Admission & Financial Aid Ronnie Falasco '21

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Today was quite a sad day for me, as it marked the annual retrieval of my knee-length parka from wherever I threw it the previous spring. (This year, it happened to be crumpled up in a suitcase that was shoved way too far under my bed.) As I sit here writing this blog post, the temperature outside is 28 degrees, and the weather forecast is calling for 5 to 8 inches of snow. I hate to say it, but winter has arrived, people.

While I do enjoy certain aspects of the winter season (the snow, the abundance of holidays, the peppermint-flavored drinks that stores only sell when it’s cold), it will never eclipse my love for the fall, especially the fall in Amherst.

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My first year at Amherst, I spent a majority of the fall simply trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Consequently, by the time I had gotten a bit of a grip on the whole college thing, winter had taken over. As a result of my minimal participation in fall-related activities, I made it my mission to appreciate Amherst’s fall to the fullest this year. Looking back on it now, I think I did just that.

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One thing I made sure to do was to visit the first-year quad as much as possible. Not only did these frequent visits help to ease my separation anxiety from the quad (I truly miss living there), but they also provided me with some amazing views. Whether I was finishing up a reading, writing a paper, catching up with friends, or simply spending some time alone, the quad was a place where I could take some time out of my busy day to just appreciate the beauty of Amherst’s campus. 

Regarding athletics, I went to as many sports games as I possibly could. While I may be a bit biased, as I’m a member of the softball team, Amherst’s athletic teams are really talented, making for some really fun games. This fall, I went to my first Amherst field hockey game (and saw an amazing sunset while I was there), watched plenty of men’s and women’s soccer games, and even hiked all the way down to the football field to watch a game! In fact, this year marked my first homecoming football game, as I was working volleyball games during last year’s homecoming.

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This fall was also a time of many spur-of-the-moment trips. On one particularly gorgeous October day, two of my friends and I went roller-blading on the bike path behind campus. Although I’m not the most talented roller-blader out there—especially when compared to my one Minnesota-born friend, who basically exited the womb with skates on her feet—I was absolutely blown away by the gorgeous scenery that we skated by. On another October day, four of my friends and I, looking for a way to enjoy ~spooky~ season, decided to drive two hours to Salem, MA. While there, we took plenty of strange pictures with people in costumes, walked through one of the famous Salem Witch Trial graveyards, and pet a lot of adorable, dressed-up dogs.

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While I accomplished a lot this fall, I wasn’t able to check off every item on my fall bucket list. Subsequently, I’ve compiled a list of activities that I hope to complete next fall, including hiking Mount Sugarloaf, visiting the DAR State Forest, going to a haunted house, and biking all the way to Northampton. Needless to say, I’m already counting down the days until my next Amherst fall!

As I was walking out of the weight room following my first post-break lift, I overheard a player describe his Thanksgiving break as having been “boring, but the good kind of boring” to one of his coaches. While I initially thought, “Well, that’s a weird way to describe your break,” I quickly realized that my break, too, was a good kind of boring. Although I didn’t spend it lying on a beach in Fiji or skiing in Colorado, I had the chance to relax at home, as well as to reunite with many of my closest friends and family members.

Before I was even able to leave for break, though, I was faced with an interesting and unexpected obstacle: snow. The day before I was supposed to drive home, the weather forecast was calling for snow. And, no, we’re not talking about a little flurry. We’re talking 6-10 inches. All I wanted to do was drive home early the next morning, but the Snapchat stories I watched throughout the day of my friends trudging through snow at schools a few hours south of Amherst told me that that was not going to happen. Thankfully, although Amherst ended up getting a decent amount of snow that night, the roads were cleared and ready to go the next morning! The snow didn’t really matter in the end, though, as I ended up sleeping in far past my desired departure time. I did eventually leave, though, and made it home in time to eat the first of many home-cooked meals!

The first few days of break consisted of me sleeping in until noon, consuming all of the food in my fridge, petting my cats, watching movies with my family, and taking showers without shower shoes on (yes, this is a big deal). To put it simply, I did a whole bunch of nothing. And it was great.

A few days into break, I finally mustered up the willpower to leave the comfort of my house and do a few things. I started off the day by catching up with two of my friends over some amazing breakfast food. Afterward, my mom and I went shopping at one of my favorite thrift shops (shoutout Goodwill), which eventually resulted in me returning to Amherst with more clothes than I left with. Later that night, I tried to help my mom prepare some of the food for our Thanksgiving dinner the next day but ended up peeling approximately one half of a potato and walking around the kitchen a few times.

Thanksgiving Day was a rough one for my body but a good one for my soul. I ate every kind of food imaginable—cheese, stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, brownies, pies— in the presence of family members and friends that I hadn’t seen in months. Although I was dangerously stuffed, at least I was in pain with some of the 

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people that I love the most.

