One of the many reasons I love being a student at The University of Scranton is its close proximity to Montage Mountain. Last Thursday, I went to see Jason Aldean, Cole Swindell and Tyler Farr perform at the Montage Mountain pavilion – and it was AMAZING. The pavilion was packed, as thousands of people from the greater Scranton community came out for the show.

Just twenty minutes outside of campus, Montage mountain offers awesome concerts (like Jason Aldean), as well as other opportunities such as participating in 5K’s, skiing, shopping, and an catching a movie at the IMAX movie theater. Freshman year, I participated in the Color Run 5K on Montage Mountain. I frequent the Shoppes at Montage, particularly the J Crew Factory store and Panera. I have gone skiing at Montage through university trips, as well as midnight movie showings at the IMAX theater. Two years ago, The University of Scranton even offered a deal where you could go see Maroon 5 at Montage. Transportation was included, and everyone I know who went had a great time.

Being able to see Jason Aldean, one of my favorite country artists, perform so close to campus was incredible. Montage Mountain offers University students with tons of opportunities for adventure, entertainment, and recreation. Definitely take full advantage of it!

Below is a picture taken at the concert, courtesy of The Pavilion at Montage Mountain:

Wednesdays are like a holiday to me and my friends here at The U. Every Wednesday morning is what my friends and I affectionately call “Biscuit Wednesday,” because the third floor DeNaples Dining Hall offers biscuit breakfast sandwiches loaded with eggs, cheese and bacon. Since freshman year, my friends and I have made “Biscuit Wednesday” a tradition.

So as I was sitting at breakfast in DeNaples this morning, I looked down at my biscuit breakfast sandwich and realized that this is the last first biscuit I will eat during my college experience. Silly, I know, to get all worked up over a sandwich – but that’s what senior year is. It’s a year full of lasts.

Except that’s not all I want it to be. In this year full of lasts, I want to make my senior year full of firsts, too. Some firsts are built in, like student teaching to fulfill my Secondary Education and English double major. I’ll have my own classroom, full responsibility, and a serious taste of what my career as a high school English teacher will be like. In addition to built-in firsts like this, I want to make the most of my senior year by making it full of other firsts, too.

Because that’s what college is all about: trying new things. I definitely have embraced that mantra throughout the past three years – becoming a tour guide and then a co-director for the program my freshman year; leading the Divinely Designed women’s retreat sophomore year and now serving as a head leader for this year’s retreat; becoming the forum editor sophomore year and then the managing editor junior year for the Aquinas student newspaper; studying abroad and teaching in Cape Town, South Africa junior year; the list goes on. This year, perhaps I’ll apply for a domestic service trip or for the International Service Program. Maybe I’ll volunteer to teach English to parents of English language learners in the Scranton area through the Education Department. All I know is that no matter what new experience I set off to try, I’m going to go all-in. It’s my last year here, and I’m determined to make it full of incredible firsts.