Archive for November, 2011

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‘Thank you BG for being a home away from home’


2011
11.28

Posted in Caitlyn | No Comments »

So, this Thanksgiving was much better than last year’s Thanksgiving, and I would like to share it with you!

As many of you know, I do not go home for Thanksgiving; it is too far and too expensive.  So, I opted to be one of the RAs on duty during Thanksgiving. Let me tell you, I barely saw anyone.

My days started with duty walks with my duty partner. Then I took a nap. Then it was lots of homework, movies and then duty walks again. Overall though, I ended up being productive (but it was strange that there was STILL stuff to do!)

I had a great friend invite me to Thanksgiving dinner and it was the bomb! The food was amazing and I, of course, hoarded some leftovers that lasted me about a day and half. Then I continued with my normal pattern of being … duty, sleep, homework, movie, maybe eat, duty ….

I suppose more than anything, this year I had a chance to mellow out, even if it was just momentarily. I thought about how truly grateful I was for my many blessings, especially my family.  So now my birthday is this week and I have exams up until finals. 

I can honestly say that I am seriously looking forward to going home for winter break. It will mark five months since I have been home.  Even though it will be a short visit, I am ready to let those who are important to me know that they are.  In short, I encourage everyone to take a moment and think about how lucky and blessed they are. That doesn’t mean you have the perfect life.  It means you value the little things and can recognize that hey, maybe it could be worse.

 So, thank you BG for being a home away from home and thank you my fellow student for continuously showing your Falcon pride!  Now let’s get through finals!!

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You might be an RA if …


2011
11.22

Posted in Caitlyn | No Comments »

If you walk the long way to class so that you can walk with a resident and get to know him or her more, you might be an RA.

If you intend to have a relaxing night, but you actually stay up until 6 a.m. because someone needs your help, you might be an RA.

If you find yourself wondering how you do it all and sometimes stress about your life, you might be an RA.

If you strive to make someone else’s college experience superb, you might be an RA.

People often ask me why I decided to become an RA, especially now that the RA Application for 2012-2013 is available.  Yes, it requires time management, missing sleep and time away from friends, family and homework.

However, I can honestly say that this is a job I truly enjoy.  Despite the many sacrifices, I get to use my natural abilities to help someone else’s college journey be manageable and enjoyable.

It is for these reasons that I encourage all students to find something that they enjoy (like being an RA) and immerse themselves in it.   I believe that by doing so, you will be able create a support system that will help you through thick and thin.  You will have an escape for when your realities become a little too real.  Heck, you will have something to do with your spare time.

So, I say go for it. (But you should probably make sure you have some time to yourself … trust me.  You will go crazy without downtime.)  I know being busy helps me have better time management (usually).

This brings up another point. It is OK to be afraid.  It is OK to be afraid to try new things and it is OK to be afraid of failure, but do everything you can and try not to let it consume you.  That is why you will need you combination of downtime and an amazing activity.  For me, being an RA has allowed me to connect with others, but I try to make sure I do what I want every now and then.  So give it shot, if nothing else, at least you can say that you tried.

Here’s the application, http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/sa/reslife/page22904.html

 

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My interview with a BGSU football player


2011
11.16

Posted in Olivia | No Comments »

It is hard to believe that it is already mid-November. People had told me that senior year of high school flies by, but it is crazy how fast my first year of college is flying by. I have already scheduled my classes for the spring semester, and I am just about to get started on my final assignments.

For these past few weeks, I have been focusing on my final project for my performance class. We have to interview someone about something that has happened in his or her life, and then portray that person in front of the class.

I had conducted an interview before. My sophomore year of high school we were given a project called “The Grandparents Project,” where we had to interview someone older than us about something that changed his or her life.

The majority of my classmates decided to just interview a grandparent, but I wanted to go bigger. I got in contact with my local news stations weatherman, and he agreed to the interview. I went down to the news station where he gave me a tour of the building before we sat down to the interview. It was an experience I would never forget.

When we were given this final project in performance class, it was the least of my worries. I had interviewed someone before, so I figured it would all come easy since I had previous experience. But I would come to realize just how different this interview was going to be.

Back in my sophomore year, the interview had to be audio recorded and I had to transcribe all of it. It took me forever. I constantly had to rewind and write down every little detail. It was tedious work, something that I did not want to have to do again. However, for this interview, instead of audio recording, we had to film it. And not only film it, we had to film our person’s entire body. To top that all off, it had to be between 30 to 40 minutes in length.

How could I possibly get someone to talk that long? Who did I know here to interview anyways? It did not seem possible for me to travel three hours back home just to film someone for this interview; my possibilities were limited. I had no choice but to find someone to interview on campus, someone who was interesting to me, someone who I could portray in front of the class.

I wanted a challenge. I wanted to interview someone who I found difficult to perform to my class. I began going through my Facebook friends, made a list of possible choices, and then began to narrow it down. Finally, I made my decision.

I decided to interview one of BGSU’s football players that I had known since September, and I figured he could talk to me about his experience playing football for BGSU. So I asked him, and he accepted my offer. I came up with questions to ask him and got them approved.

So the only thing left to do was the interview itself.

Stay tuned.

 

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Don’t pick your meal plan without research


2011
11.10

Posted in Megan | No Comments »

Coming to BG as freshman, I was completely unaware what each meal plan included. Traditional bronze, custom gold, silver retail…what!?

I had no idea what any of these terms meant, and if I researched them a little more I would have found the perfect one. I picked the meal plan that contained swipes and the least amount of Falcon Dollars.

After my first few weeks into the semester, I realized the dining halls were not my first choice when deciding what I wanted to eat. I preferred to snack and eat in the Union and the Pub as opposed to sitting down for a buffet. I gave the plan another week to redeem itself, but by then it was too late to change meal plans.

I know the problem was self-inflicted, but now I am as broke as a college student could ever be. I am completely out of Falcon Dollars.

A possible solution would be to swipe for the rest of the semester. Sadly, I only have five swipes per week on my plan, not even one for every day of the week, let alone breakfast and dinner in one day.

The bronze plan was supposed to keep me full all semester. I came to the realization that I wasn’t woofing down $750 worth of food for no reason.

Take a look at the prices of any item in Outtakes and compare them to Walmart or Kroger. $7 for a box of Special K cereal on campus; $3.44 at Walmart. A 13-ounce jar of Nutella at Walmart was priced at $3.28; at Outtakes, $6.

If the brand-name products are too expensive, then I’m sure most of the students would be fine with an off brand.  I, however, think not being able to eat when I need to is a big deal.

 

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