So busy!

Hi guys. Fourth marking period has been so busy with softball, prom, college preparation, and school work.

Prom was so much fun! Friday April 30th, was very busy. I woke up at 9am and started my day. It turned out to be a beautiful day so I got to tan a little before prom. I had to go to the nail salon, get some finishing touches on my dress, and get my hair done. At 6pm I was all ready and went to my friends house to take pictures. Prom was decorated so nicely and the pictures turned out perfect. If Junior Prom was this much fun, I can't wait to see what Senior prom will be like.

This season, by far, is the best Union Catholic Softball has experienced since I've been here. We are 11-5, and we've qualified for STATES!! This is the first time since I've been at UC that we've qualified for States. It's a huge accomplishment because to be able to be in the state tournament you must have a .500 record! We have well over a .500 record. Saturday we had our first county game against Westfield. They are ranked 10th and us, 7th. Last year we played Westfield in the first round of counties and lost 9-0. This year.......we WON on our turf! 4-3! It was such a nerve racking game. We were up by 2 going into the top of the 7th and that is when Westfield scored another run, making the score 4-3. Now there were 2 outs and a girl on second and third. It was so important for us to get that last out and our pitcher struck the girl out. Our next game is Friday night against Governor Livingston, number 2 seeded. GL has been a tough game for us both times this season. I know our whole team is ready to show GL how Union Catholic plays softball.

College preparation has started and I'm starting to get a taste of what Senior year will be like. I've been trying to contact softball coaches so I can meet them and find out what they like in their athletes. My dream school is Boston College, so I'm really interested in talking to the softball coach. I've handed in my college recommendations to my teachers, so that's a check off my college-to-do list! I need to do my activity sheet, brag sheet, and so much more I need to get on top of.

So much to do but so much to be excited for. Have a great week (:

The last few weeks have been busy for Union Catholic. In the past few weeks, we have had our Spring Open House, Mr. UC, Earth Day, Junior Prom, and the beginning of AP testing. Our Spring Open House was a great success. This open house is directed more towards the 6^th and 7^th graders and their families. A lot of families came and it was great to see everyone enjoying the school through tours and presentations by various teachers. For Earth Day, the school held an assembly to honor the day. All the students in science classes during 2^nd period came outside to participate. In honor of the day, there were two trees planted by the front doors. The first sisters and brothers who created Union Catholic came as well. The night before Earth Day was our annual Mr. UC contest, which is basically a male beauty pagent. The contestants, all seniors, compete in various rounds, such as the casual wear, talent, formal wear, and trivia. I have gone for three years, and it still remains my favorite thing that Union Catholic does. The talents were hilarious, and the guys all did a fantastic job.

Just last Friday was our Junior Prom. I had a great time. The music was great, and it was a lot of fun hanging out with all my friends. We booked a limo for 20 of us, and a few went to the beach the next day, taking advantage of the gorgeous weather! In a few weeks is Senior Prom, and I know all the seniors are excited!

This week has started the beginning of AP testing. All year, juniors, seniors, and some sophomores have worked very hard taking Advanced Placement classes in courses such as Biology, Government and Politics, US History, English, Spanish, and many others. Most juniors and I took our first AP test on Monday, which was the AP Government and Politics exam. Throughout this week and next, the tests will continue. It is just another sign that school is ending soon and the seniors are spending their last days at Union Catholic before going to college!

Spring fever

Hi guys, I don't know about you but spring fever sure has hit the halls of Union Catholic. Today has so much going on! I have a softball game and then right after that is Quarters for Cancer, where you get a scoop of food for 25 cents. - SMAC members run this event. Being a SMAC member I will be serving food tonight. After that will be Mr. UC! I am SO excited to attend this event. A few of my guy friends will be running for this special title so it makes the event even more funny. The contestants are Senior guys who have to go through various pageant events to win the title of Mr. UC 10'. The best part will be the talent section. I am so curious to see what all this guys have thought of. Good luck to all contestants!

Softball has been going great! We are 4-2. We lost 2 games to two great teams who will probably be ranked top in the county. We lost 3-1 to GL. We lost 7-0 to Cranford. Here is the crazy part though, GL beat Cranford 7-2. On paper it says we should have been creamed by GL, but we played our game and did great. Also we had a game Saturday and ended up winning 4-0! In the paper our freshman Pitcher and I made headlines! First time that has ever happened to me and I was so excited to see my name in bold print. I hope the season continues to go great!

College Visits

This is a picture of everyone who went to the Walk from UC. :] The girl on the left in the brown sweatshirt is a co-leader of the club, a very popular one here at UC.

