a good night or good morning(if you are in other time zones)!!

Alice

What Boston College Has Taught Me (Other than Latin, how to draw, French essay construction, and excessive historical-theological information): Part 4

2010-04-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

Bonjour! Once again, it's Courtney here, and I have my last installment of senior wisdom and nostalgia ready for you! It's rather fitting that I write this blog post today, April 24 2010, for two reasons: one, I will graduate from Boston College exactly one month from today, and two, exactly four years ago today, I sent in my deposit to Boston College. When I made my decision to come to BC, I had no idea how much my four years here would change my life. Four years later, I've come to realize how much my Boston College education will benefit me and stay with me for the rest of my life. I will graduate in the top of my class next month, but no class rank, award or honor society can quantify the experience I have had here. These next two "tips" need no introduction or explanation, and I saved them for last because I believe they illustrate how much BC students change for the better during their four years here.

1. Take a good chance! College goes by so quickly, and as my time here grows shorter, I often find myself saying, "Man, I wish I had tried that!" to a lot of things (running the marathon, volunteering with 4Boston, and pursuing a philosophy minor, to name a few), but when I really think back, I have taken a lot of chances at BC that have made me who I am today. Some, like studying abroad in Paris, becoming a teaching apprentice for a women's studies class despite not being sociology major, and applying for a ministry-based internship were things that I wasn't completely sure of at the time, but they have become some of my most memorable and formative experiences. Other chances, like getting myself into a long-distance (read: transatlantic) relationship and choosing an overly-ambitious thesis didn't work out so well, but taught me that everything happens for a reason. I had to learn how to deal with a broken heart and I also had to realize that there are simply not enough hours in the day to do everything I wanted, so I chose to give up my thesis in favor of taking more classes and getting more involved in SAP and dance. You may not think that 4 years makes a huge difference, but I feel much more mature, worldly and experienced now than I did at 18. So take a chance: try a new club you never imagined doing, take a class totally outside of your major, go on a date with someone you don't really know yet but want to get to know more, go abroad even if you think you'll get homesick--the list goes on and on, but some chances are simply once in a lifetime.

2. It's all about FIT. For most of senior year of high school, I was set on going to another college, so unlike most students at BC, BC was never truly my dream school. It wasn't until I came on a day visit here after being accepted and given generous financial aid that I realized that there was no way that I could pass up the opportunity to study at BC. I saw students who were seriously interested in their majors but who still laughed and talked about their weekend plans at dinner. I met professors who were down to earth and absolutely brilliant. I walked around campus thinking that I was in a movie or a dream that would end suddenly, but it was real. Most importantly, I fit. I felt like I belonged at BC, even as an awkward high school student, and even though I worried a bit that I had made a snap decision , I ultimately decided on BC because in my heart, it felt right. It was easily the best decision I have ever made. It's often easy to be allured by the big name Ivies, but I believe that no school, not even Boston College, is right for everyone. Your comfort and love for a school matters way more than the school's name on a sweatshirt. I talk about how important fit is all the time when I give tours, but this year, I was faced with my own "school" dilemma. When I applied to graduate school in January, I applied to BC's School of Theology and Ministry and to Harvard Divinity School. I was honored to have been accepted at both schools, and while many people look at me as though I have 12 heads when I tell them that I am not going to Harvard next year, I know that staying at BC is the right fit for me. Harvard will have to wait a few more years, BC isn't done with me yet!

I hope you have all enjoyed this blog series. I am very thankful to the SAP program for giving me the opportunity to share my stories and experiences with the wider world. If there are any questions, please contact me at kippc@bc.edu.

Best wishes for happy college (and life!) experiences,

Courtney

Fin's

2010-04-23T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, this is Sara.

Yesterday, I had dinner with my friend Alice at Fin's, a Japanese restaurant around BC.
Fin's is situated in the Cleveland Circle area, and we got there by the BC shuttle.

In my opinion, Fin's is furnished in a rather modern style, unlike other Japanese restaurants in Boston that tend to have a traditional Japanese atmosphere. The most eye catching thing in Fin's is the giant aquarium that is the home to several beautiful and colorful fish.

I order yaki ramen with chicken (which means roasted noodles with chicken), and my friend ordered spicy beef udon (which is also a kind of noodles) in soup.

If you want some Japanese food, but do not feel like going too faraway from BC, Fin's is definitely a good option.

Campus School Marathon Team

2010-04-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

A few people have written about the annual BC tradition of Marathon Monday, but I wanted to share my personal experience of running the Boston Marathon this past monday as a member of the Campus School Marathon Team.

The Campus School is a private, non-profit special education day school for students with disabilities ages 3-21 located right on campus. It is a wonderful opportunity for all students, especially those interested in special education careers, to learn more about youths with special and often complex needs as well as volunteer. BC students can interact with Campus School students by doing crafts with them, reading, and listening to music with them, and numerous events at BC raise money for the school.

Perhaps the most visible event that raises money for the Campus School is its Marathon Team. This year, around 175 BC students ran the Boston Marathon to help raise money and awareness for the Campus School - and I am proud to say I finished the 26.2 miles on Monday. I raised money and trained for several months with a few friends, and it was one of the best experiences I have had this year at BC - despite the fact that the last four miles were extremely painful. Whether or not you have plans to run the Marathon in your four years at BC, watching it can be just as rewarding and fun - and the Campus School is a great institution at BC - where student's talents are often combined into events that are both fun and help the community.

Ryan

What Boston College Has Taught Me (Other than Latin, how to draw, French essay construction, and excessive historical-theological information): Part 3

2010-04-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Courtney here with my third set of tips from an old BC pro. So far I've talked about Jesuit education, studying what you love, putting yourself out there and exploring the city of Boston. I think that most Boston College students (and college students in general) struggle with the next two issues I am about to mention, but you can make the high school-to-college transition much easier if you arrive at college not only knowing that things are going to be different but also having some sort of idea as to how you will deal with the differences and make a great experience for yourself.

1. Time management is key to being successful at everything in college! In high school, your schedule is essentially planned for you. I can remember repeating the same routine every weekday: get up super early, go to school for 6 or 7 hours, go to various meetings, head home for a quick dinner (sometimes Mom would just toss me a sandwich out the window!), go to dance and/or theater rehearsal until 9 or 10 pm, and head home to start my homework. Needless to say, I got very little sleep during my high school career! There is certainly a lot more leeway in a college schedule. BC offers many courses at different times, so you decide what time your classes start and finish and how much space you want between your classes. If you're an early bird like myself, you can have your classes start early in the morning and finish by early afternoon; if you like sleeping in, you don't have to start your day until noontime or later. Some students like to have all their classes in a row, others like to space their classes out throughout the day and have time in between to have lunch, do homework and chat with friends. I've learned that planning out my week on Sundays is a great strategy: I use a Google calendar to keep my classes, work and tutoring schedule, Student Admission Program time slots and dance commitments blocked off, and then I fill in the blank spots with with meetings, research and homework time, on-campus events, and time with friends. No hour goes to waste with a fully planned calendar! It may be very easy to give yourself too much time to relax or wait in between classes at first, and time management can be tricky, but after a semester or two, you will have gotten the hang of it rather easily.

2. If at first you don't succeed, try again! In high school, I was good at everything. I don't think I was ever turned down from anything for which I applied. Being thrown into a school of 9,000 extremely talented and accomplished students made me a teeny weeny fish in a HUGE pond. I was discouraged when I didn't make the Dance Organization and didn't get picked as a tour guide when I tried out during my freshman year, but the rejections only made me work harder: I took lots of extra dance classes to improve my technique and I volunteered for everything possible in the Student Admissions Program. My hard work paid off, and I became a member of the Dance Organization and a tour guide during my sophomore year. If you get turned down from a certain sports team or performance group, you can also try something new. BC has a TON of clubs (over 230) to get involved with, and many consist of things like swing dancing, karate, capoiera, culture clubs, and other interests that I had never encountered in high school. A rejection from one group could be a blessing in disguise that leads you to a newfound passion for a different activity!

Be on the lookout for my final installment of senior wisdom!

Until then,

Courtney

The Campus Tour Part 1

2010-04-22T13:39:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

As International Students, you might not be able to take an official campus tour. However, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be able to take a virtual tour. So, right now I am going to take you on a virtual tour of Boston College. All pictures correspond to the paragraph directly above them. Ready?

The tour starts in front of Devlin Hall, where the Office of Undergraduate Admissions is located. Devlin also has the Fine Arts Department, and the Geology and Geophysics Department, as well as classrooms.

Then the tour moves to Gasson Hall, which is really the home of the Arts and Sciences program, and the home of the Arts and Sciences Honors Program. There are a lot of classrooms in Gasson Hall. When you walk into Gasson you will have the Irish Room on your right. When BC first moved to Chestnut Hill, Irish Hall was able to hold the entire student body. Needless to say it can't anymore, so now it is used for band concerts, activities, lectures, etc. Also in Gasson is the Jenks Honors Library, which is the library for the Arts and Sciences Honors Program.

After that we head to Bapst Library, which used to be the main library on campus until O'Neill Library was built in 1984. Bapst is a completely silent library (and also looks a little bit like the great hall from Harry Potter inside, which is why a lot of BC students refer to it as the Harry Potter library). It is a 24-hour library during the week, and has slightly different hours on the weekend.

Across from Bapst is St. Mary's Hall, which is home to some of the 103 Jesuits living on campus. The Jesuits teach classes and are involved in administrative work. The Jesuits are a great resource, but one of the great things about BC is that no one shoves religion down your throat. The resources are there if you want to take advantage of them, but if you don't, no one is going to say anything about it. If you want to go to church you go, if you don't, you don't. People are very respectful of that. The Jesuit tradition is more in the sense of educating the whole person and advocating men and women for others. St. Mary’s does offer masses, but we also have Protestant, Islamic, and Jewish prayer services, as well as a Sunday Caravan that will take students to places of worship off campus.

After St. Mary's Hall we head to O'Neill Library, which is now the main research library on campus, with over 2 million volumes. We also have access to online journals and databases. We are also part of a library consortium, so we have full access to other libraries in the area. There also a lot of things that go on in O'Neill Plaza (the area outside of the library), like rallies (we just had one for the men's hockey team, which won the national championship, the Mass of the Holy Spirit (again, go if you want, don't go if you don't want to), and all different activities as well.

