Introduction
If you are a
consistent reader, you noticed I did not blog as much as I did last semester.
Last semester I was in a phase I consider the “blogging mood phase”. Sounds familiar doesn't it? That’s because the
“blogging moon phase” was originated from a phase we all know as the “honeymoon
phase”. Urban Dictionary calls it “New Relationship Smugness (NRS)”. The
honeymoon phase is the time of a relationship I hate the most. According to
Urban Dictionary, “they (couples) are poisoned by their own happiness and led
to believe they are the "Perfect Couple", after the honey moon phase
ends and the healthy relationship begins…” Um…not convinced, never have been never
will be convinced by the “honeymoon phase”. Why am I getting so hyped up over
the honeymoon phase? I honestly don’t know. Point is, a “blogging moon” phase
is basically like being in a honeymoon phase.” I went from blogging half an
hour every week to 2-hours or more every other week, to blogging one time this
past semester. Was it due to the lack of interesting ideas? Not necessarily.
Truth is I was completely swamped with responsibilities this past semester.
From Peer Mentoring, to being a big brother in the ALANA program for the first
time, to working two jobs (Admissions Assistance & Group Exercise Instructor)
and most importantly starting a wrestling club.
The goal for this particular blog is to reflect upon my past semester
experiences. From the courses, to jobs and conclude it with my overall
accomplishments.
Semester
Courses
I can say I
honestly became a business man this past semester, literally. Every single one
of my classes was business classes aside from Spanish. Being a liberal arts
college, Stonehill requires every sophomore to take a Learning Community (LC).
The LC is usually meant to be an experience out of your element. Thing is, not
everyone follows the rules. It is Safe to say that sometimes staying in your
comfort zone doesn't hurt, especially when there is a GPA involved. For
example, a Bio major taking a Bio related LC; “looking into [or] under the
glass” I think it’s called. I am and always have been about challenging myself
and stepping outside of my comfort zone so I chose to apply for the Integrated
Marketing Communications (IMC) LC. I wanted a challenging LC and I most
definitely got my wish.
Under the
IMC LC came Marketing Principles, a Public Relations course and the
seminar. The seminar was a combination
of Marketing and PR. Between the two classes and the seminar, there were lot of
group projects and presentations involved. The LC course was extremely
challenging and kept me on toes all semester. On an average week day, I was
always either studying for an exam, a group project or working on an individual
paper. Although it almost became the death of me, I have to admit I loved all
aspect of the LC. I loved being in class and chatting with the professors who
are by the way two of the coolest Professors I've had by far. Lee McGinnis who
thought the Marketing course was your typical entertainer. Although he was such
a straight grader, you couldn't help but love him anyways. Besides, he could
care less if you complain or cry, nothing could have ever changed the outcome.
His mentality was something like “you will take what you get and if you don’t
like it, work harder next time around”. And then there was Mr. Seraphin, the
God of Public Relations. This man knows everything there is to know about PR
inside and out, and has done it all. From being a pilot in the Navy during the
Vietnam War, to working every job in the PR business, to currently being a
professor and a part-time singer in a classical band! Classical band! You got
to love it. Talking about being a well-rounded individual huh?
Together
they were the dynamic duo, the ultimate tag team of the century. I loved everything about the LC but
unfortunately I had to take exams, and I completely sucked! The very first
couple exams were the wake-up call of the semester. I mean going into the
semester I knew Business or Communications wasn't my thing, and I was also
fully aware I was going to have to work harder than majority of the class. My
classmates were Communications, Business or Marketing majors. Here I was a
Healthcare Administration major, Studio Art Minor who has always been about the
Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, taking Business courses for the first time.
This is why the very first couple exams were a wake-up call that I never asked
for. I was no longer in my comfort zone. I soon then realized that it wasn't a
matter of working harder than my peers, it was my approach on the course, my
way of thinking. In other words, I could no longer study like I did for a
Biology exam. I couldn't just memorize key terms. With Marketing and PR, I had
to apply everything I was learning to reality, to real word examples. I
realized my old study method was no longer effective Thank God I realized that
early enough before it was too late. When I did make the change, I got better results
on exams and I felt like I was actually learning, not just memorizing terms. My
overall goal for the Integrated Marketing Communications LC was to gain as much
knowledge as possible about becoming a successful business man. I personally
have a lot of individual business goals and I knew this class was going to
provide me with the basics. I needed to learn how to work closely with
customers for personal training and how to create a successful website for my
art work. Thanks to the IMC LC I am in a better position of becoming a personal
trainer. I am also in a better position now to build a professional website,
not a mediocre website. Aside from my personal goals, I learned about Personal
Branding, Elevator pitches, a SWOT analysis (Strength, Weaknesses, Objectives,
Threats and Opportunities), Endorsement and writing Press Releases.
