Ryan

Those of you who read my last post know about my state of mind durring finals week, let me start this post by saying it’s exactly how I feel now. I just want to say how amazing this year has been. All of the friends I have made and all of the teachers I have had the pleasure to learn from. I was nervous about coming to this school after living here for five years, and then again after coming back from London, but with the amount of support I found that nervousness quickly vanished. Hopefully I’ll be posting again next year. Here’s to three more amazing years people! See you again next year!

This blog post is dedicated to Campus Safety, also known as Campo. I know we have all had our respective issues with campo, a party busted here and there, but every so often something happens that makes you very VERY grateful for their presence here on campus. We know that campus safety is here to keep us safe (duh), but let me spin a little senario for you that happened to me just the other day. It’s early in the morning and you wake up a half hour before class, just enough time for a quick shower. You usually leave your door unlocked in the mornings so you dont bother to bring your key. After a good five minute shower you go back to find that your roommate has decided to lockup on his way to class, leaving you wet, mostly naked, and in the middle of the hallway. Your RA is out so your options are limited. Here is my campo hero story, after asking a fellow floor mate to borrow his phone (a very awkward moment mind) campo arrived on the scene in less than five minutes. I arrived to class right on time. So, although I thanked the man that let the half naked crazy person into his room in the wee hours of the morning, I would like to thank you campo, for a job well done!

As we all know, we had a few registration problems these past few weeks. Despite all of that, it’s all over and everyone seems more or less on their feet at the end. As a freshman I would like to thank the registration office for fixing any glitches in the new system, I at least completed registration with no issues at all. So far for next year I am signed up to take Rise of Japan, American Colonial History, Intro to History Major, Intermediate Acting, and Intro to German. I am currently on the waiting list for Theater and Culture I. Also, exciting news, I am officially a double major in history and theater! A year early! It’s a great feeling.

Hey guys! So last weekend was Easter and I would like to share why going to college close to home isn’t a terrible thing. I was able to go home for Easter breakfast and was joined by my two friends Hallie and Jon. Though it seemed rather silly, we hunted for eggs, enjoyed our Easter baskets, and had a nice breakfast with my family. This was really the first time I had brought people from school home and it turned out to be a great day! So all of you students who are worried about going to school too close to home, there are some pretty great things that come along with it.

This week has been absolutely crazy! For those of you following me on twitter (@rycrot) know that I am in a Senior Workshop this semester. Directed by Anne Dufault (a tremendous person and director), ‘After’ is a play about a group of college students learning to deal with the sexual assault of one of their friends. I play Chase, the young man who is being accused of rape. It has been by far the hardest role I have ever been cast as, mostly because I have to play the character as good person who just really messed up. I know it sounds really cheesy but I feel as if I have grown tremendously throughout this experience, both as an actor and as a student. The shows are booking up fast but if you can come tomorrow durring our open dress rehearsal in Bolton 382 at 8:00 pm! I want to shout out to the unbelievable cast who has been absolutely amazing to work with, Dara, Brittany, Lena, Zac, Alex and Will . Also our fantastic stage manager Olivia and our great lighting designer and costume designer Joel and Alex.

Well…it’s here. I’ve officially accepted that spring is in fact here, and though I do feel cheated of my winter, I must admit it’s beautiful out! It seems that the past few months people were holed away because I have soon more people on the green and walking around campus than I thought possible. With the last of my midterms done I myself have enjoyed a good hour or two doing nothing more important than laying out in the sun with my dear dear cousin Bizz Burns. Seeing all those people playing frisbee, playing guitar or just hanging around with friends feels very much what college is supposed to feel like. I love it. Today I plan on listening some good music and put the finishing up a paper and then I’m going to spend some long awaited time with my friends. HAVE A GOOD WEEK EVERYONE!

This Spring Break has been exactly what I needed to get through mid-terms, rehearsals, and the prospect of the end of my Freshman year. Though I wasn’t able to see everyone I wanted, though seeing the friends that were home reminded me that true friends are very hard to loose track of. My dad finally finished a birthday present he had gotten for me two or three years ago. Regardless of the wait I love it, it’s an Irish bouzouki. A bouzouki is a kind of Irish octave mandolin. The difference is there are two strings that play the same note, eight strings total that play four notes. The double up on the strings makes the sounds cleaner and more full than a regular mandolin. It’s used traditionally in Irish, Scottish, Greek, Italian, and Turkish folk songs, none of which I can play as of yet. This break has been great but I cant wait to get back to school and get started on the work ahead. It has made me appreciate not only the time I have with old friends and at home, but also the time that I have learning so many amazing new things and being around so many great new people. Here we go, last few weeks of first year at Skidmore!

One of my favorite things about this campus are the so many options to go to concerts in and around campus. Just last weekend I was able to go to two concerts, one downtown and one in Case Center. For those of you who were fortunate enough to get to the Enter the Haggis concert in Case last weekend can back me up in saying those are some seriously talented guys. Maybe I’m just a sucker for bagpipes and fiddles alongside drums and guitars but I personally loved their power for presentation and their pure talent made the show a hit. Although there was a relatively small turnout that dwindled even further after intermission, I felt as if everyone there had a great time, I know I did. I was also able to see one of my favorite local bands play downtown last weekend at the Parting Glass Pub on Lake Ave. One of the great things about Saratoga is that there are so many places to hear so many different kinds of music. My personal favorite is Caffe Lena on Phila Street, if you guys get the chance go there! It is the oldest running coffee shop in America and I was fortunate enough to work there Freshman and Sophomore year of high-school. They play mostly folk music but they have been known to play larger band names. It’s an amazing place with amazing stories. However you cant go wrong with any of the other venues downtown. Here are some pictures of Enter the Haggis and the night at the Parting Glass!

This blog is mostly directed at new students, transfer students, or students planning on studying abroad. I’ve mostly been blogging lately about my feelings about coming to a campus halfway through the year and around the various pros and cons that surround that experience. Now I’d like to talk a little about how Skidmore professors helps new/abroad students become integrated into the system. First of all this semester I am taking Elementary Italian, Intro to Acting, Early Modern European History, and Religion and Culture. My advisor in London, Dan Nathan of the American Studies department, told me that it would be a good idea to take at least two classes that helped towards my major (History/Theater), one class that fulfilled a requirement (Italian) and one class that I was just generally interested in and wanted to know more about (Religion). This turned out to be fantastic advice on his part, I love all of my classes and while they are incredibly challenging at times I havent felt too overwhelmed yet. Once you reach campus I have found that all of the professors are willing to share extra help, direct you towards extra credit options, or simply give you some good advice on studying habits. The point is as long as you search for the help once you reach or get back to campus, you should have no problem adjusting to the change.