Spring Break

It is spring (I suppose somewhere in the country it feels like spring) break for students. Some have left for tropical destinations to soak up the sun, others are out west skiing in the powdery conditions opposite of skiing in the east, many are participating in a week of service across the country and some have simply decided to get some R & R at home! No matter where they are the campus feels very empty without them.

My day-to-day activities do not typically involve lots of student interaction, with the exception of my work-study students. I work with the Founder’s Society and Student Association but that is usually after hours and yet I still feel their absence on campus. And no it is not because I now have a parking spot near my building. I think it is just a feeling, almost like a sigh or recognition that we have survived another winter and warmer days are coming. I also believe it is recognition that once the students are back we work at lightening speed until the end of the year. So we take this break to get ready for what is to come. For students this means projects, papers, presentations, the spring concert, P-Day of course and for seniors the end of a college career! This is a lot to pack into 8 weeks.

In the alumni office it is equally as busy, we are getting ready to welcome 500 new alumni into our ranks with the graduating class, we continue to engage current alumni planning events throughout the country, all while planning an all new reunion program! Reunion 2011 is all new, we think of it as P-Day revisited. There will be tents on the 300’s field, music, food and fun. This is a break from our traditional format of formal sit down dinners and dancing. P-Day is a tradition that spans the life of the college that all alumni are able to connect with. With this new program we hope to see new faces at reunion, friendships re-kindled and new memories made!

So, despite the mounds of snow still piled up outside this week really does mark the beginning of spring and with it the culmination of yet another year at Saint Michael’s.