A couple weeks ago, I was able to go back to Delaware for Fall Break. You might not believe this, but I did not go to the USC game. I was sick and didn’t think four hours of standing in the cold would be good for my health (please don’t hate me). Instead, I took the bus from Notre Dame to O’Hare and got an earlier flight home. When I got off the bus, it seemed strange to me that I was the only one in Notre Dame apparel. I had forgotten that not everyone is obsessed with ND.
A couple hours later, I had arrived in Philadelphia where my family picked me up. After getting back to my house, I felt like I had never left. I had missed seeing my family everyday, sleeping in my own bed, showering without flip flips, and visiting my friends.
Being at home also made me feel lonesome. My parents were at work and my sister was at school, so I was home by myself all day. Living in a dorm, there’s always something to do or someone to visit. Sitting at home watching TV all day just seemed more boring than relaxing. Although I don’t particularly enjoy waking up early and going to class, my courses are interesting and I learn something new everyday. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Another great part of Notre Dame is the wonderful people that I’ve met here. It was strange to go a whole week without seeing the people that I eat dinner with every night. I especially missed my roommate, my closest friend here. Don’t get me wrong- I love my family and my friends back in Delaware, and it was terrific to see them all. Notre Dame and home just feel like two different worlds, and both are very dear to me.
Visiting my friends at other colleges made me really appreciate ND’s campus. We have a beautiful school, especially with the leaves changing colors right now. And maybe it’s just me, but the students here seem friendlier than others.
Notre Dame has quickly become my second home, and I’m very happy to be back on campus. I’m so grateful that I’m able to go to school here and am looking forward to the next four years.
Katie Schrandt
Class of 2013
Monday, November 9, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
It is a daunting task to try to blog about your experience at heaven on earth, so forgive me if this seems random and incoherent. I will do my best to try to describe all the most outstanding aspects of Notre Dame so far (although it really is not possible to cover all of them in one blog).
The first thing I’ll talk about is the classes because I’m sure it’s what my mom and dad, the ones graciously paying $50,000 for my education, want to hear about and because it is the biggest change from high school. Luckily enough for me, Archmere was a great high school to prepare me for the college work load and even better, the school allowed me to take APs to test out of the general requirements. It actually allowed me to test out of enough classes that as a Freshman I don’t have to take any math, science, history, english, or languages. Now before I get judged as a slacker, which my parents can attest that I’m far from (okay maybe not), one must understand I chose not to take these classes because I tested out and because in high school my curriculum was so set up, I never got to choose any classes that interested me. As a result, I looked at the classes and signed up for the ones that interested me: Theology (to meet the requirement for the University), Microeconomics, Intro to Philosophy, and my two favorite classes Social Psychology and a University Seminar on Civic Participation and Schooling.
Social Psychology is a class unlike anything I have ever encountered before because not only is it a class with 170 people (my previous largest class was probably 23 in high school) but also it is the first class I have actually enjoyed the nightly reading! Learning how and why society shapes our thoughts and interactions has been a surprisingly fascinating journey so far. The readings are informational and the lectures are . . . interesting to say the least. The professor talks about what ever she wants to, typically nothing to do with our readings, but she certainly makes psychology fun. The final reason this class is so different is because there are probably over 40 athletes in it including the number one football recruit, Manti Te’o, number one hockey recruit, Riley Sheahan, and number one basketball recruit, Joey Brooks, who is in my dorm and an extremely down to earth guy. I actually sat next to Te’o the first day of class and didn’t even know who he was and he seemed like a normal college student (if the average student was a 6’3” 240 pound Hawaiian that is).
My other favorite class is my seminar, a small, 14-person class, on Civic Participation and Schooling. Our whole grade is based upon 3 eight to ten page papers and each class is a student lead discussion. It is very interesting hearing peoples backgrounds in schooling and the different ideas on how to make schools better. We have covered topics such as School Choice, No Child Left Behind, differences between religious and non-religious schools, differences between urban and suburban schools, and many other things. I follow after my mother in having a passion for schooling and psychology I think, but its nice to get to take these classes and discover what my real passions are.