As for Elementary
Spanish and Microeconomics, I am glad I don’t every have to deal with it again.
Well, not quite because I have to take Spanish II this semester. Don’t get me
wrong, I absolutely love taking Spanish.
I've taken Spanish since 7th
grade and it has always been a success. You are now probably wondering, then
why are you taking Elementary level Spanish? I mean, I did say I love taking
Spanish and it has been a success, I didn't exactly say I was a Spanish expert.
If I was an expert I would have been fluent by now, with the amount of years I
have under my belt. But I am not, which is why I requested to take Elementary
instead of Intermediate. After 2 years of not taking Spanish, I went to my
academic adviser said, Sir I can’t do it, and it’s been too long! Who can I
talk to? Now here I am, just had my first Spanish class in almost 3-years. How
did it go? Not exactly the easy “A” I was hoping for. Matter of fact, I didn't even get a B, thanks to mister not so nice Professor De Mattos. Spanish is not
a difficult subject; I had a difficult professor who was rude most of the time.
Think I’m just talking trash about a professor, well how about this example.
Before I go into the incident, it is important to know a not so fun fact about
De Mattos; he never gave quizzes the day he said he’s going to give them, only
on days that no one is prepared. And of
course for that reason, majority of the class struggled on quizzes. Another not
so fun fact, I truly believe Rudy takes pride in failing his students. Why do I
make such accusations? Ask my good friend and housemate Tom Wood, he would
testify. While passing out quizzes, Professor looked at Tom’s quiz and shout
out to the rest of the class, “this is what you don’t do!” He then walked up to
me, holds up my quiz and said “see, this is what happens when you don’t study”.
Now that you've gotten a glance of Professor Rudy D; would you like to know my
true opinion of him? Nothing negative really, especially since my blog is
public. But honestly, I personally think he is a disrespectful professor and I
am glad I don’t ever have to sit in his class again.
Micro is hands down the hardest class I've taken by far at Stonehill. Entertaining professor, but difficult class
and terrible grading system. We had two exams all semester, a midterm and a
final. A class this difficult shouldn’t have two grades an entire semester. You
don’t learn anything! I believe this
system generally sets you up for failure never mind in a challenging course. As
a student, you are already at a disadvantage from the start. I know for a fact
I was because went into the semester with no business background, specifically
Economics. And over all that, I am notorious for sucking at math. I just wish I
had some type of a grade (projects, quizzes, etc.) in between to fall back on.
But hey, we don’t always get what we want in life. Most importantly, I passed
the class and I learned from the experience. Besides, the class was a prerequisite
for Healthcare Economics so I now at least have an idea what I’ll be getting myself
into.
Work
(Admission Coordinator Assistant & Group Exercise “Crossfit”)
Work for me
this semester was a complete blast! It kept me moving constantly but that’s
what I love! That’s my life and I couldn't ask for any less. My man Lecrae (Christian Rapper) stated in one of his
newest songs (“Lucky Ones”) “ Ain't saying
I am always right, I ain't saying I am perfect and I ain't saying I deserve it,
but I am glad I have this life”. He couldn't have said it better. It may
not be the most relaxing lifestyle, but once again THIS IS MY LIFE AND I LOVE
IT! This past semester was my second
semester working as an Admission Coordinator Assistant. I guess I can say I
have been with them for a solid school year. I can’t express enough how much I
love this job. So what’s my typical day like? I honestly can’t tell you because
I never know what exactly the new assignment is until I get there. As an
assistant, my working day depends on the status of the Admission staff. Something
new needed to be moved around in the basement? “Hey you got the guns”! I am
there moving boxes to make space. Too many Inquiry cards, I am on the computer
screen for hours doing data entry. Too many unalphabetical (if that’s a word)
documents lying around? I am there doing alphabetizing for the day. Too many
alphabetized documents lying around, well I guess I am filing for the day.