After Thanksgiving, I reunited with many of my best friends from high school. We had a Friendsgiving dinner, talked about what we’d been up to this past semester, drove to a diner at 1 o’clock in the morning, and laid in bed the entirety of the following day doing absolutely nothing. It was a classic high school hangout, and it was amazing.  

As break drew to a close, my dad continued to remind me that I needed to rake the leaves in our yard before I left. I had pushed it off all of break in hopes that the leaves would magically blow away. As you might’ve guessed, they didn’t blow away. In fact, I think they doubled in number, making the task even more difficult than it would’ve been if I had just sucked it up and raked at the start of break. I absolutely love the fall on the east coast, but raking has to be the worst part of it, by far.

Overall, Thanksgiving break was a rejuvenating one for me. I got my fill of fun but was still able to fit in a substantial amount of much-needed relaxation time. All of that downtime allowed me to reflect on just how thankful I am for the family and friends that I have at home. While it might sound cheesy, they’re the stable base that I can always rely on to be there for me in the midst of all of the craziness of work, school, and life, in general.

But don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my Amherst friends, too. And now that Thanksgiving has passed, it’s time to move onto my absolute favorite time of the year… THE HOLIDAY SEASON!!!!

Now that I’m knee-deep into my sophomore year of college, I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on my first year here at Amherst. What I’ve come to realize as a result of all of this retrospective thinking is that I’ve grown. A lot. I’ve made countless friends, gone on spur-of-the-moment trips, learned how to live on my own, eaten strange foods, made tons of mistakes (and, thankfully, learned from them), and, overall, become a more independent, confident person. Although this period of time was characterized by plenty of instability and change, there was one element that provided me with the consistent support that I needed and ultimately allowed me to experience the growth that I did: my dorm floor (aka J3).

Coming to Amherst, I, like most other first-years, was extremely worried about making friends — and my first James Hall 3rd floor meeting only fueled that anxiety. Based on the many instances of awkward eye-contact and drawn-out silence, I didn’t foresee myself forming any sort of relationship with most of my floormates. Boy, was I wrong, though.

Flash forward one day, several of my floormates and I were hiding in our RC’s room while he switched his laundry in an attempt to scare him. Was it a little weird? Sure. Did we scare our RC? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely. In my mind, this slightly strange occurrence was the catalyst that kickstarted the whirlwind of floor bonding that ultimately led me to fall in love with J3.

Within the first few weeks of school, my floormates and I had inadvertently established an open door policy. I cannot count the number of times that people walked into my room without knocking just to say, “Hi!” or to steal a snack. Although I was awoken from many a midday nap because of this, I was more than willing to sacrifice some sleep for the sake of friendship.

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The first few weeks of the semester also saw the common room develop into J3’s social hub. Its walls were gradually covered in Polaroid pictures we took of each other throughout the year, and the main table always had some assortment of food on it. No matter if I needed someone to eat my Grab-and-Go lunch with or if I wanted to relax at 2:00 AM after a long night in the library, I could always depend on someone being in the common room.

Tuesday nights were one for the books, as that was when we had our weekly tea times. Some nights, I’d only have time to stop in and grab a quick snack (shoutout to my RC for always bringing the best food). Most nights, though, I’d end up getting sucked into some sort of debate or Buzzfeed survey spree, completely derailing my studying plans. My GPA did survive, though, because the common room was also the site of countless homework sessions that often went until the very late hours of the night.

Our friendships extended outside of the walls of J3, as well. We supported each other at our dance shows, acapella performances, and sports games. We went to dinner together. We met up during the weekends. Simply put, we really liked to spend time together.

On the whole, J3 was a community that I loved being a part of. Its 24 members consisted of dancers, athletes, painters, geologists, mathematicians, writers, politicians, entrepreneurs, and everything in between. This melting pot of different talents, interests, cultures, ethnicities, and overall life stories introduced me to people I never would have met otherwise. Despite our differences, though, we were united by our acceptance of and love for one another.

Thus, I’d like to thank J3 not only for giving me many of my closest friends to this day but also for being a place that I will always be able to call home.

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Hi! My name is RonnieMarie Falasco, but everyone (aside from my mom) calls me Ronnie. I’m a sophomore Psychology major here at Amherst and hail from Broomall, Pennsylvania, which is a suburb right outside of Philadelphia. If you were wondering, I absolutely, 100% do not support the Patriots — FLY EAGLES FLY!!!

On campus, I’m a member of the varsity softball team, Active Minds, Amherst Christian Fellowship, Psychology Club, and the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Some of my more ~professional~ ventures at Amherst have included being a note taker for a few of my classes, working the women’s volleyball games, and working for Kaplan Test Prep on campus. When I’m not doing any of these things, you can probably find me running/biking/walking on the Amherst bike trail, playing basketball on the Greenway courts with my friends, watching rom-coms on Netflix, seeking out the nearest dog to pet on campus, napping in the Frost Library beanbag chairs (those things are deadly), or spending way too much money on coffee and food.

If you have any questions or comments about Amherst or myself, please feel free to reach out to me (rfalasco21@amherst.edu)!