Hey everyone! This is our first week back from Easter vacation. Over break, a lot of my friends went to visit colleges with their parents. I saw five schools: Quinnipiac in Connecticut, Muhlenberg in PA, Lehigh in PA, Villanova in PA, and we drove through St. Joes in PA. At each college, minus St. Joes, I went on a tour and attended an information session. For me, I am looking for a college not in the city, a college with an actual campus, and a college that really feels like home. What I'm looking for most is to find a school that really makes me feel like I belong, just as Union Catholic has done for me for high school. Each of the campuses was beautiful in its own way. Villanova, Lehigh, and St. Joes had really pretty stone buildings. Since I’m planning to go into premed, I looked a lot into the pre-medicine programs. So far, I think Quinnipiac was my ultimate favorite, followed by Muhlenberg. Quinnipiac was the first school I visited and was absolutely stunned. Their technology is so state-of-the-art. In their medical training facilities, they have mock-doctors’ offices, hands on training with real-size Sims, and such pretty dorms. The campus had a main quad, surrounded by the academic buildings, with about 7,600 undergrad and graduate students. For the Pre-med program, you need to apply separately. It’s a hard program, rated number 14 in the country. Muhlenberg was smaller, only about 2,000 undergrads, but I loved it nonetheless. It was on top of a hill overlooking the town by a big park. Their facilities were really nice, and it had a lot of the same qualities that we see here at UC. All the doors were painted red as a Jesuit sign of welcome. I still have five schools to see, and I have a feeling I will find it difficult to pick my favorite when it comes time to register.

Also, last Sunday, our REACH (Raising Educated Awareness for the Cause of HIV/Aids) club gathered a bunch of students to walk in Union called Walk for Children to help children suffereing from HIV and Aids. We all walked 3 miles, and others ran 5 miles. We had fun and it was for a really good cause.

36 days

36 days, until Junior Prom!!!! I am so excited, words cannot even describe my excitement. This is, for most of the Juniors, the first prom of our lives. With only 36 days, the girls are making their hair appointments and find a Tailor for fixing their dresses. I really think that the girls have much more to do than the guys. The guys have tuxedos and that's about it. Girls have to get their nails done, hair, find the perfect dress, and do their make-up. I'm not complaining though, I love getting all dolled up! What girl doesn't?

My dress is hot pink and long; thankfully I talked myself out of getting a short dress. Softball has already messed up my legs! A girl slid head first into my thigh and her helmet left a nice big purple bruise and a few cuts. After I got hurt and the inning ended my team ran up to me and all said, "it's okay, you have a long dress!" haha.

Right now everyone is trying to figure out where to sit for dinner at prom. My best friend and I will not be going to the same pre-prom party but have promised each other we'd sit together for dinner. So we have eight people at our table right now. It's very complicated finding a table to sit at. Everything will go great, I can not wait for prom!

SATs and Les Miserables

As all juniors get ready for college, one of the major steps is taking the SATs. I took them for the first time two weeks ago. The test took about five hours, including multiple choice and an essay. To prepare for the test, I’m taking the prep course at school. It’s helping a lot, practicing questions and working on test-taking techniques. The next times for the rest of the year for us to take the test are in May and June, giving us more time to prepare. When I met with my guidance counselor, she told me what scores the colleges are looking for, giving me a goal.

This Saturday was the last forensics meet of the year. My regular partner was sick, so I debated with someone who might be my partner next year. Everyone did really well at this meet, and we were told who would be competing at Nationals in Omaha. This year, we have seven people competing. Good luck to everyone!

In case you readers haven’t heard, the Union Catholic Performing Arts Company is performing Les Miserables as their spring musical. I saw the show on Friday night, and it was fantastic! The actors have done a great job; it is clear how much practice was put into the show. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest you should! It’s playing next weekend on Friday at 7pm and closing night on Saturday at 7pm. You will be very impressed!

Freshman Year, a Year for Memories.

When I logged onto the blogger website to make another post today, I saw that this would be our 100 post. I can't believe that we have gotten to 100 posts, I remember making my first post freshman year.

With that being said I got to interact a little more with the freshman this Wednesday at our annual Big Brother/ Big Sister breakfast. All the freshman were in high spirits when they sat down with their homerooms. First the Peer Coordinators (UC students who run the Big Brother/ Big Sister program) passed out a survey asking the freshman a little bit about their Big Brother or Big Sister. Next, breakfast was served and that is when the upperclassmen sat down with their homeroom and asked the freshman about how their year has been going and if they had any questions. To finish the morning off, we played human bingo. It's a bingo board but instead of numbers there are questions such as "Who couldn't open their locker on the first day of school." Or "Who has made honor roll the last two marking periods." With these questions the freshman would find someone in their grade and put down that persons name. My freshman year we played this and I actually won! I got a long sleeve UC shirt that I still wear to this day. It's a great memory that I will never forget.

That's what is so great with freshman year, it's all a memory that will never leave your mind.