On Saturday at 6:30 AM I woke up and hurried around my room. It was the day, the day I have worked four long hard years to finally reach. As I put on my cap and gown, they didn’t make me look quite as pathetic as I had anticipated. The long black gown and the black cheese board cap resonated an air of intellect and wisdom. For just a moment, I felt as if I could quite possibly be Harry Potter (or should I say Harriette Potter). So, my day began with my mom running in with the camera, snapping photos every few minutes. I wasn’t sure who was more excited, however, I do believe the nerves and gargantuan butterfly farm in my stomach had something to do with the suppression of my elation.

I had previously planned that I would meet my friends, Laura and Danielle at their house for a morning celebration before we headed off to the commencement. In the mean time, our parents made their way to campus, where they queued for the best seats in the house. I think all three of us were too nervous to do too much celebrating, so we hit the road and headed to campus way before we were supposed to have arrived.

All the graduates congregated in the Green Center, where our caps and gowns were adjusted, we were given our Summa Cum Laude medals, and were seated in order. And then it was time.

Before I knew it we were parading down a long red carpet before hundreds of glowingly proud parents, family, and friends. As I sat down and the ceremony began, I became more and more anxious. The day before, I had received a phone call, informing me that I would be receiving a special award at the graduation. I was ever more anxious about this, and I had not yet told my family, thus it was going to be a great surprise for them. I was to received The Award of Excellence in Communications. I knew this would bring my mom to tears, as in previous years in elementary school I had always been awarded the prize of creative thinking (and this was purely because most of my younger years were spent day dreaming and they had to come up with an award for each student).

The guest speaker at the commencement was Dee Dee Myers. She did an excellent job and her speech was a highlight of discussion after the ceremony. The entire ceremony ran extremely smoothly. The MC was fantastic, Kevin Ross’ speech was extremely appropriate, and the student speaker, Taryn Hamil, touched on some fantastic points, referring to our Lynn Faculty and staff as ’superheros’ (which I loved).

Kevin Ross instituted a new tradition at Lynn’s graduation. The Faculty lined up along the aisle leading out of the hall, forming a walk of victory for the graduating students. I truly loved this idea. Each student was congratulated by the faculty, shaking hands and hugging those professors that had made an impact in their college career.

When we congregated outside the hall it was time for more photos. After which, everyone made their way to the student center, where the faculty, staff, parents, and students could have some finger snacks and drinks. My family and I sat by the lake outside. It was the most beautiful day. Various faculty made their way around, introducing themselves to their student’s parents and friends. Kevin Ross went around to every family, congratulating them. I had family friends from out of town attending my graduation, and they thought that this was just phenomenal. And it is. I believe that Lynn is such a unique university. There are not many graduation ceremonies that take place, that the President of the University will greet you by name, and then make the effort to congratulate and chat to each parent, knowing the student’s name, what they studied etc.

I am mostly grateful, however, that I am not leaving Lynn just yet! I still have seven or eight months left… and I am going to make the most of every single one of them!

If you are reading this, and are a parent or student considering Lynn as an option, believe me, there is no better university on earth. Every day that I drive through the entrance to Lynn, past the circle of flags, I think to myself how lucky I am, how fortunate I am to have made the right decision. I absolutely love Lynn University, and I wouldn’t change coming here for the world. My only regret, is that my time here is limited!

The Lynn University’s student run newspaper is now online.

The iPulse is a daily paper on campus, it covers topics, such as faculty and student profile interviews, and many other interesting student-written articles.

Whether you are a prospective student, a parent, an alumni, or a current student, this site is well worth checking out. You will be able to see the archived papers, as well as today’s issue. There is also a link to iPulse on the air!

One of my fellow bloggers wrote a post about the last minute rush before Summer Break and all the things one has to do.

I have four years worth of Summer Break experience, so I recommend that if you’re planning to be a college student, think ahead, read on, and learn from my mistakes:

1. Summer Vacation creeps up on you before you know it, so spread your work out throughout the semester. Don’t leave your final projects to the last week, work ahead and put the time in before the last minute rush.

2. Plan ahead. You need to start making arrangements a month before the end of semester. There’s a lot to do, so be proactive.
3. Roommates: If you plan to live on campus the following year, start talking to your friends and figuring out who you want to live with. You’re going to need to sign up for a room a few weeks before the end of semester, so don’t leave it to the last minute and discover that all your friends have found roommates already. You’ll be disappointed if you end up living with some one you don’t particularly like.