Excess papers flooding the office? Well, I guess I have a date with the
shredding machine. “Thomas you need a break? Wanna take a walk?” Yup I do it
all, I love it. Aside from the work, I am in an environment with the greatest
people. Very busy people but personal, always willing to chat it up.
 |
This is a
little project I worked on in the Assistant Dean’s office. I call it: Downtime
entertainment
|
Group Ex-“CrossFit”
For the
first time this semester I worked as a Group Exercise instructor. You know, the
Burtons always told us (campers/leaders) about the importance of networking. Well
coming into my sophomore year I decided to step my networking skills up to
another level. During the summer orientation as a first year Peer Mentor, I
approached the head of Sports Department with the intent to get hooked up with a
job at the sports complex. I had heard it was one of the hardest/most exclusive
jobs to get on campus and I am less likely to get it as a sophomore. I already
had an exclusive job working at admissions so my thinking was basically, “what
do I have to lose? Absolutely nothing!” So being the rebel I am, I decided to
try my luck. Went up to him, gave him a
firm hand shake and the conversation went something like this, “hello sir my
name is Thomas and I am looking to get a job at the Sports Complex next
semester. I’m currently working at Admissions and now looking to find another
job around campus”. His response? “Oh yeah of course. You are a Peer Mentor
right? Just shoot me a text when you are back on campus, remind me who you are
and I’ll get you started”. I did’t only
get a job at the sports complex, I was hooked up with a more exclusive job than
expected. Later that week I found out two of my fellow mentors, Julie Mills (J-Millz)
and Colleen Marie worked as Group Ex instructors under Leahy. I immediately
jumped on that opportunity as soon as the semester started. I looked more into
the process and discovered that all I had to do was make a 9 or so minutes demo
and do a tryout performance. I simply followed the instructions, went to the
tryout and did my thing. I knew I had somewhat of a background in crossFit and
years of experience in exercising so I did my demo on the little I knew about
Crossfit workouts. I knew my style was different but I didn't expect her (Susan
Matters-the boss) to fall in love with it. It was unique, it was something new,
and it wasn't Zumba related, for once! She loved it so much she hired me on the
spot and everyone else had to wait to get their results for a couple more days.
SWAGGGG! Oh yes I felt like a “G”
alright, not even going to lie. Like my peoples would say, I was gassed!
So I got the
job, but limited CrossFit equipment to work with. No cattle bell, no ropes, no
monkey bars, nothing. What do you or can you do when you’re put in a situation
like this? Well here are your options: you can simply not take the job,
complain to the boss, complain about your job and how you don’t have the
appropriate equipment to do your job, or just take the job pretend you like it
and look forward to the pay check. Want to know my approach? I took the job and
swaged out the workouts T-Noah style. I used the basic Crossfit based workouts
and concepts (squats and Burpees) and made it into a circuit based workout
routine. Not even sure if anything I just said made sense but just pretend you
know what I’m talking about. Point is, I made a workout routine based on the
limited equipment I had. You know what they say; “when life gives you lemon, make LEMONADE!” I squeezed every bit of
juice I had out that pitiful lemon and it was a success. It was a challenging
class but like every Crossfit related workout, it’s made to get results. I mean
that’s why there’s Zumba, anyone can survive. Not everyone survives a crossfit
class. It’s all about the survival of the fittest. The fittest were the few
committed girls I had during the last couple weeks. They knew what they wanted
which was success. Talking about success, I started this one minute push-up contest every two weeks. Very self-explanatory. I gave them a minute to do as
many push-ups as they could and kept record of it. There is nothing better than
seeing visible progress. I encourage everyone that read this blog to really
take it into consideration. Writing everything down and keeping note of your
progress in the gym. It really keeps you focused and motivated. So of course it
was a brilliant move on my part because the girls got to see for themselves why
they were taking the class, why I was making them do the workouts they were
doing. Because it works! All the ladies who stayed with the program saw a huge
improvement, at least 20 pushups more. I had one girl, Jackie who started the
class at 25 and did 50 push-ups by the end of the program in a minute! I mean, how else can I express the importance
of what I do? The number 50 is the prove I need. Not that my statistics matters
but I personally improved tremendously. I went from doing 40 on the first week
to 80 by the end of the program. The overall class was a total success and I cannot
wait to get it started again! And this time, the class is called T-Noah’s Boot
camp/crossfit! Please don’t kill the messenger, I am just taking orders. These
are the direct quotes for this coming up season from my boss Susan Mathers; “Thomas- Bootcamp*-please do more bootcamp style vs cross
fit. Throw in some drills and make it hard cardio.” Once
again, please don’t kill the messenger, I am just following the Boss’ orders,
just doing exactly what I was told, being the obedient employee I amJ!
