John Monopoli
From Dickinson College Wiki
Contents |
Personal History
About Me
I am a first-year student at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., and I am from Vestal, New York. It is considered upstate, about 70 miles south of Syracuse. My birthday is June 14, 1989, and I would like to eat Italian food every day of the year. I came here looking for a small school with excellence in the liberal arts, and I have definitely found it! Psychology is my prospective major, but I likely will not decide until next year. I like to talk about politics, sports, movies, literature, and current events, and I like to complain. Generally, I am easy going although I know I am usually pretty quiet. I naturally have a sarcastic sense of humor.
Some of you may recognize this as my facebook profile picture. It was taken before first period on the last day of classes.
Places where I have lived
- Cherry Hill, New Jersey--June 1989 to August 1989
- Gainesville, Georgia--August 1989 to October 1992
- Port Huron, Michigan--October 1992 to December 1997
- Vestal, New York--December 1997 to August 2003
- Crown Point, Indiana--August 2003 to June 2005
- Vestal (Again)--June 2005 to present
When I was younger, my family moved around quite a bit because of my dad's job. He worked as a newspaper publisher with the Gannett Company for just under 20 years. Although I have lived in five states, I consider myself a New Yorker at heart.
Schools I have attended
- Keehwadin Elementary School (Michigan) Port Huron Schools
- African Road Elementary (New York)
- Vestal Middle School (New York)
- Crown Point High School (Indiana) Crown Point Schools
- Vestal Senior High School (New York)Vestal Schools
Two of my good friends and me right after graduation last June.
Family History
- Father's name is William V. Monopoli, born in Utica, NY
- Mother's name is Mary Monopoli, born in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
My mom grew up in the Toronto area, where much of my family lives today. She attended Brock University in St. Catherines, Ontario. All of her family immigrated to Canada from Ireland. My dad spent his entire childhood in Utica, then attended Hamilton College (I'm sure many of you know where it is--about 20 minutes from Utica). His father's family immigrated from Italy first to northeastern Pennsylvania, then to upstate New York around 1910. His mother's family came from Italy straight to Utica, and they have been there ever since. The document below is my paternal great grandfather's enlistment card into the army on September 12, 1918. His name was Salvatore.
At home, I have a sister, Olivia, who will turn 12 in October. We adopted her from China in March 1997. She is currently in the sixth grade at Vestal Middle School, where I was not too long ago. We have two dogs, one German Shephard and one Golden Doodle (half poodle, half Golden Retriever). In addition, we also have two cats--one is 25 pounds, the other is around eight.
Activities/Interests
High School
In high school, I did mock trial, cross country, track, and helped out on the school newspaper.
The New York State Bar was in charge of mock trial, with a group of lawyers that would write a fake case to be argued by witnesses and lawyers. I was a lawyer for the one year that I participated. It took much time and preparation, but in the end you end up in a real courtroom with a real judge presiding over the case. New York State Bar Association
Surprisingly enough, our cross country program has its own website. We won the section last year and then finished last in the state meet, which was still fun. I finished ninth out of 30 on the team...I am not so lucky here at Dickinson but I love it anyway. My team in high school was very close knit, with an inordinate amount of inside jokes and carrying on a tradition of having a pasta dinner at someone's house the night before a race.
Our school newspaper was not much in my high school. We published about once a month if we were lucky, but I still had a leadership position as an associate editor and editorial writer.
All of the seniors last year on my cross country team. I'm in the second row.
College
I'm on the cross country team, and I am certainly not the ninth fastest runner. It's still great fun, though. Dickinson Athletics
I was also recently elected to one of the class senator positions. It is the first time I have ever done student government and I am looking forward to representing the class. In addition, I am on Model United Nations and a member of the Keystones, the all male community service group. It's a great alternative to joining a fraternity.
Model UN travels to four conferences throughout the year to discuss random political topics, some of which are extremely obscure. I am not active right now because the first conference, September 27, interferes with cross country. But I hope to participate at the one in Montreal in January.
Employment History
Since summer 2004, I have worked at the concession stands for the Binghamton Mets Baseball Club, the minor league affiliate of the New York Mets. You come to the game, order food, and I serve you. This year, however, I got to work at the picnic area a bit more--definitely preferable because all picnics end at 9:30 (the games start at 7) and we ate the remaining food after everyone left. This job paid minimum wage, now $7.15 per hour in New York State. Binghamton Mets
For about a month this summer I worked in production at the Wedding Gown Preservation Company. It was painful and tedious, but I was payed $8.00 per hour to essentially put UPS labels on boxes for five hours a day. I will definitely look for something better next summer! Wedding Gown Preservation Co.
