Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hello everyone and happy hump day! And Happy Day-Après St. Patrick's Day! I hope that wherever you are, you took the chance to sport your best green clothing and cheesy Irish props to tap into your Irish roots (no matter how distant or removed those roots might be). It was by far my coldest St. Patrick's Day in Lennoxville, but since in my next two years at university, I will be in the middle of practicum for this holiday, I could not pass up the chance to celebrate!

The week and weekend leading up to yesterday were quite fun too. As I mentioned last week, I had a very busy return to school following the Reading Week, mostly my own fault, resulting from a lack of opening my books while on break. However, not related to school work at all, on the Monday back, the Golden Key was invited to have afternoon tea with our school principal, Mr. Michael Goldbloom and his wife, Ms. Fiona McLeod. The event took place in their home on campus, and we had  20 members attend, which made for a nice, intimate gathering. Tea and coffee were served in their kitchen, which has a view of the campus through the back window, and then we had a question and answer period in his living room. Leading up to the event, the chapter officers had the opportunity to read over his resume and prepare discussion questions, and wow, that man has done a lot. He studied at Harvard, McGill and in Paris, practiced law, worked as a publisher for the Toronto Star and Montreal Gazette, and served as Vice Principal at McGill before making his way to BU. He told us how he wound up in each of these different jobs, the problems he faced and what he learned from each. He also talked about the travels that he and his wife have done, saying that Paris was his favourite place to live as a student and that India was his favourite place to visit. Gaby and I bonded with him over studying in France.  I think everyone had a really good time, so I hope this becomes an annual tradition.

Tuesday, Joce, Sarah, and I watched the Bachelor Finale, along with guest viewer, Phil. I definitely should have used that time to study, but I could not stand the suspense any longer. By now, I'm assuming anyone who cares has already watched/found out the winner, so congratulations Chris and Whitney. Chris, the viewers in my house agree that you made the right choice.

Thursday, as I mentioned last week, I tuned in for the launch of the new BU radio (http://www.live365.com/stations/butoastradio) and went to watch the live streaming of the Men's CIS Basketball National Finals. The Gait was absolutely packed with fans - they should have live streamed us at the game to cheer on the team! Before I went to the game, however, I went with other Golden Key Exec to the Lennoxville Youth Centre to speak with high school students about applying to CEGEP and university, and the benefits of furthering your education. Wetalked a lot about the residence experience, the difference in work load and the different extracurriculars offered on the Champlain/Bishop's campus. This was a part of the Golden Key Spark a Change initiative, which focuses on helping youth with real-world preparedness.

Friday, I worked on a group project all afternoon and then went to the free church supper with my friends. For the first time, there was dinner and a show! There was a little boy about 10 years old who played the guitar while we ate. His performance reminded me of when my little brother used to play the guitar - not that he ever let me watch him play! Following dinner, I went with my housemates to see the drama department's rendition of The Recruiting Officer, a comedic play about how recruiting soldiers for the Queen's Army was a lot like courting women in Old England. The set design, costuming and staging was all really good, and the actors all performed really well, but the language was a bit tricky to understand and the story line not really my cup of tea. However, I did enjoy the overall performance and give great credit to the senior drama students for putting on a great show.

That night, a friend who goes to the University of Ottawa, Lucy, stayed at my place, as she was down for QUEUC (Quebec Universities English Undergraduate Conference), an annual conference held on campus. She had submitted a paper for publication and been selected to present it at the conference. Lucy and I went on a trip to Ottawa together in high school and I had not really seen her since then, so it was great to catch up and hear about her time at UOttawa and her plans following graduation in the spring. We did not have too much time together, but it was great to see her nonetheless.

Saturday, Vicki and I went to Jay Peak for the Recruitment Office's Paint Jay Purple Day, an event promoting the school to students in New England. To show our support, we both wore large purple shirts over top of our ski coats and spent the day telling fellow skiers all about Bishop's! It was a great day for skiing until about 3:00, when all of a sudden it started hailing and I felt like I was going to be blown off the mountain! Luckily, the Recruitment team was ready with free hot chocolate at the bottom of the mountain to warm us up!

Saturday evening, we celebrated Pi(e) Day, with a dinner prepared by Elizabeth of tourtière (meat pie) and pecan pie for dessert. Following that, Jocelyn, Elizabeth, Sarah (housemate), Sarah (program friend) and I went to see the new live-action Cinderella movie at the local theatre. We also got to watch the new Frozen short, which took me right back to all my summer memories and the countless nights of listening to the Frozen movie while lifeguarding. Cinderella was absolutely fantastic, and I will admit, I shed a few tears during the sad and happy parts. The costumes and scenes were breathtaking, especially the glass slippers and the pumpkin carriage! So to all Disney princess fans out there, you should definitely go see the movie.