Talking about direct
quotes, here are some quotes from two girls I had the pleasure of working with this past semester, Krista
Chouinard and Gina Battinelli;
“The class is really
good cuz it works every part of your body which I don’t have the chance to do
with my regular workouts and the pace of increasing difficulty had been
challenging. As an instructor you not only instruct but actually watch to make
sure we’re doing it in an effective way
which is comforting and beneficial” Krista
“I
enjoy group exercises a lot better than going to the gym and using a machine. I
joined the class because the class atmosphere attracted me. I feel like we all
struggle as a whole and I feel better struggling as a whole than by myself on a
machine.
I
think that you are a good instructor (not just because you are my friend) but because
you push me. You are kind but you never take "I am struggling and cannot
do it" for an answer or excuse. It's like having a personal trainer and I
think you are fair in your workouts “ Gina
One of the assignments this past semester in PR was to write a news release. I chose to write about my crossFit class so I requested that the girls give me their opinion of the class and me as an instructor. After hearing what they had to say, I’m 100% convinced I am doing something right. So proud! The numbers are not always Zumba status, but that’s because physical training is not made for everyone.
Wrestling
Club
The last and final piece to this long blog is about the establishment
of the new Wrestling club at Stonehill. Things weren't always as smooth as it
seems now. It was not an easy process either. First of all, what were my
reasons for starting a wrestling club a Stonehill? Well it all started on my
junior year when I finally decided to join my High School Wrestling team
(Framingham), led by one of the greatest
coaches in Mass, Coach Jon Kanavich. He had been trying to convince me to join
the program since my freshman year, but because of my immature mindset, I chose
not to do so for 2-years! I thought I was too cool for Wrestling, only wanted
to play football. Not realizing Wrestling was going to shape me into a better
athlete and a person. And because I was so “cool” I did not wanted to be seen
in a singlet. I thought wrestling was as “gay” as it gets, excuse my language.
Rewinding 2-years later, I realized not wrestling for the first couple years of
high school was one of the biggest mistakes I've made in life. One of my
biggest regrets in life. For the two years I wrestled, I accomplished more than
I ever dreamed of. I made the varsity team my first year, got my ass handed to
me by every kid I got on the mat with. With only 6 or so varsity wins out of an
entire season, I continued to work my butt off. I was voted the Captain’s
choice and then voted a captain by the team. I knew I had the support of the
team, but never expected the Captain’s choice trophy. I went into my senior
year with 50 or so off season matches with the intentions of going out my
senior year with a bang. I finished off the season at 26-14. I accomplished a
lot with the two years of wrestling but I didn't want it to stop there. Could I
have become a state chap with one more year of wrestling experience? I will
unfortunately never know. I wanted to wrestle in college but for some bizarre
reason Stonehill did not have a wrestling team, not even a club. My wrestling
coach told me I could start a club if I really wanted to. I took my coach’s
advice and started looking into it. I knew
I had to get some adult support, so I brought up the idea to Father Mark Cregan
(president) and Dan Monahan (Senior Dean of Admissions) and his assistance Joe
Dacy. They all loved the idea of having a wrestling program. Dan then made an
agreement with me that if I do get the program started he will coach it. How
great is that?! I had the President’s support and now a coach! Now what? Well
the next thing on my check list was to email the Director of sports, John
Leahy. This was John’s exact response to my email:
“Hello,
Thomas. While a Wrestling team is at the top of our list to add to our sport
clubs, we are currently at our limit. We have explored the possibility of
having wrestling. Because of budgetary concerns, we cannot support an
additional sport club at this point.
Thanks for your interest. You may
direct any further questions to Jose Gomes, our Sport Club Coordinator.”
