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The Leaves are Changing

October 6th, 2014 lmbutt16

Hi everyone!  Sorry for the absence, we were having some technical difficulties, and I couldn’t access my account.

The ivy has begun to change to its apple red color, and the trees are turning gold.  This is one of the best parts of being in New England for the Fall.  Admittedly, the weather has been a little temperamental lately.  A few weeks ago it was suddenly very cold (or rather, it felt very cold compared to the 80 and 90 degrees it had been), but then there have been sporadic days back in the 80s, and a few days somewhere in the middle.  It’s kind of fun, in its own unpredictable way.  I’m looking forward to a steady cool, though.  I’m definitely a fan of sweatshirts and gloves, and I’m ready to break them all out.

We go home at the end of this week, on October break already.  The first month has flown by.  I still refuse to believe that I could be more than halfway done with my college career.  It feels like I just moved in yesterday, leaving home and beginning to make bigger decisions on my own.  At the same time, it feels like I’ve always been here, and high school feels very distant.

I’ve had my first few graded assignments, and they’ve all been going pretty well.  I’ve been really pleased with the things I’ve written for creative writing so far this year.  My writing style and narrative voice has changed over the last few years, and I like the way its been developing recently.  My first major writing assignment is due this Wednesday, and my Irish literature class actually influenced what I decided to write about.  One theme/motif we talk about often in Irish lit, that can be seen in most if not all of the works we’ve read, is the presence of elements of fantasy and mythology, intertwining with reality.  So for this creative writing assignment, my ideas were originally based off of one of the myths (which I will tell you all about next time, once I’ve finished the assignment!)

I’ve also been kind of excited to find that I’ve really enjoyed all of the works I’ve been assigned this year as of yet.  I don’t know if it’s me growing up and developing a broader taste and appreciation for works, or me growing into my English major and appreciating the craft, or if I’ve just been lucky and really liked all of the things I’ve been assigned.

Chinese film has continued to be interesting as well.  I’d never had any experiencing with studying film, as opposed to just viewing.  We’ve learned the elements of mise-en-scene, which refers to the various aspects of what appears on screen and how it is placed/shot/etc.  For example, in one shot we might look at what angle it was shot from (high?  low?) and how it was lit, and where the various characters were placed, in relation to one another and in relation to the camera, aka the audience.  It’s not something I had ever really thought about before, so it’s been interesting to use and develop that eye.

Cheer has a bit of downtime, since there are no home football games in October.  That means we have plenty of time to polish new routines and work out new stunts, in addition to preparing for basketball season.  Horseback riding has been going similarly well and easily.  I can see how I’ve improved from where I was last year, and freshmen year, and in high school, and it’s really rewarding to feel accomplished in that way.  We had our first Holy Cross Food Nation club meeting of the year two weeks ago, and will have a second one tonight.  We got a handful of new people to the meeting with varied food interests, and then input from even more people, which resulted in this week’s theme being Oktoberfest.  One of the German FLAs (foreign language assistants) agreed to come and speak about Oktoberfest, which should be really interesting and fun to hear.

Unfortunately, it’s a very test/paper-heavy week for a lot of people, including myself, so I’m off to go write up a storm.

I hope all continues to be well.

 

Always,

L

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LiAnn Butterfield '16

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