Following the movie, I ended up playing Heads Up with my roommates for over an hour in our kitchen, and then we went out to a birthday party for my friend Emily (a fellow education student). Sunday, I again spent majority of the day working on my group project. For the project, we were analysing stereotypes in the tv show Modern Family, meaning my homework was to watch the show. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Following that, I made my application video to be a student ambassador. It is not as extensive as my video from first year, but there was a time limit on it this year (probably as a result of me sending in a 7 minute video in first year) so I had to keep it short and sweet. I did answer a question in French this time though, so keep your fingers crossed for me until the start of April when I will find out the results!

Sunday night was one of the highlights of my entire semester. New this year, there is a BU Figure Skating Club, and while I did not end up joining, I am in the group on Facebook, so I can see the other members' posts. Through this, I saw a girl post about her synchro team's open house, which I decided to inquire about. The team was Cassiopée, the Sherbrooke synchro team, and it was an Adult II team. The girl, Annie, offered to drive me, so I could not turn down the opportunity to try it out! Result: I have been living a lie by telling myself I do not miss skating. It was so much fun, and I am happy to report that my muscle memory kicked in and I was able to keep up with the team. The team was made up of about 22 girls, and the coach, Julie was super nice. Everything was in French, but I was able to understand almost everything (much credit to my CrossFit instructor in France, Vincent). The coach had already selected the music for next year as well, so we did all of our exercises to the Mockingjay soundtrack. The team practices Sunday nights, so I have been invited to go back next week, and am already looking forward to going!

Monday, I volunteered for the Recruitment Open House, serving as a volunteer student tour guide for visiting students and their families. It was the first real campus tour I had ever given, so I was quite nverous, but it was a lot of fun. I had 8 prospective students on the tour, with their families in tow, one of which was the family with the rockstar son from the church dinner on Friday, rockstar Kevin included. Two of the moms in my group were BU Alumni, one of whom will be coming up for her 25th reunion in the fall. As a part of the tour, I took my group to Dewies for lunch and then dropped them off at Centennial for the rest of their event. I had a celebrity moment when one mom asked to take my picture! Hopefully they put in a good word for me with the Recruitment office!

Then came St. Patrick's Day. Due to the weather, the annual outdoor street party on Reed Street was not very big, which did not affect me as I was in class all day (insert your keener student comments here). However, for the first time in years, the Gait opened up for a special St. Patrick's Day Happy Hour, from 4-9pm, and the happy hour band played live Irish music from 7-8pm, so Elizabeth, Vicki and I met up there to celebrate. We stayed until closing, then went to a local bar for a bit before heading to Elizabeth's boyfriend's house. Hannah met up with us there, and we ended up back at the bar before eventually heading home. As fun as it was, and I admit, it was an absolute blast, staying up   into the wee hours of the morning the night before an 8:30am class is not something I recommend. 

Today, I had the opportunity to sit on the Purple Letter Award Selection Committee, one of only two students representatives. The BU Purple Letters are for Bishop's "unsung heroes," students who contribute to the university in many different areas and seem to go unnoticed. The committee was made up of myself, the SRC Social Vice President, the  director of Gaiter athletics, one of the Residence Life Coordinators and the Dean of Student Affairs. We had 20 nominations and a maximum of 10 letters to give out. While I cannot disclose the details of this meeting, some very deserving Bishop's students will be recognised at the SRC Awards banquet in April!

Looking ahead, this weekend is the Up for Debate weekend, and my housemates and I will be billeting the entire StFX debate team Friday and Saturday night. We will also be participating in the first annual BU Bowling Club Tournament and going to a joint birthday party for my co-worker from last year, Rob and one of our residents, Dylan. To conclude the weekend, I have another synchro open house on Sunday night, and then we will enter into the third last week of classes! Incredible. 

So have a wonderful week everyone! And keep your fingers crossed that the first day of spring at the end of the week will bring some warmer weather!

All my love, 

Erica xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Reading Week 2015!

Please note: I wrote majority of this Thursday afternoon, but forgot to post. Updated information is included at the bottom. 