4. Donate and Dump: Give your room a good spring clean right before the end of semester. Go through your stuff and figure out what is worth donating and what is worth dumping out. If you haven’t used it yet, you’re probably not going to, so give it to someone who will.

5. Find a storage partner. Storage isn’t cheap, so why not share storage with a friend. Remember that you’ll have to get a large vehicle to transport your stuff to the storage unit. You’ll have more than you realize, so be prepared for a full day of loading, carrying, and storing.

6. Mark your boxes. When you’re taking things out of storage you’ll want to know what’s in each box, and who the box belongs to, so get a marker and mark away.

7. Ensure that your university account is in order, that you have registered for classes and that you are prepared for the new year. If you plan on getting a job on campus the next year, plan ahead and get it organized before you leave for the break.

8. Get your friends contact details, you’re going to want to keep in contact.

9. Figure out who is going to drop you at the airport and who is going to pick you up from the airport before the actual day. Look around campus, the university generally offers a shuttle to the airport at certain times.

10. Don’t slack off in the last week, you may be tired from the semester, but you have worked so hard all semester, don’t let your grades drop in the last week.

11. If you plan on getting a summer job, plan ahead and set one up before they all get taken!

12. Grab a camera from the communications department and get some footage of your life at Lynn. When you get home you’re going to want to show Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa what your life at college is like. Remember, a picture says a thousand words.

13. You have to leave your dorm room in a clean and tidy state, so be prepared to do some scrubbing! Organize with your roommates a cleaning day and ensure that everyone helps out. You don’t want to be the last of your roommates on campus left with the burden of cleaning the room in order to avoid a fine.

14. Have fun. Enjoy yourself. And be prepared to miss Lynn and your friends more than you ever imagined.

The deadline for the “I’m Lynn” Video Contest has been reached, and the videos have been judged. Today at work, the Marketing Department gathered around to judge the contestant’s videos. We were all prepared, score boards and pens. All that was missing, as Debbie said, was the popcorn! Watching the videos was a lot of fun. We were all pretty much in agreement as to which submissions deserved an award, however, that’s not to say it wasn’t a difficult task. We were all so happy to watch videos that clearly, a lot of hard work had been put into them. We have not yet announced the winners, but I know who they are

We had a total of nine submissions, of which we are very proud. I think that as the “I’m Lynn” video becomes more and more established, it will continue to grow each year. A prize of $500 and a total of $750 in cash prizes is a fantastic incentive to create student videos and projects showing an aspect of life at Lynn.

I just want to say a big thank you to all the competitors of the competition. All of your work was wonderful and even if you didn’t win this year, there’s always a chance next year. The contestant’s videos will be posted on the web in the coming weeks… I will post a link as soon as they’re up.

One thing I have truly learnt is that as a graduate (or even senior graduating) student, you’re plans change quicker than you’ll realize. For example, I hadn’t always know I had wanted to do my masters, in fact I only realized I did about a month and a half before the end of my graduating semester. So, I quickly organized the Graduate Assistantship, my visa, and applied to the masters program. Well, I have 8 months now to change my mind a couple of times before I have to make up my mind on what life I choose after graduation. Well, in the past two months it has already changed a couple of times, and each of the three decisions were on different continents!!! I don’t know how many more continents there are left… so I suppose my decision changes are limited. I think that deciding what route you’re going to take after Grad School is the most difficult decision of all, as there are so many factors that play into it, so many factors that you cannot control. Will I get a job there? Will I get a job I like? How long until I get the job? How much will I earn? How much will I be able to afford? Where will I live? How will I live? How long will I live? Is this what I want? What if I make this decision and regret it? What if I chose a different route and that one ended in a pot of gold? What if this one decision is going to change the rest of my life? Can’t I just go back to being a kid again. Every day was a holiday and in South Africa, decisions like these seemed a world away. Wow, I miss those worry-free days. Life was just one big playtime.

Now it’s back to reality… it may be the weekend, but I have decisions to change!

It is just a few more days until the deadline for the “I’m Lynn” Media Contest. So far we have had two entries, however, I know of six more people who will be entering their projects, and that is not including the classes that have been assigned the contest and their class project! I’m so excited to see them all. There are several prizes: one random draw ($50 cash) a winner in each category (each $100 cash) and an overall winner ($500 cash). If I wasn’t overseeing the contest I most certainly would have entered!

