Showing posts with label student. Show all posts
Showing posts with label student. Show all posts

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Some Things I'm Going to Miss at ODU

As we all know, I love ODU a lot, so there are more than a few things I'm going to miss now that I've graduated.  This, I'm sure, will not be the only blog post I spend discussing things I miss.  Every day, I come up with more and more things I miss at ODU, so those of you who are fortunate enough to still be students at ODU, enjoy every moment and don't take any of this wonderful school for granted.

This list is in no particular order as I cannot begin to try and compare the many beautiful aspects of Ohio Dominican University I will miss, but I will begin with the part of ODU I know for sure I will miss the most, the very heart of ODU- Christ the King Chapel.  I have been so distraught since graduation.  I've been crying myself to sleep and trying to figure out what to do with my life.  My favorite place to go to cry, think, pray, sit, write, and make decisions over the past four years has been the Chapel.  Now that I have left and am entering this new chapter of my life, I find myself needing to be there in that chapel more than ever.  The last thing I did before I got into the car to leave ODU was say goodbye the chapel.  There were tears.  I didn't want to leave.  Now, I have nowhere to go in the middle of the night when I need to feel very close to Jesus, when I need to feel comforted by the smell of incense and holy water, when I need to cry by myself, when I need a place to focus my thoughts and prayers, when I need silence to listen to God so that I can handle big life changes and making decisions.  I feel so lost now especially in my prayer life.  I regret not going to that chapel every free moment I had.  I didn't realize until just before graduation what a luxury it is to have a 24/7 chapel right downstairs from my bedroom.  I knew I'd miss it a lot, but I didn't know how much until the week before graduation.  So to those of you who are still there with the chapel, I advise you to go there as often as possible.  Soak it in.  Go to Mass as often as you can.  Take time to just sit in there and listen.  Cry and let Jesus hold you there.  Read in there.  Reflect in there.  Love in there as much as possible and enjoy it while you can.

Of course, I'm also going to miss all my friends at ODU: those who are still there and those who have graduated with and before me.  I have met some of the best people I ever known there.  Because of these friends, I have grown in faith, love, knowledge, understanding, and so many other areas of my life.  My friends at Ohio Dominican make me laugh, cry, smile, think, and love life so much!  It's going to be so hard not being able to walk down the hall or across the parking lot to go visit my best friends any time of day when I need a hug, homework help, food, or just someone to talk to.  My ODU friends are seriously the best.  I know I will keep in touch with most of them, but it's certainly not going to be the same.  Living in the residence halls at ODU is like living in a giant house with all of your best friends.  We would go eat meals together on a more regular basis than I do with my actual family.  We would have homework parties to try to keep each other focused (though we usually just distracted each other further).  We would invite each other to go out to places like the grocery store or the mall so we wouldn't have to shop alone.  We would borrow each other's dish soap and laundry detergent when one of us ran out.  We would sit together at Mass.  We would support each other by attending one another's programs and events on campus.  We would go on runs together and motivate each other in the fitness center.  I am losing a huge support system leaving ODU.  I am not only leaving friends, but people I think of as family, because ODU was home for the last 4 and a half years.  Moving away from your family and your home is always tough.


Sunday, November 18, 2012

Thanksgiving in Hamilton Hall

Every year, about a week before Thanksgiving break, Ohio Dominican University hosts a Thanksgiving dinner for students, faculty, and staff in Hamilton Hall.  The staff dims the lights and puts table cloths and centerpieces on all of the tables.  They serve turkey and pumpkin pie and other holiday-themed foods.  This year, I was very impressed by the salad that was served.  It was so good I ended up eating four servings of it!  This salad was made with spinach leaves, strawberries, mandarin oranges, candied pecans, and a poppy-seed dressing.  Honestly, it was quite possibly the most delicious meal I've ever eaten in my life.  I plan to attempt to re-create it for my own family's Thanksgiving this week.  I let one of the workers know how much I enjoyed the salad and he was very pleased.  The Sodexo staff has been trying to get student feedback to help them improve our dining experiences and I have to say that they have been doing a very good job.  I am very impressed and I have heard many other students saying they have been pleased with the improvements they have seen especially in the meals offered in Hamilton.  Hopefully, we will be seeing even more positive changes in the dining hall.  Maybe I'll get lucky and get to consume another delicious salad in Hamilton Hall before I graduate in December!  :-)

