Back With a Bang: How Fordham Starts Off the New Semester Right

The first week of Spring Semester classes is officially over here at Fordham, and I’m so glad to be back in New York City with my friends and classmates. Beginning a new semester can be stressful at times, and at first I felt nervous about taking my Spring Semester courses at the Gabelli School of Business. However, as soon as I got to campus, I felt a lot better about beginning my new classes because of all of the fun, stress relieving activities that Fordham offered this past week.

Just as students jump back into their classes at the start of a new semester, they also have the opportunity to jump back into fun activities going on at the university. Starting during the very first week of this semester, students had the opportunity to attend promo dinners for fundraisers, club fairs, and Bingo! My personal favorite activity this week was the O’Hare Residence Hall Winter Carnival. Resident Assistants and Directors in O’Hare Hall organized a fun night of winter festivities, complete with hot chocolate, cookies, and even an ice skating rink! My friends and I had a great time at this event, and it was a fantastic way to welcome everyone back to Fordham.

The ice skating rink was right on the Rose Hill Campus for O'Hare's Winter Carnival! 

Here at Fordham, there is always something interesting going on. Even at the start of the new semester, Fordham Rams know how to hit the ground running and come back with a bang! Coming back to campus to start a new semester really feels like coming home for me. Every semester, I realize more and more that there truly is no place like Fordham. I am so happy to be back on campus again, and I am really looking forward to Spring Semester’s future Fordham activities!

My roommate and I strapped on some skates and hit the ice after we went to the gym! 

December Preview

December at Fordham can be short and quick – with just a week left of classes, two reading days, and then finals.  But that doesn’t mean that Fordham shuts down for the month.  Not only is the campus beautifully decorated for the season, but also in between studying, writing papers, and packing for the long winter break, students still take time to enjoy themselves with fun campus activities. Every year, the Campus Activity Board (CAB), the club responsible for planning fun events for students on campus, has a Holiday Week. Every day of the week there is another CAB-sponsored activity to get everyone into the holiday spirit.  Some events include a Cultural Affairs Christmas Ticket Raffle, in which students can win $20 tickets for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular or for The Nutcracker, a Holiday Fair, a viewing of the holiday-classic Elf, gingerbread house making, and a trip to go ice skating at Bryant Park.

Another annual tradition is the Peer Educators’ Holiday Scavenger Hunt.  This is a fun event where you and a team of friends are given a list of tasks and clues (related to the holidays) that you must complete or find in the Lincoln Center area.  Prizes are awarded and hot chocolate is given out! A Senior Night is also scheduled for this month.  Senior Nights are themed dance parties, only open to seniors at the Rose Hill campus.  This month, the theme is Santa’s Workshop (I’ll be dressing as an elf!)

This month is also an exciting month for sports at Fordham.  After winning our first ever NCAA FCS home playoff game versus Sacred Heart University 37-27, Fordham’s record-breaking football team travels to Towson University in Maryland next Saturday for the next round of the playoffs.  On the same day, our men’s basketball team plays St. John’s University during the 2013 MSG Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.

Of course, many more activities will be going on at Fordham this month, but these are a few of the things I’m looking forward to this December!

Christmas Season at Bryant Park!!

Last weekend I went to Bryant Park with a couple of friends to go ice skating and get into the holiday spirit!  From Fordham Rose Hill it’s a simple Metro North straight to Grand Central and then a five-minute walk to the park (assuming you go the right way). We were all so caught up in our excitement that we just starting walking in a random direction. But we soon got back on track after a minor detour through the equally spirited shops on Fifth Ave.

It seems that everywhere you look in the city this time of year is decked to the halls with Christmas decorations. But one of my favorite places for Christmas is Bryant Park. If you do ever go to Bryant, you’ll understand right away. Because as you take one step into Bryant Park, you feel as if you rode a reindeer straight to the Winter Wonderland of the North Pole!  Before we went ice skating, we walked around the shops and saw all of the interesting items for sale. They ranged from everything between herbal teas to necklaces and “Man Cave” signs (which I was seriously considering buying for my dorm.) Along with the stores, there are also food huts. At these, you can get your chocolate fill with a Chocolate Syringe from Max Brenner’s or warm up with some delicious homemade chili.  My personal favorite is the Sweet Potato Chipotle Chili! 

Bryant Park ice rink

Now onto ice skating... this was the first time I had been ice-skating since last year, so I definitely needed to blow the dust of my skates, to say the least.  When I was stepped onto the slippery surface, I could feel my legs shaking in fright at the thought of hitting the ice face first; however, throughout our hour of skating I managed to stay on two skates the whole time! At one point I came dangerously close to falling and grabbed onto a stranger who completely understood where I was coming from. We became instantly bonded in the fight to stay alive! The second time I almost fell, I was attempting to help a kid back onto his feet.  The ice had just been zambonied, so it was even slippery than normal ice. We had just stepped back onto the ice when he wiped out right in front of me. I somehow managed to stop in time and not cut through him with my skates (that would've definitely put a damper on the night.) As I tried to pull him up, I joined him with my butt on the ice and skates in the air.  Now I was determined to help him up, but try as I might we both kept slipping. Luckily, one of  my friends was next to me and helped put him back on his feet. The kid thanked us and went right back to skating around the wonderful rink, falling every couple of circuits.   
   

Trying to take a picture on the ice 

After skating, we decided to look around the shops again before heading back up to Fordham. Now, it was dark and so cold that we could see our breath.  It all just added even more to magic of the Park! At this point I really felt the Christmas spirit and couldn't wait for the holiday season to really take off. As I looked around, it seemed that everyone was feeling the same way. I guess Christmas in NYC can take the biggest Bah Humbugs and turn them into jolly Christmas Elves!  However, as we left, I noticed one thing the park was missing... singing! Cause according to the philosophy of Buddy the Elf: “the best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear!!” 29 days until Christmas!! 

All of us right before stepping onto the ice