MCVB 2017 Kicks Off with Team BBQ

It's official--we've started.  Yesterday was move-in day, and last night was our Team BBQ.  Today we started off with gear issue, training room check-in/freshmen concussion and balance testing, and then a team meeting.  This afternoon, we'll take a hike to discuss things like Hazing, and positive team culture and communication styles, and tomorrow we finally get to practice!!  We're allowed one practice tomorrow, to be followed by an NCAA compliance meeting, and meetings with our SID about social media responsibility.  Then, in the afternoon, we'll have a speaker come in to talk about Diversity and Inclusion, followed by a video presentation and discussion about Sexual Assault and our Green Dot Prevention Program that will feature two of our seniors who've undergone the Green Dot Training Program.  It's a couple of days packed with meetings, and then we get to have days on end of double sessions where we get to PLAY VOLLEYBALL!!

And, the FUN begins...here they are by class:  Seniors, then juniors, then sophomores, and then Freshmen.

Summer Internships...Emily Published an Article

MIDD Kids do internships every summer, and I don't always get the low down on those that my players do, but Emily did one last summer that was very cool that culminated in her publishing an article for them, and both Chellsa and Becca did cool ones this summer that they shared with me!

Now, I can't believe that I didn't get this done last year, but Emily interned last summer with The Avielle Foundation (TAF), and even published an article for them, which I'll link to here.  Here's what she wrote me about her internship:

"TAF is a grass-root organization that was started in the wake of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School a few years ago. The Avielle Foundation's mission is "to prevent violence and build compassion in communities by fostering brain science research, community engagement, and education."

As a big part of TAF's resources are directed at supporting breakthrough neuroscience research, my focus is to search through the existing scientific literature about brain health! Part of my responsibility is to process the scientific literature and translate it to make the knowledge more accessible to communities all over. My area of interest in particular has been the intersection between brain health and fitness!

I've written a blog post for TAF that discusses the logic and science behind parents signing their kids up for sports because it "keeps them out of trouble." The post discusses the preventative potential of sports when it comes to violence in addition to the neurological benefits of physical activity and fitness. Please read the post if you get the chance!

Avielle Foundation Article by Emily Kolodka

This summer, Chellsa loved her internship in NYC.  One of the highlights included being an assistant to immigration officers during the citizen naturalization process.  She also gained a better understanding of the court system itself, which she says is giving her some insight on the career she intends to pursue.

Becca was interning in Boston for a company called Compass Lexecon.  Compass Lexecon works on statistical analyses for companies and also law firms needing expert testimony in litigation.  Becca got to work on a few different cases, learned a new computer statistical program, and did a final project with a couple of other interns.  At the end of their time, they presented their project to the whole office, which she found to be exciting, in particular because she got to use a lot of what she learned in her Regression class at MIDD for actual work.  Let's face it, it's always a big moment when you realize that what you're learning in class actually has a real application in life!! She also got to meet up with recent alum Kathryn, who is currently working in Boston in the field of finance.

Thanks to these guys for sharing some of their summer work, and we're currently less than a week away from the start of our 2017 season!!

Alice's Chile Updates

Since the semesters are a bit different when studying in South America, Alice didn't really start spring term classes until March.  We previously wrote about some of her travels before classes started, and now we have the full update from her abroad experience!

The classes she was taking there were Legal Psychology, Educational Psychology, and the Social History of Chile.  In lieu of a fourth class, she got a job working as a communications intern for the Red Campus Sustentable, which was an environmental organization wanting to create change from the University level.


In addition to her studies, she had the opportunity to travel down south to Patagonia.  They went to Torres del Paine, Santiago, Isla Negra (to see one of Pablo Nerudo's houses), San Alfonso del Mar (which has the largest pool in the world--so COOL!), and also got to ski in the Andes.  In addition to those cool places, she also got to travel to Valparaiso and then up north to San Pedro del Atacama.

Alice loved the opportunity to travel during her semester, but learning the language is a main focus for study abroad.  She reported that her Spanish improved dramatically through not only her studies, but mainly by hanging out with her Chilean friends, who she spent most of her time with.  The Chileans speak "incredibly fast with a very thick accent and they have a ton of colloquialisms."  But, she reported that within a couple of months she could fully understand it, which is awesome!

Reunion 2017

June 2017 marked a milestone reunion for me, and for our youngest reunion alums:  my 25th, and their 5th!  Jane, Elissa and Caroline were all back for their "first" reunion, since we celebrate them every 5 years here at MIDD.  So fun to catch up with all of them, even briefly.  Elissa came from London, where she's working on a masters in public health and did some basketball coaching this past winter at the American School in London.  Jane is working in her hometown of Chicago, and Caroline is currently in DC after finishing law school at Georgetown.  It was a gorgeous weekend for reunion, dry and sunny days nestled between rain, rain and more rain!