Saturday, July 21, 2012

52 Things to do at ODU

So my friend Rufio recently received an ODU deck of playing cards of which I a extremely jealous, because I have been searching for these cards for forever.  Some upperclassmen had decks of the ODU playing cards back when I was a freshman here, but I guess they stopped producing them sadly.  This is something I would love to see ODU bring back though.  They were really cool (in my own humble opinion at least).  These cards were a regular deck of playing cards,but they had a panther on them (our mascot) and each card had a different thing to do at ODU for a total of 52 things to do at ODU.  Basically, they are super awesome and Rufio better appreciate the rare treasure he has just been gifted.

Many of the things listed on these cards can't be done anymore based on changes in the university, so I would like to make my very own list here for all who are interested :).

1. Visit every building on campus (even Guzman, Las Casas, and the Public Safety house)
2. Visit the sisters at Saint Mary of the Springs
3. Go on a walk near the baseball fields
4. Ride the elevator in Wehrle
5. Try on costumes in the theater
6. Take a Sister Fatula class
7. Read a book from the library for leisure
8. Buy yourself an item of clothing from the Bookstore
9. Go to Mass in Christ the King Chapel
10. Play a game of pool in the Student Center
11. Play sand volleyball
12. Take a picture with Saint Dominick
13. Jump around on the cushioned stairs in Panther Plaza
14. Go on a retreat with Campus Ministry
15. Have a dance party in the Dance and Fitness Room
16. Play the arcade video games in the Griff
17. Run up the baseball stairs as fast as you can without taking a break
18. Make sweet videos to show people how awesome ODU is :)
19. Have lunch or coffee with a staff or faculty member
20. Go to sporting events on campus
21. Lay on the oval and look at the clouds with a friend
22. Do your homework outside
23. Have breakfast in Hamilton Hall
24. Have lunch at Zest
25. Shower in one of the community showers (Sansbury or Fitzpatrick)
26. Watch a movie on a projection screen in the Student Center
27. Play basketball (outdoor court or in the gym)
28. Have a game night (there are board games in most of the residence halls and the student center)
29. Pull an all-nighter with a good friend
30. Go on a moonlit walk around campus with a friend and have a deep conversation
31. Go to a free fitness class
32. Travel with ODU (mission trip, study abroad, sports trips, etc.)
33. Join a club
34. Join a sports team
35. Dress Up on Wednesdays!
36. Start your own ODU tradition
37. Workout in the fitness center
38. Try out for a play or musical
39. Get an on-campus job
40. If you are 21 or older, buy an alcoholic beverage from the Panther Grill
41. Help out at Panther Pride Pitch-In (and clean up the campus whenever else you can as well)
42. Attend ODU Day
43. Go to Homecoming events (pep rally, football game, parade, dance, tail gating)
44. Submit something to Gesture (essays, poems, stories, pictures, etc.)
45. Enjoy the unlimited yogurt and granola in Hamilton Hall.. yum :)
46. Have a coffee date in the student center (the fireside lounge is a fantastic place for this!)
47. Bring your little siblings to Little Sibs Weekend
48. Make a sincere effort to get to know as many people as possible
49. Walk to Dairy Queen for 15% off a cold treat :)
50. Take the shuttle to Easton (go grab food, shop, go ice skating, see a movie, wander around, etc.!)
51. Start your own club
52. Attend ODU events and programs on campus (there's usually free food and ODU stuff and new people to meet)

