Once again, playing catch up!

My sincerest apologizes for my inconsistency this semester. It is very unlike me but I promise for better blogging in the near future.

However, on the bright side, I have so much to tell you all!

On November 6^th, Octaves and Royal Harmony had the honor of singing in not one, but two campus events. At 6PM the Leahy Clinic hosted a fundraiser that was a little more exciting than a movie night or a couple of bake sales; it was a student fashion show! This semi-formal event was a night filled with music, food, raffles and gave students a chance to check out some stunning clothes sold by local vendors such as Modish and Pop It!. The event was held in the lovely new Occupation and Physical Therapy building, Edward Leahy Jr. Hall and, once again Octaves rocked their uniforms, perfect for a fashion show.

But the singing didn’t end there. A few hours after the fashion show, Royal Harmony and Octaves held their very first late night event on the first floor of DeNaples: Late Night Karaoke! We kicked off the night performing two songs then opened the floor to anyone wanting to participate. Of course my friend Kayla and I couldn’t resist, so we decided to have some fun with the audience and sing the classic song, Don’t Stop Believing! We also held raffles throughout the night for those participating for a chance to win Starbucks giftcards. It was awesome watching fellow students gain the courage to stand up and sing and just overall have fun clapping to the beat of the music with their friends. The song-filled evening was definitely a success and I can’t wait to host other a cappella late night events in the future!

Oh, we also got our t-shirts for the semester this week 🙂

Flash forward to this week, tonight was the last Aquinas production night of the semester! Although stressful at times, I love working for the Aquinas and could not imagine my fall semester without it. The editors have become such great friends over the past few months and are really an awesome group of students to be around.

I truly cannot believe how fast the semester has gone. Thanksgiving is already next week and before I know it, winter break will be here! I honestly do not think fall semester last year went by nearly as fast; it’s hard to believe half of my sophomore is coming to a close.

But, on a lighter note, this weekend I’ll be heading up to Chapman Lake and finally going on a retreat! The retreat I’ll be making is Manresa, which is one all about how your spiritual life plays a role in college and using your innate gifts to make a difference in the world around you. Although I’m a little bummed it’s the weekend right before break, I’m super excited! I’ve heard nothing but positive remarks about the Scranton retreats and, on top of it, my good friend Jen is one of the retreat leaders.

That’s all I have for now! Lately I’ve realized, how lucky I am to have met such amazing people here in the past year and a half. Sophomore year, among all the work, major questioning, etc, has led me to some rough points, but I’m incredibly lucky to know I have friends that are always there to keep me smiling. I’m sad to see the semester end because I won’t be around them all the time!

The past two weeks have been filled with fall activities and exciting events! Here’s what’s been going on.

On October 23^rd, Octaves and Royal Harmony sang in the second performance of the semester. Urban Beats was there to dance as well! The event was sponsored by The Wishmakers, a club on campus that raises money in hopes of one day being able to grant a wish to a child in the renowned Make-A-Wish foundation. This was our first event we decided to wear our “uniforms”, all black with purple ribbons for the girls and ties for the guys. I must admit I think we looked pretty spiffy!

That Saturday, my group of friends and I decided to take a drive into North Abington Township to Roba’s Family Farms. As I recently mentioned in my last article for the Aquinas, this charming farm gives everyone who visits the perfect opportunity to participate in numerous autumn activities. The Farm offers hayrides, pony rides, tetherball, a bounce pillow, pumpkin patches and even more. Of course we couldn’t leave before grabbing a warm cup of apple cider with a side of apple cider doughnuts!

Unfortunately we had to depart from Roba’s a little early due to an extra Octaves rehearsal for me and our friend Victoria having to meet with classmates for a group project, but despite the time restraint we still had a memorable time and made the most of it! I already can’t wait to head back to Roba’s next fall.

My friends Victoria, Veronika, Courtney, Emily and I on the bridge above the Corn Maze.

So as I said, Octaves held an extra rehearsal later that afternoon. Over the summer we were lucky enough to have a friend of Tom, one of the tenors in the group, arrange one of our pieces for the semester: the mash-up of Unconditionally and The Story of My Life. His friend actually took the time to visit to Scranton for the weekend and help us out with the song! Although extra rehearsals might seem like a pain on the surface, I’m always looking forward to spending more time with my fellow singers. It’s rare that groups have the opportunity to work closely with the arranger of a piece; we couldn’t have asked for a better, more eye opening experience.

Flash forward to the next week: Halloween day! This year I signed my roommate and I up for Safe Trick or Treat, an event the University holds every year for local Scranton families to give their kids a safe place to collect some Halloween candy. The children, led by student volunteers and their parents, all decked out in their costumes make their way through different dorm buildings on campus to trick or treat. It adorable watching the kids scrounge through buckets and bags excitedly picking their candy, but what genuinely made me the happiest was knowing that I, along with dozens of other University students, were bringing joy to the less fortunate families in the area.

I’m pretty bummed Halloween is already over; October flew! But as my roommate Courtney says, it’s now officially Christmas season! It’s gradually becoming more and more acceptable to have Christmas songs on replay (Christmas music is without a doubt my favorite aspect of the holiday season). But if I thought that Christmastime creeping up on us excited me, a sign that caught my eye on 2^nd floor DeNaples earlier day proved me wrong!

The University of Scranton Programming Board Coffeehouse held an event at 8PM earlier this evening. The event was an acoustic performance by Noah Guthrie. Incase you’re not familiar with the name, Noah was featured as Roderick on season 6 of Glee! Although I never really watched Glee, I was familiar with Noah from his YouTube covers. I couldn’t believe it when I realized he was the guy whose music covers I used to watch all the time in high school! But not only was I fortunate enough to hear his incredibly voice live, I met him after his set! Here’s a picture.

Noah as Roderick in Glee

Me and Noah after the show!

Shout-out to USPB for bringing such a talented voice to Scranton! Seeing Noah Guthrie rocking on stage in DeNaples is now one of my favorite fall semester memories thus far.

Well now that I have you call caught up, I’m ready to get back to editing my section for The Aquinas and writing a short essay for tomorrow. Happy November and I’ll be back next week!