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A Campus Away From Campus

While Holy Cross has a wonderful campus with essentially unlimited extracurricular opportunities, I do have to admit that sometimes you develop that need to get away from campus for a few hours. Thankfully, the college has its very own retreat center less than 25 minutes away!

Holy Cross’s retreat center, the Joyce Contemplative Center, presents students with an amazing opportunity to get away from what can sometimes be a busy campus and simply slow things down to reflect on life. Located on a hilltop that overlooks gorgeous hills and a waterway, the JCC always offers an amazing sunset for students to look at! Most of the college’s retreats are held at the JCC. There are retreats for first-year students, the LGBTQ+ community, as well as a variety of other retreats that offer amazing opportunities. I definitely recommend trying to get to the JCC at least once during your first year at Holy Cross!

On a snowy day in February, I and my Montserrat classmates piled into school vans at Hogan to make the journey to the JCC. While pulling up the driveway our gaze was met with a beautiful contemporary building that just screamed: “forget about all your classes for an hour and just relax!” In the snow and cold, we all dashed to the entrance where we were greeted by a cozy crackling fireplace and a spacious dining room. On the left side of the building, there were hotel rooms for overnight retreats and there was a beautiful fully glass contemplation room that overlooks the surrounding nature located in the back of the building where we ended up performing our group presentations.

The main attraction for students is not just the beautiful building, the serene campus, or the escape from coursework. No, what do college students love almost more than anything else? FOOD of course! The JCC is renowned for dishing out some of the tastiest meals every single crusader has ever experienced in their lives. My meal was no different. With chicken parm as the main course with fresh veggies, salad, pasta, and garlic bread as sides I was stuffed. Oh wait, did I forget to mention that they also have freshly baked cookies for dessert?

Whether it’s for the retreat, the beautiful building, the serene campus, or the food; I can’t recommend going to the JCC at least once during your freshmen year!

An aerial shot of the Joyce Contemplative Center during the fall
A view of the deck of the JCC that overlooks the surrounding nature
Take a virtual tour of the JCC!
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Night at the Museum Holy Cross Style!

Ever wanted to spend a night at a museum? Well at Holy Cross that is a real possibility! The first-year student Montserrat program held an event where the entire Worcester Art Museum (ranked one of the best art museums in the nation) closed down and was solely open to Holy Cross students!

The event presented the once in a lifetime opportunity to see five famous exhibitions accompanied by equally famous musicians.  One such musician being famed cello player Jan Muller-Szeraws.

While the night’s program was specifically established for students in the Global Voices Cluster, a cluster that I am not part of, my Montserrat class taught by Professor Hooper was graciously extended an invitation to attend. The event was held in such high esteem that everyone on campus was trying to attend the event that night.

Knowing very little about the field of art or the genres of music I was going to experience that night, I didn’t know what to exactly expect. However, on the van ride back to campus late that night, I reflected on the experience and discovered that I really enjoyed the entire event.

Students were able to see famous works of arts by Monet, Jackson Pollock, and a variety of other pieces created by famous artists. Each gallery was paired with a musician, giving students the opportunity to indulge their eyes as well as their ears at the same moment. Taking in the sights and sounds at the same time was truly magical. Even music that was composed by Holy Cross’s very own Professor Shirish Korde was performed for the students!

The night was capped off with an event in the beautiful Renaissance Court where Kevin Chen of the Class 2021 performed an amazing rendition of Maurice Ravel’s Prelude from Le Tombeau de Couperin which was met with deafening and thunderous applause from everyone present in the museum.

The night at the museum was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I am so grateful I was able to experience. I am sure future students will be offered events that parallel in the amazingness of the Global Voices Montserrat’s Night at the Museum!