I am UIC | UIC student blogs

So here we are.  Finals week!  I should be finished by now.  If everything went according to plan, by the time you read this I will have finished 3 presentations, 2 papers, 1 poster and I will be on a plane to Hawaii.  My semester ends in 6 days and I am not sure how I am going to make it. I try to keep my head up by counting my blessing and remembering that there are many people who wish they could be in my situation.

My weekend looks like it will solely consist of sitting my butt down in front of a computer screen and writing.  No exploring, no ice skating, not even free yoga.

I shouldn’t feel so bad though.  I spent my Thanksgiving in the Bahamas with my sister and cousin and was plenty of fun!  Now it is time to crack down, open a book and write 20-plus pages before Monday!

Don’t let the stress overwhelm you.  Last Monday I was very pumped to be productive only to learn library did not have the computer program I needed to work!  I felt frustrated, sad and tired.  However, I took a minute to regroup and create a different plan for the evening.  Once I finished the revised plan of productivity, I was actually more productive than I originally planned to be.

If you need a place close to study at UIC check out the Library! The library is open 24 hours until December 14th!!!   I know I plan on making that my new home until I am done with the papers!

So keep your head up, drinks plenty of coffee and remembers that someone is rooting for you and believes you can finish (me!).  The end is in sight. Good luck on finals guys!

i promise to be more interesting once I’m in Hawaii!!!

Hey Chicago!! (11/30/12)

This is my angry bird face:

While grocery shopping with my UIC friends at the Target on Roosevelt and Canal.

I forgot to mention, for “No shave November,” I actually didn’t cut my hair as opposed to typically getting short haircuts. Right now, my hair is at its longest. The only thing I don’t like about it is morning hair — I look like a freaking rock star haha.

Pic of the Week: Submitted by RA Christian

Combined two programs: Cards for Kids & Cats, Chats and Chews

Fellow residents and RAs eating ice cream while making cards.

So the pictures above are submitted by TBH RA Christian. The purpose of the program was to meet residents, RAs and faculty and create cards for kids staying in the hospital for the holidays. There were more than 15 cards created and personalized with stickers, glitter and heartfelt messages.

So this week, I have finished my CME 396 project and now will be working on my remaining projects. As I advance higher in my major, I realize they assign more group projects in order for us to work together and learn about group dynamics. So if there’s one pearl I can offer, it would be that I would advise anyone to be a team player in any situation that arises. This skill will help you, not only in these projects, but also in your career as you graduate college.

I remember reading an article these past few months on studying habits. They say that if you listen to familiar episodes/movies/music you will enhance your memorization, concentration and motivation to continue studying. So here it is, I decided to do movies instead.

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Top 3 List: Favorite Study Time Movies of All Time!

3. “Sixteen Candles” - Surprisingly, I have seen this movie enough times that it won’t bother me as I study. It doesn’t require a lot of attention and not very noisy when it comes to studying.

2. ”The Simpsons Movie” - I have pretty much memorized every single line in this movie. Not a bother but relaxing to listen to.

1. “Make Love, Not Warcraft” from South Park - I feel like this episode makes me study as I “train” for a test. It’s kind of weird, but I like to listen to this episode as I study. =P

So enjoy the remainder of the fall semester everyone! Wish you all the best for studying,

-Darren

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TOPIC NEXT WEEK: 3 Rituals You Do for Luck during Finals Week

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Do you have a good luck charm or ritual you do before an exam? (Mine would be to chew gum right before taking an exam.)

Sometimes I introduce myself as a person who freaks out a lot about things, but when I think about it, I’m actually pretty composed when I talk to people about issues I am having and people are very supportive. I know the idea of finals being around the corner scares people, especially those who feel like they are on the edge of almost passing their classes (their grade rests on their performance on the final), so I’m going to try my best to get you to be prepared as much as possible in the limited amount of time we have left before the semester ends!

