SMC 2005/2006: October 2005

Physical Science

The chapter we (about half of the sophomores) are covering in Science right now is on thermal energy. Naturally, we were all happy to have Dr. Strong do a few explosion demonstrations! :D
He put some kind of alcohol or acetone or something (he told us what it was, but I forget the name) in a 5 gallon water jug and then dropped a little piece of burning wood in.

The first time it didn't work. (Dr. Strong doesn't look QUITE sure what is about to happen! :P)

The second and third times it did. Wow, was the explosion loud!!! It startled everybody, including the photographer. ;) But even though the picture is blurry, I think you can tell what was going on, so I thought I'd post it anyway. :)

Dr. Strong then showed us that the same liquid would only burn - and not explode - when ignited in the open... and he wanted us to explain why. :D

...Science is a cool class. :)

1000 Hits

Thank you all so much for supporting the blog... even if it's silently. ;)
The counter tells all and, in just over a month, there have been more than 1000 visits to this blog. :D

I hope that you enjoy looking at the pictures and hope this site helps people (especially those who are long distance) stay up-to-date with the life in the College, through the eyes of its students. :) You're more than welcome to leave feedback! ;)
God bless you all and please keep checking back!

In Our Lady,
Monica

Pilgrimage to Starkenburg

The annual Starkenburg Pilgrimage was held on Saturday, October 22 this year. There were multiple chapters from St. Mary's... and the College was assigned a chapter of its own. There were a number of students who couldn't go, however, so the size of the group was relatively small. It's about a five-hour drive from St. Mary's to the place of pilgrimage. The one-day version of the Starkenburg Pilgrimage is 12 miles long, while the three-day pilgrims walk 40 miles.

These pictures were taken by Adam, as well as by myself...

Saturday dawned chilly, but clear. Very good weather for the Pilgrimage!

This is the site of the shrine to Our Lady of Sorrows, in the morning sun. The fall colors were beautiful there in central Missouri.

People began to gather about 8:30 am although the pilgrimage didn't actually get started until 9:30 or so.

Father gave a short talk before the pilgrimage and gave us all the blessing for it.

A shot of the SMC chapter from the front. The first half of the trail is nicely shaded with trees, while the second half is more out in the open and close to the highway.

"Steamboat Junction" is the break point - after 5 miles, everyone stops for lunch and a sermon. Does it remind anyone of the gospel in which the multitudes reclined on the hill??

At the top of the big hill at the junction is a small cemetery that has the tombs of at least one family for several generations back.

After lunch, we re-congregated to complete the remaining 7 miles...

...A few hours later, we reached our destination. By this time, the clouds had rolled in and the temperature had begun to drop.

Nick carried an image of Our Lady and a mantle in keeping with a Russian pilgrimage custom.

Notre Dame de la Salette Boys' Academy was there in force. They were well-behaved and gave their school a good name.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is said outdoors every year, because the diocese has no tolerance for the SSPX and their church is not available to us.

Mass was a chilly affair as the rain began just when Mass started. Curiously, the rain ended at the conclusion of Mass... but the temperature stayed down where it was! *brrr* ;)

I don't know what everyone else did, but some of us gathered to eat dinner at a little restaurant in Hermann, MO. Good spirits abounded after the pilgrimage! :D

...That was the seventh annual pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows in Starkenburg. God willing, this devotion may continue for many years to come!

Square Dance!!

Friday night a bunch of us college students and some other adults got together for a square dance. When we weren't making a 10-step into a 15-step or getting our toes stepped on, we were all having lots of fun!

All three of us, Monica, Adam and I, all took a bunch of pictures, so this post is really a group effort.

Enjoy!

The ten-step...really confusing. At least for me it was!

Dr. Strong really got into it!

Feet in motion

The waltz

The girls must have been really dizzy at the end of some of those dances!

An interesting picture of the caller showing us how its done.

John: "Why are you guys holding hands?"

John likes having all that hair!

Getting a little crazy afterwards...

These are pretty much the best out of all the pictures we took. To see the rest of them, you can visit my site here:

http://willkimball.smugmug.com/gallery/890988

To see pictures of the square dance in the beginning of the year, click here

Studies

Last night, a group of us got together in the Reading Room to (try to) study Theology. ;) Studying St. Thomas Aquinas in a group just doesn't quite work. However, I think some of us learned some of the material in the meantime!!

(Is this a stealth shot by Will?)

Happy campers? Weeeellllllll..... no. :)

Looking for some peace and quiet, Sarah settled herself in the locker room! :D

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down...... cookies are shared in the hopes that they'll act as brain food. (We'll find out if they worked when the tests come back!)

You can't quite tell but that's not just a pencil behind Larry's ear. It's a lit cigarette... or a pen that's supposed to look like one anyway!

All Day Adoration

Today, the feast of the Maternity of Our Lady, was St. Mary's' turn for All Day Adoration.

Soccer Tournament

My turn to post, finally!

Anyway, all of us on the soccer team just travelled out to St. Louis for their annual Soccer Tournament.

Our first game we played was against Kansas City. They are always our biggest competition-we beat them last year in this tournament, but lost to them in the indoor tournament. This year we lost that first game to them about 2-0 or something (someone correct me if im wrong on the scores). We had a bunch of excuses though...the field was slippery and the ball was wet and the sun was in our eyes i think.

The other two games were against Mexico (Missouri) who we beat 5-2, and St. Louis - we beat them narrowly by a score of 2-1, thanks to Larry's goal from defense.

Even though we went 2-1, we lost the tournament because of goal differential. Kansas City managed to go to the championship game because they outscored their opponents by greater margins then we did. (I think i explained that right...its kinda hard to understand). Kansas City ended up beating out St. Louis to gain the title.

I managed to get a whole bunch of pictures, and heres some of the good ones: