Category: Random Musings (page 16 of 30)

Lessons, thoughts, helpful tips and more

Transportation Around Campus: Speeding Between Classes by John Salsini-Tobias

Inevitably, every student will have two classes back to back, with seemingly no hope of making it all the way from Alison Hall to McDowell on time. In those first few months of school, it can be confusing and difficult to balance a new workload with new stresses of making classes on time. As the temperature drops and speed walking seems like a more realistic and less sweaty option, other modes of transportation should also be considered. Everything from a car to a scooter can be useful at this university, and even free up time outside of class.

The first and obvious choice for many is to simply use their legs to propel movement towards the classroom. Walking does not require parking, you do not have to follow any timetables, and it is a good option to remain healthy (and impress your Fitbit or Apple Watch). One big benefit, especially for first year students, is the ease of grouping up with new friends if you are both headed in the same direction. While walking is a viable option, it is also slow and can be made unpleasant depending on weather conditions. Let’s speed things up a bit.

If you wear Vans, you probably have at least thought about learning to skateboard. Now is the time, with one kick of propulsion and a little bit of gravity you can make it pretty far. If you don’t have the time to learn, an electric skateboard will ease the struggle of going uphill, but also set you back quite a bit of money. If these options are not particularly appealing, scooters offer all the same advantages with some extra stability. Either way, your commute times will no doubt decrease, but skateboarding may be tricky to learn at first and it can sometimes seem too fast for the sidewalk but too slow for the streets.

One of the most common options aside from walking is using a bicycle. Even faster than skateboarding, biking can make a twenty-minute walk into a five-minute ride. Personally, I’ve been saved from being late to class by using my bike on too many occasions. Again, this option is very good for your health, if that’s of interest, and you can also avoid bad weather by powering through the wind and rain. With ample parking racks by every university building, and bike lanes throughout Newark, the main negatives of biking – stolen bikes and car drivers – are greatly reduced. 

If you feel like showing off your ride and paying way too much for a parking spot you could even bring your car to campus. It is extremely handy for trips to the beach or to the mall, but I wouldn’t recommend taking the whip to class. Not only will you have to pay more for metered parking at each parking location, but you probably won’t even save much time between the specific lots and construction-induced traffic. The far more sensible road-going transport option would be the very convenient and efficient UD Shuttle system. The DoubleMap app allows you to track the buses in real time and plan your stops and schedule around the timetable. The strict schedule means that sometimes buses just won’t have the right timing for you, but if you have a class at South Campus, you’ll be glad this option is provided. 

Overall, with the multitude of options available, any student will be able to find a way to make their classes on time, and even use saved time to get more work done. I choose to keep a balance between using my old bike and walking to class, and often end up walking my bike back with fellow classmates, but I also have a car on campus for the weekend. It’s completely up to the individual, and they can decide any number of ways how to stay on top of their schedule.

*Image obtained from https://media.thetab.com/blogs.dir/145/files/2016/04/bikes-udel.jpg

“Senior Year Struggles” by Alyssa Schiff

Time has already been flying by since the semester started up again, despite the summer dragging on for ages. Working on my own schedule for two months this summer made me appreciate the planned out schedule of class on a new and very deep level. For ten weeks I sat in the library, and almost every coffee shop on Main Street, working on my research for the McNair Program here at UD. Thankfully, I was doing this research on a topic I care very deeply about: environmental injustice, and so I felt like I was both gaining really important research experience and also diving deep into the topic I hope to go to grad school for. While I won’t spend forever on the topic, if you are considering pursuing a research experience: go for it.

Within the first day of class, I felt wholly relieved to be thrown back into a regular schedule of class and work. That is, until I realized that senior year is an entirely new beast that I might not be ready to face. Firstly, let me tell you, grad school applications are just simply unpleasant. Deciding the programs to apply to, asking for recommendations, and writing many, many essays, leaves one with a general sense of panic and a deep worry for the future. Secondly, I did not plan my schedule correctly whatsoever. Once again I have somehow made my schedule entirely overflowing with class, work, and meetings. People always say how they plan to take their easiest classes in senior year and reduce their workload, but I guess I just didn’t get that memo. After switching my minor in Ancient Greek and Roman Studies to a second major in the second week of senior year, I ensured that I would be taking a full course load for my second semester of senior year. And trust me, I know that may sound like a perfect way to add some more stress into the senior year equation, and I won’t disagree, but in my mind that stress is worth it in the end for classes I really enjoy (see my last post on classical studies).

My third issue with senior year is handling the nostalgia of it being the last year at UD. I have lived with my same roommates from freshman year in Redding all through college, and when we decided to move off-campus in junior year, we added our friends who lived only a few doors down from our corner room in section 3C. As I’m quickly realizing, I’ve been incredibly lucky to live with several of my best friends, and I really just don’t want that experience to end just yet. As much as every college student knows that they will need to move forward at the end of their four years, that fact really just hits a little different in senior year.