Hopefully these tips will help you out as they usually help me:

1. Encourage yourself. To me, it’s more like lying to myself to make myself feel more confident about improving my study habits and motivating myself with my own prep talk: “YOU CAN DO THIS, MILIE. NOTHING CAN STOP YOU IF YOU JUST STUDY HARD AND SLAP THOSE TESTS IN THE FACE! YOU ARE SMART AND CAN ACTUALLY DO WELL IF YOU JUST BUCKLE DOWN AND STUDY.” And most of the time, it works! But once you get me on my “I suck at life. I should just quit everything. I’m not good at anything. I hate myself…” type of attitude, IT’S OVER….which brings me to my next point.
2. Surround yourself with people who genuinely care about you. This is a no-brainer, but most of us don’t like to be “bothered” when we study. For one thing, it’s distracting. But if you’re in the mode of “I can’t do this. Only a miracle and save me…” then you need that support group. Tell your close family and friends how you’re feeling (don’t ask the friends who also freak out because that DEFINITELY doesn’t help) and more likely than not they calm you down and you get straight to business because (hopefully) you’re motivated to show that final exam what you’re all about! And failing is not one of them!
3. Form meetings with study pals. I say pals because when I think of a study “group” I think of a bunch of pre-meds hogging the Idea Commons laughing away and/or being very distressed about the exam. You definitely don’t want to work with someone who always takes it easy because then you’ll feel like you are incapable of being at their level…and you don’t want someone who is going through every single problem on the study guide and asking people to help them understand when they didn’t try to study prior to the meeting. You want to try to be with classmates that you share the same experiences with and know a little bit of something you don’t know and you know a little bit of something they don’t know. Now that’s a nice mutual beneficial relationship.
4. Don’t like being around people at all? Well, this will be hard but it sounds like you already know everything if you don’t want the comfort of others and you don’t want to give yourself a prep talk because you’ve either done it or never needed it! In that case, lucky you! I, unfortunately, am not smart and need to study hours and hours to get the grade I want. Even then, I might not achieve my goals, but whatever happens at least I did my best! =)

Good luck to everyone on their finals! I know I’ll need it! xD

This past week I attended the campus Library/IT committee meeting. In English, this means that I met with the administration to talk about how the budget for the library and ACCC is being and will be used. We talked about a bunch of interesting news about the library and ACCC. However, there is one particular thing that stuck out to me.

Did you know that many classrooms are equipped with a service called lecture capture? Using BlackBoard, professors can record and store their lectures from class. This means that you can miss class (only if you’re sick, of course) and go back online to watch what you missed. Personally, I’d love if my professors did this — not because I want to miss class, but because then I wouldn’t have to take notes all throughout class. Instead, I could focus on what my professor is saying and really indulge in the learning process.

A big portion of the ACCC budget (which comes from your student fees) goes toward the lecture capture. With that said, not many classes are using this feature, so it’s not being used to its full potential. If you think that you’d really benefit from this service, ask your professors to start using it! Nicely, though. If one professor starts using it, imagine how it could spread. One professor tells another and next thing you know most professors will be using it! It will only better learning at UIC.

Some other notes from the meeting:

• The light-wells on the third floor of the library (those big random gaps in the floor) will be closed up by May.
• Stevenson Hall first floor will go under renovation to include more seating and study space.
• ACCC is looking to open more learning space in BSB
• ACCC is also looking to renovate the Piano room in Student Center West to include more collaboration space for students. This means, spaces for laptop charging, project working and more.
• Only 90 percent of students actually use up their semesterly printing limit of $15.

Do you have any thing you want me to talk to the committee about? Share here!

Sometimes getting sick, or feeling sick, is all mental. There were sick children all around me this week!  The kids I nanny ALL had the flu and I LOADED UP on vitamins.  One week left of class! I need to make it WITHOUT getting sick.  I’m almost there!