Hello afternoon and happy Thursday! For majority of the BU student population, Thursday marks the start of the weekend, myself included. Today, however, is particularly special, for three reasons. Firstly, tonight the Bishop's Mens Basketball team will face off against the Ottawa GeeGee's in the National Finals being held in Toronto at 8pm. My housemates and I are planning to go the Gait later to watch the live streaming of the game. Secondly, today marks the official launch of the BU Student Radio, an initiative that has been in the works all year long. All night long there will be previews of the shows that will be featured on the radio. Right now, I am listening to my three friends, Sara, Ariane and Kirsten who are doing a segment called "Nostalgia," featuring songs popular during the 1990s/2000s. Their regular segment is on Friday nights from 9-11pm. There is also a variety of other shows, ranging from EDM music to a talk show with a professor. You can tune in on their website here: http://www.live365.com/stations/butoastradio (Thanks Elizabeth for teaching me to tune in). And finally, today marks the start of the greenest weekend at Bishop's - St. Patrick's Day weekend. Festivities kick off this Saturday and will continue until Tuesday! For one weekend, and one weekend only, BU will change from purple to green to celebrate the luck of the Irish!

This week was a lot of catch up, as in classic student fashion, I brought all of my books home over Reading Week and opened them once - on the bus ride back to school. However, I made it through, and the break from academics was much needed, though my week so was so busy that I almost needed another break when I got back to school! It was a great time nonetheless, so without further adieu, here is a recap of my Reading Week 2015: 

So in case I did not mention this earlier, I brought my friend Vicki home with me for Reading Week. I am thinking of starting my own southern Ontario personal tour guide business, and Vicki and Hannah can provide the first testaments to my service on my future website. That being said, I do not know if this is unfortunate or not, but Vicki certainly got a taste of the hectic Erica Zucker lifestyle! We slept in the same place two nights in a row only once the entire break! And the only other time we had for resting was when we were on the road. So, I do not think my tour guide business will cater to those who prefer the slow-pace lifestyle. 

Vicki and I left Bishop's in a carpool at 6am on the Friday leading into the break. We met my dad in Guelph, who then brought  us home to Ancaster.  My mom was away at a ladies' ski weekend, so we spent the night at my dad's with my brother and sister. Upon arrival, Vicki got to meet a local champion, as Jamie had that day been crowned the Ancaster Senior Public School Ping Pong Champion. He challenged me to a match, and let's just say that all of the family ping pong genes went to him. Later that night, Vicki and I went to see 50 Shades of Grey at the local movie theatre. Neither of us had read the books or heard too much about the movie but both ended up really enjoying it! So much so that we came home and both started reading the series. Vicki finished the first book by the end of the week!

Saturday, we went with my mom and sister to Lauren's cheerleading competition in Buffalo, New York. It was a two day competition, so we stayed overnight in the Embassy Suites Hotel, chosen because of the nightly cocktail parties with free booze and snacks for all hotel guests. Unfortunately for Vicki and I, we are not of age to drink in the US, so could not take full advantage of the party. Lauren cheered that night at the Convention Centre, and we watched her team perform one of their best runs of the season. It was the first time I had seen her cheer with her new senior team and I was so impressed! We then went out for dinner with the team and then went back to the hotel to rest up for day two. 

Sunday, we went shopping at the outlet mall and later the Walden Galleria before watching Lauren's team's second run. It is a good thing I had a time limit as I could have spent all day at the outlet mall. Lauren's team performed well again, and placed second overall! My dad and Terri came down to watch, and Vicki and I got a ride home with them and we all went out to dinner. Small world Ancaster story - our waitress was my old babysitter! 

Monday we stayed in Ancaster, and went out for lunch to Cora's with my friend Elena. She had just gotten back from her reading week in Mexico, so it was great to catch up. It was also Vicki's half birthday, which she grew up celebrating. We informed the waitress (omitting the "half" part) so they brought her the Cora's birthday bird! Later that night, my mom brought home cupcakes - in half birthday fashion, we cut them all in half and ate two halves of the two different kinds. We then went to watch Jamie's last hockey game of the year - we must have been good luck because they won in overtime!

Tuesday, Vicki and I got up super early to drive up to my granny's condo in Collingwood and ski at Blue Mountain. We made great time driving up and were on the slopes by 10:30am! After skiing a few times at Jay Peak this season, I had forgotten how small Blue Mountain is in comparison, but the skiing was great n nonetheless. Tuesday was by far the coldest and windiest day, so we had to take a warm-up break before night skiing. At around 6pm or so, we called it a day, headed to metro and then back to the condo for dinner and bed. 

