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A shiny new uncle
I just found out my aunt eloped and so now I have a shiny new uncle. Our family total is like now 7. We have a small family and it only took an hour for everyone to find out and call her to say congrats and welcome her new husband to the family.
I’m crossing my fingers for cousins. I’ve had enough of being the only grandchild. We need a new ancle bitter for my grandparents to play with!
Parents leaving
I was asked a question today about when do parents leave when it comes to dropping off their freshmen.
I have been informed from Lynn staff that parents are not required to leave that friday, but are encouraged to leave. That is what they say.
As a student, I say, LEAVE! lol. I’m not saying this to be mean, yes your little prince or princess is all on their own, but they won’t make it if they don’t socialize, makes friends, get to know their new home on their own, during the LEAST STRESSFUL days they will have that first week. They only have 48 hours to get to know the campus and meet just the other freshmen before it becomes a maze full of upper classmen who know where their going and have stuff to do. Move them in, and say good bye. There are tons of events planned for the freshmen to get to know the staff and each other those first few days, let them! If parents are around, students feel like they are pressured to reassure their parents that they will be fine and they are less likely to be themselves while trying to make friends that they really want to get to know, rather than who mom and dad think will be a great match for their son or daughter… don’t lie, you guys totally still do that.
So to answer the question, parents do not have to leave that friday night, but it is encouraged by the Lynn staff, upper classmen who’ve been there, and your overly excited freshmen who just made it to college.
Mothers
Over the last two years of college, I’ve learned a lot from my mom. Even out of the house, she still gives great advice. Now, I don’t want to sound like only mothers can give great advice, I was just raised to a single parent, so I am just explaining from my point of view.
She taught me lessons indirectly which is great because what does every young person hate? Being lectured.
When I first got to college, I had a hard time adjusting to college life. I had been raised over seas for most of my life and could hardly remember living in the US. I was used to a different culture all together and suddenly found myself learning my own from scratch when I thought it was something I was “born” knowing. My mother had to explain to me how things worked in the US and how it was ok to have a hard time, a lot of diplomat children had a hard time adjusting to their own home country. Everyone at the embassies always told me it was going to be hard to adapt to American life but I didn’t understand until I got to college.
I had finally gotten the hang of things by sophomore year, when my mother was assigned to Iraq, I had to make another adjustment. Life with a parent in a war zone, and not just any parent, my sole parent. There was no second parent to go to for advice. I then had to wait hours to call my mother to ask her for advice or to tell her something was wrong. I then started to get worried when things made a turn for the worst in Iraq and diplomats started dying in high numbers. The attacks were getting closer and closer to where my mother lived. People screaming for cover and alarms blasting through the phone to hide from the bombs started becoming part of my phone conversations. I started to get a new perspective on life and started to see what was important.
Even when my mom was having a rough time at work, she still took the time to listen to what was going on through my life. Here I was worried sick about my mothers safety and she’s taking time out of her day to calm me down from roommate drama, but on the side saying “I might have to go, they’ve been attacking a lot today.”
I learned how important my mother is to me my sophomore year. What would happen to me if anything happened to her? I wasn’t raised around the rest of my family for 15 years, only during the summers. She was my closest connection to my family. She was the person who raised me for 15 years, all on her own. I had friends who just didn’t seem to understand what I was going through and weren’t supportive. Some how, the fact that my mother was in a war zone, where people around her were dying every day, was some how, not important. I learned who was important and who was part of my support group. My mom started to tell me to look around and see who was healthy in my life and cut out those who weren’t. I started to notice that family was more important than half the drama that was going on in my life and did my best to cut it out or get rid of what ever was causing it.
Then I had to notice that other peoples drama was taking over too much of my life. I started to notice most of my stress that was really causing me sleepless nights, weren’t even my problems! I couldn’t believe how that happened. I never was in drama in high school, (but then again, I hung out with mostly boys and they just wanted to skateboard into trash cans… don’t ask.) it started in college. I was taking on too much of my friends problems on a daily bases and it was actually making me sick. I was starting to get anxiety attacks over my friends issues, couldn’t sleep because friends were having a hard time in their lives and it carried over into my sleep pattern (possibly due to me being woken up at night). Every day, there seemed to be a new problem every single day, and I had run out of fuel. I had no answers left, I had no support life, I was drained. Then my mother asked, well, are they your problems? Are you missing important things to you reguarly? Is it effecting your other relationships? I had to say yes to everything finally and see that some relationships had just become toxic. I couldn’t go on living that way, in fear for my already decreasing health.
I say all of this to help future students. Just because your are out of the house, doesn’t mean that you say good bye to asking your parents for help. I’ve learned more from my mother the last two years, than I ever thought I did living at home for prob the last 10 of them. (Just, don’t tell her I said that.) Parents know you the best sometimes out of everyone on the planet. Their roles change in our lives and suddenly, they become this amazing bank of advice and knowlage that well, we can actually use! I also write this as a warning to pick good friends who are a great support group. Sometimes great friendships end in a toxic blast of an ending. I’m terribly sad that I had to cut some people out of my life, but honestly, I have been healthier, happier, and stress free ever since.
