TODAY is the very dreadful last day of summer vacation.

It is weird to say that I am now officially a sophomore and honestly I am also a little bit nervous. Not doing any school work for about four months makes me a little VERY concerned about my mental preparedness for starting classes tomorrow. Although, I have this feeling that this year is going to be a very good year because I am now more involved on campus activities. Also, I’m kind of a big deal (according to the mug I found at a cute store in town), so I think I can handle a second year in rural Vermont.

Even though I will no longer be a Summer Intern here at the office, I will still be working here throughout the year as an Admissions Student Assistant. So the Emma Willard House will be one of my stops three times a week this year. I’m looking forward to see what this year will be like, and as of now it looks like it’s off to a good start!

Now Here’s a pretty picture of the sign in our waiting room.

As we wind up to the beginning of the year, dorm decorating is on (almost) everyone’s minds. I went through an entire semester last year with no decorations up in my room and the place looked deserted. So this year I’ve been a lot more proactive about making my space more welcoming.

Wind chimes are both aestetically pleasing and lovely to hear, right? So I bought one. A light breeze is all it takes to experience that joy-enducing sound.

I also ordered two color-changing light cubes for my room which are now hanging from my ceiling. They add a nice ambiance but can be annoying to switch off when I’m tired and feeling lazy though. OH WELL! I still love them.

Last night I was treated to two amazing, beautiful, breathtaking sights. One was a cookie skillet- a famous dessert in the Middlebury area that can be found and devoured at Mister Ups. I went there for dinner last night and of course my table couldn’t leave without treating ourselves to this scrumptious treat. It is literally a cookie in a skillet for crying out loud. On top of that, they serve it with ice cream and whipped cream. Look at it! It is warm and amazing and should be enjoyed by all at some point in our lives.

The second beautiful sight was shortly after the cookie skillet was served, enjoyed and cleared up. Right after we payed the check and walked through the door outside we saw the most amazing sunset I’ve seen in my life. I know this, and my high recommendation of dessert, seem extreme but they both were beyond belief. My excitement and good mood over the cookie skillet maybe helped my impression of the view, but as I took to social media about an hour later, I saw at least 10 middkids all exclaiming the same thing and posting pictures of their views of the sunset. Clearly this was one for the books (or at least the internet).

The only problem now is that I can’t decide which was better. Luckily for me, I plan on having a lot more cookie skillets and Midd sunsets in my future.

The freshmen moving in yesterday made me reflect on the transitions that come with moving away from home. Reminds me of how I felt my first days here. Moving to college is really exciting but also a very strange feeling. There’s always a mixture of emotions that come with it: excitement, nervousness, relief, and fear… etc.

Many freshmen were feeling this way yesterday and I just want to say that this is perfectly normal. One of the FYCs in Battell wisely told them, “Feel what you need to feel, when you need to feel it.” I thought this was a great piece of advice and that’s why I wanted to share this with all of you.

Transitions are part of all of our lives. At some point, everyone goes through these life transitions (eventually). And as the Freshmen transition into their homes for the year, the school transitions from summer to fall! The leaves are starting to change, even though the weather feels very much like summer. But you see, even the world around us is constantly changing.

No dorm is truly complete without a little color to bring the space to life. And what better way to add life to a room than buying PLANTS to decorate it! Agway is a local lawn and garden supply store that students frequent as they arrive to the area.

We made the trip specifically so Tabitha could get some plants for her room and our little excursion was not in vain. Three people walked in, and three plants were carried out. Gus and Tabitha also looked quite the part in their gardening hats.

I decided to save this weekend update until today because for most of America, yesterday was still the weekend. However, for many families with rising seniors, Labor Day was spent visiting Middlebury, instead of boats and barbecues. Hence- their college visit vacation became my work day when I didn’t post about the weekend and to intrude on anyone checking this blog on their personal day off.

My quick weekend was great though, so I can’t complain. As promised, I went to Cafe Provence for dinner on Friday night with my family and got the most delicious swordfish followed by a scrumptious lemon cheesecake for dessert (seriously, this place is amazing, if you drop what you’re doing right now you could probably make it there for dinner tonight). On Saturday, I drove to Ludlow, VT, where my family was staying for the weekend. We went kayaking in Lake Ninevah and it was hot enough that in the middle of the lake we jumped out and had a quick swim before paddling back to shore.

On Sunday, inspired by our recent outdoor-activity success, my family decided to go on a hike on Little Rock Pond Trail. You guessed it- the four mile trail leads hikers to Little Rock Pond and back. This meant that the humid hike had a wonderful break in the middle where we stopped for lunch, relaxation and a swim.