While my senior year is off to a very stressful start, the nostalgia of it being the last year (while sad and difficult to deal with) also kicks in to say, “hey, take a break and talk to your friends,” and for that, I am grateful. If you are a senior and reading this, and perhaps resonate with the stress rant I’ve laid out here: lean into the nostalgia, and let it motivate you to enjoy yourself a little bit more.

“Dealing with the Inevitable: Poor Performance” by Carlos Benito

As smart as we may be, as hard as we may work, and as much as we may try, we will inevitably face academic failure. As much as we try to avoid it, at some point all of us sit alone, staring down a low grade that will keep us up at night. So, as dedicated UD students working towards a successful future, what can we do about it?

The first priority is to try and prevent this scenario from ever happening in the first place. Studying every week day, going to office hours or emailing questions to professors and TA’s when something is not understood are your sure fire ways of trying to prevent this from happening. However, sometimes your classes throw that complete curveball. The exam almost exclusively covered topics that were not stressed in class or were not even covered. The exam is way too long for the time given or questions are not worded clearly. These are things that we, as students, cannot control. However, as humans, we can adapt to these sorts of hectic settings as best we can. After the first exam, we all start to get a sense of how the class is run, the wording style of the professor and what their priorities are. These intuitions are your first defense against a bad grade, however they are just that, patterns that could be broken anytime the professor wishes and therefore cannot be fully relied on.

However, lets say that all of these strategies were implemented and still lead to failure. My best advice: talk to the professor. This will not be a fun talk, but it is one you need to have. You need to go over question by question, line by line, everything you did wrong on that exam with them to understand why you got it wrong and more importantly how you can avoid the same mistakes in the future. From experience, I can tell you the conversation will go something like this…

You meet with the professor, pull out the exam and they take a deep breath. They dislike this conversation just as much as you do. You start explaining your logic for answering the problem and then you come to the spot where it all went wrong, the professor hesitantly identifies this spot as where the bomb dropped and then explains what you should have done. Either that or the professor responds in a demeaning tone that is going to make this process a whole lot more painful. Either way, you push through and finally turn over that last page. You thank the professor for meeting with you and walk out feeling accomplished because you know you did the right thing, even if the professor did not.

It’s a difficult thing to do, but if we are going to call ourselves professionals we have to get used to asking superiors where we went wrong, even if we think we never did. Whether it was in our study methods, note taking methods or somewhere else – just taking the time to have this conversation will pay major dividends in the future. So if you are staring at that exam right now, put it down, shoot an email to your professor and prepare to take a step towards becoming a professional.

“Spring into Spring” by Carly Patent

Every season has something special. Summer is known for its heat, its pool parties and barbeques, sugary sweet watermelon, and sun burns that turn us into lobsters. Fall calls for comfy sweaters, pumpkin spice everything, apple picking, Halloween candy, and the bright hues of leaves. Winter is a holiday of lights, snowmen, gifts, family, friends, and fireplaces, candy canes, hot chocolate, and Elf. But spring is sometimes the forgotten season. Yes, we all love that after a long winter, we can finally come out of hibernation and break out the shorts and t-shirts that had been buried in our drawers for so long. We love that the flowers are blooming, with their sweet smells filling the air as we walk. Green grass and allergies go hand and hand in springtime, giving Claritin the boost that its been waiting for ever-so-patiently. And pastels – whether on our clothes, our decorations, or our Easter Peeps – make everything cheerful and bright. But, while these are just some reasons why we love springtime, we often don’t make the most of our sunny and 75° days. Especially for us Blue Hens, who spend the majority of the spring season at school – unlike other college students who have most likely been out of school for weeks already – it’s important that we soak in spring and everything that it has to offer. For that reason, I’ve decided to share my top five tips on how to make the most of spring in our final weeks here at the University of Delaware.

  1. Ice Cream at UDairy

It’s no surprise that as the temperatures get hotter, we naturally want something to cool us down. And, it doesn’t hurt that we have a creamery located right on campus to provide us with every flavor under the sun, well, not every flavor, but they’re getting closer and closer every day to that. The proximity of UDairy offers an excuse to put away the books for a little and treat yourself for making it this far into the semester. Gather up your friends, take a walk to UDairy (to burn off a few calories before inhaling a double scoop in a waffle cone…with blue and yellow sprinkles, of course), and try one of their many, many flavors. Raspberry Lemonade Sorbet would be a refreshing treat on a hot day, while their new Candy Crackle Pop, cotton candy ice cream with Pop Rocks, is the perfect thing to transport you to your summer days spent at carnivals or baseball games. After cooling down with a much-needed treat, giving you the sugar high you need to keep powering through with assignments, enjoy the walk home (to continue to walk off the ice cream). Or, if you’re feeling a food coma, there’s nothing wrong with taking the bus back either!

