October 2009 Archives

Horror Week on South Campus!

Hey everyone,

Phew… ALMOST through with midterms * HAPPY DANCE* and midterms coming to a close means only one thing, HALLOWEEN IS COMING! Woohoo. I love Halloween. I’m even dressing up this year.

This year, South Campus RA’s are doing Halloween ALL OUT. We have tons of events coming up.

First, we had Pumpkin Carving. Our RA’s got pumpkins and tons of materials and set up a station Friday afternoon. Our residents can decorate the hallways with them and they’ll look fantastic for Safe Trick-or-Treat (don’t worry, I’ll explain that shortly.)

Then we have Apple Picking. Two RA’s are taking residents to a local farm to pick apples and enjoy the day out in the fall weather, before we get any more snow!

Some RA’s are also setting up a “Zombies vs. Humans” game for a few days. That starts soon. Basically everyone logs into this computer system and logs in as a human, then you tag people (not in class, the dining hall or their room) and they turn into zombies. I don’t really understand it, but apparently it’s really popular.

Also, we are having a Haunted House for our residents on Thursday October, 29^th. It will be in the basement of Concordia. Last year I went through it and was terrified. I’m also a wimp though.

FINALLY, the last event is Safe Trick or Treat. We invite all the children in Lowell to come trick or treat in the residence halls. We also put on a Haunted House for the older children. Our residents pass out candy from their rooms and suites, we have games, crafts and photo opportunities for the kids. It’s a lot of fun and the kids really enjoy it.

It’s going to be a really busy but FUN week over here. I hope everyone else has a good week!

Thanks for reading,

Sam

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Midterm time! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Phew. Okay. I feel better. So last week, this week, and next week are the dreaded time of midterms. It's really quiet around campus now because everyone disappeared into their rooms to study, write papers and prepare projects. As for myself, I'm feeling VERY busy. It feels like paper after paper after flashcards for a test.

If you're a first year student -- you may be feeling a little (or a lot) overwhelmed. I understand. In fact, everyone understands... we've all been there. Even your professors have been there! So make sure you're seeking them out to ask for extensions, meet for test help, or to get ideas for papers that you just can't start.

Like everyone says, college is a LOT different from high school. Midterms are usually a huge weight of your grade here. Usually around 20%. In some classes, it may even be the same as the final. What you need to do is prepare a study/work regimen. If you don't quite know how to do that... here's what I do:

1 - Write out my schedule. Include classes, work, activities etc.. DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE SLEEP. (Schedule 6-7 hours for sleep!)

2 - Write in time to study/do papers. Be specific with which task you're going to do when. Don't just put "paper," put "Political Science Paper".

3 - BE REALISTIC. Don't write "Political Science paper" for an hour if it's a 6-page paper. It's probably going to take longer than that ... then you will feel frazzled. Frazzled is NEVER good.

4 - TAKE A DEEP BREATH. You will get through it. Everyone always does. Plus, it's only the middle of the semester, so you always have time to work on grades etc.
 

If you do anything else, you should comment on here and let me know. I'm always looking for ways to make it through midterms.

Well, I hope that you're all doing well and not that stressed (now I'm not being realistic)... so I won't keep you.

GOODLUCK ON MIDTERMS!

Sam :)