Once we got back from our excursion, we ordered pizza for dinner and I got back on the road to head to Middlebury. Even though I got off campus for the weekend, I stayed in Vermont and can truly say from all the activities, there are so many hidden beauties this state has to offer. Just as I got in the car to head back to Middlebury, I snapped a pic of this sunset- a great way to end a great weekend. 

Mondays are not my favorite day of the week. After a nice long weekend, Monday is usually the last thing a college student looks forward to. Especially when it’s labor day weekend and you wanted to enjoy a three day weekend, but you still have to work. Such hard work happens here at Admissions. Today I had to sharpen about 40 pencils….. (actually not a hard job, that was a joke)

But sometimes, Mondays turn out to be not so bad after all. Today we had a lot of great families visit campus. We even had free BREAKFAST. An assortment of bagels, donuts, and cookies on a Monday morning is not bad at all. YUM!

More interesting news about what is going to be happening on campus: The freshman are coming! Move in day is just around the corner. Can’t wait to see all the confused new students :).

In more interesting news, BERNIE SANDERS (the presidential candidate and Senator of Vermont) will be here in Middlebury for a fundraiser called Bernie Palooza! (I mean how much cooler can this state get!) So if you’re around 4-7pm today and are feeling extremely liberal and maybe even a little socialist today, Go check it out! That’s it on my behalf, but this Monday is turning out a lot better than expected!!!

I spent my summer at home: chillin’ with my mom, babysitting, and eating a lot of homemade meals (YUM). Being from Southern California and coming into my first year last year was a very scary experience, especially because I came alone. And by alone I mean COMPLETELY alone. No Mom. No Dad. No siblings. It was just be and my two lovely suitcases. But even though this was one of the scariest things that I ever had to do in my life, I was perfectly okay with taking the first step towards a big chapter in my life. (For the most part)

“Are you gonnah miss your mom?” “No…”

None the less, my first year here at Middlebury was amazing experience, with amazing people, and of course I had an amazing job here at the admissions office. And now, I am getting ready to start my second year here at Middlebury!!! Crazy how time goes by so fast, I feel like I was JUST moving in.

This year I will be living in the Italian house. I’m really excited that I get to live in an actual home and not in the dorms. Not that there is anything wrong with living in the dorms, but living in a home just feels a lot more personal and connected. Part of living in a language house means that we will only be allowed to speak that language, which will be tough but in a good way. Being from a Hispanic household, I always spoke Spanish at home. So I would go to school or be in the outside world and speak English, but then would come home and speak Spanish. I missed having this dynamic play out in my life my first year here, which is why I am very excited to reincorporate that living style this second year. The house is also beautiful and in a very central location on campus, but that was just a bonus. Hopefully, I’ll be more than prepared to use my language skills abroad!

TA DA!

So I just checked and 77.78% of my entries have been about food. I actually expected that number to be higher and I am a little disappointed. Thankfully, once I post this, that number will skyrocket to an even 80% (fun mental math puzzle if you’re interested: figure out what number blog post this is). To get that number up though, it seems I will have to mention a fun food experience somewhere soon.

This plan also works well for me because, besides working and decorating my new room (almost done… probably… who knows… pinterest may inspire me yet again) this week has been a little dull. Unlike normal weeks at Midd, when people are always distracting me from work with fun ideas like “come cliff jumping with me at the quarry” or “do you want to go to Bristol and get ice cream”, this week has been slim on fun adventures that I can share with the blog-o-sphere. That is because most of my friends are either still enjoying their summer vacations or are training to be Middview (freshman orientation) leaders. This training entails going to a camp called Common Ground and basically having a week to play games, sleep outside, and eat delicious local food. I’m not jealous, it’s fine, it sounds boring anyways.

To convince myself of this fact (and incorporate a fun food outing into my post) I actually got my family to come spend labor day in VT and have dinner with me tonight. We are meeting in Brandon, a town about 20 minutes from Middlebury, to go to one of our favorite restaurants, Cafe Provence. Middlebury actually has a ton of amazing restaurants to choose from but it’s also neat check out the surrounding area for great finds like Cafe Provence. I have been there before so I know it will be delicious but maybe next week I will update you all on exactly what I chose (and get my percentage up to 82%)!

A summer intern’s work is never really finished. That is, not until we help the Dean of Admissions himself with a daunting task.

Greg Buckles is a very stylish person who likes to make sure his office is impeccable in all aspects. He often graces us with presence when descends from his lofty office on the second and the experience is always welcomed.

Yesterday was a fun time getting to help Greg keep his office up to current fashion code. The phone in his office is black but the original cord attaching the phone to the  base was a light shade of brown. So I located a black cord and aided him in installing it. I’m proud to write that he said I was “handier than a pocket on a shirt.”