  1. Dining Al Fresco

Continuing with the theme of food (clearly the best theme there is), another way to make the most of spring here at Delaware is to eat outside. Whether you’re getting takeout from Russel or Pencader, setting out a blanket and enjoying it on the turf, or scouting out a table on Main Street – there’s nothing better than eating in the cool, crisp air. Places like Klondike Kate’s, Finn McCool’s, Stone Balloon, and HomeGrown all have a lot of outdoor seating, so I’d suggest hitting those up first. Another great option is to get takeout from SNAP, MOD, or El Diablo to set up a picnic on the Green. An additional perk: as you’re eating al fresco, it’s very likely you’ll either spot dogs going for their nightly walk or little kids going for a stroll with their families. Either way, prepare for a cuteness overload!

  1. Outdoors Exploration

To find a way to work off all of the eating, spring is the perfect time to get outdoors and have fun! Aside from being prime sunbathing locations for those attempting to get a little color before summer, our turfs and the Green are great spaces to throw a football, toss a frisbee, or kick a soccer ball. Pro tip: if you have chosen the sunbathing route, definitely don’t close your eyes for too long as you never know when a frisbee throw might go awry (I must admit that I’m definitely not pro when it comes to getting my frisbee to actually go to the person I’m throwing it to…so look out). Having lived on both East and North campus, I loved seeing all of the activity going on outside when the weather got warmer, it always inspired me to do my work more efficiently – and take less breaks – so that I could get outside quicker. Additionally, campus has a ton of basketball and tennis courts for open use as well. For those looking to truly get away from the hustle and bustle of college life, White Clay Creek and the reservoir are a nice escape. Going through the trails can help your momentarily forget about the reading, the paper, and the group project you have due, offering a true getaway. On a sunny day, there really is nothing better than getting outside. It’ll leave you feeling refreshed, renewed, and reconnected. Just be sure to bring water!

  1. Local Excursions

The theme of exploration emerges again as our location in Newark allows us the ease to take numerous day or weekend trips that are perfect in springtime. The plethora of Delaware beaches offers an amazing choice for a hot day with nothing to do, if one friend has a car, then you’re in luck. Load up the towels, the snacks, and the sunscreen for a fun day away. Bring a good book (or a textbook…it’s sure to be a better experience reading with the sound of waves crashing than the sound of train rolling by) and some good music, and you’ve got yourself a day of fun in the sun! Sporting events can also be an inexpensive and easy way to get out and get away. For Phillies fans (the best fans!), Citizens Bank Park is just a short drive or train ride from here, and truly nothing in the world can beat Chickie’s and Pete’s crab fries drenched in melted cheese sauce. Finally, Longwood Gardens, just a thirty-minute drive, comes alive in spring, making this the time to go. Be sure to bring a camera to get some pictures of the breathtakingly colorful flowers and gardens, it’s very likely that you’ll get a prime Insta, as well, so dress accordingly! If you’re terribly afraid of bees, though, take caution!

  1. Campus Gems

Finally, use this time to relish in everything that our beautiful campus offers. Although the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. has since passed, our cherry blossoms are in full bloom and can still be seen lining Memorial Hall, the bridge to North Campus, and the sidewalk across from the ISE Lab. If you’re looking for an activity, Ag Day, which is on Saturday April 27 this year from 10:00-4:00, offers everything you could ever want: UDairy, farm animals (including an actual Blue Hen), plants, food trucks, and fun shopping! It’s definitely a day not to miss and something that I personally look forward to…not to mention that UDairy is revealing a new flavor this year! Lastly, with the weather getting nicer, head out to support some of our sports teams, whether it’s lacrosse, tennis, or baseball, make it your goal to go to at least one of every game to cheer on your fellow Blue Hens!

For seniors or those of us who cannot help but acknowledge that another year here has come and gone, spring is the time to take advantage of all that the longer days and warmer weather has to offer, whether that’s studying at the tables outside Morris, sunbathing on the Green, or devouring some buffalo chicken nachos on the Kate’s porch. It’s official: spring has sprung, and it’s time for us to fly from the nest to see all that this weather has to offer!

“Top Four Tips for Finding a Job After College” by Avery Beer

“What are you doing after graduation?”

This question seems to be asked at least once a day, and I am sure to all my fellow graduating class members, you know exactly what I mean. These last few years have given me so much here at Delaware; but what I can tell you is that there are just some things that you cannot learn in a classroom. Yes, you guessed it. I’m talking about the complex, competitive, seemingly never-ending job search. I have had quite a few internships, and I am currently in the job search process now. It is not easy by any means, but having experience with the internship search has taught me a bit about what it takes. I have become a sort of “connoisseur” in this area, so I have decided to compile a list for all of you Blue Hens reading this who may also be looking for a job. Once your résumé is polished, check out these top four tips for landing a job post-graduation.

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