Other Interests and Hobbies
Reading
I consider myself a big newspaper fan, and I read them whenever possible. My favorites are listed below.
- The New York Times New York Times
- The Washington Post Washington
- The Philadelphia Inquirer Philadelphia Inquirer
Depending on the time, I start with sports and then move on to the front section, then local news.
As you can tell, I do like the liberal media, although I sometimes read The Wall Street Journal, which brings up another interest that I will mention later.
Books
I love fiction, especially eerie mystery novels that involve gruesome murders!
My favorites include The Alienist and Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr. They both can be considered psychological thrillers and take place in New York City in the early twentieth century. Both their themes center around discussions of what is truly evil and what isn't, and what qualifies as insanity. In both books, strife between the social classes is an issue since the victims are poor and their deaths deemed unimportant by society.
I also enjoy John Grisham--my favorite book of his is The Client. An unlucky 12-year-old kid has to witness a suicide and then have his life threatened by the mafia. Legal thrillers with courtroom drama are very entertaining as well, even if they don't depict dead bodies and a serial killer on the loose.
Then, of course there is the Harry Potter series. It took me a long time to read the last book, one week to be exact.
Movies
There is almost nothing better than a great thriller that has you literally on the edge of your seat for two hours or more. I loved Tears of the Sun with Bruce Willis and Cast Away with Tom Hanks. Whenever I need motivation, I watch one of those two. Man of Fire with Denzel Washington was tremendous as well. My favorite comedies are Animal House and Office Space.
My taste in movies is a bit odd too. I will usually always pick a serious movie or one that exemplifies different social issues over a comedy. I also am a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan's productions, with The Village as my top preference. I've seen all of his movies, and I think the Sixth Sense was really well done too, although Lady in the Water, was disappointing.
M. Night Shyamalan Fan Club
I remember when I watched Lady in the Water in March of this year, it was a Friday night and there was a blizzard, so there was little social activity going on then. I remember that I had gotten my admissions letter from Dickinson that day, and what did I do to celebrate? I drove with my flashers on to Blockbuster to rent the only Shyamalan film I hadn't seen and it turned out terrible.
In short, I enjoy literary and film productions that play games with your mind.
Television Shows
My most beloved one hour programs are 24 and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. I started watching 24 two seasons ago and I immediately found myself addicted after four-hour the season premiere. I wonder what the state of the world would be if there actually Jack Bauer actually existed. Terrorism would cease to exist. 24 official website
My affection for CSI is related to my fondness for murder mysteries, in movies or literature. After watching my first full season last autumn, I still can never guess the criminal out of the two or three suspects that they interview. I follow religiously the original edition of this show, set in Las Vegas. However, if the Miami or New York editions are on late at night I watch them as well.
Investments
I blame my father for getting me involved in something extremely unusual for an 18-year-old, but I know it is an interest that will pay off in the future. I'm currently reading Peter Lynch's Learn to Earn and I try to follow the stock market as much as possible. It can be difficult when there is so much schoolwork to do, so I have to fit it in in my limited spare time. New York Stock Exchange
Music
I can tolerate anything except country (being from New York, I think this is expected). I love listening to rap, particularly T.I., 50 Cent, 2Pac, and Eminem. I love to listen to rock, especially Three Doors Down, Coldplay, and Lifehouse.
As with many people, my mood affects the type of music I prefer. I enjoy rap because it motivates me to complete a challenging task, whether it be running a cross country race or taking a final exam. Soft rock is good when I want to reflect or think, or just relax.
I find it impossible to pick a favorite song since I love so many at different times. "Fix You" and "Clocks" are my favorites from Coldplay, and my favorite rap songs are "Tempations" by 2Pac and "No More Talk" by T.I.
Sports
I have been a baseball fan my entire life, ever since my dad took me to my first game when I was five years old. The first time I ever saw a major league game was in Toronto in 1995, and I have followed the Toronto Blue Jays ever since, despite their lack of success. In football, I love the New York Jets, and in the winter and early months of the year I watch as much Syracuse University basketball as possible.
I estimate that I have been to about 200 baseball games as well as a number of other sporting events, all with my dad. Below is a picture of Roy Halladay, dominating an opposing team as usual.