Who am I kidding? I definitely have the flu.  Since sometimes it is a mental thing, I have been trying to tell myself that I’m fine. “I’m not getting sick,” “I feel totally fine,” “I won’t get sick because there is SO much going on the next couple days,” “PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, LAUREN!” Well, it hit me when I was actually giving my presentation in my Thursday night class.  I started getting all sweaty and clammy so I sat down.  So, I left class early and went home to bed after apologizing to my group and explaining why I sat down in THE MIDDLE OF OUR PRESENTATION!

Speaking of this semester being practically over, I am wrapping up all my final projects.  One is a project I’ve been working on for a couple months that I am very proud of and the other was a group project that was…eh OK.  “Everyone loves group projects,” said no one ever.  I was actually pretty lucky with the group I had.  In most group projects, there is always one person who doesn’t pull their weight.  But with my group, everyone had been pretty productive.  However, putting everything together had been quite a difficult task.  I had my ideas of how presentations should be, and someone else had another.  I did my part (actually more than just my part) and I received a rather interesting email from a group member asking “why I feel it needs to be that way.”  Well, it’s almost over, so there is no reason to get chippy.  It is what it is.  The funny part is, the disagreement is only on the handout to give the class, probably the least important aspect.

The other night I attended Bill McKibben’s “Do the math” tour about global climate change.  It was truly inspiring.  This was the audience photo at the Atheneum Theatre where the event took place.In the words of Bill McKibben, “We are going after the fossil fuel industries.  We need to divest in the fossil fuel companies.  Why divestment? Well, we know that fossil fuel companies are principally concerned about two things: their bottom line and their public image. A nationwide movement forcing our schools to divest from fossil fuels will deal a serious blow to both.”

There something we can do. There is already a divestment campaign under way at the University of Illinois.  Click here to “Like” UIUC’s Beyond coal page: https://www.facebook.com/UIUCBeyondCoal

I am going to do some more research about how to find, or start, a divestment campaign at UIC. Stay tuned for more information!

As the semester winds down, I find myself not only struggling with assignments and papers, but also that pesky thing called management.  If it wasn’t for my procrastination, I would be done with all of my assignments this semester.

I have been doing a little bit better however.  I have been able to kick my Netflix addiction!  I know longer feel the chronic need to hop on the Halsted bus after class to catch the latest episode of “Gossip Girl” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Now that my chronic procrastination is out of the way, I have other important things in life to balance.  My many trips (two trips to Georgia, the Bahamas, and Hawaii), my massive amounts of school work, not to mention a new beau in my life.  I like to look at time management as a Rubik’s cube for a couple of reasons. First, I am AWESOME at Rubik’s cubes.  Second, I like to look at life’s problems like equations that just need to be solved with the correction algorithm.

I encourage all of you to look at your problems in a context that makes sense to you.  By doing so, the solution may just be right in front of your face. 

Sorry I don’t have a free thing to do in Chicago this weekend, but i do recommend you try ice skating at Millennium  Park.  I was horrible at it, my feet hurt and I screamed like Daffy Duck every time I felt unbalanced.  Despite all of that, I had a GREAT time!   Just a $10 rental fee for ice skates and you are on your way!

Sorry for the short post.  I have so much going on!   I guess I’m still trying to figure out the correct algorithm to fit in EVERYTHING.

My Rubik's cubes! I have been solving since 2010. My best time solving a 3x3x3 is 1:16.

"Binders full of women." Two of my final papers involve feminist theory. Another thing to juggle.

Me and my new beau ice skating at Millennium Park.

UIC UIC UIC!! (11/23/12)

I had just finished Thanksgiving dinner when I wrote this blog post — it was SOOO GOOD!! Sadly, I had to miss my family’s Thanksgiving this year due to engineering projects, but I got the next best thing: dinner with my Housing Family! The MRH/TBH FIRs served everything homemade: turkey with cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes with gravy, green been casserole, seasoned brussel sprouts, baked biscuits and salad.

Thanksgiving dinner with our Faculty-In-Residence at MRH/TBH.

