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A Busy Start to the Semester!!

Hi everyone!!

I just wanted to give a quick update on what has happened so far this semester!! I moved back in to Holy Cross a week early from winter break for rehearsals for “Little Women: The Musical,” and it was so fun to just be able to focus on rehearsals, and spend time with others in the cast throughout the week!!

A photo of the cast of “Little Women”!!

Our performances for “Little Women” were these past two weekends, and I cannot believe the show is over!! It was very exciting to be able to perform this show for the Holy Cross community, which we auditioned for in September!! My family also got to come see the show, which was exciting!! They got to come to the Pit Party after the show, where the department has food and desserts for the cast and their family and friends!!

A photo of me and my friend Emily at the Pit Party!!

While I am not in a Theatre Department production this semester, I have started doing research on campus!! I am working in Professor Findlay’s lab, which studies genes involved in fertility in male fruit flies. While I have really only started setting up experiments the past few weeks, I am excited about doing more research!! This has been an extremely busy semester so far, but I look forward to pursuing more opportunities on campus!!

Thanks for reading!!

Rebecca McSweeney

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Home for the Holidays!!

Hi everyone!!

Happy New Year!! The end of the fall semester (and 2018!) went by so quickly!! I cannot believe that classes for the spring semester begin three weeks from today!!

Finals for this past semester went well, even though I had exams for three of my classes in addition to final papers, and a final performance for my Basic Acting class. I was able to finish the semester strong, and now I am at home spending time with family and friends!!

My siblings and I after Mass on Christmas Eve!!

I went shopping a few times in the week before Christmas to get presents for my family. On Christmas Eve, my family went to Mass, and then had dinner at my friend’s house, which has been a tradition since we were younger!! My family spent Christmas morning opening presents, and then my grandmother, aunt, and godfather came over for Chinese food, which we have every year!!

My friend Caroline and I celebrating New Year’s!!

I ended up going over a friend’s house to celebrate New Year’s Eve!! It was fun to see some of my friends from home as we celebrated the New Year!! While I enjoy relaxing at home and spending the holidays with my family and friends, I am also excited to start next semester!!

Thanks for reading!!

Rebecca McSweeney

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Fall Break, First Rehearsals, Family Weekend, and a Fiftieth Birthday Party!

Hi everyone!!

I cannot believe that October is almost over!! I went home for all of Fall Break, which was really relaxing, and I also spent some time getting ahead on work!! Here are some highlights of my life since my last post:

Going home for all of fall break was so relaxing, and since I had all of my midterm exams the week before, I was able to spend more time getting ahead of the reading. My friend Kristen also got to come home for the first weekend, so we were able to hang out and get food!! It was great to get the chance to hangout with her for the first time since we left for the year!!

A photo I took of Kristen while waiting for our food!!

The week I got back to campus, I was called for my first rehearsals for the Theatre Department production of “Little Women: the Musical”! I am excited to be in the Ensemble for this show, which goes up around the beginning of February, and is the first Theatre Department musical at Holy Cross!!

The weekend after Fall Break, I actually went home again for my aunt’s fiftieth birthday party!! We had it at a local restaurant, so we had a lot of delicious food, and I got to see a lot of my extended family, which was really nice!!

The cake from my aunt’s 50th Birthday Party!!

This weekend was Family Weekend at Holy Cross, and my roommate’s mother came up and took us both out to dinner!! We went to Via Italian Table here in Worcester, and I ordered the chicken parmesan and chocolate torta, which were both delicious!! October was pretty successful overall!!

My roommate Anna and I before dinner on Saturday!!

Thanks for reading!!

Rebecca McSweeney
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Top Four Activities from Winter Break

Hi everyone! I hope that the start of 2018 has been amazing for you all! I just got back to campus today, and I cannot believe that classes for my second semester start on Tuesday!! I really enjoyed my winter break; here are some of the things I did during my weeks at home since Christmas:

  • Hanging out with friends: One of my favorite parts about being home is seeing my friends who go to different schools. I celebrated New Year’s Eve at one of my friend’s houses, and I participated in a Yankee swap with friends later that week. Both were a lot of fun, and I’m glad I got the chance to catch up with my friends from home.   
Celebrating New Year’s Eve with my friend Maria!!
  • Going out to eat: I made sure to visit plenty of restaurants before heading back to school. My family got Chinese food last night from a restaurant called Mr. Chef’s, and I also went to Panera Bread, IHOP, and the Chateau with family and friends.

