Finally, after a long week filled with essays and mid-terms, I am so glad to be home for spring break. Although there really is no fun in exam preparation, working hard and studying for those tests make being home feel, in a way, rewarding. Despite the couple homework assignments I have due, I’m definitely taking advantage of this time away from the hustle and bustle of school. People might wonder what my favorite part of being home is; and as much as I love home cooked meals and free laundry, I have to admit the best part of home-life is this: sleeping in my own bed!

Spring break is about a week. Since it isn’t quite enough time to head back to that part-time job and we aren’t all lucky enough to fly over to a lovely exotic island, some college students might find themselves in a rut; how should I spend my time on break?  So I thought I’d compile a list of a few ideas!

1. Catch up with high school friends.
Having time to chat with old friends is always a nice way to spend a day or an evening. Unfortunately, this isn’t always easy! A bunch of my friends from home had their spring break last week, however, I’m thankful that my best friend was around for just a day before she drove back to school. Nevertheless, there’s bound to be someone around during the week!

2.  Go on a day trip
Depending on where you live, a day trip can be tons of fun! I live in New Jersey so, contrary to popular belief, there are a multitude of options for day trips. Take a drive to a new city or museum. Maybe find a free concert!

3. Have lunch or dinner at a restaurant you’ve been meaning to try
Just like anyone else, I LOVE dining out even to places I’ve eaten at a thousand times (like Olive Garden). But sometimes I’m in need of a little change. Use a night or two out of the week to grab a meal from that new burger joint or hibachi buffet your friends have been telling you about!

4. Shopping
Although I am nothing like the average female shopaholic, who doesn’t enjoy an occasional trip to the mall? With warm weather starting to creep up, head over to your favorite stores and purchase some spring attire! I know I cannot wait for Scranton’s temperature to hit the 70s so I can stack away the boots and bring out the flip flops.

5. Have some serious hobby time
Between homework, tests, clubs, and friends, it can be hard to set aside time for yourself at school. Since you are most likely all studied-out, use this week to read a book, find some new tunes to listen to, go on a few bike rides etc.

This week will most likely go by much faster than you think! It’s hard to believe it is already Wednesday. No doubt going back to school will be nice, but I never want my time home to pass by too quickly.

With only two days until the new season, I might as well just say it now! Happy Spring everyone, I’ll be back soon. 🙂 

-Catie

This past Sunday, the University was lucky enough to have a musical guest! If you recall in a previous post, I mentioned that Octaves was having our first real gig this semester on March 8th. The Suspensions, West Chester University’s all male a cappella group, is currently on tour and decided to contact us and Royal Harmony with the interest of having a collaboration concert! The Suspensions kicked off the concert with Bruno Mars’s Treasure and performed about four songs after that. Royal Harmony prepared two songs and Octaves sang three, all which were spread out in between T. S.’s performances. Everybody’s songs were great; however, the absolute best part of this hour long concert was the song all three groups sang together. For about two or three weeks, Royal Harmony, Octaves and The Suspensions had been practicing the pop hit, Some Nights by F.U.N. And let me just say…singing this all together was well beyond fun! (See what I did there?) Although we all had been learning the song in our own groups, we were never able to rehearse it all together in the same room until that very day. None of us could get over how unbelievably full the sound was! It is times like these when I realize there is truly no other feeling  like being on stage with an amazing musical group.

The Suspensions were not only an incredibly vocally talented ensemble, but were an all around friendly and entertaining group of young men. What I loved the most about this performance was that it brought together three groups of individuals that are all passionate about the same thing: music! Being in an a cappella ensemble makes watching other a cappella performances that much more exciting. Seeing the songs these men chose, the way they presented themselves on stage and paying attention to how each voice part worked with the others definitely kept me interested. And besides, when you’re a singer, who doesn’t want to be around other singers? There is nothing more fun than belting out songs and jokingly beatboxing with people who enjoy it just as much as you do!

One of the members of The Suspension’s was able to catch a selfie of all (well most) of us!

The concert was the perfect ending to my weekend. Unfortunately, I don’t think our next performance is until Relay for Life which is at the end of April! But considering Spring Break and Easter Break are right around the corner, I bet Relay will be here before I know it. Lately it’s been easy for me to forget that on Friday I’ll be on my way home. It feels like I just moved back in from winter break! Freshman year is going by so fast. As much as I want midterms and finals to be over and done with, a part of me still wants these next couple months to slow down at least a tiny bit! This semester has been going so well in so many ways and I’m going to try to embrace every minute I can (even amidst the papers, exams and stress!). With that being said, it’s time for me to catch some rest so I can be ready for a long day of Theology mid-term preparation. It’ll all be worth it soon enough!

Hope you all have a lovely rest of the week 🙂 especially with this lovely weather!

While March might be the first month of spring, Scranton, unfortunately, has still been having some colder days. We had a little bit of snow throughout the day that gradually turned into rain, so regular activities, such as going to practice and walking to dinner, felt like a hassle. However, my friend and I decided to take advantage of the time inside and order a pizza for dinner!

The University has two pizza places in walking distance from the dorms: CK’s and Good Fellas (thankfully they still deliver even when the weather is bad!). Being from New Jersey, I must admit I was pretty skeptical of how Pennsylvania pizza would taste. I remember the first time I ate CK’s was last semester; I was shocked! It was absolutely delicious. I prefer just plain cheese pizza (with a side of ranch oddly enough), but a bunch of my friends love CK’s buffalo chicken slice. There is always the constant debate between Scranton students whether CK’s or Good Fellas is better.  Although I have had, and enjoyed, both, there’s just something about CK’s I cannot get enough of!

CK’s and Good Fellas aren’t the only go-to places in the Scranton area. “The Electric City” has much more to offer than people believe! I cannot deny that there have been multiple times when people obnoxiously ask me, “Why’d you pick to go to school in Scranton? There’s NOTHING there”. Honestly, that statement couldn’t be more false. The University is strategically placed in the city of Scranton itself; although when you’re on campus, you could never tell. Just a block or two beyond this  beautiful, green college, there are plenty of places to go. Here are some of them!

1. Northern Light Espresso Bar and Cafe

2. The Mall at Steamtown (yes, a mall is in walking distance from the school!)

3. Coconut Summer LLC (frozen yogurt shop)

4. Rite Aid (incredibly useful for college students)

5. City Market and Cafe, also has a Dunkin Donuts inside!

6. Lavish Body and Home (one of the many boutique style shops)

7. Freed Love (another clothing store me and my friends LOVE browsing in)

8. Scranton Cultural Center

9. Mission Yoga

10. Pizza by Pappas

….and so much more! The city holds a number of events throughout the year, such as First Friday Scranton and La Festa Italiana. You can read even more about downtown Scranton on the University website.

Hopefully the weather clears up soon and some warmer, sunnier days are ahead so my friends and I can go back to some of these awesome places!