Meeting a Hero, Football Frenzy, and Peter Pan

The Wednesday before last, I was presented with an amazing opportunity. I, along with a few girls from my dorm, had the opportunity to meet and pray the Rosary with Father Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C. Father Hesburgh is the President Emeritus of Notre Dame and was responsible for admitting women to the University. This year is the 40th year of women's education at Notre Dame, so meeting the man responsible for that was extra special.

Father Hesburgh is an incredibly accomplished person: He was chairman of the Civil Rights Commission, chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation, and a founder of the People for the American Way. He won the Presidential Medal of Freedom (which was on display in his office) and holds the Guinness World Record for the most honorary degrees (150).

We traveled up to Father Hesburgh's 13th floor office in the eponymous Hesburgh Library (with the famous "Touchdown Jesus" mural on the south-facing wall) and were allowed to look around his meeting room while we waited for him. There were all kinds of things on display - awards, tribal art, model spacecraft, photographs, and letters from all sorts of notable people. We peeked in his tiny private chapel before we gathered to pray the Rosary. 

When we finished, he told us, "When you die, and you all reach the pearly gates, and you are asked what you have done with your lives, you can say, I am a daughter of Our Lady, and I went to Our Lady's University. And I'm pretty sure they have to let you in after that." It was awesome.

After that, Father Hesburgh allowed us to poke around his office (filled with even more cool stuff and boasting an incredible view of campus) and he answered a few of our questions, such as, "What was Martin Luther King like?" 

The magnificent view of campus from Father
Hesburgh's office window

Meeting Father Hesburgh - one of my personal heroes - was a dream come true, a definite check off my "Notre Dame Bucket List," and something I would love to do again. 

In other news, you might have possibly heard this, but NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL IS GOING TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! They crushed the Trojans of USC on Saturday night, but unfortunately there were no nearby fountains for me to jump in, so I had to settle for doing a happy dance around my living room. 

Last bit of business: While I was home for Thanksgiving, I had the pleasure of seeing my alma mater, Cardinal O'Hara's, production of Peter Pan. Check this out, folks! It's a wonderfully fun show and great for families (plus my brother is in it and he wears a fake beard). 

Cheer, Cheer for Old Notre Dame

Again, I'm terrible update-wise. I'm sorry. Being a college student is a full-time job!

I had a really nice fall break and hit the ground running as soon as I got back to campus. Here's some stuff that I've been up to lately: going to football games, studying, writing papers, reading about football, exploring campus, picking courses for next semester, watching movies (Skyfall was awesome), tweeting about football, sleeping in, playing in charity ping pong tournaments, and generally thinking about football. Did I mention football?

So. Notre Dame's football team is 10-0. IT'S AWESOME. This fantastic undefeated season hasn't been without a few bumps (namely a nailbiter against Pittsburgh last weekend that involved three overtimes). But all is well! We are protecting that zero from Wake Forest this weekend, and USC the weekend after!

My dad and I on the field of Notre Dame Stadium
before the Irish win against Pittsburgh

By the way, shout-out to Texas A&M for beating Alabama! Gig 'em, Aggies! (Insert thumbs-up here.)

Anyway, I'm getting close to the mad dash to Christmas! Next Tuesday starts my Thanksgiving break, and after that I officially register for next semester's courses in the thrilling/dreaded process known as DART, hand in two big papers, and then prepare for finals! (Imagine my excitement.)

GO IRISH! BEAT DEACONS!

Go Irish Go!

I have been terribly remiss in updating this blog, and for that I'm very sorry. The last few weeks have been a mad dash of football (yay!), exams (meh), and mountains of homework (zzzzz). But it's all good now because I am officially on Fall Break! I had my last class at 9:35 this morning, and now I have nothing to do but relax for a week.

As you may or may not know, Notre Dame football is pretty solid this year. In fact, Notre Dame football has a 5-0 record, so Notre Dame football is actually pretty awesome this year. Here are some other interesting and cool facts about the Irish this season: they are the only team in the nation that hasn't trailed in a game, they have allowed the fewest touchdowns of any team all season (that would be 3) and haven't allowed a touchdown for the last three (THREE) games, and they have allowed an average of only 7.8 points per game. ESPN obviously recognized the awesomeness that is this season, so they decided to send College GameDay to Notre Dame for tomorrow's showdown against Stanford. Campus has been abuzz with anticipation since the announcement last Sunday, and people are already camping out on Library Quad to get a good spot in the pit (and hence be on national TV). Not coincidentally, I strolled over to Library Quad before class today to catch Mike and Mike in the Morning, who were broadcasting live from Notre Dame. I could only stay a few minutes, but I did catch my man Brian Kelly and also Doug Flutie, which was cool.

