Hey Everyone!

It's has been awhile since I last blogged, so I will re-introduce myself. My name is Brian Palumbo and I am a freshman in CSOM. That is enough re-introducing for me.

This week is a big week coming up for Boston College, especially outside of the classroom. Our Eagles, led by the likes of Tyrese Rice and Rakim (Rak Attack) Sanders have made it to the NCAA tournament!! Yes, they are coming off a very tough loss to the Blue Devils, but having the opportunity to win a game against a team like Duke is at times a victory in and of itself. We all know that our Eagles are not satisfied with just being in the game, hopefully this translates into a winning streak in the NCAA tournament. Faced with a a difficult first round game against white-hot USC, Boston College has its hand full because even if they were to win that first game, a very good Michigan State team will likely be waiting in the second round. Who knows! Maybe BC will be playin in two weekends! The sky is the limit...

Enough with the sports though: this coming weekend is also the fun and crazy ALC Showdown '09. The showdown consists of cultural and dance groups from campus all coming together in one large show displaying all of their incredible talents. Ranging from Synergy to Sexual Chocolate, the crowd will certainly be pleased with exceptional performances by most. Showdown is a culmination of months of hard work and will not disappoint those who either go to see friends or to just go for sheer entertainment.

Ironically, the BC basketball game and Showdown are a direct conflict. It looks like some people are going to have to make a very tough game time decision.

Talk to all you soon.

Brian

Oh We're Half Way There

Hello Everyone!

Spring break is finally here! I am writing to you from sunny Florida as I am relaxing from a busy spring semester thus far. Although I decided to come home for break, a lot of my friends have decided to spend their break volunteering as part of Boston College's Appalachia Volunteers Program. One of my friends is in New Orleans, rebuilding damaged homes and another friend is in a small town outside of Richmond, Virginia helping struggling families with miscellaneous duties.

This past week I went and declared my CSOM concentration. I have decided (for the time being) to be a Finance and Accounting double concentration with a Philosophy minor. One thing I would urge you to do is to not worry right now about what you want to do. Admissions does not expect that you have your life planned out already. It is perfectly fine to be undeclared. The CSOM core is a great way to sample all of the different business concentrations to see what you really want to pursue. My basic finance class with Professor Hayes has really intrigued me and led me to seek to continue down the finance concentration path.

Fun fact: Finance is the most popular major at BC!

Another thing to keep in mind is that once you come to BC, you are not limited to choosing one specific major within CSOM. I, being someone who did not come into BC with a lot of AP credit am still able to double concentrate in the school of management and pursue a minor in A&S. There are so many great opportunities to pursue outside of CSOM and I feel like a lot of CSOM students do take advantage of pursuing other disciplines.

Father Flannagan, a Jesuit at BC who team-teaches my Philosophy of Community class, always says that sure you will get a great education, but where you really learn a lot and will remember the most is what you do outside the classroom. I strongly agree with his comments. Sure, we are all going to get a nice big diploma come May of our graduation year, but it is what we all do outside of class that really can make your time at BC an amazing experience. As I look at my fellow classmates, that is one thing that I notice, is just how involved we all are. We all spread ourselves thin and spend more hours participating in extracurricular activities than we do in class. In my mind, this is just another defining characteristic of Boston College that makes it a truly great place to be at.

To finish off my post lets talk about some BC basketball! A few weeks ago, we upset a highly ranked Duke basketball team. It was the most exciting basketball game that I have ever been to. All of the students rushed the court at the end of the game (see awesome picture!). It was a scene I will never forget. As the season nears to an end, we are making our final push to make it into the tournament.

As always, GO EAGLES!!

Best,

Scott