To the right of the Library and down the stairs is the Connors Family Learning Center, which provides students with free tutoring, including an essay editing service. Across from the Connors Family Learning Center is the Campus Technology Resource Center, which is the computer lab on campus. It runs both Dell and Apple software. We also have 500 pages of free printing per semester, and if you use all 500 pages (I have not) printing is only 3 cents per page. A lot of students bring laptops (I would recommend it if you can), but the CTRC is there for you to use it. The campus is also set up for Wi-Fi, so you can take your laptop around with you if you would like and use internet around campus.

The Campus Tour Part 2

2010-04-22T13:05:00.000-07:00

After the Library, we pass 21 Campanella Way, which is home to the Philosophy, Theology, History, Economics, and Communications Departments. Also at the bottom of Campanella Way is Hillside, which is one of the many dining options on campus.

Up on the landing, we can see Conte Forum, which is home to our men and women's basketball and ice hockey programs. We also have other events in Conte Forum, including the fall and spring concerts. The band program is also located in Conte Forum.

Behind Conte Forum is Alumni Stadium, home to the BC football program. Across on the left is Flynn Recreation Complex, which is the gym at BC. Known as the Plex, the Recreation Complex is completely free for student use and has basketball courts, volleyball courts, tennis courts, and a pool, and it offers different exercise classes. Beyond the Plex is Robsham Theater, which contains our theatre department, and also the location of dance shows, presentations, and plays. There is also another dining option located on lower campus known as Corcoran Commons, which actually contains two dining places, Lower Live (which is on the first floor), and Addie’s, an organic dining option located on the second floor. Beyond that we have a T stop right across from BC, so it's really easy to get into Boston (and really cheap - it's only $1.70 with a Charlie Card, which are free, and $2 without it).

Then we go into Higgins Hall, which has the biology and physics departments. Inside of Higgins you can see the “Laboratory for Extreme Conditions,” which is run by Professor Naughton. The chemistry department is located in Merkert, which is not on the tour.

After Higgins we move to the Connell School of Nursing building (Cushing). We have an excellent nursing program here at Boston College. The School of Nursing maintains great relationships with the major hospitals in Boston, and students can do clinical work in any one of these hospitals as early as sophomore year. Also in Cushing is the infirmary, which has both inpatient and outpatient clinics.

Then we go to the Lynch School of Education (Campion). Students in the Lynch School of Education participate in three pre-practicums, or once a week student teaching, and then one full practicum, or full time student teaching, their senior year. Students in the Lynch School graduate with their Massachusetts State Certification.

Also located in Campion is the Campus School, which is an on-campus school for people ages 3-21 who have multiple special needs. The Campus Schools is a great way to get involved with volunteering on campus.

McGuinn (which is to the left of Fulton Hall) is home to the Psychology Department and the Political Science department, as well as the Graduate School of Social Work.

The last official stop on the tour is Fulton Hall, the home of the Carroll School of Management. That is where you will find the Wizard of Oz room.

After Fulton we move out into the Quad and find the Dust Bowl (the site of many on-campus events such as Student Activities Day), McElroy (one of the dining halls on campus and home to the BC Bookstore), Carney (the English department) and Lyons Hall (The Office of Student Services and the Romance Language Department).

(Dust Bowl) (Lyons)

And that is the end of the Boston College Tour.

That's all for now! Thank you for taking this virtual tour of Boston College. I hope you enjoyed it!

Ali McDonald

mcdonaay@gmail.com

Newton v. Upper

2010-04-21T13:36:00.001-07:00

Hey all! So for those of you thinking about housing your freshman year, a big question is whether you will end up living on Newton Campus or Upper Campus. Just to prepare you for either situation, I decided to blog about the similarities and differences between each option.

I guess I will begin with Newton because its where I currently reside. Newton Campus is an all-freshman campus where 40% of the freshman class dorms. We have 3 residence halls, called Keyes South/ Keyes North, Duchesne East/West, and Hardey/Cushing. Newton Campus is also home to the BC Law School, so we have a big law library and classrooms for law classes. Of course, Newton Campus has Stuart Dining Hall, home of the late-night triple grilled cheese sandwiches. Sometimes known as BC's little secret, Newton residents dwell 1.5 miles away from Main Campus, where all classes are held. No worries though, BC does provide a prompt Newton Bus Shuttle that will take you to Main Campus free of charge. Buses usually leave every ten minutes, so Main Campus is very accessible. Newton has a lot of grass and open space, including a soccer field, lacrosse field, and gym facility. Because Newtonites have a lot of pride, BC throws special events such as the Neon Dance, Halloween Dance, and Newton Field Day on Newton Campus. Because I have lived on Newton all year, it has become home to me, and I will definitely miss it next year.

Upper Campus is the other option for freshman housing. Less than a 5 minute walk from Main Campus, Upper is home to 60% of the freshman class. The residents of Upper Campus have more of a feeling of a larger university feeling because they are located to close to Main Campus. Upper has its own basketball court, and the O' Connell House, which is where UGBC( BC's Student Council) throws several themed mixers. The students on Upper have the convenience of being close to Main Campus so they can go to their rooms easily. Other than that, Upper is cool because many of the residence halls are connected to one another, creating a large student community.

Wherever you end up, freshman year is whatever you make of it. Don't be too bummed if you end up living on a campus that you didn't want. What is important is that you take advantage of what you were rewarded with-- the opportunity to begin the experience of a lifetime as a BC student.

Easter @ DC

2010-04-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone!

It was our Easter break three weeks ago. Easter break is five days total, from Thursday to Monday. For me, it is too long to stay in Boston, but too short to go back home. So, my friend and I went to DC!

Early April is the best season to be in Washington DC. Why? There's the cherry blossom! We were very lucky that it was also DC's Cherry Blossom Festival March 27-April 11.
Here are some pictures of the cherry blossom. So pretty!

Night time Cherry Blossom @ Tidal Basin

Washington Monument & Cherry Blossom

So besides watching the cherry blossom, we also went to a lot of the museums. My favorite is the National Gallery of Art. The best part I enjoy the most is going on all sorts of theme tours in the gallery. There are so many stories behind all the paintings that I would never know until I went on the tour!

Any way, breaks always pass by wayyy to fast. A five-day break is definitely not long enough to fully discover DC!

Ashley Zhang

A&S 2011

SAP and Marathon Monday

2010-04-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I hope all of you have been doing well and that you seniors are enjoying your last few weeks of school before graduation! I can't believe the school year is almost over-it seems to have gone by so fast.

April has been a busy month here at BC. The campus has been bustling with thousands of accepted students and their families visiting prior to making their college decisions. It has been great walking around campus and seeing all of the prospective students taking tours or sitting in the academic quad.

Speaking of prospective students, I thought I'd take this opportunity to write about an organization we have at BC called the Student Admission Program (SAP), which allows undergraduates to volunteer in and around the admissions office. In fact, my fellow bloggers and I are all a part of the Student Admission Program. There are several programs within SAP to become involved in, including greeting, office management, and international outreach (which this blog is a part of,) among others. Once you have participated in one program for two semesters/two programs for one semester, you can apply to be a campus tour guide or panelist at the information sessions. It's great because SAP allows you to interact with prospective students even as a freshman. I love meeting new people and answering questions about Boston College and all of the great opportunities available here on campus, so SAP has been a really enjoyable experience. If any of you are interested in SAP I would definitely encourage you to join in the fall—it is a great way to represent BC and meet many talented prospective students.

This year I was involved with the Greeting and International Outreach programs. For Greeting I volunteered in the admissions office in Devlin Hall once a week with several other students. It was our responsibility to converse with prospective students and their families, as well as answer any questions they had concerning Boston College. It's a very gratifying experience because it gives you an opportunity to share your own experiences in the hopes of giving prospective students a better idea of what it is like to attend school here.

In addition to blogging, those of us in International Outreach have been calling accepted international students over the past week. It was exciting to talk to students from Mexico, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Switzerland, Belgium, and England, and I hope to visit these countries in the future. International students contribute so much to the BC community and I hope that many of you decide to come here. This campus wouldn't be the same without all of you and the valuable experiences and knowledge you bring. Some of my closest friends are international students and so it has been great meeting more new students from around the world recently (albeit over the phone and via e-mail!)

On a different note, today was the Boston Marathon (Marathon Monday as everyone calls it here in Boston.) This was the first marathon I've ever attended and it was both exhilarating and inspiring to watch. What a feat, running 26.2 miles! The runners come right by BC (down Commonwealth Avenue.) Lots of students came down to watch and cheer on the participants. 150 Boston College students participated in the marathon too. It was a great day and it's always nice to see the BC community come out in support of an event like this.

With that said, I hope all of you have an enjoyable week!

Take care,

Courtney

A&S 2013

Marathon Monday!

2010-04-19T17:22:00.001-07:00

So today was Marathon Monday! I explained it in my last post, but to briefly summarize, its a huge marathon in Boston. Its the 114th race and 26.2 miles, with over 25,000 runner participating this year. And this year they ran on Commonwealth Ave, right past Boston College! My roommate and I woke up at 9.30am today, got our Marathon Monday shirts on (we bought them from a guy, its not handed out or anything), and started walking to main campus from Newton since Commonwealth Ave was closed down for the runners. It was a beautiful sunny day and it was so relaxing walking down. There were police and army guys already out blocking the roads, a few carts selling balloon toys, and people out on the sidewalks and lawn cheering on the disabled as they went past (the disabled marathon was first that morning). It was great! We bought a red balloon monkey, who we christened Eddy. I have no idea where he is now though.

It was a 30 minute walk to main campus, and on the way we also went past a Nike house that was apparently giving away free Marathon shirts! As we approached campus, there were more and more BC students! It was so fun cheering on the runners (by then the marathon for them started). It was especially great cheering on runners from BC! There were quite a few of them too. Everyone was out on the streets and there was a generally happy atmosphere. At around 3.30pm, we headed back to Newton for a long nap. It was a really fun day overall - a great first experience for my first Marathon Monday!

What Boston College Has Taught Me (Other than Latin, how to draw, French essay construction, and excessive historical-theological information): Part 2

2010-04-18T14:25:00.001-07:00

Hello friends, Courtney here with my next installment of senior wisdom! These next two tips have a bit of a theme: stepping outside of your comfort zone a little and exploring, especially during freshman year. The first year of college certainly isn't easy--no matter where you go (I hope it's BC!), you'll be faced with the challenges of new classes, new friends, maybe having a roommate for the first time, finding where you fit with clubs and activities, and, if you're not from around here (he-ah, in Boston speak), adjusting to life in a new city. It may take a bit more effort and time to get into the swing of things, but the earlier you start, the sooner you'll be an old pro at the BC thing!

