RedZone on the Road: Trip to Georgetown

          I took my first "RedZone on the Road" trip on Sunday, February 12, to the Men's Basketball game against Georgetown, held at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C.. Excited to attend my first basketball game for the sole purpose of being a spectator and fan (instead of playing with the band as I have done for all our home games), I spent the night before making a sign for my friend and favorite player, God'sgift Achiuwa, to hold up in the stands and cheer him on. 

          We arrived just in time for the game to start. I was in for quite a surprise when I discovered our seats were in the highest section possible -- a big change from my usual courtside seat with the Pep Band. No matter how high up, I enjoyed rooting for the Johnnies with the RedZone and making my cheers heard throughout the game. I was proud of the great game they played against the 12th ranked Georgetown Hoyas. Even though they weren't able to pull off a win in the end (the final score was 71-61), our team played strong and kept the score very close until the final few minutes.

          After the game, we were given the remainder of the afternoon to eat and tour D.C.. It was a lot of fun walking around the streets of D.C. with a group of STJ kids, and we managed to see quite a bit on our way to and from the White House. We stopped in the Spy Museum's gift shop, and also got the chance to take pictures with a wax figure of President Abraham Lincoln (on what would have been his 203rd birthday) in front of D.C.'s Madame Tussauds Wax Museum! We enjoyed walking by the Washington Monument and admiring its presence in the pretty blue sky, and we also enjoyed seeing many other noteworthy buildings. When we finally made it to the White House, we had a lot of fun taking pictures, representing St. John's with our game attire. I even got a picture with my God'sgift sign outside the White House gate! 

          On the bus ride home, I enjoyed thinking about all the fun we had all day. I'm so happy to have so many great memories from my first RedZone trip! 

Our view of the arena

Me with friends Christine (left) and Lizzy (right) with my sign

Me and Lizzy sitting with Lincoln on his birthday!

STJ Storms the White House!

Me letting the nation know about 'God'sgift to Basketball'
outside the White House!

Valentine's Themed DAC After Dark

          STJ Student Life got a head start on Valentine's Day by having Hershey's kisses cookies at DAC After Dark on Thursday, February 9. There were also plenty of fun, festive decorations on hand, as can be seen in these photos of me with my SGI (Student Government) friends Oscar and Lizzy, both of whom I would be spending the following Sunday with on the STJ RedZone Men's Basketball trip to Georgetown. That night, the three of us had fun getting more excited by the minute in anticipation of our D.C. trip, anxiously awaiting Sunday's arrival!

Giants Parade Watching Party in DAC

          I was sitting on my favorite rock enjoying the beautiful sunny morning of Tuesday, February 7, when my friends Alice, Jebin, and Sasha spotted me as they were coming out of DAC. They had Dunkin' Donuts munchkins and coffee cups in their hands, and they told me to go inside DAC to check out the Giants parade watching party in the student org lounge, where they had just come from and gotten all the goodies. When I made it there myself, I was excited to see the parade being shown on the projector and discovered they had cute blue star-shaped Boston Kreme donuts as part of the celebration! I enjoyed sitting there having my donut with a couple of friends before heading to my next class of the day.

My friend Sarah and me at the Giants parade watching party 

Dunkin' Donuts - 'Big Blue' Star Style

Super Bowl XLVI Viewing Party in Taffner

          I attended my first Super Bowl party on Sunday, February 5, thanks to STJ Campus Recreation, which sponsored the bash being held in in Taffner Field House for students to watch the Giants take on the Patriots in SuperBowl XLVI. Although I am the furthest thing from a football fan, I always enjoy cheering NY teams on, and considering it was a game with so many intriguing parallels to the Super Bowl of four years ago, I definitely was interested to watch. Most important, I was excited to get to spend the time with friends. 

          It was awesome to see STJ go all out for this party, which had Campus Recreation Superbowl t-shirts and what seemed like an unending table of yummy game food including subs, chicken wings, pizza, and even cookies decorated with the two teams' logos. Most impressive was the GIANT inflatable screen (it was almost as high as the ceiling) that was set up for everyone to view the game on. It was a lot of fun watching the game with my friends James, Neal, Amanda, and Ashley, and especially having James to explain different parts of the game or players' bios to me along the way. I also enjoyed watching the ads, and laughing at and discussing them with my friends. 

         It was very exciting when the Giants, who seemed to be down on luck for most of the latter part of the game, scored the touchdown that would ultimately win them the game. As the clock ran out, officially crowning the Giants as champions, the room was filled with students jumping up and down and cheering, and my friends and I were especially happy to celebrate with the kid sitting behind us, who had proved throughout the game to be a super duper Giants fan! My friends and I then had so much fun as we left Taffner and walked up the hill to the D'Angelo Center singing "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!"

We knew we were in for a fun time when we were greeted by this as we
made our  way down the stairs of Taffner Field House to the party

My friend Stacey and I holding up our Campus Recreation Super Bowl XLVI Party t-shirts by the Super Bowl balloons that decorated the room

NY Giants cookies!

A photo of the Giants celebrating their win on the big screen

James, Ashley, Neal, Amanda, and me, all smiles outside
Taffner after our New York Giants' big win!

DAC After Dark - Cupcakes!

          My weeklong wait was over when DAC After Dark cupcake night finally arrived on Thursday, February 2. Students had a choice between a vanilla cupcake with chocolate icing (which my friend Amber and I can each be seen holding below), chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting, and chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting (which Taylor has in the picture). It was sweet enjoying these treats together and spending time with friends.