Tag: community (page 17 of 19)

Do Honors students have social lives? (and other questions)

April 30, 2013 / / Comments Off on Do Honors students have social lives? (and other questions)

Welcome to our special “Day Before Deposits are Due” edition of Ask Ashley!

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The Social Scene

This week I am going to address a subject that I’m sure has crossed everyone’s mind at some point: social life. Yes, Honors students generally hold their studies high on their list of priorities, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t like to have fun, too!

A common misconception about Honors life is that students who live in Honors housing are isolated from the rest of the student body. Since the majority of freshmen live in East Campus, it’s nearly impossible not to meet people outside of the Honors community just by stepping onto the Harrington turf. Living in Russell gives you a smaller community feel within a large school, which is a nice feeling to come home to at the end of the day. Also, it is nice to have students around you who probably have similar study habits and will respect Sunday night cram sessions.

Honors students have just as many social opportunities as non-Honors students do and then some. We can be involved in Greek life or can join as many RSO’s as they please all while having access to exclusive Honors events, as well. We get the best of both worlds: a quiet study area when needed while having access to the same social privileges as every other student at UD. What more could you ask for?

Your Future Plans

When someone asks you what you want to be when you grow up, how do you respond? You may have everything in your career future figured out to the tee, or you may not have a clue. Whether you apply to college as a specific major or if you apply undeclared, discovering new interests and passions once you begin your college journey is inevitable.

I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times, but you probably will change your major at least once over the course of your college career. With such a wide variety of interesting courses available, something completely obscure may creep up on you and spark your interest without you even realizing it until the course is halfway over. Also, you may be inspired by a particular professor’s work or a study done by another student. No matter how it happens, I promise that someone or something will inspire you, even if this inspiration has absolutely nothing to do with your future plans.

Throughout high school, I was all about conserving the environment and I was very interested in the natural resources that the earth has to offer, so naturally I applied to UD as an Environmental Studies major. Then, one day over the summer, panic set in: although I’d thought that I’d one day save the world with my environmentally friendly attitude, I thought that I’d better change my major to Plant Science so that I could maximize my career options. Fast-forward a couple months, and here I am, a Communication major with Spanish and Art minors. If that’s not a 180-degree turn, I don’t know what is!

Long story short, it’s so easy to change your mind in college and let’s face it – it’s what kids our age do best! So don’t be afraid to have a change of heart once you get here. I already switched my major twice before I was even finished with my first semester! As long as you’re doing what you love, everything else should fall into place.

If you’re unsure about which major to choose coming into UD, comment here and I’ll be glad to give you my advice!

~Ashley Bostwick

Think Bigger by Starting Smaller

April 26, 2013 / / Comments Off on Think Bigger by Starting Smaller

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There are no two ways about it: the events of the past few weeks have been trying, and not only for the students of UD. People everywhere are still reeling from the effects of the Boston Marathon bombings, the attacks in Iraq, the earthquake at the Iran-Pakistan border, the Texas plant fertilizer explosions… sometimes, it seems like the list of things that are going wrong is infinite and unyielding. There will always be times when pessimism would be the easiest route, when writing off humanity is inherently bad would be the simplest… but that wouldn’t be very daring at all.

This week is about daring to think bigger, and even in light of the tragedies, accidents, and mishaps of the past fortnight, I truly do believe that humanity has done that with stunning perseverance and encouraging optimism. The “dare to think bigger” comes in the form of Boston Marathon runners crossing the finish line and going straight to the hospital to give blood to the victims, of the Yankees’ tribute to the Red Sox in the middle of a game, of the national and global support to every person feeling the shock of these events.

Looking back, here’s what I’ve come up with: that daring to think bigger means starting smaller. All of the positive responses to these and, I think, all things start with individuals who cannot stand to sit idly by while others are suffering. These changes come in a number of shapes and sizes: time, money, prayers, helping hands, random acts of kindness… the list is miraculously long, so much so that I could fill a month of posts on the beautiful, thoughtful ideas people conceive.

But instead of filling a post, what I want to do and to see more than anything is the filling of campus. In conjunction with “dare to think bigger” and what this post has been about, I’m issuing a challenge to UD; our partner in National Honors Blog Week, Temple University; and everyone reading this post.

Dare to think bigger by starting smaller. It’s one thing to march onto the street and announce a staggering plan for global change, but it’s entirely another to take on the perspective of another. There’s no way of knowing what a passing smile or a door held for the person behind you can do. If everyone reaches out just a little, hands will join. Perspective expands when minds do, and by reading to the end of this post, you’re already a small part of the way. To get you that little bit farther, I’d like to leave you with this quote:

“We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist.” Queen Victoria.

Have a great weekend, UD.

~Claire Davanzo

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UD’s unsung heroes

April 3, 2013 / / Comments Off on UD’s unsung heroes

As I walk around campus, I notice many things. The foliage, the buildings, the countless students streaming past me…and of course, the furry little mammals that can frequently be seen dashing around. I refer, of course, to squirrels.

These critters are very common here, although you don’t see them quite as often in the dead of winter. And as such, I have decided to write a tribute to UD squirrels. The squirrels found on campus are eastern gray squirrels, which are native to Delaware and surrounding states. If you’re from around here, you’ve seen other members of this genus thousands and thousands of times before.

These squirrels, while not exactly unafraid of humans, are a little desensitized towards us. On a typical fall day, you can sight dozens of squirrels climbing trees, burying acorns, searching for food in garbage cans, or doing who knows what. Yes, squirrels are quite fond of scrounging for tasty bits in trash cans. On one memorable occasion, I walked past a trash can and heard scratching coming from nearby. Puzzled, I stopped, only for a squirrel to jump out and startle me.