Mkay, coming up with 52 things was a little harder than I imagined it would be.  Kudos to the people who made those playing cards!  I realize some of these are kind of lame, but it's hard to think up 52 things on the spot!  I will add/remove things if I come up with some better ideas.  Basically, ODU is really awesome though and has a lot to offer, so check out MyODU and find events and programs that interest you.  Make your four years here really count.  They can be really amazing if you let them be :)

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

It's Summertime at ODU

I feel so bad for being so neglectful with this blog.  I just have so many blogs and journals right now that it's hard to keep on task with all of them.  Darn me and my need for creative writing outlets haha. 

It is summer break for ODU students now except for the few who have opted to take summer courses of course.  I contemplated taking a summer course myself, but decided I'd rather focus on work and friends this summer.  I am already limited in my free time as it is. 

So I decided not to graduate in May.  I still needed 2 classes to graduate, but I already had 5 first semester which was exhausting on top of Track and Student Senate and ResLife duties not to mention having a good relationship with family and friends and an active social life.  One of the classes I needed to graduate is being offered in the Fall with one of my favorite professors, Sister Fatula, so I decided to just stay the extra semester and take it with her rather than go through the hassle of finding a subsititute class and getting it approved and all. 

This has actually turned out to be a very nice blessing in a very obvious disguise since I was not at all ready to leave ODU yet.  It's not just that it's my home now and I can't bear to leave it for sentimental reasons though that is true too.  I am also just not ready to go out into the real world and be a grown up.  This gives me a little time to postpone figuring out whether or not I want to do grad school or travel or work to pay off student loans or beginning a "big girl" career.  The extra semester also gives me more time to build lasting friendships and leave the campus with a good lasting impression of myself.  And of course, I will increase my knowledge and Dominican thinking skills through the additional classes I will be taking.

If I hadn't decided to stay the extra semester, I would not have lucked out with the awesome job opportunities I have this summer.  At the very end of Spring semester, there was an opening for a position with ResLife and Student Development as a summer RA and an Orientation leader with food and housing provided for me on campus.  I also got offered a position working as a studen ambassador over the summer, so I am basically getting paid to live on campus and do various tasks around the school which is awesome since my family moved recently so I would have had a hard time getting just for a month or so over the summer.  It's also great to spend more time on campus before I graduate in December.  There's quite a few of my friends from ODU living nearby and visiting from around Ohio, so I am able to see a lot more people this summer than I got to in the past due to my lack of car and being one of very few Panthers from the Cleveland area.

It has been a lot of work at some points, but for the most part, this summer at ODU has been surprisingly awesome!  I feel I made the right decision taking these positions.  It's very beneficial for me emotionally, financially, physically, and socially.  I miss my family a lot, but I know I'd be bored, poor, and lonely if I had moved back home for the summer.  And it would have been very hard for me to motivate myself to find a job and really get on my feet especially if I had graduated in May like I was originally supposed to.

Basically, my point here is that ODU has really given me a lot- jobs, education, amazing friends, faith, and fantastic life experiences.  When I do finally graduate, I know I will be leaving here with great stories, awesome relationships, and the skills I need to survive in the real world and be the person I want to be.  I am not sure that any other school could have done for me what ODU is doing.  I am just so much better now than I was when I first entered Ohio Dominican in May 2008 for my Orientation.  I only hope that all of ODU's students can see and appreciate this amazing place and take full advantage of all it has to offer.  My biggest regret is not realizing this sooner.  My last 4 years could have been even more amazing had I taken the time to really explore and get to know the campus and get involved and build even more and better relationships.  So my advice to every college student is make the most of these 4 years, because you aren't going to get them back and they are over before you know it.  Every day can be an amazing day if you let it, so let your college years be amazing.  There's a lot your school can do for you.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Busy Busy Busy

One of the perks of living on campus at ODU is that there is a variety of jobs for students right here on campus.  One can get job placement through financial aid rewards or get a regular job through various departments on campus.  I have taken advantage of these opportunities to both my delight and displeasure.  For whatever reason, I decided that having two jobs at the same time on top of being a full-time student was a great idea.  I slowly learned that though it is great for my bank account, it is not fun at all.