1. Put yourself out there! As a freshman, I was very shy--certainly extremely out of character, as I am usually bubbly, friendly and outgoing--and I had a rough time making friends. I couldn't really figure out what I was doing wrong until I realized that I wasn't putting myself out there and trying hard enough to meet new people. So even if it feels a bit strange or you think you'll look silly, knock on every door in the hallway of your dorm and ask the guys and girls living on your floor to go to dinner, watch a movie, or play catch with you. Everyone is in the same boat freshman year in that they want to meet people and make friends, and they will appreciate the invite as much as you will appreciate their company! I find that even as a senior, the more I put myself out there by even just starting a friendly conversation with someone on the BC bus or by chatting with a quiet student in my drawing class, I make new friends all the time.

2. Explore! Sure, most girls have been to Newbury Street to shop and most guys have been to Fenway to see a Sox game, but push yourself not only to get into Boston as much as possible but also to discover some lesser-known places in the city. I was lucky in that I grew up an hour away from Boston so I knew my way around the city, but when I studied abroad in Paris last year, I was thrown into a completely new and HUGE place in which my university courses were spread all over. I got a great map that broke down all of the different sections of the city and tried to go to a different place every weekend until I became familiar with Paris. I got lost a fair few times, but in the process, I discovered some really awesome shops and cafes. Although Boston is quite a bit smaller than Paris, you can do the same thing here. This past summer alone, I went to Central Square for dances classes once a week, went into the theater district to see plays and musicals, took a romantic stroll around Long Wharf and the aquarium with a date, and visited Harvard while checking out graduate schools. Get yourself a map (and learn to read it! It's always a good skill to have) and get lost!

Until next time!

Courtney

Asian food in Boston

2010-04-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Its been a while since I've posted, so I decided to give you guys an update on what I've been doing.

So on Friday, after my Calculus exam, me and a friend decided to go get some shabu shabu. For those who don't know what that is, its basically Japanese hot pot. You can cook thin strips of meat (I personally prefer beef), vegetables and udon noodles in a pot of boiling water. Its so delicious! And healthy, I like to think. We went to a shabu restaurant on Harvard Ave called Shabu Zen. Its really close to the Harvard Ave T-stop, which is about 15-20 minutes on the B line from Boston College. The B line is the T line that starts nearby the Boston College main entrance.

Anyway, the shabu shabu was great! So delicious. And it was only around $15 (with tip)! I would definitely recommend it. I've already been there like 5 times.

My Shabu hot pot

Shabu Zen: it was pretty empty when we went since we got there at like 4pm

Its on Harvard Ave, like I said before, and you guys should definitely check out Harvard Ave if you like Asian food. Harvard Ave is basically a long road with small stores and Asian restaurants. It may not look super sophisticated or tourist-y, but some of the tiny restaurants there are pretty good. I know there's a vietnamese restaurant there called Le's, which is good too.

Anyway, so after a very satisfying meal, we headed to Quincy market to meet up with our other 2 friends. Quincy market is great! Its an small area filled with stores such as Urban Outfitters, American Eagle, Banana Republic, etc. There are also lots of restaurants such as Wagamama. In Quincy Market is also a building that serves as a big indoor food court. There's a wide variety of food there and a two-storey area to sit and eat. Quincy Market is right by the harbor, so its beautiful on a nice day. Faneuil Hall is also in the area of Quincy Market.

I love Quincy Market, its a great place just to walk around with friends, especially on a sunny day.

The indoor food court

Quincy Market at night

So after wandering around for a while, we decided to go get dinner at the Kenmore area. The Kenmore T-stop is around 30 minutes away from Boston College on the B line. But its a lot faster on the D line - its only 20 minutes away from the Newton Centre stop (which is a 20 minute walk from Newton campus) and the Reservoir stop (which you can get to from main campus via BC's Commonwealth Ave bus). The Kenmore area is where some of Boston University's buildings are, so there's always BU students in that area. I think Kenmore is a great area to eat since there are so many restaurants available to choose from. I saw UBurger, Noodle St, Uno, and other restaurants there.

But we wanted to have Indian food for dinner, so we ate at Indian Quality, which had really good food! I've eaten there before too. They have free pixie sticks and candy out on a huge dish by the door, which we ruthlessly exploited. (i got a handful of pixie sticks which i finished all of on the way back). We ordered different dishes. My friends got lentil curry, Tandoori chicken, another type of chicken dish, and I got Chicken Tikka Masala (made out of tomato puree with cream and chicken- my favourite Indian curry, and one of the best in my opinion), with rice and naan bread. The dishes literally took up all the space on our small table! There was so much food that we couldn't finish all the naan bread and curry! It was an amazing dinner though.

i think the red curry on the right is the Chicken Tikka Masala

inside Indian Quality

Indian Quality

So I definitely had great food on Friday!

Anyway, I'll try to update you guys more later.

By the way, Marathon Monday is upcoming Monday!! Its going to be my first time seeing this crazy Boston tradition, so I'm very excited. I heard its really big here. People go all out on it. Basically people line the streets to cheer on the runners. This year the runners are going to go on Commonwealth Ave right past Boston College!

My roommate and I already got our Marathon Monday shirts!

Have a great day!

Get on the Bus for Human Rights

2010-04-17T07:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Amnesty International USA Local Group 133 of Somerville MA hosted its 15th Annual Get on the Bus for human rights, a day of human rights activism and education. It's a day in which students, supporters and Amnesty International members gather in New York, New York for a day of human rights rallies.

Through Boston College's Amnesty International Chapter, I was able to get on the bus at 5:10am from Boston to NYC for a whole day of human rights rallies. It was such a thrilling experience, we screamed and protested for those whose voices are not permitted to be heard in other countries.

After we heard a series of guest speakers at the Great Hall at The Cooper Union, including three Tibetan monks and a U.S. Representative of Reporters Without Borders we engaged in three actions.

Action 1: Sri Lanka Action - We stood outside the Sri Lanka embassy and called on the Sri Lankan government for unconditional release for a Sri Lankan journalist named J.S. Tissainayagam also known as Tissa.

Action 2: Burma (Myanmar)- We rallied in front of the Burma embassy and rallied for Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners. Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has served 14 years of unofficial detention, house arrest and restrictions on her movement. We protested for her immediate and unconditional release and for the release of all prisoners of conscience in Burma.

Action 3: Tibet - In front of the Chinese embassy, we called upon Chinese authorities for the immediate and unconditional release of Dhondup Wangchen, a Tibetan documentary filmmaker who has been jailed for six years for "subversion." We also called for investigation of the allegations of torture and ill-treatment of Wangchen and all Tibetan detainees.

I encourage everyone to fight for human rights and if interested you should join the BC Amnesty International Chapter to learn more.

Christina

CSOM Core Curriculum

2010-04-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

Hello, Everybody. It's Annie here again. During the last few days, students have been busy thinking and registering courses for next semester. Course registration can be a hassle if you are one of the unfortunate people like me, who got a really late registration time.

Since I'm in Carroll School of Management, I thought I would talk about CSOM's core curriculum this time. There are 14 required courses, such as Portico, Financial Accounting, Intro to Business Law, etc, for all undergraduate in CSOM. You can find a list of the courses here:

http://www.bc.edu/schools/csom/undergraduate/academics/core.html#Carroll%20School%20Curriculum

Generally, CSOM students take about 2-4 required courses per year, depending on their schedule and concentrations.

As for me, I'm currently taking Intro to Business Law and Macroeconomics. For the fall semester of my sophomore year, I will be taking Financial Accounting, Math for Management Science and Organizational Behavior.

Until next time,

Annie

Weather / Seasons

2010-04-15T18:34:00.000-07:00

Right before Christmas Break- ground is covered in snow!

One of those windy, windy days

Snow

More snow

Fall

FOUR SEASONS

Some international students live in a country where there is only one type of climate! For me, it was 90-100 degrees F every day of the year! I've grown to love the heat and the sun. So, one of my initial worries (and still is) is the extremely harsh winter of Boston! It was actually quite mild this year, said other people such as my roomie and that I haven't experienced the worst yet. I realized that it's not so bad if you have a good jacket and layer your clothing.

On the bright side, I liked experiencing the four seasons. It was nice to see the leaves changing, snow falling, flowers blooming, and people starting to stay outside more, now that Spring has finally arrived!

Here are some pictures that I thought were really pretty and it was really interesting for me because this year was my first winter! And my first fall and spring that I can remember...

Enjoy! :)

New England Aquarium

2010-04-15T18:19:00.000-07:00

One of the major tourist spots in Boston is the famous New England Aquarium. Unfortunately, I went there on a rainy day, so we were standing in line (the last picture). The wait was about 30 minutes, but it was really worth it! There's also an IMAX theater right beside the aquarium. I know there are a lot of restaurants nearby, but one really good one is Legal Seafood, which is right across.

This is definitely a must see if you're in Boston studying or even when your parents come! I think they have like 3-4 floors and there's a giant tank in the middle (the pictures with the diver and the huge turtle). There are also baby penguins and lots and lots of fish- didn't know there were so many kinds.

It's also really accessible by T, the public transportation here. Get off at the Aquarium stop on the blue line. For more info, visit their website: http://www.neaq.org/index.php

Cristina

Concerts in Boston

2010-04-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

This morning, I joined the International Telethon to call accepted students. I persuaded them to come to BC and answered many of their questions! I had a lot of fun speaking to people from all over the world, including Kuwait, Malaysia, Philippines, and Madagascar! I thought it was really cool.

Anyway, I think one of the fun things to look forward to as you come to the US is being able to watch a range of concerts! I know back home in the Philippines, famous artists only came once or twice a year, so there were not many options of concerts. I've watched two concerts so far since coming to Boston: Akon and The Black Eyed Peas.

The first picture is from the Akon Concert at BC. It was really fun to go with friends and you can also invite your friends from other schools! Only a limited number of students were able to stay in the floor area, but towards the end, everyone rushed to the dance floor!

The second picture is from the Black Eyed Peas Concert in TD Garden. I've watched other concerts before, but this one was by far, the best concert I've ever seen! They played all of their songs and the visual effects were amazing. I think it was so good because perhaps the stadium was better equipped than the facilities for concerts abroad. I saw one of the members of the BEP in a motorcycle, a part of the stage was elevated, etc.