Wednesday was an absolutely beautiful day on the mountain! The trails were well groomed, the sun was shining and there was minimal wind - as my mom's friend Karen would say, conditions were optimal! For lunch, we went to Yeti Cheese, the mountain's grilled cheese truck at the base of the newest lift. Not as good as Gorilla Cheese, but still pretty good. In the afternoon, we walked around the Blue Mountain Village, visiting the candy shop and some of the gift shops. We were still in all our ski gear so decided to return to make any purchases. We skied until about 6pm again, and then went the Rupert's Landing Rec centre for a swim and whirlpool. The director Penny was there, who was like a third grandma to me growing up, so it was great to see her and catch up. After two full days of skiing, a hot tub was much needed! It was then back to the condo for dinner and bed, with a vow to make first tracks on the mountain the next day. 

Thursday was another beautiful day and we were on the hills bright and early. We skied a full day but could not stay too late as we had to drive home that night. We got home around 9pm, for a late dinner at my mom's. My neighbour Alex had come from school that weekend, so I was able to see him and introduce him to Vicki. He was leaving to go to Collingwood the next day, so the visit was short but sweet. 

Friday, Vicki and I boarded the bus to head back to school. Vicki went all the way to Montreal, but I got off in Kingston, where I spent the weekend with my friend Erin, a 4th year Queen's student and also one of my co-workers and longtime friends from camp. I stayed at her apartment over the weekend, and was able to meet two of her roommates. Saturday, she took me on a tour of campus and I met up with my step-brother Tyler, who is in first year and lives in the Leggatt residence, for lunch. We went to Common Ground, which is where I went for lunch when I went on my tour in grade 12. He gave me a tour of campus as well, taking me through the science buildings. By complete chance, we walked through a conference going on, where I ran into one of my RAs from first year, Laura, who is currently an OT student at Queen's. She was presenting her research at the conference in the building lobby, so we had a little Bishop's reunion at Queen's, which was really fun. Tyler and I went for a walk on frozen Lake Ontario and then he showed me his house for next year. Hopefully, my schedule will allow me to go visit him for Queen's Homecoming in the fall!

After my afternoon with Tyler, Erin and I went shopping along Princess Street and then out for dinner to the Thai House. Fun fact, Kingston is the city with the highest restaurants per capita, I had many restaurants to choose amongst. Lennoxville is definitely not rivalling Kingston for that title. After dinner, Erin took me to the Queen's Pub to try the Queen's sangria. Despite the fact that we were supposed to be splitting, I ended up drinking about 3/4 of the pitcher, but Erin made sure I got home safe and sound that night!

Sunday, I boarded the bus back to Montreal. I was originally planning to bus from Montreal back to school, but ended up meeting up with Jocelyn, her boyfriend Phil and all of Phil's housemates in Montreal, for lunch at one of his housemate's home. It was nice to have one last mom-cooked meal before heading back to school, though I was extremely jealous when she packed up all the leftovers for her son! Makes me wish I was a little closer to home!

After lunch wrapped up, we piled into the boys' cars and headed back to Lennoxville. I drove with our friend Justin, who has a pet lizard, so Jocelyn and I played with him the entire ride home. Despite my initial reservations towards lizards, he was very sweet. We were home by 6pm, and Hannah and Sarah rolled in around the same time. Elizabeth had arrived back on Saturday but had forgotten her keys in the house so she stayed with her boyfriend and we were all happily reunited on Monday. 

So that sums up my Reading Week for you! It went by way too fast, as per usual, but it was nice to get away skiing, see my family and friends, and show Vicki what I call home. It was also crazy getting back to school and realising that school is over in less than 6 weeks! Crazy! 

As mentioned above, I wrote this yesterday but it is obviously Friday now, so here is the update: the Bishop's Mens basketball team lost 91-85 to the Gee Gees last night, but it was a battle well fought. They were ahead from the second quarter until the end of the game, until the other team got one last point to take the game into OT. We watched a live stream in the Gait, which was packed full of cheering Gaiters! I suggested we start a live stream of us at the game, so the team could see their support. I believe they play again on Saturday, but I am assuming they are in the consolation round now. Will keep you posted. 

So have a great weekend everyone and enjoy this lovely spring weather that has finally arrived. Safe travels to everyone going away for the Ontario March break and happy celebrating to everyone gearing up to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Oh, and happy day of release of the new Disney movie, Cinderella! 

Until next time!

All my love, 

Erica xoxoxoxoxoxo