Outside of classes, I have been trying to keep myself busy. The most exciting thing I have done so far is meet with Coach Mike Brey (head men’s basketball coach) a couple times one on one. As many of you probably know he is a Delaware man himself, and used to coach at University of Delaware before Notre Dame and his whole family still lives in Delaware and has a summer house in Dewey. My dream as a kid was to play basketball at Notre Dame, but I now realize how highly unlikely that is due to the high skill level and body build needed to be a D1 athlete, so I decided to meet with him to see how I can be a part of the team in some other regard. As of now, it looks like I will be able to manage the basketball team possibly as soon as this year but almost certainly next year and the following years after that! I can not tell you how excited I am for this opportunity.
Other things I am involved with are the Ultimate Frisbee Team, which is a club sport and we get to travel around the country to play other schools. We were ranked in the top 5 in the country for a little last year and have another great team this year. I have also been looking into an undergraduate research opportunity to help my professor with his current research studies. He is studying the difference in how graduates from religious schools participate in society (jobs, political association, marital status . . .) versus those from non-religious schools. I would get paid a certain amount of money to help him gather information and collect surveys and do the statistics on the results. If I don’t manage basketball this year I will probably do this research program.
Finally, last but not least, one way my college experience is different from most other people is that I am blessed, truly blessed, to have my sister, Katie Weber Class of 2010, here with me too. I can not tell you how grateful I am for this. My sister and I have dinner at least two times a week together which is always a highlight of my week. I see her at least once every weekend and she always offers for me to come to her apartment off campus. We have grown closer in the past month and a couple weeks than at any other time in our lives. My best friend in my dorm, Charlie Renner, comes with me every other Sunday to my sisters apartment and we do our laundry. This way it is free and we get away from the distractions in the dorm and therefore can actually be productive and get a head start on the week. The swaying factor for my attendance at this University was the fact I knew I would never have an opportunity like this again, for the rest of my life, to spend a year with my sister and get to know her better and grow closer to her. I can not thank you, Katie, enough for being there for me this year and without even knowing it, helping me make one the best decisions of my life.
Notre Dame has been spectacular so far, exactly what I expected and more! Every home football game so far has given me chills and reminds me of why I love this school: for its tradition, passion, loyalty, school spirit, and so on. It’s been a great season so far, with some close games and 3 big wins! I think we played 4 games but I can’t remember the outcome of one . . . but it’s not important and I won’t strain to try to remember because I do know we won three games and are looking forward to the national championship with our Heisman quarterback! Thanks to all who have supported me and made me feel at home out here and to the Club of Delaware for getting me excited for the best 4 years of my life. A special thank you to my parents, Anne and Bill, who have sacrificed more than I will ever know to allow me to attend heaven on earth and live out my dreams. I love you Mom and Dad.
Love,
Tim Weber Class of 2013
The first thing I’ll talk about is the classes because I’m sure it’s what my mom and dad, the ones graciously paying $50,000 for my education, want to hear about and because it is the biggest change from high school. Luckily enough for me, Archmere was a great high school to prepare me for the college work load and even better, the school allowed me to take APs to test out of the general requirements. It actually allowed me to test out of enough classes that as a Freshman I don’t have to take any math, science, history, english, or languages. Now before I get judged as a slacker, which my parents can attest that I’m far from (okay maybe not), one must understand I chose not to take these classes because I tested out and because in high school my curriculum was so set up, I never got to choose any classes that interested me. As a result, I looked at the classes and signed up for the ones that interested me: Theology (to meet the requirement for the University), Microeconomics, Intro to Philosophy, and my two favorite classes Social Psychology and a University Seminar on Civic Participation and Schooling.
Social Psychology is a class unlike anything I have ever encountered before because not only is it a class with 170 people (my previous largest class was probably 23 in high school) but also it is the first class I have actually enjoyed the nightly reading! Learning how and why society shapes our thoughts and interactions has been a surprisingly fascinating journey so far. The readings are informational and the lectures are . . . interesting to say the least. The professor talks about what ever she wants to, typically nothing to do with our readings, but she certainly makes psychology fun. The final reason this class is so different is because there are probably over 40 athletes in it including the number one football recruit, Manti Te’o, number one hockey recruit, Riley Sheahan, and number one basketball recruit, Joey Brooks, who is in my dorm and an extremely down to earth guy. I actually sat next to Te’o the first day of class and didn’t even know who he was and he seemed like a normal college student (if the average student was a 6’3” 240 pound Hawaiian that is).
