Stress and the College Student September 23, 2008

I don’t know what it is with going to college (and maybe it’s just QU but I really don’t think so)… there are those students that do nothing and those students that do it all. And at the same time everyone seems to be equally as stressed out for various reasons. Homework, class, work, friends, clubs, meetings, problems, drama, boys, girls… the list of factors is endless. 

And yet, for some reason, there are those of us that just keep piling it on. I have two internships, I tutor for the communications classes, I’m on the exec board for two different clubs, I’m taking 16 credit hours of classwork, and I just agreed to be layout editor for the Falcon. 

Basically, we bring it on ourselves. I can’t say no to people. I didn’t have to agree to do layout. I didn’t have to run for Vice President of anything. But people convince me that I should. “It’s good for your resume”, “It’ll give you great life experiences.” Does it ever end? Will I ever learn to say no to people. I just keep piling my obligations on thinking that I have nothing to do but when does this “nothing” become too much. In two years I went from spending my free time watching TV and playing mancala to doing far more than I ever realized.

Is life going to be this hectic forever?

New President…? September 16, 2008

The absolute funniest thing happened to me the other day. Well, not to me, but I was there as a witness and boy am I glad.

So student senate held an ice cream social last Tuesday just to kind of get their name out, let people know what they do… the usual purpose of a start-of-school-year social. Me and my friend Katie decided that after our night class we would go, eat ice cream, and support the fact that my house mate is student senate president and might yell at me should I have decided not to attend her event.

Luckily, class got out early so we weren’t as late as we thought we’d be. We walk down to the basement of the student center and sitting there is Dr. Gervasi, the new president. Katie, being who she is, walks up to him and starts talking to him about whatever- random things. Upon seeing his QU polo shirt she proceeds to ask him, “So, are you a new faculty member?” He responds very vaguely with “Why, yes, I am. I just started this year. I’m just getting used to things around here and trying to meet people.” This, of course, sparked a conversation about going new places, meeting new people, blah, blah, blah.

But, of course, Katie did not notice the fact that we all laughed at her just a little bit when she asked him if he was new. So once that conversation died down a bit she decided to investigate just what this man does for the school, obviously still not recognizing his high and very public position of president. She asks him “So, are you the new history professor?” at which point everyone in the vicinity starts laughing hysterically and he awkwardly responds “Well, actually, I’m the new president of this school. I just started this semester…”

All in all, the point of this story is to basically say, we have a new president… and maybe you might want to know who that is just to avoid strange conversations with him at any point in time. Luckily, you can go to http://www.quincy.edu/AboutQU/newpresident.php to find out whatever you want to know about him (and see a picture- no awkward moments for you!), such as the fact that he can fluently speak and write 7 languages… who knew.

Hopefully this works out for our school. I guess the previous president wasn’t working out for a number of reasons, and we’re hoping that his combined background in both higher learning and marketing will equal out to a better learning environment and a place that students will want to come to and stay.

Honors Program September 9, 2008

So, I just got back from class a couple hours ago and realized that I’m ridiculous. Somehow my conveniently set up schedule of posts every Monday and Friday has gone downhill very fast, and suddenly there is nothing for me to post anymore. Oops, my bad.

But then I realized that hey, here’s something I haven’t written about- the honors program. I just gave a very compelling presentation for my honors class about proportion and harmony (which I won’t bore you with- don’t worry. I will tell you, however, that it did involve Donald in Mathmagic Land… which is always nice).

Anyway, that made me realize that it’s a good topic to tell you, my oh so devoted readers, about the honors program. I’m not entirely sure what the requirements are for it… I know as an incoming freshmen they take people with an ACT of 27 or higher, but to get into it beyond that you just have to have at least a 3.5 college GPA.

The benefits are simple- bragging rights. It’s all about the resume, right? This is just one of those things that may or may not actually benefit you in the long run but for now, it’s nice to have that one extra thing to tell future employers about. That, and Dr. Mike who’s in charge of the program, hosts a back to school party with home made pizza, and a sweet Christmas party complete with presents. I’m clearly willing to do anything for food and gifts…

All you have to do once you’re in the program though is to take at least 6 honors classes over the course of your 4 years here (very easy- honors classes usually just involve an extra paper or presentation or something like that) and maintain a decent GPA. And then, when you graduate, it’s notated on your transcripts and stuff that you RULE… or something like that.

Long Weekends September 2, 2008

Long weekends screw me up inside… Suddenly my Monday has become a Tuesday and I can’t remember what time my first class starts. Yes, that’s right friends- today I woke up 30 minutes earlier than I had to, leading me to actually have time to eat breakfast and check my e-mail before leaving for class. Crazy, isn’t it?

But really, that screws me up. Not that I would give up my day off for thirty minutes of extra sleep but now I’m just so completely thrown off as to what day it is. Tuesday. Not Monday. Should I eat now? No, I ate cereal at 9:00 this morning. As opposed to my usual pop tart on the way to (or during) class.

Basically, that is why this post is coming to you on a Tuesday. Sad, really. For the past 2 months I was consistent with my Monday and Friday posting schedule… and I broke it on account of Labor Day. Oh well, at least I have a good excuse… Honoring… laborers?  You’d think by now I’d know what Labor Day is for. Ah well, such is life.