SJC Student Blogs

Salutations, I had a busy weekend. Well I guess you want to know about it? No...well I will continue anyway. Friday was a blast. SUB sponsered Kareokie down by the band room, and it was so much fun watchinbg people go up and sing the songs of our childhood. I even went up myself and sang Summer Nights from Grease with my freshman seminar leader Eilleen. People loved it, its always good to hear people that are actually good sometimes. That did not sound modest at all. Well that was my night on Friday, we stayed to the very end and the best part was free root beer and popcorn. Nothing is better then free stuff as a college student. Saturday, my friends and I decided to get out of Renselaer and go down to Lafayette for dinner. We ate at chipotle and meet my friend Rose who was already down there on Friday, and we hung out downtown and around Perdue. But even though I left town there were still things going down at the Joe. One such thing was a badmitton tournement that my friend Allyson actually coordinated. I heard it had a great turnout. On Sunday, the concert choir performed Carmina Burana. The concert went very well, and the soloists were fantastic. People kept coming up to me after the concert complimenting how wonderful they thought we did. It felt really good that people enjoyed it even though it is an extremely difficult piece of music.

Well now to my upcoming week, I officially am done with choir for this week. Todd let us have wednesday off in order to congratulate us on our concert. Tuesday is just another normal day, but Wednesday is a different story. Its the first basketball game that the pep band is playing at. I am excited to play pep music. Being in the stands cheering on the team gets the blood pumping and is just plain old fun. But right after that I have play rehersal, which is also going very well. Then Thursday is normal except New Moon midnight show. Yes, Twilight had to be the greatest comedy last year, but I would be lying if I said I was not looking forward to this movie. It actually looks really good. And Dakota Fanning is in it. Then Friday is when I am going home. You do not even know how extatic I am to go home. And not just for a weekend but for a whole week. Thank you Saint Joe's for giving us the whole week off. Well, I need to read for core. Adios....

I got all of the classes I wanted next semester. I am so happy because I wanted a certain core professor and the earliest labs and I got both. Well, technicaly being a sophomore helps a lot. I was able to register early and get all of my classes. Which brings me to the topic of the blog. Saint Joe's is really good at making sure you get credit for any advanced placement classes you take. I took U.S. History,psychology, government, English, and Spanish through a comunity college and I came into Saint Joe with 36 credits already. Moral of the story: if you take an AP test send the result to Saint Joe and see if you get any credit. Well, practice was fun on Thursday for the play. I like everyone in the play and I feel as if we all mesh as a cast which adds a lot of natural connection when we are on stage. Also SUB had this truely amazing band come in yesturdsy called Scratch Track. It was two guys one sang and beatboxed while the other played guitar. Their songs were while written and they played some covers of really famous songs. I don't know what tonight has in store for me but I think I am going to kareokie later. Well I have a gurgaling in my tummy so I need some nurishment. Until the wind blows us together again...

I am so upset right now. My computer is not working. Ever time I log on it tells me that every program is not working, so I am blogging on my itouch. It's really hard but I can deal with it. Well today is a new episode of Glee...finally. But I have play practice, so I'll hopefully watch it tomorrow on hulu. Tomorrow there is a band performing so I will probably go and Friday should be fun because of kareokie night. Anyone have any song suggestions? Also on Sunday the concert choir is performing Carmina Burana, so that should be fantastic. Monday and Tuesday were pretty much relax days for me. Well less than a week till thanksgiving break. I am so excited to go home for over a week. It's almost time for practice, till we meet again...

This is going to be a quick blog update because I am really tired and want to go to bed. I must have done well in auditions because I was cast as the policeman in one play. He has like 9 lines and only shows up in the beggining but its still a part. But the bad news is that he is Irish and I can not do accents so I dont know what I am going to do. Anyway the chem test was not as bad as I thought it was, but after looking over some stuff i may have gotten a few questions wrong. More good news is that my two best friends are indeed coming up tomorrow to visit. I am so excited. Well im so glad this week is over. So off i go to take a well needed nap...

Well, these last two days went very well I think. This week has not been as stressful as I thought they were and some good things happened. I got into the wind ensemble (highest band) and I am playing first chair which is fantastic. We are playing some really nice christmas music and I really enjoy the arangements. Also I got a 94% on my bio test and an 88.5/100 on my core test. I find those scores really well and I am very happy about them. Tomorrow I have a chem test and I find out if i made any of the student directed one acts. I auditioned today, and I read three times, so I guess that is alright. But at least I had fun while auditioning. Also today SUB (student union board) sponsered an event and it was a magician. And let me tell you he was hilliarious. I loved every single minute of his act. And he proved why he is "Your girlfriends favorite magician." So....I am about to study for chem then call it a night while eating my dads split pea soup which is to DIE for. And left over cheescake from my mom's birthday yesturday. Could life get any better?

