Dominic's Blog

On- or Off-Campus

dmlewis@scu.edu (Dominic Lewis) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:42:00 PST

Sometimes I feel like I live at a resort. The campus is gorgeous and the environment just makes everyone seem so happy, I find it much easier to get out of bed because of the beauty all around me. Yet as much as I enjoy the Santa Clara atmosphere, sometimes it’s necessary to get out and be off campus. The Caltrain station is located right across the street from the front entrance of the campus, making it super convenient to take the train up to San Francisco, take a bus to different parts of San Jose, or stop anyplace in between. There are so many things to do, and programs are constantly taking place with the desire to take people off campus to spend their free time.

Last weekend, I went with some members of Casa Italiana on a trip to San Francisco to visit the Italian-American Art Museum. We met in the morning and walked across the street to the Caltrain station (an added bonus was that our RLC paid for the train tickets!) and headed up to the city for the afternoon. A free trip to San Francisco…can’t beat that! I had an awesome time meeting new people in Casa Italiana and getting to go to the piers and Ghirardelli’s Square was a nice change of scenery. Whether you go on a trip to the city or simply take a bus to Santana Row to shop and eat a meal away from Benson, it’s important to take some time to get away from campus.

This week I also spent time enjoying some on campus activities. As busy as people are here, you can always find something fun to do. One evening this week I didn’t have rehearsal and my friends and I walked in on an impromptu dance party in one of the classrooms downstairs. A group of people had all dressed up to go out to In-n-Out for dinner and when they came back, they put together a dance party. It was a lot of fun and also hilarious to see everyone in tuxes and dresses like it was prom. It’s amazing how people can come up with some great ideas to have a good time.

On Sunday, a couple of my friends and I went grocery shopping and held a barbeque in the Casa courtyard. We put together Italian sausage with vegetables and grilled pineapple with ice cream. About 40 people stopped by at some point to eat and play games in the courtyard together. It’s a great way to get people to gather together and just another social event to enjoy in the sun. The plan is to continue to host barbeque events like this on Sunday afternoons and cook some good food.

However, my other attempt at cooking this week did not go as smoothly. One evening when I didn’t have rehearsal, my friends and I used the common kitchen to make some baked Mac and Cheese. As we put it all together, I foolishly placed the glass baking dish on the stovetop, which while not on was still too hot, and the whole thing shattered! This was both disappointing and hilarious at the same time after we realized that no one was injured. Ultimately we just had a big mess to clean and we decided to walk off campus to go get some food. Hopefully next time I cook downstairs there will be no mistakes and I won’t embarrass myself.

Time Management is Key

dmlewis@scu.edu (Dominic Lewis) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:42:00 PST

As rehearsals for SCU’s musical become more intense and flu season begins to make its descent on the residence halls, I can now say I’ve had my first encounter college midterms. This has just added more stress onto my already busy schedule. But since I have arrived at SCU I have been forced to develop better time management skills than I had before. This all begins with studying. To be honest I did not ever really study in high school, yet in college with all the resources provided, it seems ridiculous not to take the effort to prepare oneself. The library here is fantastic. When I first visited Santa Clara, I was shown the library and immediately knew I would use it. It’s probably the hub of campus, always full and you can always find someone you know there to study with. The terraces on the top floor have become my favorite place in the library; you can sit on the sofas and just enjoy the view as you work.

Yet as great as the library is, it’s hard to make yourself work inside while the weather is so nice outside. I have two places on campus that have become my own little study spots outdoors. The first is right outside my room. The fourth floor of Casa has a balcony where you can watch the sun rise in the morning or spend time in the sun. I can just bring my books and sit at a table out there for hours of uninterrupted study. My other favorite spot to work is in the Mission Gardens. It’s absolutely beautiful with all the flowers and there are often several people just laying out in the grass studying.

Of the free time I have, I try not to spend all of it studying. Sometimes it’s necessary to schedule time just to relax and unwind. Whether it’s going to the gym or attending a sporting event (I've discovered Water Polo to be a very fun sport to watch) or just taking a nap, yes…naps they are very popular amongst college students, taking time off allows you to focus better during other times.

The Musical is coming along and I now have rehearsal almost every evening. As much work as it is, it doesn’t feel like work and I enjoy spending my evenings with this awesome group of people. But the schedule is starting to catch up with me, as I have to begin to make decisions over what I can and can’t do as conflicts arise between my different activities. I have A Cappella callbacks this week and hopefully I’ll have good news about joining one of those ensembles soon! It’s definitely easy to take on more than you can handle with all the opportunities in college, but with good time management you can accomplish a lot more with the time you do have.

Getting Comfortable

dmlewis@scu.edu (Dominic Lewis) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:24:00 PST

A wise woman once told me, that if you can make it through the first week of college, you’ll be able to graduate. I’m not sure this is true, but it’s now towards the end of the second week and I’m still alive. To be serious though, I have quickly begun to find my place here at Santa Clara. In Casa Italiana, we had our Da Vinci day last weekend. Each of the four floors competed in activities from pizza tossing to bocce ball tournaments to gondola races. My floor was not so successful, but it was a fun event and I had a great time getting to meet people from all over the RLC.

Last week I told you all that I had auditioned for the fall musical and received a callback, and now I’m so happy to report that I’m part of the ensemble! Becoming a part of the cast was a goal of mine coming into to college. The evening that the cast list was posted, and we all celebrated being selected, several of us went off-campus to attend a play. It was a great performance, but the best part of the night was meeting other members of the cast and beginning the bond that happens in productions like this. The rehearsals are long and there are going to be many of them over the next two months, but I can tell this is going to be an awesome experience.