My other favorite class is my seminar, a small, 14-person class, on Civic Participation and Schooling. Our whole grade is based upon 3 eight to ten page papers and each class is a student lead discussion. It is very interesting hearing peoples backgrounds in schooling and the different ideas on how to make schools better. We have covered topics such as School Choice, No Child Left Behind, differences between religious and non-religious schools, differences between urban and suburban schools, and many other things. I follow after my mother in having a passion for schooling and psychology I think, but its nice to get to take these classes and discover what my real passions are.
Outside of classes, I have been trying to keep myself busy. The most exciting thing I have done so far is meet with Coach Mike Brey (head men’s basketball coach) a couple times one on one. As many of you probably know he is a Delaware man himself, and used to coach at University of Delaware before Notre Dame and his whole family still lives in Delaware and has a summer house in Dewey. My dream as a kid was to play basketball at Notre Dame, but I now realize how highly unlikely that is due to the high skill level and body build needed to be a D1 athlete, so I decided to meet with him to see how I can be a part of the team in some other regard. As of now, it looks like I will be able to manage the basketball team possibly as soon as this year but almost certainly next year and the following years after that! I can not tell you how excited I am for this opportunity.
Other things I am involved with are the Ultimate Frisbee Team, which is a club sport and we get to travel around the country to play other schools. We were ranked in the top 5 in the country for a little last year and have another great team this year. I have also been looking into an undergraduate research opportunity to help my professor with his current research studies. He is studying the difference in how graduates from religious schools participate in society (jobs, political association, marital status . . .) versus those from non-religious schools. I would get paid a certain amount of money to help him gather information and collect surveys and do the statistics on the results. If I don’t manage basketball this year I will probably do this research program.
Finally, last but not least, one way my college experience is different from most other people is that I am blessed, truly blessed, to have my sister, Katie Weber Class of 2010, here with me too. I can not tell you how grateful I am for this. My sister and I have dinner at least two times a week together which is always a highlight of my week. I see her at least once every weekend and she always offers for me to come to her apartment off campus. We have grown closer in the past month and a couple weeks than at any other time in our lives. My best friend in my dorm, Charlie Renner, comes with me every other Sunday to my sisters apartment and we do our laundry. This way it is free and we get away from the distractions in the dorm and therefore can actually be productive and get a head start on the week. The swaying factor for my attendance at this University was the fact I knew I would never have an opportunity like this again, for the rest of my life, to spend a year with my sister and get to know her better and grow closer to her. I can not thank you, Katie, enough for being there for me this year and without even knowing it, helping me make one the best decisions of my life.
Notre Dame has been spectacular so far, exactly what I expected and more! Every home football game so far has given me chills and reminds me of why I love this school: for its tradition, passion, loyalty, school spirit, and so on. It’s been a great season so far, with some close games and 3 big wins! I think we played 4 games but I can’t remember the outcome of one . . . but it’s not important and I won’t strain to try to remember because I do know we won three games and are looking forward to the national championship with our Heisman quarterback! Thanks to all who have supported me and made me feel at home out here and to the Club of Delaware for getting me excited for the best 4 years of my life. A special thank you to my parents, Anne and Bill, who have sacrificed more than I will ever know to allow me to attend heaven on earth and live out my dreams. I love you Mom and Dad.
Love,
Tim Weber Class of 2013
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Freshman Blog
Jimmy Bowers
Monday, September 7, 2009; 11:22 p.m.
Who wouldn’t want to blog about how great life at Notre Dame is? The only problem is, there are so many great things to talk about, almost (but not quite) too many. So, I guess I’ll just start off describing my journey by letting you know where I am right now and what I am doing. I’m sitting in the basement of Zahm Hall (Zahm House as we Zahmbies like to call it) and watching the Florida State-Miami game on our huge common room projector screen. There are a bunch of fellow Zahm residents down here with me, and everyone is desperately cheering for a Miami victory; we’re all convinced it would help our beloved Irish in the polls this week.
