Wrapping up the Semester

There are so many things going on at the end of the semester, it is crazy to think that this is the last week of classes for the semester and next week is finals already!

I am so thankful because I need to go home and work to make all the money I spent over the semester! This is always a rough time of the semester (physically and emotionally) because everyone is stressed out & it’s hard enough to live with people in general, let alone the end of the semester when people are stressed and overwhelmed with work and school. The best thing to do is just keep calm and make it through the rest of the semester. Summer is almost here, so take this time to finish out the semester with a BANG! Best of luck on finals & have a great summer!

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

Well.. here we are in April.

I can’t believe how time flown! I guess they are right when they say time flies when you are having fun. I have registered my classes for my last fall semester here. I can’t believe I am going to be a senior! It’s scary. I think if I could give any advice to future students or even current ones is take ALL your classes seriously. Those easy classes and prereqs can really boost your GPA and help you out in your harder classes. I wish I took freshman and sophomore year more seriously because I wouldn’t have to work this much extra hard now. The other thing I would advise future and current students is to have fun, it’s really true that college is supposed to be the time of your life, so get your work done and then have fun because before you know it you too will be heading into your Senior year wondering where the time went. Staying organized is the key so you can pace yourself and find a way to have time for homework and still hang out with your friends and do fun things! You don’t want to have to turn down an opportunity to do something fun because you have to cram to get a paper done, trust me I have been there it’s no fun. Don’t fall behind, stay ahead of the game so that you can take every opportunity that comes your way! (:

 

Midterm Madness

Well I know I haven’t written in a while, so I am sorry about that! I have been crazy busy with working and school and volunteering (don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining, I would rather be busy than bored!). So here we are, at the midterm part of the semester. It is crazy how time flies! I can’t tell you how crowded the library is, and how many people I hear complaining about how much work they have to do! Well if they had planned ahead and been a little bit more organized they would not have to cram so much right now! I am taking this week to organize and finalize my projects and review my assignments that are due but I don’t have to worry about cramming that paper in and staying up all night long! If I could pass one message along to my friends that are stressed this week it would be to PLAN AHEAD! My boyfriend has so many papers and assignments to do he is freaking out, and I wish I could help but he never listens (obviously, I am always right!) because I told him to get an agenda and write down his assignments and start them in advance so it doesn’t come down to the last minute but did he listen? NOPE! Now look I am relaxing writing this blog and he is stressing out over last minute papers (hehe!). 

Starting off a new semester

Welcome back to my blog! I hope you had a Merry Christmas! Well, it’s officially time to let reality set in, we are now forced to get back into the swing of things & it is so easy to get lost in the shuffle. We are starting off a new year and a new semester so take this as an opportunity to better yourself! Set goals for yourself, set a short term goal, a school related goal, a fun goal and a long term goal! Write them down and read them every day to keep track of your progress!

Getting ready for the new semester involves the same goal setting technique. It it easy to just think of the first week of classes as “syllabus week” but take this opportunity to get ahead of the game. Buy yourself a planner, and take out all of your syllabi and write down when your assignments are due so that you can stay ahead of the game rather than have to rush to get assignments done at the last minute. Set a goal for yourself to stay ahead of the game this semester, it’s so much easier to sit down and write a paper then go back and proof read it another day to make sure that you have gathered all your thoughts thoroughly than it is to rush and cram a paper in at ten at night the night before it is due. Good luck this semester!

Crunch time! (end of the semester!)

Well here we are, the end of the semester already! I guess time flies when you’re having fun! Now is the time where all that fun comes back to bite you! The end of the semester can be such a crazy time if you don’t prepare for it.. it seems that there are so many final tests and exams and papers due all in a two week time frame! The best thing that I can advise for any student is to prepare for this time. All of my teachers gave my all of my assignments for the semester in my syllabus. I try to be organized by having a planner that I use. During syllabus week I am the nerdy girl who goes through the syllabus and writes down all of the assignments on the due dates. People might laugh at me then but I am the one laughing now when I have started (if not finished) so many of my final papers so now I just have to start studying for my finals.
Being organized is a job in itself, trust me I know. My boyfriend does not use a planner and it drives me crazy, but I am the one who is blogging now and watching TV while he is in the library with 5 papers he has to write (sucks to be him!) This is a crazy time but you just need to pace yourself. Write a to – do list, and write it in the order of importance so whatever is due first is the first thing you should do. Don’t stress because that just makes it worse, pack your backpack, get a cup of coffee (or hot chocolate) and go to the library for a few hours and I promise you that you will get it done. Just focus. Keep Calm and make it to Christmas Break! (: happy studying!

Trio Program

Neumann has a program, the Trio Program, that I am a part of, and they have been so helpful to me and I would encourage everyone who is already a student, or a prospective student, to try to join. All you have to do is fill out an application and they will determine your eligibility. I signed up second semester of my freshman year, and it is one of the best decisions that I have made. If you are eligible you are assigned an advisor through the program who will help you (this advisor is different from your regular academic advisor). My advisor is Kristin, and she is a blessing! She has been so helpful since I joined the program. I meet with Kristin once a month and we go over my grades, my classes, how I am doing, she helps with everything. The program offers free tutoring, they help with my financial aid, they help me with my time management, and they help you plan for the future. At the beginning of each semester we meet and I set goals for myself, short term and long term. I find it so helpful because I am the type of person who needs structure in my life. I know that Trio has helped me make and maintain structure in my schedule. My grades have gone up because I know what I have to do now, I have a plan thanks to the Trio Program.