We only have one shot at this so called life, surround yourself with love, family, and great friends. Oh and, mom and dad might know a thing or two. 
Paying for school
I just finished all the paperwork for my school loans and grants and scholarships. It’s a lot of paperwork… each year. It seems like the work never ends for college. Even during the summer I have a ton of stuff to do, and it only seems to equal me in more in the red zone when it comes to money.
Some students are lucky and their parents do all the paperwork and all they have to do is sign their name. My mom did that only my first year. I think she does it this way now so I feel more responsible about college and that I understand the financial burden that paying for college can be on a household.
I am slowly realizing that I have one more year left to pay for after this one and its not the greatest feeling. I love college, but education is expensive! By the time I finish grad school, I will be in great debt. All I am doing now is crossing my fingers that the economy turns around by that point and I find a great job so all my money can go to paying off my student loans.
No more free ride. The government paid for all 12 years of my education until I graduated high school, mom paid for the first year of college, now it’s all up to me. It can be a stressful thought but it also can be a motivational one because it sure is keeping me out of trouble!
Rooms and Roommates
I had a future Lynn student ask me a few questions about roommates. She was worried that she wasn’t going to get along with her roommate. Here’s the email I sent her with some facts about Lynn’s housing system as well as how to think positive and work with your new roommate BEFORE even moving in together.
“Well, Lynn is going to throw you into the dark with a stranger and say have fun! That would be horrible. So you will get an email towards the end of summer with your roommates contact information. It will have your room assignment and your roommates Lynn email address. Email your new roommate right away. Tell them about yourself and your background. Ask them about where they grew up and find some common ground. Maybe going into all of your habits right away might come off hard to admit all at once and a lot to take, so take it slow. Try and become friends first or at least on good terms before jumping into how you want to live in the room you will be sharing.
Do keep in mind, a person can come off one way online or over the phone but a totally different in person. My roommate my freshmen year sounded great over the phone but when we moved in together, she was very high maintance. In the end though, we got a long pretty well. We never really fought or anything, we just had different views for the room but some how made it work. Some roommates get along really well and have fun going to dinner together the first few weeks or join the same groups to have something to do together thats fun and out of the room, which is a great way to literally have a friendship outside of the room.
I’ll say the best advice is don’t go in with a negative attitude. If your roommate feels that you don’t like them and feel that you two are going to fight all the time, then of course there will be problems! Be positive, be open minded, and of course, compromise! If it is bad, after two weeks, you are allowed to find a new roomate and move. Your RA is a great person to talk to about anything. I’ve had roommate fights and issues and RA’s are a safe person to go to about problems you are having adjusting to college to your roommate won’t turn the TV off. plus, RA’s are just cool people! A lot of my friends and sisters are RA’s and they are so helpful and really know their stuff.
Going to college and having a roommate you hardly knows does not equal a horrible year of fighting. Try planning the decore of the room before you even get there over the phone with your new roommate. It can help the two of you to get to know each other. Think about colors or themes. I’ve seen some really nice rooms where two female residents decorated their whole room with their fav colors, had simular things on their desk. Both sides of the room matched nicely which made it feel more at home and was more comforting to come home too as the end of a long day of classes.
A dorm room is a students home away from home. Why not make it feel that way. For a lot of students it is their first taste of freedom, their first space. I like to think of my room as the pre appartment stage in my life and try and make it feel like home for me with the little space that I do have. I’ve learned to work with what I’ve got and I have def worked on cutting down the clutter. Next year for my Junior year, I am living alone in a single and I am so excited. I have control over all of my space! Yes!
Please keep in mind, that Lynn has a two week trial period. If you and your new roommate really are not getting along and really don’t think you can possibly live together for 8 months, then you are allowed to find a new roommate that you would like to live with. It may take some interviews to find the perfect roommate for you. If at any point, you feel that your life is at risk, tell your RA! I had a friend who had to pretty much secretly move out of their room while the roommate was out and into an emergancy room for a few weeks. Finally they found a great room with great roommates. If you really don’t trust your roommate and are having serious problems, campus security has their number posted on all the mirrors in the rooms as well as some other important phone numbers. There is always some form of support at Lynn, from RA’s to the Tutoring Center.
But to end on a positive note, my best advice is to go in open minded. I think that was the problem with my Sophomore year, it was all about what could go wrong and not about the great times we could have and that just led to a ton of fighting about what we didn’t want all the time. Be positive, be open minded, and compromise!
Summer means changes
Some readers may have noticed that lately that the Lynn website has been under contruction and that the blogs were down for a little while. Lynn is always working hard with every aspect of University. From the grounds to the web.
Although I am happy that they are trying to make the students lives a little easier before we all return to campus or for the incoming freshmen, but a little warning would have been nice! I was trying to get to my blog for days and don’t even get me started on trying to get into my email account! Come on IT! A little notice would be nice.
I’ve been aswering questions and am always welcomed to more. I’ve had students as well as parents ask me questions and its all good. If I can’t answer your question, I’m always happy to forward you to the right person in which ever department.
So first up… rooms and roommates!
