Hi, my name is Francesca Mastria. I am a sophomore Nursing student here at Saint Joseph College, and I am also a commuter. I play lacrosse and am a Peer Mentor for the First Year Seminar Evolution of Rock.
I set a goal for myself this year, which was to start taking more pictures and I thought this would be a great way to not only achieve that goal, but to allow a glimpse of what life is like as a student of Saint Joseph College. Remember — it doesn’t matter if you’re a resident or a commuter. Your experience at SJC is what you make of it!
Francesca Mastria '14
January 11, 2012
Christmas Break!
I cannot believe it's time to get ready for the beginning of another semester! Here is what I did over break!
Christmas:
Before the unwrapping!
After the unwrapping!
Nina in her P.Js Christmas morning
Anthony, Nina and I ready for Church
Surprise Party for Mom:
The Birthday Girl!
My grandma, my Aunt Dorine, my Auntie Char and I all made the centerpieces for my Mom's birthday party!
The finished product!
November 25, 2011
Thanksgiving Break!
Well, I only had a two day week due to Thanksgiving Break.
Here is what I did over break....
This is my friends and I at our annual Thanksgiving Football game in our town.
This was our Thanksgiving meal at my Auntie Maria's house.
This is my cousins and I after our Thanksgiving meal!
This is my little brother and I practicing for our Christmas pictures!
November 17, 2011
FYS Bonding: Pizza and a Movie!
Tonight was FYS Bonding night! As a Peer Mentor it's recommended that we plan events with our Mentees. In my FYS, class we took a poll about what we wanted to do. A lot of the girls wanted to do a pizza and movie night. After the challenge of deciding what we wanted to do as our bonding experience, the next task was deciding what movie we wanted to watch. We finally decided on Burlesque, which featured Cher and Christina Aguilera. We chose this movie because it related to our FYS class, which is all about music. We shared a lot of laughs tonight, especially when my Mentee and fellow blogger Nicole Battistone dropped her pizza on the floor! Overall, I would call FYS Bonding night a great success!
Here is a poster of the movie. I would definitely recommend renting it!
November 14, 2011
Commuter Tip #3: Make Resident Friends!
This is a very important tip I feel for all commuters. It is vital that you have these connections to campus so you feel included in the SJC community. Now, I am not saying that having other commuters as friends is a bad thing, actually that's great because then they understand what you're situation is like. But having resident friends gives you an opportunity to feel like a resident when they take you into their dorm and you get to sleepover. This is another benefit to having resident friends, is that when the weather is bad out you can sleepover, but not for more than three consecutive nights in a row because then you'll get in trouble with the Resident Assistants on campus. Remember you're college experience as a commuter is all about what you make of it!
Photo Credit to Saint Joseph College Facebook.
Click Here to Check Out the Saint Joseph College Facebook Page.
November 13, 2011
Meet Nina!
There is one "person" who you all have not met yet. Her name is Nina. She is my one and a half year old long haired miniature dachshund. I bought her after I graduated high school. I was determined to have a dog. I knew I wanted a little dog, specifically a dachshund. So, the day after my graduation party I started searching. I could not believe how difficult it was to find dachshunds in Connecticut! I ended up finding Nina online at a pet store in Branford, CT. Before I finally found Nina we ended up driving to three other pet stores. I almost gave up until I found her on the pet store's website. I asked if they could hold her for me and they did! The rest is history!
This is Nina when she was a puppy!
This is Nina now!
November 11,2011
Well, a lot has happened since I last blogged. I think the major thing that happened that we all experienced was Winter Storm Alfred. Saint Joseph got hit pretty hard and the school had to evacuate the residential students and we did not have classes for four days!
Here are some pictures of campus after the storm hit!
Since I do not live on campus I did not have the opportunity to experience an evacuation but, I do get to experience another side of the storm. My dad is a lineman. This means that when the power goes out, he is the person who puts it back on. He has been working at least sixteen hour days, if not more. He comes home with stories about how people are getting frustrated without having power and then they take it out on the people who are only trying to fix the problem. I think it's vital for people to remember that even in difficult times beauty does come from it. Yes, I understand people's houses were freezing because they did not have heat and many people lost a lot of food. The beauty of the storm is that it gave you the chance to relax, talk and reconnect with your family which I feel like many people do not do these days.
October 24, 2011
I know I haven't been blogging a lot lately. There have been a couple of reasons: 1. School has been keeping me super busy and 2. I've been having some technical difficulties with uploading pictures. Keep checking out my page, there will be more posts soon!
October 23, 2011
Commuter Tip #2: Get Involved!
The biggest mistake someone could make on this campus as a commuter is not getting involved. Saint Joseph College is such a small and welcoming campus that it makes it easy for everyone to get involved. For me, since I commuted, I didn't want to people to see me as just a commuter, I wanted people to know me for me. The best way I found to get involved was becoming a Peer Mentor. Going through the interviewing and training process allowed me to make a variety of friends. Trust me get involved, it makes a huge difference about how you feel about this campus!
October 7, 2011
Commuter Tip #1: Give Yourself Plenty of Time to Get to School
Since this is my second year commuting to school, I've learned a few things and I think it's only fair that I share what I've learned with future commuting students.
So, my first tip is to give yourself plenty of time to get to school, especially in the winter. I have a commute time of forty-five minutes but I give myself a minimum of an hour and a half to get to school. I do this because traffic can be brutal in the morning and I also do not want to be late to class. I think it's important to be on time for class, even if you commute.
October 6, 2011
These First Year Students Rock!
This is my wonderful First Year Seminar Class: The Evolution of Rock! These girls are fantastic and I'm having a great time in class with them this year! If you've been checking out my blog, through the Saint Joseph College website, I'm sure you've noticed a familiar face in my FYS class. Her name is Nicole Battistone and she is blogging for the class of 2015!
Click here to check out Nicole's blog if you haven't already!
October 4, 2011
Can I Kiss You?
September 29, 2011
This week has been hectic! It seemed as though every class I went to I had an exam, a quiz, a paper or one more new assignment given to me. So, my one word to sum this week up would have to be: STRESSFUL! But I realized in order to achieve my goal of becoming a Pediatric Oncology Nurse, stressful weeks are going to happen. Along with this stressful week, I always have to remember that I cannot be focused on school 24/7. Yes, school is very important and I take my academics very seriously but, sometimes you need to take time out of your day to have a good laugh; and that could be the best "medicine."
The best way to handle a stressful week, besides making time to laugh, is to organize your week. This can be made possible with either a monthly calendar, a weekly calendar or a combination of the two. If you're concerned or having trouble with time management or organization there are resources on campus that are available to you. For example, the Center for Academic Excellence, (CAE), is a resource that not only helps with time management but also organization. You can call them or visit them on the second floor of Mercy Hall and ask to set up an appointment to help you with these skills!
Click here to visit the Center of Academic Excellence website.
September 27, 2011
MY FIRST BLOG! I am so excited to be blogging from a commuter's perspective. Through this blog I will let everyone see who I am and what I do on and off SJC's Campus!
These are the people who get to see me everyday when I come home. There's my brother Anthony, my mom, and my dad.
