Jen’s Journal

The Spring semester at AI may be over, but that doesn’t mean that my life has gotten any less hectic!  These past few weeks have been pretty busy with me training for my new job at AI, starting my summer class at SLU, celebrating my birthday, and searching for a new apartment.  The busyness doesn’t look like it will be letting up any time soon, either, since I’ve finally found an apartment and will be moving this coming weekend!  Whew!  I’ll need to stop and catch my breath when June rolls around!  Fortunately, the busyness has been good busyness, however.  My job has been exciting, my birthday was fun, and I’m so happy that I’ve settled my living situation for the next year!  My class at SLU could be better (and involve less work), but it’s not awful.  So, yeah, things are moving along nicely.

I hope that your summers are starting off well, too.  It’s always nice to enjoy the sun and summer breeze before it gets unbearably hot later in the year.  I think that’s why May is one of my favorite months.  The weather is usually really nice no matter where you are.  The fact that my birthday (and the birthdays of lots of friends) is in May makes this a nice month as well, of course.  And, hey, it’s the month of Mary, too!  Pretty cool.

Well, I’m off to do more packing for my move.  As the new student assistant in the admissions office, I’ve taken over the visit@ai.edu email account, so don’t hesitate to drop me a line if you have any questions or concerns.  Peace.

Well, I have officially finished my first year of graduate school!  The end was a little more crazy than I thought it would be, but I got everything done and made it through.

Yesterday was graduation day here, with 56ish students earning various graduate certificates and degrees.  There was a baccalaureate Mass in the morning at College Church, and then the conferral of degrees took place at the Church in the evening, followed by a reception at AI.  The ceremonies were really nice, and it was cool to see Fr. Rick preside over his first graduation as President.

Today there is a kickball party for the graduates at Tower Grove Park, and then tomorrow, two of our brothers (Simon Felix and Kevin) will be ordained to the priesthood!  How exciting!  Tomorrow is also Pentecost of course and Mother’s Day and the birthday of one of my friends!  Lots of celebrations!  Should be fun.

On Monday, it’s back to work as I transition into my new position as Admissions’ Student Worker.  Yes, that’s right, Katie will be moving on to concentrate on CPE this summer and her last semester of studies in the Fall.  She’s done a great job with admissions so I have big shoes to fill!  Hopefully I’ll do a good job and be of help to the school.

As for the rest of the summer, I’ll be starting a class at SLU on May 19th (my birthday), and that will run until the end of June.  I’ll also be working at AI during that time.  After June, I plan to go home to Maryland for a month or so, and then before I know it, it will be time to come back for another year of fun!