It’s really simple, students have to create a short documentary, music video, or photo slideshow highlighting an aspect of Lynn University. The videos will be on our website, as well as at the official contest site: www.lynn.edu

Best of luck to all of you who will be entering the contest… Remember the deadline is April 15th 5PM.

Prior to becoming a Grad Assist, I worked in the Office of Admissions for a good 2-3 years as a campus tour guide.

I believe that first impressions really do count. I loved giving the tours, as it was an opportunity for me to play a part in prospective students decisions. I still remember my tour and my tour guide at Lynn. Very often, I will walk past someone on campus, or meet someone, and they’ll say: “hey, you were my tour guide when I first came to Lynn”. I feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that I obviously aided in helping them chose Lynn as their university.

The tours are generally 45 minutes (but depending on the family it can take up to an hour). I liked to personalize the tours, asking the students what they would be interested in seeing.

The walk is quite long, so I recommend wearing comfortable shoes. If you need assistance, call ahead and the guide can organize a golf cart for transport.

The guides are generally honest, they’ll tell you about their experiences, what they would have done differently etc. At the end of my tour, I would always tell the families my best and worst things about Lynn. I was frank, and truthful. The university you choose, has to be the right fit.

After the tour, you return to the Admissions Office, where you are offered cold beverages and you meet with an admissions counselor. This is NOT an interview. This is your opportunity to ask questions about courses, financial aid, academic assistance etc.

If you would like to arrange to meet with a specific person on campus or sit in on a class, do phone at least a week ahead.

I recommend arranging to eat lunch on campus. The cafeteria is open roughly between 11 and 1, so after your counselor meeting, head back to the cafeteria. You can pay for a lunch which is roughly $5-$6. Or you can sit in our Christine Room and have coffee and cake. I recommend the cafeteria, as you’ll get a feel for what life on campus is like. You’ll be dining with other students, so perhaps this would be a good time to make some friends, or ask some questions.

When you come for the tour, ensure that you give yourself time to get to know the area. You can walk around campus by yourself on a self guided tour. Admissions has campus maps available.

I recommend visiting the following Boca ‘landmarks’:

- Mizner Park after 5pm
This is where students and work professionals head for happy hour.
There is half price sushi and various other student offers available.

- Spanish River Beach or Palmetto Park Beach
This is where students head to soak up the sun, sand and waves.

- Town Center Mall
This is where students spend their Sundays

- Muvico
This is where students go to the movies.

- Atlantic Ave, Delray Beach
This is a restaurant and shop location. There are a few clubs and nightlife spots that students frequent here. During the day, it is a great place to have a street side lunch, or head closer to the beach, where you will find ocean facing restaurants.

- Riverfront, Fort Lauderdale
This is a great touristy spot, where something is always happening. At night time, Riverfront extends and becomes a street ‘bar hop’ location.

- A1A Fort Lauderdale
This is the original ‘Spring Break’ area. It is a great location for all ages, at all times of the day and night. You will find a latino restaurant, beside Fat Tuesdays, beside a formal restaurant and so on. It has a little something for everyone.

- Miami
Miami is a must! I love going during the day time and walking down Collins. The Art district is great too.

There is so much to see and do… I haven’t even mentioned Disney!

If you’re looking for a place to stay in the area, I would recommend the Hampton Inn Suites. My parents have always stayed there and they love it. The manager is a Lynn Alumni. The hotel is exclusive, clean and friendly. The location is perfect, a block or two away from campus. They offer Lynn University discounts, as do the Fairfield Inn and the Marriot Hotel.

I think you should give yourself approximately 3 days in and around Boca to get a true feel for the South Floridian lifestyle. I truly recommend searching our events list on our website and finding out when there will be events on campus. These a great times do get a feel for the diversity of people on campus. I may be interesting just to browse through the events list. You’ll soon realize that Lynn is a fun and vibrant university. There is always something to do. We believe that one should work hard and play hard. And the great thing is you don’t even have to leave campus to do so! If you’re an academic and enjoy seminars, work shops and listening to guest speakers, we weekly have people visiting campus and broadening our student’s horizons. If you want to hang with some friends and watch the game – you can head up to our theater area in the night’s court and slip in a game of table tennis or pool, or just grab a bite. The pool always promises to be fun. I often take my books down to the pool and catch up on some homework in the sun. If you’re looking for some peace, head to the library. I recommend the private rooms on the second floor, which you can reserve. I love to escape there, away from the distractions of TV, music, and friends.