Fall Break

I know that Fall Break was a few weeks ago, but with the recent hurricane and power outages and other things going on I have been unable to blog! But better late than never, I suppose!

A few weeks ago we had our Fall Break, we get two days off during the week so it is like a long weekend. I was counting down the days until I was able to go home and see my family. I live in North Jersey, so I try to avoid making that trip as much as possible, I hate driving distances like that by myself. One of the things that I love about Neumann is how personal the experience is, some of my friends that go to bigger schools don’t get a break like that. It could not be at a better time too, it’s a nice break since we have been at school for over a month. I don’t think that I could survive through thanksgiving if we did not have fall break. I love my roommates and my friends but sometimes we need that space from each other. I got to go home and see my family who I missed so much!

I have a class on Friday’s from 3-4 and if I left to go home at 4 I would have to sit on the turnpike in rush hour traffic for a few hours, so another thing about Neumann that I love is how understanding the faculty is. I talked to my teacher on Wednesday after class and I explained that I would not be able to come to class on Friday to him, I was marked absent from class of course, but my teacher was so understanding about my needs, and I know that he will not hold it against me (other than in my attendance record of course). The faculty here are so real, they are mothers and fathers, friends and they understand that things happen. They are genuine and they really want everyone to succeed, and it makes my experience here so much better.

NU Ice Hockey Club Game Saturday

Saturday night Neumann University Club Ice Hockey played a game against West Chester. The game was away, so it was about a twenty minute ride but I went with my boyfriend and my roommate, and we met up with a bunch of our friends at the game. It was so fun!! I have a lot of friends on the team so it was exciting to watch them! The puck dropped and NU scored in 29 seconds! Our section of Neumann fans got to excited! Everyone was screaming and cheering. We were on our toes the whole entire game! Before we knew it West Chester scored 3 goals, and we were down 3-1. That did not get to our boys though, they caught up and at the end of the 3rd period the score was 4-4! After a 4 on 4 overtime there was still no goal and the game remained tied. It went into shoot outs, I was so nervous because one of my good friends Jeff is the goalie! He is amazing, he didn’t look like he even was breaking a sweat but I was shaking for him! After 3 players, both teams had each scored one goal with the final player. So the shoot out continued, after 3 more players went West Chester’s player scored. It was a disappointing goal, but the NU team could not have played better! I was so proud of all the boys, especially Jeff, he is number one on his jersey and in my book! He’s looking like the next Lundqvist (I guess it would be more of a compliment to him if I said Brodeur, since he likes the Devils) in my book! Congrats to the team, GO KNIGHTS!

Intramurals

I was too afraid to play college level sports when I first came to Neumann. It all seemed way to serious and intimidating to me even though I have played softball since I was a little girl. I did play Intramural softball though, and it is so much fun! I got a group of my friends together and we made a team, but softball is only during the spring. It’s fun to play against other teams because we can meet people, and it is a great break from studying!

During the fall there is 3v3 basketball and flag football. I love going to the flag football games twice a week because it gives me something to do (other than studying). I know a lot of people who made teams, and the boys take it so seriously, it’s kind of cute.. they think they are in the NFL. My boyfriend is a ref (he got that job through the work study program) so I like going to see him there too. It’s more of a social thing for me than a sports thing, I like to see all my friends that have teams.

Why I chose Neumann University

Hi! Welcome to my blog!

I thought it would be a good idea to focus my first post about why I chose to come to Neumann, so here it goes! I am from a small town in Northern New Jersey. I went to a small catholic school from pre-k 3 all the way through 8th grade (11 years!). I loved that school, I loved my classmates my teachers and the whole community. After I graduated 8th grade I went to a small public high school, I looked at a lot of Catholic schools but I wanted to save money for college so I went with public high school. My highschool was small too! My graduating class was only 160 students.

When I was looking for colleges I wanted something close enough to home that I could come home if I needed to, but far enough away that I could be independent and not rely on my family for everything (plus I didn’t want them to come visit me every weekend either!) I found Neumann and I visited here 3 times before I decided this was my school. The first time I came with my mom and we had planned a Saturday to just drive to all different schools. I was instantly impressed by Neumann’s campus so we called and made an appointment for a tour.

When I came for a tour I fell in love, the class sizes were perfect, the campus was small and the surrounding town was nice! I loved the dorms (that was one of my deciding factors) the fact that I had to share a bathroom with only 6 girls instead of a whole floor was so important for me! I also fell in love with the Mirenda Center (the center for sports and spirituality) too.

I can honestly say that I love Neumann University, I have met some amazing people here and I know I will be friends with them for the rest of my life. The classroom sizes are amazing, I am not just a number here all my professors know who I am and they really do strive for everyone to succeed! The values that Neumann has really do show in the students here and the faculty.