Exams and Summer Plans
The end of this week starts Exam week. I have an exam on Thursday for Human Anatomy. So not exciting. *sigh* exams are a very stressful time of year at in the spring because for freshmen and sophomores, it means moving out of the dorms. Seniors are nervous and excited about graduation just being days away and having family flying in from all over the planet. Sophomores and juniors are fighting with the housing board to let them move off campus. Oh what a wonderful but very busy time of year!
I am still planning on what I am doing for summer vacation. It keeps changing due to new information coming in each day which only complicates things. Originally, I was suppose to go to Brazil to see Michelle for a week, then come back and spend time at home, get a summer job, and chill with the cats until my mother returned home from Iraq. Now its looking more like summer courses. I need 3 courses to get into vet school that Lynn does not offer.
Something that I have learned since I have been in college is that no one just tells you what to do anymore when it comes to your education. It’s YOUR education. I meet or email my adviser a few times a semester to make sure that I am on track. I just had an hour long meeting about my future and that is when I realized that I needed to take these summer courses this summer not next summer. Thus, the change in plans. I also need 400 hours of clinical work, but I am not worried, for there is the Career Center on campus that can help me. I have realized this year that I must be pro active in my college career. If I want to take a course, I have to speak up when I’m planning my schedule with my adviser, they aren’t mind readers.
The power of email. It is so important now and days when talking to professors. Recently, one of my professors forgot to print out my handouts for my final project. She was going to print them out in color for students that asked ahead of time. I had asked her a week in advance in person, as well as emailed her back and forth. She forgot the day of my presentation, but because there were emails for proof that I had asked for them, my grade was not affected.
Well, I must go back to looking for summer courses. I have to find the courses online because I could not find any of the courses that I need in DC, apparently they don’t like animals or vets there and my mother insists that I come home this summer, that I’m never home and don’t spend time with her. Funny, cause here I was thinking she was never home due to being in a war zone.
Guess who’s coming to Lynn
Gym Class Heroes will be here on monday! Yes, it is time for the Spring Concert! I am very excited for the concert on monday.
For students its free, all we need is our student ID. The general public is welcome too for $10 and I encourage people to come see the show!
I think this concert is going to start off a great week for me, since well, its on monday and I hate mondays. (like who doesn’t seriously?) And then on friday, my mom is flying from Iraq! I couldn’t ask for a better week. Plus, its the last full week of classes for this semester.
So ya, wow, so much going on this week. Hmm, no wonder I’m so restless this weekend.
Well, I hope to see a huge croud at Gym Class Heroes. Oh and here’s the link to buy tickets!
Relay For Life 2009
This past Friday and Saturday was Relay for Life. There were people all over, tents all across the field and great food… for a price.
I’m not sure how much we raised total by the end of the night, but from the last check in with the money, it was over $25,000. Tri Sigma made over $800 and Science club made over $600.
So, what did I do from 5pm to 2am? I walked, checked out the many booths, tabled for Science Club and got the chance to sing on stage with my sorority sisters.
A little after midnight, the science club table started to get slow, so we started to play games. Meredith, the president, got a bunch of paper, so we could play M.A.S.H., a game I’m pretty sure that was invented by middle schoolers, but hey, it was a lot of fun until 2 am.
There were raffles at some of the tents. I won a flightseeing tour over Miami from the Hillel tent. Very exciting. I get the tickets for that tomorrow.
There was a tent of Italian ice, which I call water ice because thats what you call it if your from Philadelphia or New Jersey. The guy asked me where I was from and I told him Philly, and that I was shocked that people could figure that out since I was raised over seas.
I still have to go through all the photos I took for Relay and then the ones that everyone else loaded! I took a bunch with Michelle, messing around with the settings on my camera. Then while we weren’t looking, some of our classmates were taking photos of us too, so there are a lot of Relay for Life photos!
I love Relay and I can’t wait for next year! Science Club has a bunch of new ideas for it.
Once my laptop stops acting up, I will add photos from this weekend!
Stress
Stress, a college students worst enemy.
In an average day, I hear at least two students on campus tell me that they are stressed out, over worked, or so tired that they think they are going to pass out before they get back to their room. Even the best planner and time manager can find themselves stressed out in college.
Some students get sick, others look like zombies, and then there are the ones that fall asleep in class. I know I tend to get sick all the time soon as I get too stressed and half the time I can’t remember when was the last time I ate something. I know my sisters keep telling me that they don’t sleep… for days. Some live off of coffee.
Now, how to get rid of it. Some students play sports, aka, basketball or rugby. Others sleep or drink a bunch of coffee. I listen to a ton of music in my room while playing computer games or messing around on my Ipod Touch. Talking really helps. Just getting everying out in the open can really be a huge relief! I think that one of my favorite things on campus when its getting close to exam week is when the counciling center brings animals for the students to pet and play with to relieve stress.
Stress is a given when it comes to college. This is the first time most people are away from home to live and go to school. For some, like me, the first time that we have to start paying bills. The costs are high for some, while for others college was forced on them. It is how a person handles the stress that makes all the difference in the end.
Alright, I really need to get back to my 30 page study guide.