Exciting news this week! One of my friends who also graduated from UIC and is now a kindergarten teacher just got engaged. Congratulations! I stopped by her house to hear the news first hand and to visit her dogs. As you can see from the picture below, they were ecstatic to see me.

They were excited to see me as well!

So these next few weeks, I’ve been working on term projects for each of my classes. Here’s what I’ve been working on: 

CME 301: Steel Design Roofing Project. Accommodating various loads, designing panel points, designating beam types.

CME 410: Prestressed Concrete Structure Milan Highspeed Rail System. Source picture: impregilo.it

 

CME 396: Designing water reserviors for the town of Wanda, Ill.

CME 434: Analyzing the wing of a Cessna airplane under given wind loads.

That’s what I’ve been working on this week. Next week, I’ll talk about my favorite movies to watch as I prepare for FINALS WEEK!

Stay classy Chicago!
-Darren  

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TOPIC NEXT WEEK: Favorite study time movies!

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What type of music do you listen to while you study?? (I like acoustic or piano songs.)

This will be a weird post, but I’m going to do the best I can to help you in your decision making because I know I always have trouble with this one. There are three things to consider:

1. You
2. Other people
3. Everything else

First, come up with a list of dilemmas. Let’s take the one I had written about in my last post: to take on my 6+ jobs with the MCAT or to take on no jobs besides studying for the MCAT next semester. My apparent decision was the former, although after picking up a Barron’s MCAT test prep book at the library I think I might reconsider, especially after reading the part that said “ARE THESE OBLIGATIONS SABOTAGING YOUR EFFORTS? Work, school, travel plans, family obligations, extracurricular activities and volunteer positions all take time. Cut back for success.” Then, I read a part that said, “You should take on no more than 20 hours a week of work or school obligations and keep all other activities to a minimum.”

Now, as much as I like to pride myself in having intense time management skills that gives me the confidence to do well in my classes and the MCAT on top of my bazillion jobs and extracurriculars, let’s be realistic. I think I am becoming more and more delusional about my strengths and confidence as I continue doing better in school. I have not had a 4.0 since my freshman year. That’s not good at all. BUT, I really do think I may be able to pull off a 4.0 this semester if I study really hard in all of my classes. I think I’ve finally hit the tree with this one!

So, what do I do? That was me, and this is them.

“Them” includes: family, friends, co-workers, employers and err’ thang. I know I said to put them in two categories, but I guess in the end you can mush them together because that’s what it’ll feel like when you’re trying to make a decision (you against the world!). What do they say? “Don’t be dumb.” “Be real.” “You’re crazy.” “Get out of here girl.” “I understand that you are a student and you should really consider what you want and what you need to do. Just let me know.” “Hey, I know this is last minute but we really have to meet tomorrow at this time and this place. Sorry for the 16th time.” “Hey, I’m a test prep book and was written by many smart people and you should really take my advice.”

And here’s the last bit of it all: what do you feel now and what do you THINK you’ll feel later? Here’s my response when I tell people I want to take on all this work: “Yeah, I’m just going to do it all. I’ll probably regret it later and hate myself but I really, really, really want to keep everything.”

The solution? It’s probably obvious: COMPROMISE!

I know a lot of my employers would be totally cool with me not working so that I can study for the MCAT (or maybe not if they really need me…it’s nice to be valued at work!), so it’s all up to me and what I want to do. How the heck do I make up my mind? Well, here’s what my brain is going to try and logically work things out and maybe you can apply it to whatever decision you’re trying to make.