I’ve seen one squirrel eating a discarded apple core and another squirrel licking the inside of a thrown-away Starbucks cup. These creatures are creative, they’re everywhere, and they’re popular. There used to be a Facebook page for UD squirrels. The page had a fair number of likes before being taken down for some reason.

I once noticed a squirrel happily chewing away on an acorn just off the path, with no concern for its surroundings. Standing behind it, I clapped loudly and then laughed heartily as the poor creature did a backflip and sprinted away faster than I thought possible.

These critters are no problem, and students don’t mind them. I wouldn’t even term the squirrels pests. They are not exactly going to run up and grab your leg, not matter how much food you’re eating. They’re not that bold. Instead, they just rush around campus, always seeming to go 50 miles an hour. The squirrels are an amusing little aspect of campus, something you occasionally snicker about and other times don’t even notice.

We may be the Blue Hens, but I think the nickname “squirrels” would also work pretty well.

Do you have any amusing encounters with squirrels? Share in the comments below.

~Matt Bittle

 

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Why do elevators have to be awkward?

March 15, 2013 / / Comments Off on Why do elevators have to be awkward?

Christiana East Tower, for those of you who don’t know, has seventeen floors. That’s two more than its counterpart West, and (I’m willing to bet, at least) more than any other building on campus. Living as I do on the fifteenth floor of East, I basically have three options. The first is to properly sync up the teleport we’re hiding in our bathroom (and it doesn’t meet the room regulations, so shh); the second is to get in shape by racing up and down thirty flights of stairs (two flights each to get between floors); the third is to take the elevator.

And while that third option may seem the most attractive at first, it means squirming and shifting in the irrationally painful aura of the elevator ride itself. No matter how many people cram themselves into the elevator (and I’ve been in one with as many as eleven), I think they somehow all silently agree not to speak a single word to the person smushed into their ribcage or nudged into the back corner for fear of actual social interaction. Furthermore, as people start to get out, those remaining in the elevator shift into formations that allow them to stay as far away from the other people as possible.

Copyright (c) in 2011 euroelevators.com. All rights Reserved

Common ways to avoid speaking in the elevator include staring pointedly at your phone, fiddling with your keys, watching the light over the doors move from floor to floor, or jamming your thumb down on the ‘door close’ button every time someone gets even their toe out into a hallway. It might just be the study of silence I’ve been conducting in my Honors ENGL394 class, but to me, this is both remarkable and a little bit saddening.

Elevators are a normal part of life, and even if there’s someone who’s so petrified of them that he or she is reduced to silence upon the usage of one, surely not all of us are plagued with this affliction. Why, then, are we reduced to silence upon entering an elevator? Feel free to comment your reasoning below.

Personally, the next time I get on the elevator (which should be in less than a few hours, in all honesty), I intend to start a conversation, no matter how small, with the people standing in there with me. We are all people, and I don’t think there’s any reason why friendliness shouldn’t be the norm. So if you’re in the East elevator and some caffeinated brunette starts chatting with you… hello.

Unless you’re the guy who takes the elevator from the first floor to the third floor. You get the silent treatment.

~Claire Davanzo

Sean Considine plays the piano in Russell.

Better than Pandora: A feature on the occasional Russell lounge piano concerts

March 14, 2013 / / Comments Off on Better than Pandora: A feature on the occasional Russell lounge piano concerts

Something I’ve always found striking about the Honors Program is the amount of musical talent filling the halls of Russell. On any given night, you can hear a violinist working his or her way through a solo, a vocalist practicing scales, and every once in a while, if you’re lucky, there is someone tickling the ivories in one of the lounges. There is nothing like being bent over a textbook, ears filled with either oppressive silence or the grating sound of a Pandora ad, and suddenly hearing the black Yamaha in the corner come to life.

Russell A resident Dylan Buller, one such musician, explained why he so often finds himself at the piano bench.

“With the harrowing days I’ve gotten each week, it can be nice to sit down for an hour, forget about all the stress, and just enjoy the music,” the freshman said.

And as it turns out, the person playing the music is not the only one enjoying it.

“The piano playing in the lounge can create the perfect background music for studying,” elaborated Chemical Engineering major, Rachel Chess. “Sometimes, it’s nice to have just the right amount of noise when working through a problem set.”

Sean Considine plays the piano in Russell.

I tend to agree. There are of course those times when I need complete silence, and for those times I lock myself in the library or the Quiet Study Lounge. However, when working my way through the dry pages of a textbook, there is something truly special about being accompanied by a well-played piano to make the experience more enjoyable. The mixture of words and notes transports me to my own world. It is when I can find this peaceful state that I am most productive.

Moreover, I’ve found that this music can be a subconsciously connective experience. Oftentimes the music being played matches and emulates the mood I’m in, forming a subtle link between the performer and the audience.

“Although piano playing is a primarily introspective experience for me, I think everyone feels the emotions I convey through music at one time or another,” Buller said of this connection. “It’s conceivable that other people could be in ‘tune’ with that and feel it, too.” I certainly think so.

This piano playing is something most students, myself included, often take for granted. Yet, as I thought about it, it occurred to me what a privilege it is to be surrounded by people of such talent that will share it with us on any given occasion. It’s an underrated, but uniquely striking aspect of my life here at UD that I’ve really come to appreciate.

Just another perk of life in the Honors dorm.

~Victoria Snare

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