    Blueberry pancakes from IHOP!!
  • Going to the movies: On New Year’s Day, my dad took my siblings and I to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which was a great way to spend time with them before my siblings went back to school! I also saw Pitch Perfect 3 with two of my friends last week; the trailer for Pitch Perfect 3 is linked below:
  • Spending time with my dogs: I miss my two dogs, Izzy and Roxie, whenever I am at school. My mom sends me pictures of them often, but I loved having the chance to play with them while I was home!

    My dogs, Roxie and Izzy!!

While I had an amazing break, I am so excited for the spring semester!!

Thanks for reading!!

Rebecca McSweeney

 

 
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Thanksgiving Break and School Since Then

Hi everyone!
I’m sorry I have not blogged recently; the past few weeks have been incredibly busy. I cannot believe my first semester is almost over! Here is just a quick update on 3 parts of my life in the past few weeks as I begin preparing for final exams/papers/projects:

  • Going home for Thanksgiving: Having a few days off for Thanksgiving was really nice; I was happy to spend time with my family and eat some delicious food! I also got together with some of my friends for a “Friendsgiving”, where we all made a dish and had dinner together!! It was a lot of fun to hang out with them, as I haven’t been able to see them often since moving to Holy Cross!!
A photo from “Friendsgiving”!!
  • Major assignments: I have spent a lot of time studying/ working on schoolwork, as I have had a paper or exam for pretty much every class. I have papers due in Psychology and my Biology lab next week, and I handed in a paper for my Montserrat class today. I’m definitely going to be working hard until the end of the semester!
The painting “Musicalité des Nymphéas, Les Deux Saules” by Gabrielle Thierry, which I am writing my final Psychology paper on!
  • One-act play rehearsals: As I mentioned in my last post, I am in two one act plays directed by Holy Cross students! “Pullman Car Hiawatha” by Thornton Wilder is directed by my friend Emily, and “The People” by Susan Glaspell is directed by my friend Ros. Both of the directors- and many of my fellow cast members- were involved in the production of Fuenteovejuna, and it has been so fun to continue working with them!

Thanks for reading!
Rebecca McSweeney
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Highlights of the Past Few Weeks

Hi everyone!
I am so sorry that I have not blogged recently; I’ve been really busy the past few weeks! The Theatre Department’s production of Fuenteovejuna opens tonight, and I am so excited to perform this show for everyone! Here are three ways I have been spending my time over the past few weeks:

  1. Rehearsals for Fuenteovejuna: Since the show opens tonight, I have been spending a lot of time at rehearsal. Our first dress rehearsal was this past Monday, and it was so exciting to begin rehearsing in our costumes! Dress rehearsals have been going really well, so hopefully the performances will be even better!

    Me in my costume for “Fuenteovejuna”!
  2. Doing schoolwork: I know I have not really mentioned what academics are like on my blog yet, but I definitely spend quite a bit of time on schoolwork!! We are just beginning the process of writing a paper on Fuenteovejuna in my Montserrat, and I also have been studying for an exam I have in Biology tomorrow!
  3. Spending time with my family: Last weekend was Family Weekend here at Holy Cross, and while scheduling conflicts prevented my whole family from coming up on Saturday, I was really excited that my mom was able to come up so we could go out to lunch! We went to British Beer Company, which was delicious, and it was really nice just to spend time with her!

    The burger I got when out to lunch with my mom!!

I am so excited to spend more time with my family in the next few weeks; my parents are coming on Saturday to see Fuenteovejuna, and then Thanksgiving break is coming up so quickly!

Thanks for reading!

Rebecca McSweeney
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Fall Break Part 1: Stoughton, MA

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a great week! Fall Break for Holy Cross is almost over, and it will definitely be different returning to having classes again! Since I was so busy over Fall Break, I decided to first let you know about the first half of my break and what I did when I was home.

A photo I took with my mom when we went out for ice cream!!

I was so excited to see my two dogs, Izzy and Roxie, since I missed having them around! I spent plenty of time snuggling with them this past weekend!

A photo I took of my dog, Izzy!

I spent a lot of time this weekend eating; my family got Chinese food on Friday night, and chicken parmesan on Monday night before I went back to school!

Pizza from Town Spa!!

On Saturday night, I went to Town Spa Pizza, a local restaurant in my hometown, with some friends who were also home. It was nice to catch up with them, and the pizza was delicious! I also took my younger brother out to lunch on Sunday; it was nice to spend time with him too!

Saturday, my family went to Mass at my parish back home. On the way home, I spotted a rainbow outside, which is the second rainbow I have seen since I moved to Holy Cross!!

The rainbow I saw at home last Saturday!

My family went shopping a lot this weekend since it rained back home. I bought some more fall/winter clothes to bring back to school. I had a fantastic weekend at home, which made me really excited for having rehearsals the rest of the week, which I will describe in my next post!

Thanks for reading!
Rebecca McSweeney