Well, today was not as bad as I thought. The core exam was fine but i ran out of time on the last essay so my second essay was not as good as I would want, but what are you going to do. My audition went really well I got a 90/100. So I think thats pretty descent for only practicing once. Now I am just studying for my Biology test tomorrow. I have so much to study for and I have a busy day tomorrow also. Well talk to you soon, just wanted to give a keep update then go back to studying....

Yes! The first day of this hell week is finally over except for studying. I did not get everything I wanted to get done today like preacticing my trombone for my band audition, but my audition is at 4:20 so after my core class I will have four hours to practice so I am not that worried. I just remembered though I have a chemistry study session from 2-4 so I have to practice from 12-2. That should be more then enough time. Tomorrow I only have one test, which i still need to read for and then studying all night long for my biology exam on Wednesday. Wednesday shouldn't be that bad because it is my Moms birthday and my parents are coming up for dinner. Yay! Then Thursday is a study day for chemistry and I have my audition for the play at 7. Then Friday I can finally relax, but I am super excited because my two best friends are coming down to spend the weekend here. I can not wait to see them. So my week looks pretty jam packed and I can not wait till it is over.

But anyway, my weekend was extrememly fun. And I finally got to show everyone my awesome dance moves, and dance my butt off. Halloween was really fun. The football game was awesome because everyone was dressed up. Rob (band director) went as a hippie and looked utterly ridiculous. Then my parents took me to Devons, and had a good meal. And then I partied for the rest of the night and told scary stories. All in all it was a great weekend. Well, I need to go read for Core so I do not fail this test. I need to keep my grades up. If you have any questions about Halloween at the Joe or anything else, feel free. This is Joe Karpiak saying, Good night and have a pleasent tomorrow...

Sorry for not blogging at all this week, I have been extrememly tired. It all started on Monday, being the procrastanator I am, I decided to hold off a five page paper till the night before. Big Mistake! I was up till the wee hours of the morning, got a total of four hours of sleep and had to wake up even earlier to print the paper in the library. All of tuesday I was basically dead. Then wednesday I had to memorize a script (which I also put off) for a greek trajedy assignment. I was a husband that committed suicide because mt daughter died. I know, its lovely. The good news is that our play was voted the best so we got cookies. Well, today I have no idea what I am doing. Probably going to see a movie or maybe go out to dinner, but tomorrow should be fantastic. Last football game and there are so many parties tomorrow night. I know Merlini, Cup O' Joe, and the columbian players are having one so a lot of party hopping tomorrow night...

But this week is nothing compared to next week. I have a band audition I havent practiced for, Getting my acting skills polished because i am auditioning for the student directed one act plays, and I have a core exam, bio exam, and chem exam. So I am going to be buried in books. So I am sorry if you dont hear from me at all next week. Till then have a Happy Halloween....

Here are some pics of my dorm room....

Im sorry I havent updated my blog in a long time, I have been busy setting up my new room and everything else this week. Well I said I would upload some pictures of my room and I will do that later on in the week, because my parents are mailing me the chord to my camera that allows me to upload them on the computer. That was the one thing i forgot to bring. So my midterms went very well last week, I got all A's. Yea! Other than organizing my room, a couple of events happened on campus that were very good entertainment. On wednesday there was a comedian named Josh Sneed that came to campus. he was so funny. His jokes were hiliarious, and at the end of his routine he had two fellow Pumas compete in a joke contest. They were not really that funny but at least they tried. Also the Columbian Players opened their first show of the year on Thursday: Crimes of the Heart.

Crimes of the Heart is about these three sisters that live in the small town of Hazelhurst, Mississippi. Lenny, the oldest, just turned 30 and is going through a midlife crisis, Meg returned home from a failed singing career in Hollywood, and Babe shot her husband on account of she didnt like his looks. The play itself is a comedic drama, but it was really good and hysterical. I saw it twice because I ushered on Thursday and Friday.

I also picked out my Halloween coustume for Saturday. My friend and I are going as this really wierd couple. We both bought masks and wigs and we look really creepy. Hopefully i will post some pictures of that. Well, that pretty much wraps up my week. So Ill just say Go PUMAS...

It was fantastic to be back home for a weekend. I needed some time to just get away from campus and to spend time with my loved ones because the next time I am coming home is over Thanksgiving. Thats still five weeks away. Anway I am almost done setting up my new room. My parents came yesturday and helped me set it up by helping me put down carpet, new curtains and my couch. Now I just have to wait for maintenance to come and take away the extra bed, wardrobe, and desk. So my room is a little compact right now. Ill put pictures up of my room sometime but I have to make it perfect first. Just thought you would want a little update of my room situation...