I also had practices for the Club Ultimate team this week and I’ve realized this is going to be a great way to stay in shape this year. It’s a good idea to find a fun way to stay active at school because it’s way too easy to spend dining points in Benson (good thing I’m on the preferred meal plan). The combination of Panini sandwiches at the Deli, food from the Marketplace and far too many late night runs to the Bronco for mozzarella sticks have taken a huge hit on my dining points.

I’m proud to say I am starting to get better with names, which has been a big relief. I’ve also realized that the 10 minute walks across campus that happened during the first week with my nose in my schedule, have turned into 15-20 minute walks to class now that I recognize faces along the way and find myself striking up conversations with people. It’s definitely a good problem to have.

Well, I have lots of homework to do…college isn’t entirely fun and games. But, I’m really looking forward to this weekend, including a day trip to San Francisco with several members of Da Vinci, the men’s soccer game vs. Gonzaga, and a big barbeque with some friends in the Casa courtyard. Gonna be a blast!

Classes, Clubs, & Casa

dmlewis@scu.edu (Dominic Lewis) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:32:00 PST

For all of those who think they’re lifestyle in high school was busy, myself included, the first week of college is no different. I’ve only been here for six days now, but looking back it’s hard to believe how many things I have done in such a short time.

Classes began this week and personally I have come across my fair share of embarrassing and overwhelming moments. I had been anxious about some of my classes that I had never taken before but after these first few days I feel like I’m going to enjoy this first quarter. The bigger concern quickly became trying to find my classes. On the first day, while on my way to my morning acting class I found myself walking down both ends of the halls staring at every room number, clearly identifying myself as a freshman to those observing my quest to find my classroom. This has happened a lot this week walking around campus as I figure out where everything is – but I’m getting the hang of it (I’m sure my parents have just been hoping I’ve managed to make my way to Benson to eat, don’t worry Mom I’m taking care of myself!).

On that note actually, one of the best parts of living in Casa is the food! On the first night of every quarter, the upperclassmen apartments invite the freshman over and we all share a big pasta dinner. It was great to meet people and we’ve definitely made plans to continue to cook more meals together, which makes me really excited! There are so many activities that our RLC hosts all year round, I’m glad I choose to live here.

Monday night was also the campus wide club fair. The event is packed with booths set up and every club on campus trying to entice new members into signing up, the ones that were giving out free food seemed to draw my eye. I ended up signing up for many activities; Club Ultimate Frisbee, A Capella groups, CORE (which is a Christian Fellowship group), Campus Ministry and a couple fitness groups. There is so much to do on campus and I know some of these things I’ll end up sticking with my next four years.

My highlight, and time consuming priority, has been auditioning for the fall musical Little Shop of Horrors. On Wednesday I had my audition in the evening, and while I didn’t think it went that well, partially because I also had to prepare a monologue that morning for my acting class, I found out this morning that I got a callback, for the lead role also! This has been a huge surprise and all day I’ve been preparing for tonight. While I was excited to go to the Macklemore concert on campus tonight, (Woooo… Pacific Northwest Pride!) I’ve made the decision to go to callbacks instead. That’s where I’m off to now, hopefully I’ll have good news for you all in my next blog!

Welcome Weekend

dmlewis@scu.edu (Dominic Lewis) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:49:00 PST

So here I am, sitting in my room now at the end of Welcome Weekend, for what feels like the first time since I arrived at Santa Clara this past Saturday morning. This weekend has been hectic with all the events, meetings, and activities packed into two days, but also a lot of fun. It all began with the move-in process early Saturday morning. When my family and I arrived at the University, we were quickly parked right next to my dorm and everything we had brought with us was carried up to my room by the many student volunteers there to greet us. While the move-in process went smoothly, I came upon a problem while unpacking. Thanks to great invention of space bags, I quickly found out that I brought more clothes than I really needed, oops! As I continued to unpack, my other suitemates and their families also began to arrive and we got to meet each other for the first time.

I am living in Casa Italiana, which is a suite-style residence hall. Our suite consists of seven guys, four bedrooms, two bathrooms and one big common room. The amount of space is awesome and we have been making plans and coming up with ideas for how we want to finish setting up the place.

After we finished unpacking we began to meet other people on our floor and we had a floor meeting with our CFs. For those who don’t know what that is, CF stands for Community Facilitator and is basically the same as a Resident Assistant at other schools. In our floor meeting we realized that our floor just has suites of guys on it and then a few upperclassman suites of girls. Thus the 4^th floor of Casa has now been dubbed “Bro Floor”.

The first day concluded with SCU Live, a presentation by multiple performing arts groups in the Mayer Theater. Improv and A Capella groups along with multiple performances from Santa Clara’s dancers, singers and actors. It was a great event and I hope to take part in some of these groups during my time at Santa Clara.

On Sunday morning, I attended the Welcome Weekend Liturgy with my parents. It was wonderful to sit out on the St. Ignatius Lawn in front of the Mission Church and celebrate mass with them before many of the parents departed.

Overall, Welcome Weekend has been great. I’ve met a lot of people and really begun to feel at home here at SCU. There are many more events that will be going on throughout this week that I’ll attend like the club fair tomorrow night. Currently, one of my suitemates and I are about to go to the pep rally for the Women’s Soccer game versus Stanford tonight and then tomorrow morning classes begin. College has officially begun!