I originally started my freshman year with a seasonal job working 2-4 nights a week for only a few weeks each semester as a Phonathon caller.  This was not a difficult job or a time- consuming one at that, so it was a perfect job for my freshman year.  Then, my sophomore year, I decided to take on a job that would last the entire school year, so that my paydays would be more frequent and thus, my financial situation more stable.  I got a job working at the Information Desk in our Student Center through Financial Aid in the Work Study program.  I made a little more than minimum wage and my boss was very laid back.  I was only scheduled to work 3 times a week for 2-3 hours at a time.  It was a nice and easy job though it did get really boring, but it was nice being able to basically get paid for sitting at a desk and just working on school work while I waited to assist visitors to our Student Center.

At the end of my Sophomore year, the school got rid of the Concierge position in the Student Center and so my boss offered me a job as an ambassador which would still be through the Admissions department and could still qualify as a work-study position and would pay a little more money as a level 3 position.  I was hired as soon as I said 'yes' without applying or anything.  My boss also encourage me to apply to be a student blogger which I did and so again, I had two jobs, but these two jobs required a lot more of me than the phonathon and information desk.  I had to be trained for both and they each required a tight shedule and a lot of  committment.  It was a good way to start off my Junior year though.  It kept me busy so I wasn't bored and helped me prepare for the kinds of jobs I might have when I graduate and go out into the real world.

The blogger position was eliminated after only one semester of me working as a blogger.  I was worried that I wouldn't be making as much money as I had gotten used to with two pretty well-paying jobs, so I applied at the library and got that position, but for the first time, I was not working between 2 and 4 days a week varying by week, but rather, I was working every single morning Monday-Friday for the entire semester.  It was the shift the library most desperately needed a worker for and I would be getting a decent amount of hours, so I took it in addition to my ambassador position and since they are both level 3 jobs, I am making a really decent amount of  money, but I am exhausted from working so often without any large amount of time in between to recooperate.  At least my Saturday class is over now and tomorrow is the last Visitation Day of the year, so I will have my Saturdays free to rest now and my Cofirmation class should be over after Sunday, so my Sundays will be freed up pretty soon as well which will be a big help especially when finals roll around in just a month and a half!

I think that having a job and pushing yourself to build a good work ethic and self-motivation is a really big part of growing up and I think college is a great time to begin working on skills like this that will help you in the future especially in your career.  ODU definitely makes it easy for students to find their own spot in the workplace right here on campus.  I think every student should try to take advantage of the good fortune of ODU and make that transition into the workforce right here on campus if possible, but remember not to overwork yourself or take on more than you can handle.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Little Sibs Weekend 2011