Mike and Mike in the Morning on Library Quad, with
Notre Dame Stadium in the background

Indeed, I can hardly contain my anticipation to watch our lucky #7 Irish take on the #17 Cardinal. Tonight, I'll be attending the pep rally in the JACC, and I'll hit up Midnight Drummers Circle at, well, midnight. (If you don't know what Midnight Drummers Circle is, I can't really explain it very well. But I will say that it's my second-favorite event of football weekends. I LOVE IT.)

I plan to be up bright and early tomorrow to try and get on College GameDay (because who knows if they'll come back while I'm a student?! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!), I'll probably hit a tailgate or two and score some delicious tailgate food, and then I'll head over to the stadium for, of course, my favorite event of the weekend - the game. I CAN'T WAIT! Games are so fun and exciting and great and I love them.

So that's pretty much all that's been happening here in South Bend. Yep. One last and unrelated thing: I wrote my first article for the Notre Dame/Saint Mary's College newspaper, the Observer, which you can check out right here!

GO IRISH! BEAT CARDINAL!

Here Come the Irish

Hellooooo!

I'm alive and well and coming down on my third week here at Notre Dame. I really, really wanted to update sooner, but I've been up to my eyeballs with various and sundry activities such as Frosh-O (freshman orientation, a good time indeed), going to class, doing homework, finding my way around, occasionally working out, hanging out at soccer games, signing up for clubs and activities, admiring the Dome from many, many angles (it's still really pretty), calling home every now and again, and searching for free t-shirts and free food.

Really, life is great here. It's a whirlwind, but I'm so, so happy and so, so lucky to be here. There's a Notre Dame t-shirt that I've seen around campus a few times that really struck me. It says "If you're lucky enough to be Irish, you're lucky enough."

On another note, you may or may not know that this weekend is a football weekend! I will be attending my first-ever Notre Dame football game and I cannot wait. Our boys made us proud in Dublin last weekend against Navy (yes, I got up at 8:55 AM and rolled downstairs in my pajamas for my hall's gamewatch) and everyone is hoping for a repeat performance against Purdue. If you want minute-to-minute updates and pictures, check my Twitter (@nicolemcalee)!

I promise I'll be updating more frequently now, so please check back soon!

On the Way to Notre Dame

I'm sitting in my room and twiddling my thumbs because - miraculously - there is nothing left for me to do here.

All my things - and I mean all  of them - are packed neatly (if tightly) in boxes, and all the boxes have been packed neatly (if tightly) in my mom's mivinan. The only things left are the computer on which I'm writing this post, and the set of clothes I'm putting on when I get up at 4 AM to make the 690-mile drive to South Bend.

This

is what my family room looked like before we packed the car. Yup. I called my brother downstairs, waved the Notre Dame flag around, and sang "Students, now we pledge ourselves to hold this barricade..." He just stared at me.

Tomorrow, I'm leaving my hometown. I'm moving to a new place, with new people, alone, hundreds of miles away. Maybe the scary reality of the situation hasn't hit me yet, but I can't find it in me to be anything but absolutely thrilled and excited!

I probably won't have a whole lot of time to sit down and blog over the next few days - I have a packed orientation schedule - but check my Twitter (@nicolemcalee) to see how that pesky 11-hour drive is going....

Delco, I'll see ya on the flipside.

A New Journey, a New Blog

Well, the moment I've been waiting for since fifth grade has finally, finally arrived. I'm going to college!

Well, I mean, not right this moment. But in approximately 4 days, 6 hours, 20 minutes, and 43 seconds, I will be on my merry way to the University of Notre Dame, where I will spend the next four years obsessing over football, paying late-night visits to the Grotto, trudging through the snow...oh, and studying. That too.

You might be wondering why I wanted to spend the majority of the next four years in the middle of nowhere, a place with harsh winters and - get this - no Wawa.

Well, that's kind of the whole point of this blog. Notre Dame is an incredible place and very different from Delco, and I want to share my experiences under the Golden Dome - the ups and downs, the traditions, the amusing Midwestern-ness of the place - with you folks back home! It's going to be crazy and exciting and awesome, and I hope you'll join me on my journey.

In the meantime, I have about a metric ton of clothes, shoes, toiletries, office supplies, linens, miniature toolkits, clip-on fans, and Rubbermaid tubs that I have to sort through. Packing is serious business, folks.

One last thing: You can follow me on Twitter (@nicolemcalee) on the progress of my packing, or driving, or moving in...