So yeah, one thing that you can definitely take advantage of is the concerts! Here's a site that is constantly updated with singers who come to Boston! Also, the Fray is coming to BC next Thursday and I can't wait!

http://www.ticketsolutions.com/boston-concerts.asp

Enjoy! :)

BC campus

2010-04-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

Unlike many schools close to cities, although BC is located very close (approx. 20 min train ride on the T) to the city of Boston, BC has a gorgeous campus. Students are able to lie out on the grass in the quad, the dustbowl, in front of Bapst, by St. Ignatius and countless of other outdoor areas all over campus. This is a very unique quality of a school in such a close proximity to a city!

The top image: students study while enjoying the sun in the dustbowl in the middle of the day!

The bottom image: students take a break from schoolwork to enjoy the sun in front of Bapst!

What Boston College Has Taught Me (Other than Latin, how to draw, French essay construction, and excessive historical-theological information): Part 1

2010-04-15T14:28:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!

This is Courtney Kipp, A&S 2010, again! Since this may well be one of the last blogs I write as a Boston College undergraduate, I want to go all-out. This blog is the first in a series of four posts that I will add over the next couple of weeks and that will share with all of you what BC has taught me during my four years here. I have certainly learned a lot academically--I am fluent in French, read Latin at the intermediate level, know WAY too much about Christian history, and have dabbled in many other subjects--but the most important things I have learned from BC are the ones that I will be able to carry with me throughout the rest of my life and apply to a variety of issues and areas of my life. Here are my first two:

1. Jesuit education is WICKED awesome. The Jesuits truly do a wonderful job of educating the whole person. Between the numerous choices throughout the departments for core courses and over 230 clubs to get involved with, BC allows its students to be educated academically, socially, spiritually, culturally, and so on. I thought I was well-rounded when I arrived at BC four years ago, but my interests, passions and skills have grown immensely over the last four years. BC has made me strive to continue my newfound interests, like drawing and Latin, and to try new things--Greek is the next language to learn on my list!

2. Follow your heart and study what you love. I can't begin to count the number of times I've been asked, "So, if you're a theology major...are you going to become a nun? What else can you do with that major?" I used to feel a bit embarrassed explaining my undying passion for medieval Christian history, and I even wondered if I should switch to more "practical" majors, but at the end of the day, studying French and theology makes me happier than anything else. My father has always supported my studies (even though he fails to understand why I love the Council of Nicea so much!) and has always told me to do what I love no matter what. BC has given me the best opportunity and additional support to do just that.

Tune in next time for two more great things I've learned from my BC education!

Au revoir!

Courtney

Asia Telethon

2010-04-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hello! This is Sara!

This morning, I went over to main campus at 7 am. Yes, 7 am.
I had never been on main campus at such an early time...
And why am I there at 7 am? It was because I got to call accepted students in Asia!
After I told them that they are accepted, most of them remained silence for a couple seconds before responding. I could feel the awe and the joy in their voices. I am glad that I am among the earliest ones to share their joy.

So... did you get a call from me?

Once again, welcome to BC!

BC Spirit

2010-04-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Firstly, I would like to congratulate the BC Men's Ice Hockey team for capturing the NCAA Championship title!!! The entire school is so proud of them!!

Recently thinking about BC's hockey greatness, has reminded me of one of the many reasons why I chose to attend BC: School Spirit.

In the stands on rainy or cold days, you will always find excitement for BC football games and other BC sports. Football is my favorite here! Even though I do not particularly know the game as well I should, the atmosphere of being with your fellow student body screaming, cheering, singing and dancing is UNBELIEVABLE. I also love seeing alumni barbecuing before the Saturday games, they bring a strong sense of community to the campus and also provide us undergraduates with hot dogs and cheeseburgers!

I hope that you will be able to experience BC's great school spirit through hockey, football and all other BC sports. It's truly an incredible experience to be able to not only have the chance to intellectually fulfill myself but socially experience the best of college.

PS: If you plan on attending BC be sure to know the BC Fight Song: "For Boston." It is sung at all major sporting events!

-Christina

Easter Break (2nd day) - Experiencing Break With an African American Family

2010-04-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

So the second day, we woke up at Noon (12:00PM), and went to the BOSTON BOWL.....

So this is my roommate, his name is Sha-Lee Flavius. He is going to be on the basketball team in his Junior year. He tried to look like a model, but of course he is not. LOL.

You might be wondering what these are. They are the bowling balls used for duckpin bowling. Only a few places have duckpin bowling and BOSTON BOWL is one of them.

Theses tenpin are called Candletenpin, much smaller than the regular ones.

You can borrow the shoes. When you leave, please take the socks away with you.

This is inside of the house, and you can see the style is combination of American & Asian.

This is one of my roommate's nephews. Super active. He told me, "No picture". As if I am a paparazzi.

My roommate's cousin. This is their music studio.

BC Hockey

2010-04-11T19:42:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone,

If you like watching sports, especially hockey, then Boston College would be a great school for you. Yesterday, Boston College won the Men's Division 1 National Hockey Tournament for the 2nd time in the last 3 years!! For anyone unfamiliar with American college sports, this means we have the best hockey team in the nation - and you can attend games all season long in the winter! Games are really fun to watch and a great way to meet fellow students and BC fans. After the team won yesterday, they arrived back at campus at 3:30 am - to a welcoming crowd of BC students celebrating their success (the pictures are a little blurry, sorry). You can learn more about BC athletics here.

- Ryan

Harumatsuri

2010-04-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, this is Sara!
I attended Harumatsuri organized by the JCBC (Japan Club of Boston College) on friday, and it was great!
Harumatsuri means spring festival in Japanese (haru=spring, matsuri=festival). The venue was decorated with Japanese lanterns and banners, and Japanese popular songs were played in the hall.
There were great Japanese food, like sushi, tofu, and dumplings. We also got to play traditional Japanese matsuri games, such as goldfish scooping, yoyo fishing, and shooting.
The performances at Harumatsuri were also spectacular. The kendo, karate, and traditional dance performance let us know more about the traditional Japan; while the live band, jazz piano, and modern dance performance show us the modern side of Japan.
Harumatsuri was awesome, and I am definitely attening it next year!

Around Newton Campus

2010-04-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

As you guys may know, part of the freshman class lives on the Newton Campus. The Newton Campus has three main dorms-- Keyes, Duchesne, and Hardey/Cushing-- and the Stuart dining hall (known to be one of the best places to get food at BC)! Shuttle services connect the campus to the main campus very regularly. Here are some photos taken around Newton Campus, where I live!

--In the first photo, Rui and John, two international students, utilize the Keyes library located in the basement of the dorm.

--In the second photo, Maura picks out her breakfast at Stuart dining hall.

Reflections on freshman year at BC

2010-04-07T20:59:00.001-07:00

Hey guys my name is Geoffrey Mak and I'm finishing up my freshman year here at BC. I'm enrolled in the Carroll School of Management with a concentration in marketing. My parents are both from Hong Kong, but I was born and raised in sunny California, so Boston's definitely a change of pace for me. First of all, I realize that admission letters and such have been sent out only recently, so many of you are still wrestling over important decisions about where to spend the next four years. With that in mind, I'm going to list a couple important aspects of freshman year at BC.

In my opinion, BC's a pretty big school (I had 65 kids in my graduating high school class) and that means that there are many, many opportunities for you here. No matter what you like to do or what you're interested in, it'll probably exist here in some form. A few things that I have been involved in this year are intramural football and dodgeball, club tennis, culture clubs such as CSA (chinese students association) and KSA (korean students association), academic ones such as AHANA Management Academy, SOFC (Student Funding Committee, where we allocate funds and budget for all the clubs and organizations around campus), and the Student Admissions Program, just to name a few. There's a rather large student activities day at the beginning of the year, so it's really easy to get involved around campus. This will also help you branch out, meet new people, and make friends more quickly.

Academics here are obviously pretty big here, but I'd say the workload is fairly manageable. There are many resources to help you out though in case you do feel overwhelmed, such as a tutoring center in the library, professors' office hours, and teaching assistants in bigger classes.

A couple of the things that I have really loved about BC throughout this freshman year is the balance of things of academic nature and those of non academic nature, the accessibility of teachers, how easy it is to make friends and meet new people, the great school spirit, and being able to go into Boston pretty easily (in my case, for Red Sox and Celtics games because I'm a big sports fan). Of course, there's a bunch of stuff that I haven't covered here, so if I've missed anything important or any questions come to mind, definitely let me know.

Thanks for reading,
Geoffrey Mak
makge@bc.edu

Beautiful April Day

2010-04-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

BC students have just gotten back from Easter break to some beautiful weather. After a long winter, Boston is finally getting some nice warm days! Today, the temperature was in the high 80s and the campus was filled with students trying to soak up the sun!

On this gorgeous day, various culture groups had set up tables infront of the O'Neill library. Students and faculty members stopped by to listen to some of the student speakers and performers (including singers, dancers, etc) from the various culture groups!

Easter Break (1st day) - Experiencing Break with an African American Family

2010-04-07T14:23:00.001-07:00

Hi All,

This is Arnold Lee. I am a freshman in Carroll School of Management, majoring in Finance and Information System. As an international student (I am from Taiwan, by the way), I got an exclusive “offer” from my roommate to spend break with his family which is African American.

City of Dorchester (About 30 mins away from BC)

In the city of Dorchester, African Americans are the majority. It is relative poor, and some might argue it is dangerous as well; however, you will have a very different perspective once you spend some time in it.

Blue Hills (10-mins drive from my roommate's hoome)

This was a picture taken at Blue Hills. This is an environmental reserve area. From here you will have an excellent full view of Boston Downtown.

A Convenient Store in Dorchester

As you can see, the refrigerator is not filled up of Beverages.

Traditional Food - Hotdog & Beans

So, this is my first day staying with my roommate's family, even though the dish has this very special taste it is very hard to describe. It is baked beans and hotdogs, two popular dishes in the United States served together.

Arnold Lee

CSOM' 2013

Leeabu@bc.edu

Top 5 things I love about BC

2010-04-06T17:57:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! It's Cristina again. So, I was thinking about my next topic and decided I wanted to write about the best things about BC!

1. Size of the student population-
I really like the size of the student population here at BC. I think that it's not too big and not too small. It's definitely not a type of school wherein you don't bump into anyone in one day. You'll see people you recognize in passing, in the cafeteria, in the library, etc. I also think BC is not too small because if it were, I think there would be more cliques. But, the school is big enough to hang out with all groups of people!