This was when I realized that people have tried in
the past and fail miserably. I was a little discouraged so I forwarded the
email to Dan (this was before we were on first name basis by the way. He was
known as Mr. Monahan then). Anyways, Dan read the email and came to a
conclusion that Leahy’s response was pretty much the same excuse they gave to
everyone who attempted in the past. He then told me to keep pushing and try to
get more people involved. Sophomore year came around
and I did exactly what I was told, I kept pushing. I got in touch with many
of my connects about other ways of starting a club on campus. My search was
narrowed down to going through SGA. I thought, why didn’t I think of this
before? I am a Peer Mentor and 99.9% of SGA members are Peer mentors! I had all
these sources but I was not taking advantage of them. I got a team of 4 guys
together and went on a mission, a mission to rebel against the sports complex.
My board members consisted of myself
(obviously), Eric Vanderpool, Ryan Heimroth, and Logan Turnball. With the help
of the guys, and the support of Father Mark, Dan, Joe and the student activity
staffs, we were determined to beat SGA’s provisional process. As part of the
provisional process, we needed to host an event open to the general public.
Together we came up with a brilliant
idea, to host an open mat event. An event where experienced and inexperienced
wrestlers or anyone interested can experiment with the sport and ask any
possible questions. I asked my high school Coach (Kan) to come run a clinic and
he agreed! This idea was grand, but we didn't have access to mats! Where are we
going to get mats?! We thought; those things cause 5K used! I emailed every
local program (colleges or high schools) with wrestling, asking if we could
borrow their mats for a day. Of course the response was “No, No, not
interested; I can’t help you, no!” The search for mats was a complete failure.
Just when we thought it was all over, we got the publicity of a lifetime. My boy Shane McDonald who was helping on the
side with the production had posted a comment on the Mass Wrestling site
requesting for used mats. Somehow words got out to Leahy about the request and
so he forwarded the email to Jim Hermelbracht (head of student activities). Jim
then forwarded that email to Patrick Keaney who finally forwarded it to me
asking that we get in contact with Jose Gomes from the Sports Department. That
was really when we realize that we cannot start a wrestling club without the
support of the Sports Department. Although the possibilities of becoming an SGA
club were higher, they as a department do not have the appropriate equipment
for a Wrestling Club. We needed Mats as well as space to practice and the
Sports Department could provide it. It was a battle to get the attention we needed
but it worked out for the best in the end. It came to a point where they could
no longer ignore us. From that moment I started to work closely with both Jose
and Leahy to make the wrestling club possible.
We were able to solve the problems with storage for mats and space to
practice. Jose worked his magic with Brockton High school and they agreed to let
us use their wrestling room and equipment for only about $100 a night. Also
because they are in season, we couldn't get the mat to practice daily. Instead,
we were given the mats on Tuesdays and Thursdays nights from 8:30-10:30pm. The
plan is to practice at Brockton High until the renovation of the Ames Sports Complex.
When is this possibly going down? I have no clue but from what I heard, by the
time it is completed I will have graduated. I could care less about practice
locations or when the new Sports Complex will be completed. My mean concern is
that Stonehill will have a full team by the time I graduate and that a room is
dedicated to the wrestling team in the Sport Complex. As of now we don’t have a
full team and we don’t have a home mat. No worries though, because we are going
to take it one day, one step, one practice at a time. I’m just thankful to have
gotten this finally established after 2-years. I am also very thankful to Dean
of Admission and my Boss Dan Monahan for volunteering to coach the program. I
know how busy he is with traveling, recruiting and such. Looking on the bright
side, I know we will have some great recruiting and a solid team of hard
working wrestlers in the near future. So what’s the moral of this story? What
did I learn from this whole experience? Persistence! Dedication! And oh yeah,
never taking NO for an answer! If I had given up like every other student who
gave up in the past, there wouldn't have been a Wrestling Club at Stonehill
College in 2013.
What? Are you looking for
more to read? That’s it! Woof… didn't think you were ever gonna stop reading
huh? Well I am honored that you took the time to read about my life this past
semester. Every semester so far at Stonehill has been a roller-coaster So many
highs and lows, but I am a believer. I am a survivor. This is nothing new to
me. But guess what? At the end of it all I become smarter, bigger, stronger,
and more appreciative about life. I could go on all day about my personal
growth but I’ll let you go with a quote from the legendary Professor Dahlin; “Drive
fast and don’t wear a seat belt!” No worries, that is pure sarcasm because
Dahlin is legit God’s gift to college students.
