Something New

It’s really cliché to say this, but the wind is simply howling outside. I just got back from the outside coming in from O’Neil with my botany abstraction in hand, when the wind shoved me backwards. I held onto my assignment for dear life and trudged up the steps, hoping against hope that I’d survive to take my laundry out of the washer before someone else did.

Obviously, I did, otherwise I would not be writing this to you.

Saturday night was Hogwarts at Holy Cross, the main Science Ambassadors event of the year. I was doing the Iron Cereal experiment, which is moving the iron within cereal around with a magnet. Not going to lie, but a few days beforehand, I spent a good two hours in my room trying to figure out how to make it work (which is a little depressing in hindsight, but oh so entertaining). I finally figured out that if you placed the whole flakes in water, you could make the cereal move more visibly than if you just left them on a napkin. Also, I got to whip out the super strong neodymium magnets, which are a lot of fun. It was kind of cool watching some kids’ eyes bug out when they realized that the nasty grey iron fillings I showed them were mixed into their cereal.

And there was so much enthusiasm! Our Ron and Ginny Weasley, as well as the rest of the characters, did a great job running around and entertaining the little kids. I can’t wait to see how next year will turn out. My friend Tom suggested we try and get Venus Fly Traps for next time…

Hey everyone! This sure was a jam packed weekend for me. For one thing, it was family weekend here on the Hill, so as my parents only live a half an hour away, they came up for the ALANA brunch, hosted in the Hogan Ballroom. A word of advice for all, but if you are ever invited to a meal in Hogan, you should go for it, because the food is generally very, very good. I was especially fond of the potatoes. Several of the students performed, and my favorite was Rhythm Nation, which is the step dancing club here at the college. If you ever get the chance, you should definitely watch them perform.

Later that night, the Science Ambassadors held Hogwarts on the Hill, which is an interactive show for kids in the area to come watch. Honestly, I think I was just as excited as the kids were. Some of the things there were neat. I mean really, how many times in your life do you get to see someone hammer a nail with a banana (that happened to be soaked in liquid nitrogen)?

Speaking of children, today was trick-or-treat day for the children of the faculty here at HC. It was held on the first floor of Wheeler, and I was SO excited. We decorated the hallway with a bunch of stuff, and my only regret is that I hadn’t thought to bring a costume or anything from home to wear today. I saw some siblings dressed as Darth Vader and one of the Jedi, and was exclaiming over them, when I looked up to see their parent…who happened to be my chemistry professor! Not only that, but Professor Farrell was holding a baby Yoda! I think I nearly died from an overdose of cuteness flooding the hallway today.

As it happened, I survived, and now must write up this pesky Montserrat essay…