Bentley Golf – The Dream(y) Team

When people think athletic success at Bentley, they rightly think of our Women’s Basketball program, Division 2 National Champions in 2013-14 (seriously WATCH THIS VIDEO) and perennial favorite to make a deep run into the NCAA tournament. Or they think of the Division 1 Men’s Hockey program, touting Hobey Baker finalists (best college hockey player in the country), and big game wins against the likes of Hockey East powerhouse Boston University, or Atlantic 10 foe Holy Cross outside at Fenway Park last January.

Well I’m here to introduce you to the best team you haven’t heard much about. Bentley University Men’s Golf. Am I probably a little biased because I’m on the team? No……

Yes. But in the academic year to date, the team has either won or been runner-up in 5 out of our first 7 tournaments, with three victories. In fact, one of those victories came in the NE-10 conference championship, a 13 shot triumph over the field, and the first conference championship for any Bentley team this year (certainly not the last one though).

While I don’t have the perspective of athletes in other sports, I can relay how being a golfer has enriched my time here at Bentley, and been one of the most rewarding experiences I had over four years.

The Boys – Golf gave me a group of guys who I immediately connected with, as well as a network of under and upperclassmen who helped me with everything from selecting classes to maximizing my time at Bentley. I have become great friends with all of my teammates, and one of the other seniors has been my roommate for the past two years. Just like any organization or activity you choose to pursue at Bentley, you will meet some incredible people, and I feel fortunate to have shared my Bentley experience with all of the guys on the golf team over the past 3+ years.

Scheduling – Scheduling around golf means I can’t take any Wednesday day classes or Friday classes at all…as in I’ve had three day weekends for my entire Bentley career. I must say, it makes you appreciate the flexibility of scheduling Bentley provides its students, and other students utilize this flexibility to do an internship or an on campus job, but I’m perfectly content golfing.

Structure – I don’t know how it works for other people, but the relationship between my free time and productivity is a little backwards. Somehow when I have more time to do things I get less done. Golf has helped provide structure in my life, where by keeping myself busy I have been able to maintain a sharp focus on academics and all of the many other commitments that undergraduates have to manage. I think this is reflected across the entire team, because when we won our conference championship in 2012, we were the only team in the Northeast-10 conference to have both won the conference championship and have the highest cumulative team GPA in our sport.

I think my experience on the golf team is reflective of my 3+ years so far at Bentley. The people have made the team what it is for me. Just as my professors and peers make the experience in the classroom meaningful, my teammates and especially my coach have been instrumental in my growth as a golfer and as a person. Golf is a game that I will take with me beyond school, but I’m certainly trying to hold on to that sense of team as much as I can for now.

If you are interested in playing for any sport here at Bentley, check out our Bentley Athletics Website and do some exploring. There are individual sites for each sport as well as a directory to get in touch with coaches. If you are interested in golf in particular feel free to reach out. And check out this dashing group of fellows:

“‘We don’t want no mediocre’ – T.I.” – Bentley Men’s Golf Team

Reflection on my Freshman Year

You know those people that tell you that college goes by in the blink of an eye? BELIEVE them. My friends and family throughout high school used to tell me that high school was nothing compared to how fast college goes by…I never believed them, until now. I swear I was JUST a freshman. Now that I am a junior I like to reflect a lot on my Freshman year experience and how it’s gotten me to where I am now. So here it is:

My freshman year experience started at Freshman orientation:

Orientation was great! This is where I met a lot of cool people and my fellow classmates. It didn’t really hit me until that day when I was walking into our Student Center to register with my future roommate that I was actually going to Bentley. You’re surrounded by all these new people in this new environment. Everything kind of hits you, but as soon as you start getting to know your way around campus (which you will after orientation) you can’t even imagine how campus will feel with all the rest of the students on campus.

Now, I have been an Orientation leader for two summers in a row and it’s been an even greater experience then when I was participating in orientation (if that’s even possible). It was such an amazing opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and meet some amazing people. Orientation is an experience on it’s own… It’s made me such an amazing leader and has helped me in so many more different ways. I’ve been on both ends of Orientation and it’s definitely made me realize how much I have grown since my first year here at Bentley.

My next experience was the ALANA experience:

ALANA stands for African American, Latino, Asian American and Native American. Although it emphasizes participation for minorities this is a program for everyone! The ALANA experience starts a few days before first week for freshman starts. You get to move in early and make a lot of friendships and networking connections. But most important of all, these people truly become your family. This is where I met some of my best friends. Four out of the seven people pictured above (not including myself) are still my BEST friends. The ALANA experience helped continue everything that Orientation started and more.

Next was First Week:

First week is when you truly get to see ALL of the freshman class. You really don’t realize how big your freshman class is until you see everyone during first week. This week is when all the freshman get to know each other even more and get to do some introductory work to get their year started. We got out laptops, met some professors, went to commencement, and got to sleep in our freshman year dorms. After first week EVERYTHING gets jumpstarted. You get to meet all of the upperclassmen, join clubs, and really start shaping what you want your four years to look like. It’s amazing to reflect on how my different years at Bentley have gone and I could write infinite blogs about all the things that I learned and experienced my freshman year. And don’t worry, a “Lessons I learned my freshman year” post will come soon! All this reflecting has me teary eyed to think I’m almost a senior! WOAH. I can never get over it. No matter how many times I say it or type it. Anyways, you will all hear from me soon!