One day into the third week of classes and I can truly say it’s been quite a ride. Move-in, “Frosh-O”, homework, Domerfest, concerts, homework, classes, Nevada game (can you say shutout?), more homework. The move-in process was nothing like I anticipated. I expected the process to be hot, laborious, awkward, just pretty unpleasant overall. To my delight, it was quite the opposite. Signs from each dorm lined the streets on campus (many of them poking fun at others). One of my favorites read, “Cavanaugh: Protecting your daughters from Zahm for years” (did I mention they’re my sister dorm?). The signs were everywhere and they kept the long car line on campus entertaining. When our car finally pulled up to House, we were warmly greeted by ten students who immediately started unloading our car. After signing the housing contract in the basement, I walked up to find all of my luggage waiting for me in my room. Talk about service. My dad was quick to inform me that I was fortunate to be so close to the great hall of St. Ed’s (the hall where he spent many hours partying and not quite as many studying). After unpacking all of my things and getting settled in, I spent the rest of the day visiting different buildings on campus, signing contracts, filling out paperwork and tending to other errands. Along the way, my father introduced me to several of his friends from his days at Notre Dame. I met two Mr. Allare’s, and a Mr. Mitchell; surprisingly, all three had freshmen sons in my class. Helps to be a legacy, I suppose.
The next day marked the beginning of the storied Freshmen Orientation. The morning involved meeting a lot of the guys in my hall and University organized activities (like a picnic on South Quad and dorm meetings with parents). The real fun started that night, with the first of many secret rituals that initiated me into the Zahm Brotherhood. Sworn to secrecy, I’ll be brief and say that Night 1 of Frosh-O involved the War Memorial Fountain (more commonly known as Stonehenge), body paint, kilts, yelling, professing love to Cavanaugh, singing, and most importantly, the Golden Dome. It was a fantastic night, and the first of many to come. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into, and I think I still really don’t know. Supposedly, there are a lot more initiation activities coming.
Dorm life in Zahm is as close to living in a real house as a dorm can be, I think. In every dorm meeting the first weekend, they informed us of Zahm’s “open door policy”. They strongly discourage freshmen from ever closing their doors unless we have something extremely important to focus on. I tested out the policy and I haven’t looked back since. Upperclassmen will randomly wander in to my room while I’m on my computer doing work and they’ll take a seat and start chatting. It’s a great way to meet people, and it helps encourage the brotherhood that Zahm House breeds. Another “tradition”, per se, is that of the Midnight Maid service. The upperclassmen informed us that last year they voted to have the maids come in to clean the halls in the middle of the night as to not disturb anyone during the day. Though we were all a little confused by this, we took their word for it and went with it. It wasn’t until a week later that I learned what the midnight maid service was all about. While my roommates and I were asleep, an upperclassman snuck into our room and put the vacuum in the middle of our floor. He then took the wire outside and wrapped it several times around the doorknob so that the door would not open until it was unwound. This unknown upperclassman then plugged the vacuum in, and ran away. Now, this vacuum might be the loudest vacuum in the history of all vacuums. When that vacuum was plugged in, I woke to what I thought was the fire alarm. When my roommate got out of bed to see what was going on, he told me that there was a vacuum in the middle of our room. Not knowing how to turn this complicated vacuum off, we were forced to go out in to the hallway to unplug the vacuum. The process took close to two minutes in its entirety. And though it may be good for a laugh after the fact, this “Midnight Maid” has stopped by three times in the last three weeks, and “she” scares me every time. This is life in House in a nutshell.
Having tested out of First Year Composition and Calc 1, I was blessed with Theology, Philosophy and Psychology to go along with Business Calc II, a Science elective, and P.E. all during my first semester. I walked in to my Psychology class my first day and realized how different the class setting was in college. With a class of over 150 kids in the auditorium, the professor told us that class was not mandatory but it was encouraged. He informed us that he would never take attendance, and it was very possible, though hard, to pass without ever going to class. Coming from Archmere where my class size was rarely greater than 13 kids, I was in for an awakening. Adjusting to the college workload has not been as much of a problem as I anticipated, though I understand it is still very early in the semester. I’ve yet to take my first exam or write my first paper; needless to say, my next two weeks aren’t looking as easy. But so far, so good.