Lynn really has something for everyone. The fact that so many international students (from 93 different nations) can come to Lynn and feel ‘at home’ really says something.

I was doing my usual snoop around the very addictive Youtube and found this great video of a Lynn University Baseball player performing the national anthem at Conference Championship Finals for Basketball at Lynn.

I was very impressed! I think it’s wonderful that there is such immense support between the different teams at Lynn.

I’ve come down with a cold! I suppose it was all the cold weather from Langerado that did it to me! Anyhow, I am trying to rest as much as possible, but Murphy’s Law, I get ill over the most inconvenient of times. I had to force myself to class last night: my mind was willing, my body however was not. Today I went to school to pick up a camera I’ll be using tomorrow. We are creating a Graduation Commencement Video for the ceremony. We are getting a variety of graduates on camera, telling us what their best memories at Lynn were. It will then be presented at the graduation ceremony. So, as it is Senior Salute, today and tomorrow, many graduates are on campus, collecting their cap and gown. Today, I was one of them. It is rather exciting, collecting a symbol of your hard work: blood, sweat, and tears. Beside me lies a crisp gown and firm hat inside a clear plastic carrier. I feel so tempted to rip it open and try it on. However, I feel like trying on my cap and gown before graduation day will someone ruin the full effect of the ‘Graduation Day’.

I must admit, I do already have my outfit planned for graduation. It is a very special occasion, my parents are flying in from South Africa especially for my graduation. I am the only person in my family who has attended college, so this is all very new to us! Very close family friends, Ed and Wendy may also be attending my Graduation, along with my mom’s very close friend, Gail – who was the first person to see me after I was born – I always refer to her as my godmother, even though I’m not christened. And then of course, Thomas will also be coming – he never got to walk in his graduation ceremony, as he came to the States the day after his final exam! So, I’ve agreed to allow him to pop on my cap and gown so he can have a graduation picture too. I think he’s just jealous… because Lynn’s ceremony is way cooler!

Well, I’m going to get some rest and beat this cold! I have to be in top form for tomorrow – Day One of our Production: Lynn Commencement Video.

I was just reading on the Lynn University Portal an alert from security alerting students of a robbery that took place a few blocks from our campus. No Lynn students were involved, and it was a petty crime, however security still alerted students of the crime, telling them to be aware of their surroundings, and informing them of what safety precautions can be taken, as well as what to do if they feel anxious. The alert reminded students that if at any time they would like to be escorted to their cars, Lynn security (which some are located on golf carts throughout the campus) is always willing to give you a ride to your vehicle, from your vehicle, or where ever you need to go on campus. They also stated the security telephone number. The alert also reminded students of the emergency booths located throughout the campus, and also of SafeRide. Safe ride is such a novel idea. Basically, we have Lynn Vans that operate from the evenings to early hours of the morning, that are driven by Lynn Security. The vans provide a safe ride back to campus within a certain proximity (10 miles from campus). Many students use this facility, some if they are not comfortable driving home, others get a taxi out to where they’re going with a group of friends, and call safe ride when they’re ready to come home to campus. Students are not reported or documented from being on campus, it’s a no questions asked free service.

Reading this alert just reminded me of why I love Lynn so much. Where most universities would probably hush up a crime near the campus to prevent negative publicity, Lynn handles these matters proactively. Lynn takes the precautions to inform students to take precautions and tells the us what to do in case of an emergency. Although it was unnecessary to inform students of a petty crime (a wallet was stolen) off campus, it was the right thing to do. Students also develop friendships with security on campus. They aren’t perceived as ‘policemen’ and ‘police women’ on campus, but rather someone you can rely on, someone you can trust. They’re all really friendly. Every morning when I drive onto campus, the same two guards are on duty. Lynn students have a sticker which is stuck on the front windshield of their vehicle. Cars with the sticker may pass onto campus, vehicles with out are met by security, who has a list of which guests will be arriving on campus that day, and they assess why this individual is coming on to campus. However, my point is, everyday I wave at the security guards, and everyday they wave back to me… and I’ve noticed that most students wave and greet the students when arriving on campus, and wave goodbye when they leave. If I stood there all day waving to every passing car, I’d be rather grumpy and exhausted by the end of the day. How do you do it, Security? Hats off to your waving efforts! (quick question: do you alternate waving arms, or just use the one?).