2. Professors & Classes-
I love registering and selecting classes. It's always fun to hear about good classes, which "you have to take" or classes with amazing Professors. So far, the Professors who I chose are all excellent! They care about the students and want us to learn. Also, it's really easy to communicate with them via office hours or e-mail. A lot of Professors are really proficient with computers and you get a response in minutes/few hours!

3. Library-
I could spend a whole day at the BC Library. The environment is so nice to be in especially since everyone's working hard and studying. Sometimes, it motivates me to continue working. There are five floors, so there is A LOT of space to find a place to work. There are also cubicles near the walls of the library, which kind of make you isolated in order to FOCUS AND WORK!

4. "Balanced" students-
My overall impression of BC students is how everyone manages to balance all their priorities. I really like how everyone wants to get good grades, yet people like to have fun! I always see people leaving for trips on Fridays or doing something fun, but coming back on Sundays and hitting the library or the lounge to study.

5. Increasing awareness of diversity-
Though diversity is not as big as other schools, I definitely think BC is doing a great job of welcoming more international students. Also, there are NUMEROUS groups on campus devoted to exposing the community to different cultures. Examples of some cultural student organizations are AHANA, KSA, CSA, International Club, VSA, PSBC, SEASA, SASA, and more!

Okay, that's all for now. Hope it was helpful! Congrats to all admitted students :D Choose wisely! Pick BC!

Cristina

2010-04-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

Hey all! Before I wrote this post I checked out some of the other blogs and I saw that someone beat me to writing about BCFSC (Boston College Figure Skating Club) but since I'm on the team I'll add a little bit more about it now anyway. I'm a sophomore so this is my second year on the team and I completely love it! Last year the team competed in the Open Collegiate division at the Easter Synchronized Team Skating Championship and we placed 1st! This year we decided to challenge ourselves and competed at the Collegiate Division, which is much more competitive. So this past January we competed in Lowell, MA and placed 7th this time. We were very happy with our skate and are now even more excited to come back again in 2011 to compete at the collegiate division and hopefully make nationals!

Two weeks after the Eastern Championship, the team went to Wesleyan to do an exhibition there. We just had a lot of fun with our program that day since we weren't competing and there was no pressure on us.

The photos in the other blog are from our exhibition we had on campus a few weeks ago. We had a great turn out of fans from both students and parents. After the show the team, parents, and our coach all went to a local Bertucci's (Italian restaurant chain) for some pizza as the end of the year banquet. We all had a great time and we're really sad to have ended our season and can't wait to start up again next fall!

My Last Glimpse of Winter

2010-04-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

Hello and Happy Spring!

This week BC is off for Easter Break! I think it's one of BC's biggest perks, TWO spring breaks. Well before we say goodbye to winter and welcome the Spring and Easter season, I would like to share some information about the Boston College Figure Skating Club (BCFSC). For any of you who like the winter, or just like skating on cold ice, BC has a Figure Skating Club for interests in competitive skating or recreational skating. The club has exhibitions, competitions, many team activities and of course practice sessions. This year the BC Eagles Synchro Team finished in 7th place in the Collegiate Division at the 2010 Eastern Synchronized Skating Championships!

Enjoy the photos, I was lucky to catch one of BCFSC's exhibitions. Hopefully, that will be the last time I see snow/ice : )

-Christina

Easter Break

2010-04-01T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hey all! I know I promised I would give you guys a quick update on ALC Showdown. It was a great show! Several of BC's finest dance groups came out to perform for thousands of people in Conte Forum. Fuego (Salsa Dancing), Masti (Indian Dance Team), Synergy (breakdancing team), and Aero-K (Korean dance team) all placed highly in the competition. Everyone had a fun time.
Now that we are on Easter Break, everyone from BC is taking a little break. Have a great weekend!

4Boston - A Unique BC Program

2010-03-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Let me first introduce myself. My name is Ali McDonald and I am a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. I am from Summit, New Jersey, and I am currently an English major.

In high school I was very involved in community service, and I really wanted to continue with it in some way at Boston College. Within my first few weeks at BC, I learned about this great program called 4Boston, a service program run by the Office of Campus Ministry. Within the 4Boston program, students volunteer for four hours a week in and around Boston and participate in a reflection for one hour per week. 4Boston is a great opportunity to meet new people in all grades and give back to the community.

4Boston was founded based on the three pillars of community, spirituality, and social justice, and as volunteers we try to give back while keeping the pillars in mind and using them to reflect on our volunteer experiences.

4Boston has many different placements, which include a children's hospital, a soup kitchen, and an after-school program, among others. I personally volunteer at the Jackson-Mann pre-school on Monday afternoons. In my short time with 4Boston, I have met a lot of great people, both within my placement and within the entire 4Boston program, and I have had a lot of fun working with the pre-school children.

I would absolutely recommend the 4Boston program to any of you who are considering getting involved at Boston College. I promise that you will have a lot of fun and meet some great new friends!

Until next time!

Ali McDonald

mcdonaay@gmail.com

ICBC Magazine: Kaleidoscope

2010-03-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

Hello, Everyone~! It’s Annie again. And guess what, It’s time for Easter break. But before I go back to NJ, I would like to tell everybody about something that I have been involved in this semester. It is this newly created magazine from the International Club of Boston College (ICBC), called Kaleidoscope. Started by Stephanie Long, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, Kaleidoscope is a magazine specially designed for the international and internationally minded American communities of Boston College.

The mission of Kaleidoscope is to celebrate internationalism and multiculturalism on BC’s campus and beyond. It seeks to give a voice to both international and American students at Boston College with the intention to build stronger bonds between the two communities in order to foster cross-cultural communication. It also seeks to raise awareness about issues ranging from on-campus to issues around the world. With an attitude of open-mindedness, tolerance and appreciation, Kaleidoscope seeks to serve the five major purposes of a magazine publication: to inform, interpret, entertain, advocate and provide service for the international and internationally minded American communities at BC.

We are currently working on our first ever edition and hoping to get it published by mid-April, so please be on the lookout for it.

You can also check out our facebok group at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=ts&gid=174488016567

Happy Easter~! Until next time,

Annie Wang

wanggx@bc.edu

The PULSE Program for Service Learning

2010-03-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone! This is Ashley Zhang again. And I am writing about the PULSE program this time.
During my orientation, I heard my orientation leader talking about it. I didn't pay much attention to it at that time because I was not quite interested in philosophy and theology.
However, during my freshmen and sophomore year at BC, I heard about so many people talking about their life-changing PULSE experience. And so I become more and more certain that I would be taking the course during my junior year.
So, PULSE counts as two courses, but the class meets only 4 hours per week and you do volunteer work in a selected site (what we call placement) for 8-12 hours per week. It is a year long program and it fulfills BC's core requirement doe both philosophy and theology.
The mission of the PULSE Program is to educate our students about social injustice by putting them into direct contact with marginalized populations and social change organizations and by encouraging discussion on classic and contemporary works of philosophy and theology.
In the class, my professor really focus on social justice. We read the Bible, read about Aristotle, Plato, St. Thomas Aquinas, discussed about the education system and the health care reform bill as well as many other social problems in the class.
My placement is at Project Place. Project Place is a supportive community that promotes hope and opportunity for homeless and low-income individuals by providing the skills, education and resources to obtain stable employment and housing. I mostly help out in the computer classes -- helping clients write resumes, cover letters, practice interviews, using computers, etc..
The year is almost over, and I am really glad that I took PULSE because it gives me a chance to learn about the "other side" of society that I might never notice if I didn't take the course. I had some interesting conversations with some homeless clients. As I hear more of their stories, my perspectives on them totally changed. They are all normal people, maybe made some bad choices, and maybe showed up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now when I look at homeless people at the street, I think more about where they are going to spend the night on the street, if they have enough food, and if they have unsolved health problems, etc.
And I would definitely say that PULSE has also changed my life. One very immediate thing -- I now feel that I have more sense of social responsibilities!
If you want to know more about the PULSE program, check out the BC PULSE website at: http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/pulse/!

Spring Break-- Katrina Relief Urban Plunge

2010-03-31T10:13:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone! This is Ashley Zhang, a junior from College of Arts and Sciences.
We had our spring break a month ago. And for those of you who don't know anything about spring break, it is an 8-day holiday at the beginning of March.
One unique thing about BC is that many students are very interested in social justice and service. There are many groups / clubs that go to do service trips during spring break. Appalachia is the biggest among all these groups. They sent about 600 students down to the Appalachia region of the eastern United States every year during spring break. I did Appalachia last year, but this year, I decided to join ACF's KRUP (Katrina Relief Urban Plunge) instead.
During this trip, about 70 BC students went down to New Orleans for eight days, and helped out building a house for Habitat for Humanity and some other work for the local churches.
Some of us took the bus to New Orleans. OMG. That was LONG. A 30-hour bus ride. Can't imagine it. Fortunately enough, I didn't have to deal with that, and I took the plane instead. We arrived pretty late at night at a church (where we stayed for the rest of the week).
The first day, we toured New Orleans. We visited the Superdome, Convention Center, the Levees, and grabbed lunch in the French Quarter. The lunch was fun. Some of us even tried fried alligator tail! At night, we had our first group dinner together (more than 200 people) followed by some game time. It is really exciting to meet all volunteers coming from all the other universities.
The second day was a Monday. Habitat for Humanity does not do work on Mondays, so we helped out with local churches and helped paint a high school.
The third day to the sixth day, we were working on the house with Habitat for Humanity. When we first got there, there was nothing but the foundation. But by the end of the week when we left, we raised the foundation by 5 feet, completed blockings, the floor, and finished nailing all the walls! This is my first time using hammers and first time being in a construction site, and I am really surprised at how much work we did in 4 days!
Finally, it was time to leave. I really wish I could have stayed longer and see the walls being put together. The people in New Orleans were really nice to us, and I am just really glad that I could offer them some help. I love KRUP!
That's it for now, until the next time! Bye!

Pursuing a business career at BC

2010-03-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, my name is Mark Wan and I am a freshman at Boston College in the Carroll School of Management, majoring in finance and accounting. Today I want to discuss a little on what its like to pursue a business education at Boston College and the type of opportunities that international students have access to.

The Carroll School of Management offers a highly flexible business program. Each student is required to take a 1-2 core classes in each of the various areas of business: operations, finance, accounting, information systems. Once these are fulfilled, a student can choose to "concentrate" in an area of business by taking approximately 5-6 more advanced level courses in the respective field. Due to low requirements to concentrate in an area, many students double concentrate, or even triple concentrate. As long as you plan out your schedule beforehand, you can major in other areas without having to take extra classes. Management students may pursue an additional major or minor in the arts and sciences school as well. The flexible business program offered at Boston College has been something I have really appreciated.