Signing off,

Esperanza

5 Easy Steps to Having an Awesome First Year at Bentley

No matter how much I refuse to believe that this is my last year at Bentley, it is inevitable that I will be walking across the stage in May to receive my diploma. It has been one crazy ride these past few years, but after some reflection I realized that freshman year was the start to my amazing experience at Bentley.

With that said, let me leave you with 5 easy steps to having an awesome first year at Bentley

1. Attend ORIENTATION

College… It can be a little nerve-wracking. You are most likely leaving home for the first time to an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar faces, but trust me on my words that orientation will take all those nerves away. Are you scared of doing something embarrassing? Don’t worry the Orientation Leaders will be doing things that will surpass any sort of embarrassment you may come across. Just EMBRACE THE CHEESE and you will find yourself making friends before the semester even starts. You might even find a potential roommate!

                     

2. Set S.M.A.R.T Goals

Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Realistic. Timely

Everyone sets goals beginning January 1st to start off the New Year, but why not set some more goals day 1 of college? Think about the things you want to achieve in your first year. Whether it is a personal or academic based goal, college is a blank slate where you can start all over. Continue to set and reach your goals throughout your years at Bentley, and you will find yourself succeeding in all your endeavors.

Tip: Make your goals visible! Write them down or create a dream board and tape it to your wall or mirror everyday to remind yourself of the achievements you want to obtain by the end of your first year.

3. Get INVOLVED

There are over 100 student organizations recognized on campus! So go to the Activities Fair at the beginning of the semester and sign up for something you’re interested in. This is a great way to meet new people that have common interests with you! My best friend and I became friends starting freshman year through our involvement in South Asian Students Association.

4. EXPLORE

You may or may not be from Waltham, MA, but there is always room to venture out in the town and Boston. With the close proximity to Boston and access to Harvard Square via the Bentley Shuttle Bus, you can explore the beautiful city with friends and family! You might also want to really venture out and go skydiving one day with your friends. 

5. Build RELATIONSHIPS

Most importantly, build relationships with peers, faculty, and staff! I touched upon meeting new people in the previous steps, but take the time to create those strong bonds with them. I am so appreciative of the people I met at Bentley. My peers, faculty, and staff were the ones that supported and helped me grow with the opportunity to become an Orientation Leader, ALANA Leader, Resident Assistant, Peer Academic Advisor, Admissions Fellow, and Risk Assurance Intern at PwC.

Warm Welcome

I think I stared at my computer screen for a good 20 minutes trying to figure out how to start my first introduction entry. I typed in so many introduction sentences and none of them seemed perfect or witty enough to make the cut. I didn’t want to start off with my name because duh, that’s too cliche and I didn’t want to start off with something too corny because as corny as I am, you’ll get to see more of that through all of my other blog posts. So then I thought to myself, why are you here? Why are you reading this rant that seems to be about what goes through most peoples’ head before starting any kind of paper or writing assignment. You’re here to learn about me and my everyday life here at Bentley. I wish there was one blog post that could describe my experience here at Bentley and how much I love my school, but the problem with that is the blog post would be a million pages long because my experiences that happen here at Bentley deserve their own blog posts. You’re going to be following my life from THIS POINT ON, through all of my experiences that help shape my time here at Bentley.

Now lets finally get to a little bit of background of who I am because well, this isn’t an anonymous blog. My name is Esperanza Silva but most of my friends call me Espie for short. Spell it however you want, Espie, Espy, Espe, Espi…I’ve seen them all. But professionally I like to use my full name, Esperanza. For those of you Spanish-speaking people, it means hope in Spanish. So yes, I am Hispanic. I am 100% Mexican, I was born in Mexico and both of my parents were too, i’m the whole shebang. I lived in California for most of my life but eventually moved to Massachusetts around the beginning of middle school. I am a first generation child in my family so being at Bentley is a huge deal for me. I am a junior and a passionate, creative seeking Marketing major here at Bentley. I love life and everything in it. I am the type of person that as a junior, still walks around constantly thinking of how amazing my school is.

So for my first post I want to talk about my amazing weekend I just had. I am a part of the women’s group on campus and this weekend we went away to a retreat in Maine. It was such an inspiring weekend. We all got together as women and got to share our experiences with others. Sometimes you don’t realize how much support you can get from people who might be going through the same thing you are. This was a Bentley sponsored event. We as women are very powerful and can give a lot of insight to one another based off each others experiences. We had sessions about what it is to be a woman and different problems that we may face in the business world. The whole weekend had everyone feeling empowered and ready to take on anything that crossed their path. There were about 20 girls and 3 advisors that attended the trip. It’s experiences like this that I am blessed to receive and be a part of. Not only was the house in Maine beautiful but the landscape outside of it was breathtaking. Which could define the whole weekend: breathtaking and beautiful.