       As some of you may have noticed, I was able to finally cross out one of my goals for this semester: to have my little siblings come to ODU for Little Sibs Weekend!  It was even more fun than I imagined it would be.  I am so very blessed to have such wonderful little siblings!  I was more than excited to show off my sweet little sibs to all of my friends :) and everyone seemed to love them as much as I do!  My little sister (who is 7) made so many new friends and she was so excited to go home and tell everyone how awesome her weekend with her favorite sister was! 
      For those of you readers who are not familiar with ODU's Little Sibs Weekend, I am very happy to tell you all about it.  In a nutshell, this is a weekend where students get to have their little siblings stay in the dorms with them and participate in a bunch of different and fun activities around campus including an indoor carnival, a movie night, a pancake breakfast, and many other super fun events.  Every year, there are different events and everyone seems to have a lot of fun.
      This year was my first Little Sibs Weekend on campus, so I was really excited that my siblings were able to come down for it.  This year, Student Activities had a Kinect video game session right after registration followed by a Karaoke night the first night.  Then, on Saturday, Little Sibs were invited to go see a Children's musician, but since I was in class, one of my wonderful suitemates took my sibs with hers to see the musician and apparently, they loved it!  After that, I had my siblings come to my class to meet my teacher and have some snacks at our last day of class party.  Sister Fatula was so happy to have them!  Then, we all went to lunch together and headed to the Carnival in the student center.  The carnival was probably the best part of the whole weekend especially for the kids.  There was so much free stuff!  My brother must have eaten at least 4 or 5 cotton candys!  They had face-painting, an inflatable obstacle course, balloon animals, sand art, decorate-yourself cookies and coffee mugs, free popcorn, candy jewelry making, a raffle, cupcakes, musical chairs, snow cones, a caricature artist, and a free photo booth!  My little sister won a huge pack of plato in the raffle and I won a shirt that I gave to my 17yearold sister who didn't make it to ODU this weekend since she had work and a test and whatnot.
     There was also an ice cream social, a comedic juggler, and a movie night.  We ended up watching a movie in my friend Katie's room though instead of going to the official movie night, but we did get to see the juggler and he was really talented and hilarious!  My little siblings definitely loved his act a lot!  My sister even got to go up and perform a trick with him!
      Even though it was really exhausting babysitting for an entire weekend, I was really happy to get to see my siblings and I had a lot of fun with them.  I am really glad that ODU has such fun events for our wonderful little sibs and I cannot wait for next year!  :)

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Beginning of a New Year

It is the official first day of classes for most full time students at ODU.  My roommate and I are taking a Saturday class this year though which started a few days ago, so we had class before many of our fellow peers.  This is the first weekend class I have taken, so it's a very new experience for me especially going from class only 4 days a week to 6.  The class is about 4 hours long and meets every Saturday for the first 8 or 9 weeks of the semester, so it's a long class, but it is a fast way to get four of the credits I need for my major.  In the long run, I think it'll be a smart decision on my part.  In the short run, I am going to regret this decision every Saturday I have to wake up at 6am.
To be honest, I am not as excited about this semester as I would like to be.  On top of taking classes 6 days a week, I also work 3 days a week and I am applying for a second job as well since the blogger job has been eliminated, and I might even consider a third job depending on how the beginning of the semester goes.  I really want to be more involved and improve on my work ethic and time management though and I think that I can handle a lot on my plate right now.  I don't want to waste my time at ODU.  I really want to let this time prepare me for life after college in every way.  Ohio Dominican is all about guiding and helping students in every aspect of their lives (spiritually, mentally, physically, socially, academically, etc.) and I have slowly come to the realization that I need to take full advantage of all this school has to offer!
So this semester is definitely going to be tough, but if I can make it through and accomplish all the goals, I know I will come out a better person for it and that will be worth it!  I just pray that I have the motivation to stick with it and give this semester my all!
Some pseudo-goals I have for this semester are:
to get my temps and eventually my driver's license and a car
to get at least 2 As and nothing lower than a B in my classes
to blog, journal, or write down my thoughts in some way shape or form at least once a week
to go to the school chapel for quiet prayer and reflection time at least once a week
to get confirmed
to have my siblings attend Little Sibs weekend
to be ambassador of the month at least once
to start working out on a regular basis (I haven't decided how often it's going to be and how it will fit in my schedule)
I am sure there are more goals to come which I may add later.  For now though, those will be my main focus for the semester to help me in all aspects of my life at ODU.
Hopefully, this will be a good semester! :)
For those of you who have not read my blog before, or would simply like to read more about me and ODU from my old school blog, the link is here.  I don't know how long those blogs will be up though before the website is completely re-vamped, so I will probably post those on here later just for some background and to help you all get to know me and the school better.
I hope everyone is enjoying the New Year so far and let's all pray 2011 is a good year for everyone!