The climax of my time at Notre Dame so far came this past Saturday: home opener against Nevada. Though I had been to games before, I forgot how busy campus was on football weekends. I woke up Saturday morning to the sound of the marching band right outside my window; who can be mad about waking to a live performance of the Notre Dame fight song? The morning entailed visiting tailgates of my father’s friends (again, benefits of being a legacy), football on North Quad, a walk around campus, and finally, going to the stadium for the game. I’m sure anyone reading this blog watched the game so I don’t need to describe how well the game went for the Irish. To make a very long story short, Michael Floyd caught four passes, three of which were touchdowns. My seats are in row 34 in the corner of the stadium, right in the heart of the student section. I did my fair share of “crowd push-ups”; with 35 points scored, there were plenty of push-ups to go around. We picked up on all the student cheers and traditions pretty quickly. By half-time, my whole section of guys had the cheers and all the dances down pat.
After finishing up my school work early Sunday evening, I went for a run around the lakes right before sunset. I took a break from my run at a spot across the lake where I had a perfect view of the Golden Dome in the distance. I took a seat on a bench and admired the Dome for a good amount of time and felt very fortunate to be in South Bend. It is a great privilege to live and study at this University, and I plan on making the most of my time here. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for sending me to the school where I belong.
Go Irish.
Jimmy Bowers
Jbowers3@nd.edu
Monday, September 7, 2009; 11:22 p.m.
Who wouldn’t want to blog about how great life at Notre Dame is? The only problem is, there are so many great things to talk about, almost (but not quite) too many. So, I guess I’ll just start off describing my journey by letting you know where I am right now and what I am doing. I’m sitting in the basement of Zahm Hall (Zahm House as we Zahmbies like to call it) and watching the Florida State-Miami game on our huge common room projector screen. There are a bunch of fellow Zahm residents down here with me, and everyone is desperately cheering for a Miami victory; we’re all convinced it would help our beloved Irish in the polls this week.
One day into the third week of classes and I can truly say it’s been quite a ride. Move-in, “Frosh-O”, homework, Domerfest, concerts, homework, classes, Nevada game (can you say shutout?), more homework. The move-in process was nothing like I anticipated. I expected the process to be hot, laborious, awkward, just pretty unpleasant overall. To my delight, it was quite the opposite. Signs from each dorm lined the streets on campus (many of them poking fun at others). One of my favorites read, “Cavanaugh: Protecting your daughters from Zahm for years” (did I mention they’re my sister dorm?). The signs were everywhere and they kept the long car line on campus entertaining. When our car finally pulled up to House, we were warmly greeted by ten students who immediately started unloading our car. After signing the housing contract in the basement, I walked up to find all of my luggage waiting for me in my room. Talk about service. My dad was quick to inform me that I was fortunate to be so close to the great hall of St. Ed’s (the hall where he spent many hours partying and not quite as many studying). After unpacking all of my things and getting settled in, I spent the rest of the day visiting different buildings on campus, signing contracts, filling out paperwork and tending to other errands. Along the way, my father introduced me to several of his friends from his days at Notre Dame. I met two Mr. Allare’s, and a Mr. Mitchell; surprisingly, all three had freshmen sons in my class. Helps to be a legacy, I suppose.
The next day marked the beginning of the storied Freshmen Orientation. The morning involved meeting a lot of the guys in my hall and University organized activities (like a picnic on South Quad and dorm meetings with parents). The real fun started that night, with the first of many secret rituals that initiated me into the Zahm Brotherhood. Sworn to secrecy, I’ll be brief and say that Night 1 of Frosh-O involved the War Memorial Fountain (more commonly known as Stonehenge), body paint, kilts, yelling, professing love to Cavanaugh, singing, and most importantly, the Golden Dome. It was a fantastic night, and the first of many to come. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into, and I think I still really don’t know. Supposedly, there are a lot more initiation activities coming.
