January Highlights

It has been a couple of non-stop weeks. I have been so busy in fact that it I can’t believe that I have already been back on campus for a month! I have to explain though, that my business really comes by choice. Half of my work, of course, has been for my classes, but the things that are taking up the other half of my time are the leadership positions that I have on campus. As Class President, Assistant Coordinator for the Orientation Program, and Student Ambassador Coordinator, I have my plate full of meetings and work for these programs. But to me, doing things for these positions really isn’t work. I love all three of these programs, and love that I have been able to get so involved as a student leader on campus. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Thinking back over what has been going on, there are definitely some highlights! Here’s a recap:

1) Study Abroad Welcome Back Reception – As soon as we were all settled in after the first week, the Office of Career Services and Study Abroad hosted a reception for students returning to campus from international and domestic study and internship experiences. They had pizza for us and we all got a t-shirt…which you’ve gotta love! They instigated conversations between all us about our experiences, and got us thinking about how we have grown from the experience…and about how to put the experience on our resume and really sell ourselves to future employers!

2) Board of Trustees dinner and tour of the New Science Center – I am a member of the Board of Fellows, which is the board that elects the Board of Trustees (who make all the calls for the College). It’s a really exciting position, and definitely has its perks! When the Board of Trustees come to campus for their couple days of meetings a couple times each year, we (myself and the other student representative) get invited to their fancy dinners. This time it was extra special because we got a tour of the new Science Center! My science major friends were pretty jealous, but now I can report. The building looks great! It’s really big, with separate floors for the various science majors, and this really huge open space that is all glass in the front and will be used for large events (dinners and presentations, etc.) It’s a really nice space. Plus, I can now give you the official word that there will be a Dunkin Donuts in the Science Center! I saw the place where it’s going! The building is all set to be done on April 1, and then after that and through the summer, we will be bringing in desks and materials, so it will be ready to go in the fall! Here is a couple pictures of the inside and outside of the main atrium:

3) Roommate Bonding – I have been really pleased to find that so far, living in a quad has been great! I always have friends around, and we are all getting along. Besides sometimes having very different schedules, as long as we are respectful of each other it will continue to be great! On our second weekend back we especially got to bond as roommates. I started calling us the “Corr Quaders” – I think I may be the only one who found this amusing though! Here’s a picture of me and my beautiful roommates, Ronni, Dana, and Heather:

4) My first day at my pre-practicum – For my Curriculum and Methods class this semester, I have my first long-time observation in a classroom. I will be spending a full day in a fourth grade gifted and talented classroom each Friday. The students are so intelligent, are excited about learning, and are really well behaved too! I am mostly observing and then just helping the teacher out by assisting the students. I will also be teaching a small group lesson and a whole class lesson. I am really excited because this is my first chance to put what I have been learning to work in the classroom. It will also, along with student teaching next year, be the things most likely to help me learn to be a great teacher.

5) Student Ambassador Interviews – This time of year is the time that applications come out for virtually every leadership position on campus. It is now the middle of the process for applying for the Orientation Team, to become an RA (Resident Assistant), to be an ALANA Mentor, a Crossings Minister, and to be a Student Ambassador! I have been involved in the process for a couple of these positions. The first is Student Ambassador (i.e. the best tour guides on the planet)! I have spent five morning over the past week interviewing our huge pool of applicants. It will be tough competition to get some really great new recruits who we can teach how to walk backwards!

6) Group Activity Day – The other thing that I have been involved in is of course creating the Orientation Team. The process for applying to be a Peer Mentor is more similar to applying to be an RA, because in addition to interviews, the new applicants also participate in a full morning of activities so we can observe their leadership and teamwork skills. We had three break-out rotations, an egg-drop, a group consensus activity, and a partner activity. My job was to organize and then facilitate the partner activity. We had students work in pairs in a communication activity. Here are a couple pictures of the activity taking place:

Saturday afternoon I worked with the Student Activities staff and the other student coordinators to interview the applicants. It was a very long day to say the least, but it went really well and I really enjoyed it! We have a lot of really talented applicants and we now have some very difficult decisions ahead of us!

7) Developing my resume and cover letter – I know that I want to apply for a summer internship this year; something that will connect to my majors and give me a great learning experience for potential future careers. Some of my interests are applying for publishing companies, specifically education publishers (which is the perfect combo of my Education and English majors), possibly event planning/Public Relations, Communications at National Grid, and my career counselor in Career Services I also look into a position at the John F. Kennedy Library. I met with my counselor this week for her help in reformatting my resume and explaining just how to go about writing my first cover letter.

8) Barefoot Truth Concert – Last night in The Hill, the Programming Committee brought the band Barefoot Truth to campus to perform. I really enjoyed their music! It was a little bit of everything – some country twang (with a harmonica), but also a little bit of a Marley feel. I liked it! They also had lots and lots of different instruments, even a didjeridu!

Time for me to get some sleep before my placement tomorrow! Have a great weekend!