Willyard, Samantha D: October 2008 Archives

Hey everyone,

This past weekend was one of the craziest on campus in a while. In three days we had President Wilson of the UMass System come visit, the first UML Hockey game of the season, family day and open house.

First, lunch with President Wilson was excellent. There were about 25 students there and Chancellor Meehan ordered us pizza. Chancellor Meehan and President Wilson basically made the lunch an open forum and we got to ask anything we wanted. We got questions answered about all of the changes at the university (budget cuts, financial aid, Fox Hall, new academic buildings etc.). President Wilson was a very friendly and personable guy, I was very honored to meet him. On the way out of our lunch, we got tickets for a free soda and popcorn at the hockey game.

Then, later that night was UML's first hockey game. We got to sit in the front row right behind the goal in the student section, it was intense! The game was a lot of fun, I definitely missed the atmosphere. There is nothing like a whole portion of the Tsongas chanting and cheering together. I wonder if we broke the record for the most people to attend a UML Hockey game on opening night. Below is a picture of me and my friends Jenna and Tammy at the game. There is a pretty similar one floating around from last year at the first game & a picture of Rowdy the Riverhawk on the ice.

Saturday was Family Day. There were tons of activities! There was a rock wall, two separate moon bounces, lots of different types of food, games and even a make your own fishtank (and get a free fish!) booth. I got a fish, his name is Jujubee. My favorite club booth was probably the Cheerleading Teams "jail". What you could do was pay $1 and have someone put in the jail for 5 minutes, or you could pay $2 and get out early. I took pictures of some people in jail. Even Chancellor Meehan ended up in jail, he was a great sport though.

Then Sunday was Open House. I did South Campus tours all day. It was great to see some of the faces of people that might be coming to UML. I had a lot of fun on my tours and it made me miss orientation. So if I met you at Open House, it was a pleasure and I hope to see you at Accepted Students day.

Doing Tours also made me think about Grad School and how I'm going to be touring school again soon. It's so exciting.

Well thanks for reading,

-Sam :)

Hey everyone,

I hope you're reading this and you aren't stressing about midterms, but odds are that's incredibly unrealistic. This blog has become a saving grace of procrastination. In fact, there are plenty of other things I should be doing, but I decided to take a break and write here.

Midterms are a great and tortuous (just kidding!) device that professors use to find out how well you're doing and in turn allow you know how you're doing in the course. These devices may be found in the forms of papers, exams or projects.

Here are some tips for studying and preparing for midterms that work for me:

1 - Make a timeline. Figure out what is due when and when exams fall into place.
2 - Make study groups! It is easier to not dive into midterms alone.
3 - Take breaks! (Like right now) Quick breaks will allow you to recharge.
4 - Don't procrastinate! Everything IS going to happen, so don't push it all back, it just gets overwhelming.

So my timeline looks like this:

Last night - Study for my Research II Exam
Today - Work on a Spanish packet, Study for my Children's Literature Midterm.
This weekend - Work on a Children's Literature essay, Finish the Spanish packet.
Beginning of next week - Do my Research II Take Home Exam.

Seeing everything out, and planning it out gives me a good sense of time. It allows me to plan life around what needs to be done, like duties and securities I might have.

Midterms are serious! You should understand that they are often a large portion of your final grade. If you don't do so well on a midterm, it should be a good indicator that you should work harder in the class.

Well as always... Thanks for reading,

Sam :)

Hey everyone,

Ugh! I’m so sorry I haven't written lately. I've been VERY sick. I had a mighty case of pneumonia. (I know, I'm the preacher of all that is healthy and health services related but some of these things I cannot control.) Regardless, I'm back up and running. Today was my last day of anti-biotics.

They took good care of me at health services. Tons of motrin and recommendations, oh and a thermometer for my room! They took good care of me at health services. Tons of motrin and recommendations, oh and a thermometer for my room!

So now, thanks to my ridiculous luck and fabulous immune system, i'm rather behind on school work. Lucky for me, I have great professors. I e-mailed them all or talked to them in person and let them know that I was sick. I also let them know that I would provide them with proper documentation regarding me missing classes. They've been very understanding, and for that I'm grateful.

DISCLAIMER: Health Services will NOT give you excusal notes. They WILL give you documentation saying you were seen, but it can not be AFTER you missed the class. If you miss class on a Tuesday and go to Health Services on Thursday and say oh, I had a cough on Tuesday and skipped research, can I have a note? They will NOT do that. On the other hand if you ask for written documentation on Monday for Monday's classes, they will provide you with that. DISCLAIMER #2 It is up to YOUR professor to excuse the absence, whether or not you have documentation.

Well, now that I'm getting better, I should probably do things, like catch up on sleep or homework. Have a good week!

Thanks for reading,

Sam :)