Dorm life in Zahm is as close to living in a real house as a dorm can be, I think. In every dorm meeting the first weekend, they informed us of Zahm’s “open door policy”. They strongly discourage freshmen from ever closing their doors unless we have something extremely important to focus on. I tested out the policy and I haven’t looked back since. Upperclassmen will randomly wander in to my room while I’m on my computer doing work and they’ll take a seat and start chatting. It’s a great way to meet people, and it helps encourage the brotherhood that Zahm House breeds. Another “tradition”, per se, is that of the Midnight Maid service. The upperclassmen informed us that last year they voted to have the maids come in to clean the halls in the middle of the night as to not disturb anyone during the day. Though we were all a little confused by this, we took their word for it and went with it. It wasn’t until a week later that I learned what the midnight maid service was all about. While my roommates and I were asleep, an upperclassman snuck into our room and put the vacuum in the middle of our floor. He then took the wire outside and wrapped it several times around the doorknob so that the door would not open until it was unwound. This unknown upperclassman then plugged the vacuum in, and ran away. Now, this vacuum might be the loudest vacuum in the history of all vacuums. When that vacuum was plugged in, I woke to what I thought was the fire alarm. When my roommate got out of bed to see what was going on, he told me that there was a vacuum in the middle of our room. Not knowing how to turn this complicated vacuum off, we were forced to go out in to the hallway to unplug the vacuum. The process took close to two minutes in its entirety. And though it may be good for a laugh after the fact, this “Midnight Maid” has stopped by three times in the last three weeks, and “she” scares me every time. This is life in House in a nutshell.
Having tested out of First Year Composition and Calc 1, I was blessed with Theology, Philosophy and Psychology to go along with Business Calc II, a Science elective, and P.E. all during my first semester. I walked in to my Psychology class my first day and realized how different the class setting was in college. With a class of over 150 kids in the auditorium, the professor told us that class was not mandatory but it was encouraged. He informed us that he would never take attendance, and it was very possible, though hard, to pass without ever going to class. Coming from Archmere where my class size was rarely greater than 13 kids, I was in for an awakening. Adjusting to the college workload has not been as much of a problem as I anticipated, though I understand it is still very early in the semester. I’ve yet to take my first exam or write my first paper; needless to say, my next two weeks aren’t looking as easy. But so far, so good.
The climax of my time at Notre Dame so far came this past Saturday: home opener against Nevada. Though I had been to games before, I forgot how busy campus was on football weekends. I woke up Saturday morning to the sound of the marching band right outside my window; who can be mad about waking to a live performance of the Notre Dame fight song? The morning entailed visiting tailgates of my father’s friends (again, benefits of being a legacy), football on North Quad, a walk around campus, and finally, going to the stadium for the game. I’m sure anyone reading this blog watched the game so I don’t need to describe how well the game went for the Irish. To make a very long story short, Michael Floyd caught four passes, three of which were touchdowns. My seats are in row 34 in the corner of the stadium, right in the heart of the student section. I did my fair share of “crowd push-ups”; with 35 points scored, there were plenty of push-ups to go around. We picked up on all the student cheers and traditions pretty quickly. By half-time, my whole section of guys had the cheers and all the dances down pat.
After finishing up my school work early Sunday evening, I went for a run around the lakes right before sunset. I took a break from my run at a spot across the lake where I had a perfect view of the Golden Dome in the distance. I took a seat on a bench and admired the Dome for a good amount of time and felt very fortunate to be in South Bend. It is a great privilege to live and study at this University, and I plan on making the most of my time here. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for sending me to the school where I belong.
Go Irish.
Jimmy Bowers
Jbowers3@nd.edu
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Notre Dame Club of Delaware Website
Notre Dame Club of Delaware
Delaware contributed to the founding of our nation as the first to ratify the Constitution. Likewise, Delaware has contributed to Notre Dame by sending many students to the University and by being the home to a very active base of Fighting Irish supporters. Membership in the ND Club of Delaware is open to all friends of the University of Notre Dame, whether you are an alum, a family member of a current student or alum, or fan of the University.
To join our mailing list, please email our President, Pete Slease ,or Vice President,Ryan Newell
We look forward to seeing you at one of our many events. Go Irish!
-Pete Slease and Ryan Newell
Delaware contributed to the founding of our nation as the first to ratify the Constitution. Likewise, Delaware has contributed to Notre Dame by sending many students to the University and by being the home to a very active base of Fighting Irish supporters. Membership in the ND Club of Delaware is open to all friends of the University of Notre Dame, whether you are an alum, a family member of a current student or alum, or fan of the University.
To join our mailing list, please email our President, Pete Slease ,or Vice President,Ryan Newell
We look forward to seeing you at one of our many events. Go Irish!
-Pete Slease and Ryan Newell
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