Boston College also offers a tremendous amount of useful resources to business students outside of the classroom. There are a variety of clubs that students can get involved in: AHANA Management Academy, Finance Academy, Accounting Academy, Marketing Academy, Information Systems Academy, Women in Business, Entrepreneur Society, Management Consulting Club, etc... the list goes on.

As an international student, I have found the AHANA Management Academy (AMA) to be very helpful. (AHANA stands for African American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American) Each year, the AMA hosts an etiquette dinner, where students enjoy a free 5-course meal and learn about proper business etiquette from professionals in the industry. This year, the event was sponsored by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, one of the "Big Four" public accounting firms. The event can be particularly helpful for students that come from a different culture and want to learn the "American way" of conducting business. Throughout the year, the organization also puts on multiple events that help prepare students for competitive and rewarding careers. In the networking events, students get to meet professionals from the industry, build relationships, and ask questions. The AMA also holds mock interviews and resume critiques and has a mentoring program, where freshmen and sophomores can receive guidance and advice from juniors and seniors.

You can learn more about the AMA at: http://www.bc.edu/clubs/ama/

The AMA is just an example of what student organizations at Boston College have to offer for their students. The business organization's at Boston College do a stellar job of preparing students from different backgrounds for competitive and rewarding careers they want to pursue.

That's about it for this blog. If you have any questions please feel free to send me an email or message! If you just want to talk about business, shoot me an email too!

Mark Wan

Moo Oink Quack... A Day at the Zoo

2010-03-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

This past Saturday I attend BC's Academic Advising Center's Traveling Seminar to Boston's Franklin Park Zoo. Traveling Seminars are opportunities for students to have 'behind the scenes' or 'after-hours' visits to an assortment of places in Boston while meeting with professionals that work in the field.

We started off the day with a lunch with zoo keepers, the CEO of Zoo New England, the Head Veterinarian and the zoo's curator. We then were divided into two groups led by the CEO and the Head Veterinarian for a behind the scenes tour of the zoo. We learned about how the zoo cares for animals, how lions are trained and so much more about the zoology field.

Traveling Seminars are a great opportunity for freshmen or even upper-classmen to learn more about a professional field of choice, or just spend a fun and educational day with BC students and professionals in the city.

Besides Traveling Seminars, the Academic Advising Center helps students with academic and personal direction. Advisors are always available for appointments to discuss academic needs and to guide you throughout your BC career.

Take Care!

Christina

It's That Time Again...Course Registration!

2010-03-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hello again friends, Courtney here! Even though I am a senior (wahhhh!) and will not be registering for undergraduate courses this year, I have to begin thinking about the graduate courses that I want to take when I enroll in graduate school in the fall. As a seasoned course registration veteran, I’ll give you prospective students an inside look at the registration process at BC.

The first time you register for courses will be when you arrive on campus the summer before your freshman year for a 3-day orientation. BC’s orientation program is an excellent way to get acclimated to life here, and you’ll also get one-on-one attention during course registration. Your orientation leader, an upperclassman who has not only gone through the registration process him or herself but has also received training about the registration process, will give you tips about what classes to choose to fulfill your core requirements and how you should start out with courses in your major if you have already chosen one. During the registration process, which is all done online, you’ll have a faculty member helping you learn to use the registration system and giving you more advice on courses. If you’re an international student, your IA, or International Assistant, is also a great resource: he or she will have already experienced the registration process and will be able to tell you about the differences between American courses and courses in your home country. If, after you register the first time, you decide that you don’t want to take that pesky math course just yet, you can go back into the system and change your courses around. BC also gives students a week to 10 day drop/add period at the beginning of each semester, allowing you to make sure that you really like your classes and professors before you fully commit to staying in the class.

When you register for your spring semester classes as a freshman (and for all subsequent semesters), the process is slightly different from that of the orientation registration. You will be assigned an academic advisor who coincides with your major if you have one—if not, you will have a general professor or administrator who will be just as adept at helping you choose your courses. A few weeks before course registration, BC puts up the times and descriptions of classes online and also provides newspapers with the course listings and times—as an "old timer" who is slightly suspect of technology at times, I love picking up the course newspaper and highlighting all of the courses I’m interested in potentially taking. Using whatever method you prefer, make yourself a couple of different schedule options—there is a chance that, depending upon your assigned registration time, a popular course may already be filled before you get a chance to register (this really isn’t a big deal because BC has so many great courses that you’ll easily find another course to be excited about!), so you want to have a backup plan or two. Make an appointment with your advisor at least a week in advance so that you won’t have to scramble at the last minute to meet with him or her. Your advisor will give you a degree audit, which lists basic information like your school, major, and GPA, but also shows the courses you’ve taken and the grades you received in those courses as well as provides a history of your AP, IB, or previous college-level courses (i.e. if you took a history class at a local college for fun during the summer) that count for core or major courses. The degree audit is crucial because it lists your registration time and code; without these two pieces of information, you won’t be able to register. Once you’ve registered during your designated time, you can go back into the system and change your schedule around if you wish.

So there you have it: course registration at BC in a nutshell (well, sort of a nutshell…I have a bit of trouble being succinct!). It may seem like a daunting process at first glance, but there are so many people--advisors, professors, upperclassmen, orientation leaders and IAs--who can help you out. If you have any questions about course registration, feel free to shoot me an email at kippc@bc.edu.

Until next time!

Courtney, A&S 2010

Opportunities at BC

2010-03-28T10:54:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone-my name is Courtney Colgan. I'm a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences here at Boston College. I have not yet declared a major but am on a pre-med track.

My family is originally from New Jersey and now lives in Sarasota, Florida. Although I'm not an international student myself, this year I've been fortunate enough to make some great friends who are international students. (In fact some of them have already contributed to this blog!) Through them I've learned quite a bit about the great resources and opportunities available for international students on campus. Many of them have already been mentioned in previous posts-including the International Assistant Program, International Student Orientation, and the Multicultural Leadership Experience. International students contribute a lot to the BC campus and provide such a unique and beneficial perspective-I hope many of you readers will decide to join all of us here in coming years!

In a previous blog post Cristina explained the Multicultural Leadership residential community available for freshman. While I'm not in the program myself, I live on the same floor with the MLE students and it has truly been my favorite experience thus far at BC. I've made the majority of my friends from this floor and I'm sure all of us would attest to the fact that it has become a great community. I would definitely recommend applying for MLE on the housing application if any of you are interested. You will not regret it and it will introduce you to a great group of friends that you may not have met otherwise. You don't have to be an international student to apply, and the program is comprised of a mixture of international students and American students that are interested in learning about new cultures.

Yesterday I attended the ALC Showdown on campus, which is a dance competition hosted by the AHANA Leadership Council. Many of the dance ensembles and cultural organizations competed and showcased an eclectic mix of dance styles ranging from Latin ballroom and Brazilian capoeira to traditional Korean and Filipino forms. Students filled the stands at Conte Forum (the BC basketball and hockey arena) to watch. Everyone had a great time and was taken aback by the talent of our classmates. Each year hundreds of BC students attend shows like the ALC Showdown that feature various cultural art forms.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have regarding anything I've mentioned in this blog (pre-med program, international student resources, etc.) or anything else pertaining to Boston College. I'd love to help!

Take care.

Until next time,

Courtney

colganc@bc.edu

2010 ALC Showdown

2010-03-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

Hello, Everybody~! My name is Annie Wang. I'm a freshman in CSOM and thinking about concentrate in Accounting or Finance. I'm from East Brunswick, NJ, but my home town is Xi'an, China. It has one of the best food in the world, so definitely let me know if you ever want to visit Xi'an.

Ok, now I want to talk about this amazing event I went to yesterday. It is BC's 2010 ALC Showdown, hosted by the AHANA Leadership Council. AHANA is an acronym used to describe persons of African, Hispanic, Asian, and Native-American descent, and ALC is an organization dedicated to improving the qualityof life for all AHANA students at Boston College.

Every year, ALC will host this amazing event that showcases the artistic talents of various cultural and dance groups. The showdown is always an amazing presentation that represents the beauty of diverse cultures of Boston College. Last year, the winners of Showdown were: Fuego del Corazon, winner in the dance category, and Masti, winner in the culture category. This is definitely one of the must-go events at BC.

Here's a video of the winner of the Dance Category this year, Synergy:

Here are the pictures of some dance groups that performed last night:

This Week

2010-03-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hey readers, my name is Tara Nadkarni. As a freshman at BC, I am enrolled in CSOM (Carroll School of Management) and am planning on concentrating in Finance and Marketing. I currently dwell on Newton Campus of BC, so if you have any questions about it, feel free to ask me!

Today's a beautiful spring day at BC. I just realized that about one year ago this week, I found out that I was accepted to BC. I can't believe what a crazy year its been! I've loved every minute of it. I'm glad I decided to attend BC because it has allowed me to experience a diverse selection of activities and to meet some of the coolest people I have ever met. This weekend, I am going to see my friends perform in the ALC Showdown, which is a gigantic dance battle held in Conte Forum between the best dance groups at BC. This includes a variety of ethnic dance groups, breakdancers, salsa dancers, and more talented dancers of the BC population. I am a dancer, myself, so I can't wait to watch the performance. All my friends in the performance have been practicing for months-- it will be a show to remember. I'll be sure to let you guys know how it is! It's time for me to head over to Main Campus. I'll write more after the weekend!

Asian Food in Boston

2010-03-24T11:38:00.001-07:00

Hey guys! It's Cristina again. So, I wrote that I would talk about good Asian restaurants to eat in Boston! I know from the moment I arrived at BC, I was craving for food that tasted like back home. From word of mouth from friends and relatives, I was able to find a few delicious places!

To make it an easier read, I'll probably just list some of my favorite places!

1. SHABU ZEN:
- Located in the Boston College Line (the T) and get off at the stop, Packards Corner. Turn left and walk about three blocks. It'll be on your left.
- Usually get the A5, which is the beef combo and it comes with your choice of rice/udon noodles, and vegetables
- The Gyoza there is amazing too!
- Affordable; about $13.00/person

2. SUPER 88
- Located in the Boston College Line (the T) and get off at the stop, Packards Corner. You'll see a huge building that says "SUPER 88" right when you get off the train
- A lot of little restaurants with good food!
- Various cuisines (Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian, Chinese)
- Get the bubble tea after! (Lollicup)
- Try to go to the Asian grocery right beside it
- Also really affordable! $11.00/person

3. GOURMET DUMPLING HOUSE
- Located in Chinatown near the famous Chinatown arc
- Portions are big, so it's better to share!
- A little less than $20.00/person
- Very crowded, but worth it!