Answer these questions:

1. What is your goal? Like really, why are you in college or x, y and z? To put it simply, I had intended to come to UIC to earn a degree so that I may be eligible to apply for medical school in hopes of becoming a dermatologist (and saving everyone from eczema by conducting research on the side).
2. How does what you are doing right now work with (or not work with) that goal? Um, let’s see…I guess research is relevant because I’m working with skin (in a diabetic realm)…as for all of the other jobs it’s more indirect if anything. Grades were declining but I’m feeling good about this semester.
3. What can you do to achieve your goal in the next few minutes to even a couple of years? Do well in school and do well on the MCAT. Get more clinical experience to affirm that the medical track is right for me and that others are not (or maybe they can be but I am more drawn to medicine otherwise).
4. With your dilemma, what is holding you back? I want to be able to work to gain experiences that I may not otherwise have in medical school and I want to earn money so that I can pay off my student loans before entering medical school (since THOSE loans are going to add up to be a lot).
5. Is there a compromise you can propose and stick with? Yeah…I could at least cut off three jobs and say no to any that arrive. I would tell my employers that I would be on hiatus, or only able to “pop-in” if I have time…okay fine maybe I’ll just simply say hiatus. Grrrr.
6. Have you made your decision yet? UM….um….I think so. I forgot to include talking about my club, but it’s my duty as a leader to stick with it! Okay, yes.

And there you have it. I just basically made a long comment to my previous blog post. I know it’s weird to talk to yourself, but it can be quite effective! Now to just inform my employers…poop.

If you have any hardships or things that are really out of your control, I would make an appointment with the counseling center. I don’t think my method works for everything, but if it does that’s awesome. Best of luck! December is on its way and I hope everyone studies hard for their finals! =) GO UIC!

Hello everybody!

My blog post this week will be short in text. In lieu of reading my words this week, I want all of you to watch the video(s) below.

Paula Allen-Meares, the chancellor of UIC, has published a series of videos titled “UIC State of the Campus.” Think of it like the president’s “State of the Union” address on TV. The chancellor’s videos inform the UIC community, especially students, about where UIC is currently and where we plan to go in the next five to 10 years. Some of the highlights include the university’s list of accomplishments, things we need to improve on and what the university will do to correct any shortcomings we have.

So please, take about half an hour to watch the Chancellor’s State of the Campus address. Even if you only watch one segment of it, view the videos!

Links to video:

UIC State of the Campus 1

UIC State of the Campus 2

UIC State of the Campus 3

UIC State of the Campus 4

I know this is little late, but I want to devote this blog post to the Thanksgiving holiday.  I remember when I was little and we would go around the table to say what we were thankful for before we started eating on Thanksgiving Day.  I was never sure what to say, not because I wasn’t thankful for what I had, but because I don’t think I realized truly how lucky I was.  Now, as I am older and I have seen good and bad, I have been through thick and thin and I know what I have is precious, I have a million things to say at the dinner table. But since I didn’t want to hold everyone up from eating the AMAZING food, I give my thanks in this post.

I am thankful for my parents.  My mom has been one of the most important people in my life.  She has been my best friend.  No one works harder than she does.  She has made me the woman I am and I truly do not know what I would do without her in my life.  My dad has taught me so much about music, art and the beauty of life and love.  I am thankful for the text messages I receive from him telling me that he loves me.  I proud of the success he has made for himself and the work he does to support our family.

I am thankful for my amazing boyfriend.  I was lucky enough to meet him a little more than two years ago and have an amazing relationship and friendship with him.  He is so good to me and I am thankful every day I have him in my life.  I am a very lucky girl!

I am thankful for my brothers.  Being the youngest and only girl hasn’t always been easy, but I am extremely lucky to have two older brothers to always look after me.

I am thankful for my friends.  I have the best friends a girl could ask for.  Friends from elementary school, high school, college and beyond.  They are people who I hope will be in my life for a very long time.

I am thankful for my jobs.  I have not only one, but two jobs.  I have worked at one for over 10 years and the other for a little over a year.  At both, I am blessed to have great people to work for and with.  Even though working two jobs can be difficult and creates long days for me, I realize some people don’t even have one.  I am very lucky.

I am thankful for having the opportunity to be in school. My experience at UIC has been great and my teachers have taught me so much.