Clare Foley, Class of 2012, on life at Holy Cross!

The lovely Clare Foley came to visit her old stomping grounds today and tell us all about life at the College of the Holy Cross. Here are some highlights of my "interview" with her.

What is the best thing about college?
Not having to wake up early! Clare's earliest class (Chemistry) begins at 8:00 a.m. She sets her alarm for 7:20 to make it on time. That's a lot later than she got up for first period at Visi.

But I miss________________ about Visi.
The uniform! Apparently it is not fun to assemble an outfit for class everyday. She also spoke fondly of the wonderful Mrs. Elliott, who prepared her well for college Calculus. Clare mentioned that topics Mrs. Elliott spent an entire hour explaining are covered in about ten minutes in her college Calculus class. And nearly everyone who is her Calculus class took it in high school as well. And it's still very hard!

What do Holy Cross ladies wear to class?
It's a mixed bag. They wear everything from yoga pants and sweatshirts to dresses. It is clear that some people spend quite a bit of time on their appearance everday and Clare finds that "people usually look better by the later afternoon classes."

What classes are you taking this semester?
Chemistry and Calculus (both required courses since Clare is working on the pre-health curriculum) as well as Spanish and a required First Year Humanities Seminar.

Hardest Class?
Chemistry (and it's also her largest class, with 64 students enrolled).

Favorite Class?
Spanish

What are you involved in?
The Steering Committee for the annual Dance Marathon (an event that raises money for Pediatric AIDS research)
The Inter-House Council - Claire is the secretary for her dorm and works to plan residential life activities throughout the year.
Admissions - Clare is a greeter in the admissions office, where she meets with parents and students before the official admissions programming
Part-time job - Clare works in the dining hall
SPUD - Clare tutors elementary school students in a local school on a weekly basis.

What do Holy Cross students do on the weekends?
There's always a lot going on - football games and tons of events on campus as well as parties off campus and the occasional trip to Boston.

Advice for seniors?
Don't stress! Enjoy your friends - it's easy to take them for granted right now but you will miss them next year! Slow down and enjoy all the traditions and wonderful things about life at Visi.

Thanks to Clare for spending time with me today and agreeing to be profiled on Life After Visi. She would love to hear from any seniors who have questions or are interested in Holy Cross. Ask your college counselor for her contact information!

Published by: TSM

Cami Thompson's Take on Holy Cross

Cami Thompson is a graduate from the Class of 2008. As a student-athlete, she learned to balance her time well at Visitation and has continued to find that same success in college! Here's what she has to say about classes and lacrosse at College of the Holy Cross...

Why I chose Holy Cross:

Academically I was looking for a school that had some of my favorite aspects of Visitation: a close-knit community, dedicated teachers, and small class sizes. It was also perfect for me because I wanted to play lacrosse in college and Holy Cross had the great combination of a
Division I athletic program and small liberal arts college. I fell in love with the campus when I visited and saw that everyone worked very hard, but was still having a fun college experience.

What I like about Holy Cross:

One of the best parts are the people because they are genuinely happy to be at Holy Cross and like being involved in different aspects of the community. There aren’t any teaching assistants and every professor knows you by name and is happy to meet with you outside of class. I am able to reap the advantages of attending a small school (just under 3000 students) whether walking around campus where I constantly see familiar faces or in class when everyone can be involved in discussions, but there are enough people that it doesn't become boring. While I have heard great stories about Greek life from my friends at other colleges, I like that we don’t have sororities or fraternities at Holy Cross. Even without frathouses there are always plenty of house parties walking distance from the dorms. A lot revolves around sports teams that have parties at their houses orother seniors that open their houses to most underclassmen.

College is better than high school because:

You get to live with you best friends and you are around people your age 24/7. There is an added dimension to relationships because your friends become your family too. The dorms also allow you to meet and befriend people with different interests.

But I miss... the camaraderie and school spirit from Visi. We had a shared experience that we could commiserate or celebrate together, but everyone in college is taking a different path.

Classes I am taking next semester:

I am spending a year abroad at Oxford University in a Politics, Philosphy, and Economics program so the classes will be a bit different. They have trimesters based on one on one meetings with professors or“tutors” and lots of independent reading/research. I will be taking
a Microeconomics course and Ethics tutorial for the first trimester. It will bequite a change but I am looking forward to focusing on just 2 classes at a time.

Favorite place on campus:

Besides the dorms probably Kimball dining hall. It is a great place to run into people and unlike the library or walks to class you can actually take the time to talk and catch up. It's great for a quick bite, last minute studying, or other times my friends and I will realize that we justspent 2 hours at a weekend brunch reliving the previous night's events.

Stuff to do off campus

There is the Auburn mall and BlackstoneValley which have all of the restaurants, movie theaters, and shops you would need. The Salvation Army and Forever 21 also come in handy for themed parties. I have always found plenty to do at Holy Cross, but on weekends the school offers free transportation to Boston and Providence which are both less than an hour away. Corner Grill is a great pizza place, 111 Chop House has amazing steak, and Takara is a fun Japanese restaurant to go to with a group of friends. The Salty Dog Saloon is fun for going out on weeknights and there are lot of places in Worcester that let students 18+ in so there are many off campus options even for freshmen.

What do you wear to class?

There are definitely days that I miss the Visitation uniform, but luckily with lacrosse I have an excuse to wear sweats when I haveto go straight from class to practice. Otherwise I attempt to wear jeans and a casual top. On the few days it warms up it’s fun to pull out the dresses.

Best and worst thing about having boys around:

Boys add a different perspective and sometimes look at a topic in a way that I never imagined. I also like studying with them because they don’t seem to let the stress affect them as much and just get the workdone as efficiently as possible so they have time to have fun. Girls do act differently in class when boys are around.

Thanks to Cami for taking the time to answer our questions!

Published by KMH