4. BANGKOK BISTRO
- Located in Cleveland Circle
- The Pad Thai is really good!
- Great for deliveries

5. FIN'S SUSHI
- Located in Cleveland Circle
- The Gyoza and the California Maki are good!
- They're really known for their sushi's so try to stick with that...
- Great for deliveries

6. OIISHI
- Located in South End, Boston
- Amazing food
- Probably the best Japanese food in Boston!
- Quite pricey, so save this for special occasions!

7. DONG DAE MOON
- Located in Chinatown, past the Chinatown arc
- Known for their dimsum, which I believe closes at 3:00 p.m.
- Affordable, especially since you can order a lot from the dimsum carts

8. JNJ TURO TURO
- Located in Quincy
- Haven't tried this, but this place is the only Filipino restaurant in Boston
- Will definitely try it soon and let you all know!

9. DONG KHANH
- Located in Chinatown
- Not a restaurant, but a bubble tea place
- Probably the best bubble tea in Boston!
- I usually get the Taro bubble tea, but I'm sure all of them are good!

Okay, I think that's enough... Hopefully I was able to help some of you looking for good Asian food. It's always nice to share it with friends who crave the same thing, such as Sara Chin, the blogger below me :D as well as to introduce it to friends who aren't familiar with the food, such as my Haitian-American roommate! (I brought her to Gourmet Dumplings haha!)

Thanks again and I'll think about what to write next! :)
Cristina

Food at BC

2010-03-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

I know that when I first came to BC one of the things that I was wondering about was the food there. This is pretty important, because you will be living at BC for the next four years of your life. Anyway, so I'm going to give you guys my opinions about the dining places at BC.

So first is Stuart dining hall: this is on Newton campus.

I'ts pretty small so it can get pretty crowded with freshmen who live Newton campus around dinner time especially. The food is good, but they don't have a huge selection. They rotate food around; like sometimes they'll have stir-fry, which one of my favorite dishes there, or taco salad. They seem to usually have pizza, burgers, and pasta, and there's a hot food section that usually serves steak, vegetables and rice. They also have desserts; there's cake, and they convert the sandwich bar to a dessert one where they serve apple pie with ice cream, or whatever. Breakfast is the same with bagels, eggs and ham bagel, cereal, etc. Stuart also serves late night food from 8.30pm-12pm. Its all the fatty fried food that you know you should not eat but do anyway since its so good - like french fries, chicken fingers, etc. And just a heads up, there's usually law students there in the day since stuart is in the law building. I admit, it was a little intimidating in the first week milling around with these grad law kids, but I got used to it.

Next is Hillside Cafe, which is in Campanella Way (next to O Neil Library):

This place is always packed and buzzing with people, so its hard to get a table. There's usually a line to order food. Its pretty popular because it has (in my opinion) the best food on campus. Its near the Plex (gym) so sometimes people would come in here after working out. Sometimes after I work out I like to come here to quickly grab a drink before going back to Newton campus. On Fridays though, Hillside is only open till 4pm, and is closed on weekends. Normally it's open til 8pm. For breakfast they serve French toast, omelets (which are really good but take forever to make), bacon & egg or ham & egg on brioche. I always get the ham & egg since its the best one. You can choose to have the breakfast food served with hash brown. For lunch they have panini's, like Tuscan Pesto Cheese Panini, and sandwiches, like Boston Beef Sandwich (one of my favorites), Chicken Salad Club, etc. They are pretty good and are all served with chips and pickle. For dinner, they have the same thing as lunch and amazing burgers! The burgers are famous at Hillside.

Lower dining hall: Lower campus

I don't go here a lot but they have a wide variety of food. There are more breakfast options. There are a different stations that serve fajitas, grilled cheese, pizza, etc. The stations usually make the food in front of you. There's the Deli that makes sandwiches and subs, Center Stage that serves subs like steak and cheese subs, Tacqueria that serves Mexican food like burritos, Chestnut Hill Grill that serves Garden Burger, Grilled Chicken sandwich, etc. There's also a dessert stand that serves fro-yo (that i've been to way too many times). The lower dining hall is quite big with a large open space. Sometimes I go here for late night - they have basically same food as Stuart for late night. But they open longer - till 2am from Thursday to Saturday.

Addie's: second floor of Lower dining hall

I love this place! It's organically grown food. They have flatbread pizzas which I think everyone must try at least once. I love the tomato and mozzarella pizza. There's also pesto chicken pizza, etc. You can even make your own pizza by checking off options on a list. They also have a salad bar and soup. They also have muffins and Italian soda by the cash register. But its closed on weekends and only open till 4pm on Friday.

The Rat: Lyons hall

I see this as more as a grab and go type of place. Its in the basement or Lyons. They don't reallyserve food here; they have grab and go type of food like muffins, pre-made wraps, soups, coffee machines, and a hot dog machine. They also have a waffle stand where you make it yourself. This can get crowded too. In the mornings when there's less people its a good place to study.

There's also McElroy which has 3 places to eat: Eagle's Nest, Carney, Chocolate Bar.

Carney:

This is pretty big and I actually like it though I know some people don't. There's a pizza stand, salad bar, hot food section that serves food like steak, a sandwich/wrap section (the Honey Q wraps are the best here). There's also a soup stand. It doesn't have as wide of a variety as Lower, but I like it better since it's a brighter airy space. I usually eat here between classes. Carney also has late night too.

Eagle's Nest

There are a few stations here that serve salads, wraps, Mexican food, and made to order deli sandwiches. The food here is pretty good, but there are usually lines. Its usually pretty crowded here and its smaller than Carney.

Chocolate Bar:

This is one of my favorite places on campus. A lot of people study here, including me. Its not too loud and its bright and has a warm atmosphere. They serve drinks like hot chocolate, frappes, etc. They also have the best muffins and desserts here! The chocolate chip muffin is amazing - its huge and is covered in choc chips! They also have small desserts like brownies, ice cream, etc. I love it here.

BC dining site:

http://www.bc.edu/offices/dining/

Dinner in the North End

2010-03-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday my friends and I went to have dinner in the North End to celebrate one of our friend's birthday. The North End is basically the Little Italy of Boston. It takes a while to get there from BC, which is annoying. We had to take the green line from BC all to way to the Haymarket stop, which took around 30-45 minutes. Its convenient to have the T stop (subway) next to BC, but at the same time BC is kind of far from everything else.

Anyway, so it was an absolutely beautiful day; it was sunny and warm! When we got to the North End there were so many people milling around the streets in dresses and shorts. I love the North End; it's so quaint with the tiny streets and all the cute little restaurants lining the streets. There are also gelato places and bakeries! One of the more famous bakeries in the North End is Mike's, which has amazing cannoli's. So my friends and I ate at this cute Italian restaurant called Galleria 3. It was dimly lit inside with the sunlight spilling in a little from the open terrace. I ordered the Tortellini Galleria 3. And when I had my first bite, I was in heaven. Literally the best pasta I've ever had. A few of my friends ordered Chicken or Veal Parmesan, and others ordered pasta. Literally no one talked for a good 15 minutes while they ate - it was that good. The meal was around $15-20 per person (excluding drinks). I think the restaurants in the North End are in that price range, or even more expensive. But it was definitely worth it.

After dinner, we tried to get cannoli's at Mike's, but the line was way too long (as usual) and we were in a hurry to get back for the dance show at BC so instead we stopped by a small bakery and got red velvet cupcakes. So in all it was a great dinner.

The North End

Now I have to go and get some work done so

I'll see you guys next time!

Dance Ensemble Show: 'Rhythm'

2010-03-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

Hi my name is Sara Chin and I'm a freshman in CSOM (BC's business school). I'm going to major in Finance and Marketing. I'm an international student; I'm originally from Melbourne, Australia, but went to an international school in Shanghai, China. Ok, so that was a very short introduction about me, and now I'll like to talk about my weekend!

So on Saturday, me and my friends went to see the Dance Ensemble's show called "Rhythm", as one of our friends was performing. Dance Ensemble is one of the many dance groups at BC that focuses on jazz, and similar types of dance. There are so many other types of dance groups at BC, like Synergy, which is hip hop, Fuego, which is latin dance, Irish Dance, etc. Anyway, so "Rhythm" was one of Dance Ensemble's big shows at Robsham theater, where many performances are held. It went from 7.30pm-9.30pm. It was a great show! They danced to so many different types of songs, from techno to slow songs. Some parts were intense; they were doing jumps, swirls, high kicks in quick succession. I was impressed by how good they were! Each song was choreographed by a different senior dance member; so they were all definitely different from each other, each with a different costume. Actually in one of the dances which was to O Saya from Slumdog Millionaire movie, the dancers wore colorful tiny wraps around their hips with gold coins that jingled as they moved. And in another dance, they wore this crazy outfit of zebra leggings and a hot pink shirt. My favorite dance was one that was to Cell Block Tango from the broadway musical "Chicago". The dance movements were to the lyrics and were funny and well choreographed.

And of course, my friends and I cheered when we saw our friend on stage. The theater was kind of loud because of all the students cheering on their friends. But there was also a good number of parents and siblings watching too, which was great. At the end of the show, everyone waited by the exit door to congratulate their friends and family members in the Dance Ensemble. It was a loud and happy atmosphere. Afterwards, we were so tired that we headed back to Newton campus.

I added some pictures below from the dance show!

Have a great week and I'll keep you guys updated! :)

A Night in Boston

2010-03-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Last night a friend and I went into Boston for the night. We went to the Insitute of Contemporary Art (ICA) and then dinner at a fancy restaurant (Meritage) on Boston's waterfront. (Insider's tip- Thursday nights from 5pm-9pm the ICA has FREE admission)

The great part about dinner was that the restaurant we went to participated in Boston's Restaurant Week. Restaurant week is a special annual event in which some of Boston's best restaurants have prix fixe menus for lunch and dinner for affordable prices for about a week or so.

Going to BC, there are SOOO many fun (and cheap/free events) in Boston that are easy to take advantage of. The city is very acessible and offers a great deal of restaurants, concerts, museum, events and so much more for us college students.

Christina

Lion King!!!