Yes you heard Joseph Karpiak is moving out of Gallagher hall and into a private room in Merlini. You may ask why I am moving? The answer is sometimes you get stuck with a roommate that you do not mesh with. He is a great guy but we have nothing in common. So tomorrow I am moving and then heading home for the long weekend. Im so excited because I have not been home since labor day and I desperatly need to see my friends and family. So as we speak I am taking a break from packing and writing this awesome blog. Lets see since coming to Saint Joe's I have joined some clubs to keep me active. One club, so to say, is band. I come from a competitive marching band and coming here was a hard adjustment. The band here is all about having fun, and thats just what it is. The marching band is so much fun. I love being in the stands cheering with the band, it is so exciting and an all around good time. Another fun club I am in is choir. Choir is hard work but Todd, the director, alows us to goof around sometimes and tell jokes to each other.

Midterm week is finally coming to an end, and even though I didnt have any midterms. I did take an extrememly hard chemistry test. I guess I should have prepared more. Tomorrow all I have is core discussion and lecture and then I am hitting the road back to good ol' lemont. My next blog probably wont be until next week. Parting is such sweet sorrow...

Well it is midterm week. And I am glad to say that I have not one official midterm in any of my classes. Last week I took a bio exam and it just so happens that I have a chem exam this wednesday, which I have to study for. I already took an exam for core III so Im all good. Another good thing is fall break is comming, and I am so excited to be going home. I have not been home since labor day and I miss my parents, friends and puppies! Sorry for the short blog, but I wanted to give a quick update. Till tomorrow...

In my last blog I told you how my next task at college was to start making some friends. Well I am lucky to anounce that I have made some new friends. I will always be in contact with my high school friends, but college friends usually last you a lifetime. So over the orientation week, I made friends with a bunch of girls in Seifert hall, which is a co-ed dorm sepearated by locked doors, and I have been hanging out with them since. Well that was a nice little segway into my story about today. Sometimes I get these really wierd cravings for random food. Well this craving was Chili's. I have not had Chili's since labor day weekend. I was craving the bottomless chips and salsa and chicken crispers. So my friends and I drove down to Lafayette to go to Chili's. But the best part was that we all dressed really nice to go to a Chili's. I know crazy right? But it was so much fun. After our delicious meal, we went to the lafayette mall and looked around. I love Saint Joe's on the weekends but some weekends its fun to just get away, or go satisfy a craving. Well, its really late and my eyelids are drooping. Next week is midterms so i have to start studying. Ill try to update my blog frequently, and try to keep telling stories about my first month here. So i guess I should begin with classes for next time...

I cant believe that next week is midterms. A half of a semester went by so fast. So I have to catch you up on the adventures I have had at the Joe over the past month. Ill start with the freshman anxiety, I expierenced during the summer. After I graduated high school, all I wanted to do was just go off to college. The whole summer was just one giant anxiety attack for me, because I wanted to leave so badly and start my new life. The day finally arrived, Aug 20th, the day the freshman moved in. I was so excited to have the freedom and to start my classes. Basically the day was basic orientation: meet your roommate, set up your room, say good bye to the parents, and then make new friends. The first day was extremely tough, because your basically dumped into a new enviornment with no way of gradual adjusting. This feeling is both frightening and exciting. So I checked of meet roommate, set up room, and say goodbye to parents. All that was left was to make some new friends...

Hello future pumas, parents of future pumas, or anyone that stumbled onto the site and is reading my blog.

Well to begin with my name is Joseph Karpiak. I am a freshman at Saint Joseph's College. I live in Gallagher Hall (but that may be subject to change. Ill tell the story at a later time.) I am a biology-chemistry major with no minor because a minor is not needed for my major. With a bio-chem degree, I hope to become a dentist (I know a wierd profession, but someone has to do it). Also I participate in the band, choir, columbian players (theatre group), Cup 'o Joe (free coffe house on campus), and diversity club. So I am staying relatively busy and getting involved on campus. In case anyone was wondering I play the trombone in the band. I am also a presidential scholarship winner, which means that I have a full tuition academic scholarship. I am from Lemont, Il a south suburb of Chicago. Which is about an hour and fifteen minute drive away, so I live far enough away to be away, but close enough to home so I could go home whenever I wanted. Well, I think thats a pretty good introduction of myself. I hope you enjoy my blogging and continue to read them in the future. Goodbye for now...