2010-03-18T17:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

My name is Margaret. And I am currently a freshman in CSOM. I want to first tell you a little bit about what I did last week (so you can get an idea of what we usually do on weekends), then I will talk about my experience in BC as an international student:)

As you have probably guessed from the title, I went to see The Lion King on Broadway last Saturday. What? How was it? Well, I thought it was absolutely amazing, and if you are a big musical fan, you should definitely check it out if you get a chance.

One of my favorite things about Boston College is unquestionably its location. Being so close to the city and having an easy access to public transportation give me a great excuse to visit the city almost every other weekend. The public transportation --we call it the "T"--is very easy to navigate. It did not take me long to figure it all out, and as soon as I familiarize myself with the "T", I began exploring different stops and areas in Boston whenever I get a chance to. I have many exploring stories to tell, but I guess I will leave that for future posts so I won't overwhelm you in my very first post : )

Ok, as I promised, I will also talk a little bit about life in Boston College as an international student. I am originally from Taiwan, and I attended a high school in the States for the past four years. My first year in the States--like many other international students--was filled with cultural shocks and struggles to learn English and to catch up in social life, but with many people's help I eventually adjusted to this foreign culture. And having attended the international students orientation in the beginning of the year, I want to point out that Boston College is extremely supportive to international students by providing all kinds of resources in our transitions into a foreign culture. Each new international student is paired up with an IA (international assistant), a current student who volunteered to help out international students during their transitions into Boston College. My favorite part about the IS&IA program is that it does not simply end right after the orientation. IS&IA is a year-long program; every week, we receive email updates about activities on campus or gatherings hosted by IAs or the OISS (Office of International Students and Scholars). The IAs also try to meet up with their ISs for several times throughout the year.

Besides the IS&IA program, I also want to note that BC students are very friendly and are interested in learning about foreign culture. A lot of BC students study abroad in their junior year, so they know what it is like to be studying in a foreign country. (They know what it feels like to be an 'international student'.)

That's it for now. I hope you found the information in this post helpful, please let me know if you have any questions/comments/suggestions. My best wishes to you all and see you next time! : )

Margaret Tseng

CSOM '13

tsengho@bc.edu

Multicultural Leadership Experience (MLE)

2010-03-14T11:06:00.001-07:00

Hey guys!

My name's Cristina and I'm a freshman at BC. I'm in the College of Arts and Sciences and currently majoring in Communications and interested in a concentration in Finance. I was born in the US, but moved to the Philippines at an early age and have lived there ever since.

Coming from an International School with many ethnicities and nationalities, BC was definitely a culture shock for me. However, I have found ways to adapt to college really well. One experience that I would definitely recommend is the Multicultural Leadership Experience Floor (MLE).

The MLE floor is basically comprised of a group of around 30-40 students, who all live next to each other. On the plus side, we all live in Upper Campus! We have bi-monthly meetings on Sunday nights for a few hours (2-3). In these meetings, we have discussions on diversity, homelessness, peer pressure, what's happening on campus, societal demands, and more. I'd say MLE is the best thing about BC. So, when you start your Residential Application, definitely be on the look out for the MLE Application. You just have to write a few paragraphs as to why you think you'd be interested in the program. Anyone can join and the advisors are extremely nice and friendly. Being in MLE truly makes me feel less homesick. I'm surrounded by people all over the world and the environment is really similar to my high school back home. My roommate is from here, but her ethnicity is Haitian. I've learned so many things about Haitian-American culture, as well as African-American traditions, ways, etc. As of now, I think it's only available for Freshman so please take advantage of this opportunity!

I will definitely write more in the future and my next blog will probably be about the best Asian food in Boston! I just want to mention that if you are uncertain about coming to BC because of the diversity percentages, try not to let that affect you! We as a group, the International Assistants (who you'll be assigned to), and the International Office will always be there to help!

Thanks and see you on campus!

Cristina <3

My Ways of Making Friends

2010-03-13T16:26:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, my name is Xiaoyu Zhu and I'm a freshman. I'm a student of CSOM, probably concentrating on Accounting/Finance and minoring in Math. I'm an international student from Shenzhen, a small city in the southern part of China. It's my first year in the states and I'm still very excited about my college life at BC, even though there are three midterms coming up before the Easter break :)

For international students, I guess most people are worried about how to adapt to the new environment. I was almost freaked out in the first days, surrounded by English slang that I had never learned in textbooks and food that I didn't know how to order. However, at this time, if you have a friend, things will be different. At least you will have someone to go through all the embarrassment together. Here are some ways to make friends that I found really helpful:

1. Join the International Student Orientation
It's a great program available for every international student in the first days. You will find students from all over the world who are undergoing the same experience in this new place. It was great when we communicated with each other using the "broken" English and talked about the different culture. Also, the International Assistants are extraordinarily friendly and helpful. Every international student will be assigned to an IA. The IAs will arrange different activities during the International Student Orientation for you to know more about the school as well as the city. Definitely keep in touch with them after the orientation, you will benefit a lot. My IA gave me advice when I registered for classes and even checked grammar mistakes for my paper:)
Here's the link: http://www.bc.edu/offices/odsd/intercultural/incoming/pre/orientation.html

2. Join the general Orientation for freshman
It's another great way to get to know the people. In my orientation group, most of the members are native English speaker. No worries if you cannot follow their speaking speed! According to my experience, most people are very interested in the foreign culture and they are willing to slow down for you. All freshmen are recommended to attend the Orientation and it can make you more prepared for the college life. There are usually 7 sessions and most international students will take the last one because it's right after the International Student Orientation.
link: http://www.bc.edu/offices/fye/orientation/firstyear.html

3. Get to know people on your floor and in your hall
We have Resident Assistants (RAs) on every floor and they are really nice person. Usually the RAs will hold different activities and it's a great way to know your neighbors.

4. Find your club
There are various clubs in BC. Choose your favorite one and find someone who has the same interests. For girls, you may receive an email about Big and Little Sister program. Definitely apply for it and you will be assigned to one big sister afterwards! I got the best big sister ever!
here is the application form: http://www.bc.edu/offices/odsd/wrc/events/Little_Sister_Application.html

5. Don't hesitate talking to your academic advisers and professors
Every freshman will have one academic advisor who will give advice about the academic life at BC. For Carroll School of Management students, the professor of Portico will be your advisor. Talk to them and you will benefit a lot.

6. Keep an eye on the First Year Experience
You will find more interesting programs for the freshmen here http://www.bc.edu/offices/fye/

Have a good day!

Xiaoyu
Boston College CSOM '13

Alternative Spring Break Trip

2010-03-13T15:52:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

My name is Christina. I am a sophomore at BC (I actually transferred in to BC this fall!) and I am an International Studies major with a minor in Hispanic Studies. I will be blogging my experiences at BC and Boston for you!

To start off things, I would like to tell you about my spring break trip that just passed last week... Through a BC group, called Appalachia Volunteers of Boston College, I was able to go to Wilmington, NC for an alternative spring break trip. Through the program we worked with Habitat for Humanity and helped build a house for a family. Throughout the year leading up to the spring break trip, the Appalachia Volunteers participate in weekly meeting, fundraising events and service days in Boston. It was a great experience!!!

- Christina

A Little Taste of "Home"

2010-03-09T13:28:00.000-08:00

Hello all! Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Courtney Kipp, and I am a senior here at BC. I'm a student in the College of Arts and Sciences and I am pursuing a double major in French and Theology. I'm from North Attleboro, MA, a small town about an hour south of BC, and I spent my fall semester junior year abroad in Paris, France.

I mention my semester abroad because it had an enormous impact on my life; I even began to think of Paris as my home because I felt incredibly comfortable there. I love Boston College and the thought of sporting a spiffy cap and gown in just a few month's time is enough to make me burst into tears, but sometimes I find myself really missing Paris, the food and city life in particular. Just a couple weeks ago, however, I was able to replicate my Parisian experience right here in good old Boston (or Bah-stin if you have one of those gorgeous Boston accents like I do!).

BC is about 6 miles west of downtown Boston, and in about 30-40 minutes by T, you'll be in the heart of what I consider one of America's coolest cities. After some extensive searching on Boston.com, I found a number of French restaurants in Boston and decided on La Voile, a small restaurant on Newbury Street with traditional cuisine from southern France, as the place for a Valentine's Day dinner. My date and I arrived on a Friday night and were greeted by a French waiter who spoke to us in French first and then translated his greeting into English. I was on Cloud 9--finally, a chance to practice my French in the real world! I achieved fluency during my time in Paris, but unfortunately, I don't speak French nearly as much as I'd like to here, so I jumped at the chance to speak as much French as possible that night.

I began by asking the waiter for the specials and his wine recommendation (never fear, I'm 22 and legal!) and ordering a plateau du fromage (a cheese platter). My main course was coq au vin (chicken in wine sauce), my date chose the maigret du canard (duck), and for dessert, we shared a classic creme brulee (the traditional French pastry literally means "burnt cream"). The music, food, atmosphere, and charming waiters truly reminded me of my weekly dinner outings on Rue Mouffetard in Paris. I also loved playing translator for the night, as my date didn't speak French--I wasn't about to let our waiter get an English word in edgewise!

Boston may be a small city in comparison to my beloved Paris, but the international and multicultural opportunities offered here are endless. If you're in the area and have a hankering for French food, I highly encourage you to dine at La Voile...if you don't speak French, you can bring me along as a translator!

Until next time,

Courtney, your faithful French friend!

BC vs. Wakeforest on Sept. 26, 2009

2009-10-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

BC had an amazing win against Wake Forest University on September 26 with a final score of 35-30.

The student section was filled until the very last second of the very close game with cheering students!

Welcome!

2009-10-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

Thank you for visiting the Boston College Student Admission Program blogs! This blog is maintained by international undergraduates at Boston College.

If you are a prospective student who is interested in applying to BC from around the world, look no further! Here we try to give you a window into the life of Boston College international students, who will be posting about what daily life is like on the Heights. Bookmark this page and keep coming back for more; this blog will be updated regularly by one of many of our Student Admission Program volunteers! We all have stories to share that we hope will help you determine if BC is right for you.

These blogs can be as interactive as you make them. Want to hear about a certain aspect of college life? Curious as to what America is like for students from abroad? Ask and you shall receive. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to post them! We'll respond in our next entry as soon as we can.

Thank you so much for stopping in! If you'd like to hear more about BC, visit the official site of Boston College! You can also learn more about Boston College from a student perspective at the SAP webpage! We'd love to have you!

Good luck!

Sam Lipscomb
SAP Technology Coordinator '09-'10
Boston College A&S '10
lipscoms@bc.edu