Student Life

Hello!  

I cannot believe I am writing this while sitting in my apartment on West Campus.  I officially feel like a junior...crazy!  I moved in a few days ago for Liturgical Council.  We have been preparing for the Orientation Mass on Saturday.  It is so exciting to be back at Villanova, but the summer flew by!

I had a great experience this summer working as a student nurse extern at Christiana Hospital.  I work on the Surgical and Procedure Unit. My duties include monitoring vital signs for pre-op and post-op patients, administering glucose and hemoglobin tests, removing IV catheters, and a lot of other miscellaneous jobs.  I also have scrubbed in on procedures including two toe amputations, removal of a pluerx catheter, and removing glass from a MVA victim's leg.  I open sterile packages for the doctor during the procedures and hand him anything he needs.  I have had to hold a patient's hand and hold down his leg while the doctor talks him through the amputation of his left big toe.  It's been a great experience and I feel incredibly lucky to have the job.  I know that I owe a lot of thanks to Villanova Nursing.  I plan to continue working there when I'm home on breaks.

I also got to go to the Delaware beaches for a few days and visited two college friends in Detroit for a weekend; one of them left yesterday for Denmark for the Fall semester and the other one leaves soon to study abroad at Oxford!

Well, I'm already busy and classes don't start until next week.  I can already tell it's going to be another busy but great semester!

Hello,

So we are days away from Easter break and the end of the semester! Last week I was mostly occupied with the Earth Day celebrations on campus. I had the opportunity to meet Jennifer Redfearn, director and producer of “Sun Come Up,” an Oscar nominated short documentary. She met with a group of students and discussed the film which looks at the effects of Climate Change on the Carteret people. I was very impressed by the movie because it gave a good overview of the social, political and economic problems facing the people of the Carterets Islands.

Other things happening on campus are preparations for our last days before the summer. This week I will be having my last floor meeting with my residents to go over check-out procedures. This year has gone by really fast; I feel like it was yesterday when I first met my residents in August. Personally, being an RA has been a wonderful experience, not only because of my role as an assistant to my residents, but because I’ve been able to learn more about myself and develop both professionally and as a member of the Villanova community.

As for the rest of my school days, I’ll be spending much of my time writing research papers and organizing myself for finals weeks. At this point it seems that I’ll be going back to Puerto Rico after my last final! In the meantime, I look forward to more warm spring days!

 -H. 

Dear all,

I am writing you as I am sitting in the Connelly Center after having taken part 1 of a two day Calculus test. It's really important that I do well on this Calc test because lately I have been slacking a little in the motivation to study for tests, and my grades are definitely a sign of that slacking. The good thing is that if I do well on this test and the exam I have a good chance that I'll still make an A in Calc. These last couple days of classes are going to be very crucial for me because I haven't been slacking solely in Calc but also a bit in each of my classes. I definitely feel like I have a good grasp of what is going on in class, but there is defintely room for improvement in everything. I have learned from this that it is easy to slip in your classes if you are not careful. This will be important for the next upcoming semesters because I believe that things will only get more challenging. My goal for the end of this year is to make the Dean's List again as I did in the Fall semester. I think this is a very acheivable goal, and I am confident in my abilities.

Stepping aside from academics, I also wanted to talk a little about my weekend. On Friday, I was a part of the first ever Emerging Leaders Institute. The Institute was a 7 and a 1/2 hours long that I thought was just going to drag on. Thankfully, I was mistaken and ended up having an awesome time learning about leadership, interviewing, public speaking, and some of the groups offered at Villanova like Best Buddies which I have recently become very interested in. I also met some really great people especially from the small group that I was broken off into to discuss the things we were learning about in the Institute. The Institute has given me new energy to try getting involved in different groups here at Villanova. On Saturday, I especially had fun being a part of Relay for Life. My girlfriend was a part of a team from her floor, and I decided to visit her just to see how thing were going. I ended up staying there for close to 4 hours just walking to keep the relay alive, and I had a blast doing it. There was an awesome amount of people that got together to do Relay, and it was so great doing something for a cause. Relay for Life is an organization to raise awareness and research for cancer. Fortunately for me, this is the second year in a row that I have done Relay for Life, and I am looking forward to doing it again next year.

Well, now I think it's time that I end this entry because I still have people to email, appointments to schedule and homework to do. Until next time!

Alex

Hello!  And hello Spring!  Today was a beautiful and hot day!  It was pretty rough being inside for class today but hopefully the warm weather is here to stay.  Schoolwork isn’t too bad right now…I think the professors are letting us gear up for finals already (yikes).  Last week, I gave a group presentation in my ethics class on conscience protection clauses.  We focused on whether or not healthcare professionals, specifically doctors and nurses, should be able to refuse to perform or assist with services which go against their religion or moral code.  We talked about abortions, sterilizations, and also pharmacists and their roles with contraceptives and other drugs.  We discussed both sides of the argument specifically mentioning the principles of justice: nonmaleficence, beneficence, and respect for autonomy.  It was an interesting topic and I think the class enjoyed debating about it. 

In clinical last week, I had a new patient.  My patient from the first two weeks was discharged which is great news but I missed her!  My new patient was not cooperating at all and just wanted to lay in bed so the nurse’s assistant assigned me to another patient.  She said that it would be good for me to work with a difficult patient but she also wanted me to learn while I was there so I got another new patient!  I took her vitals, helped her with oral care and getting dressed, then took her to physical therapy and occupational therapy.  At the end of the morning when we all gathered with our professors we discussed risks for falls and also signs and symptoms of changes in mental status.

This past weekend I went to South Bend, IN to visit my sister who goes to law school at Notre Dame.  It was an awesome weekend and I did not do any studying so I need to do a little catching up.  Off to the library!

Hi everyone!

This last week has been hectic on campus. I started last week by arriving back from seeing my family in Chicago. On Monday morning, I was able to take the train from the airport, back to school, and still make it in time for classes! I love that Villanova is situated along the Main Line, Route 30, where you can find everything from small boutiques to amazing restaurants. There is easy access to many different towns and the city of Philadelphia by bus and the two train lines running through campus. The train station in Philly (30^th Street station) has helped me travel home to England, Chicago, Annapolis and around Philly. 30^th Street Station provides the opportunity to take a range of local trains, one of which can take you to the airport, the Amtrak and the Bus station for Megabus, Greyhound etc. to travel across the country. Not only do we have the trains but also shuttles for the local area, which Nova provides. There is a shuttle which runs throughout the day around campus, a shuttle which runs through the school day off-campus, a shuttle which runs on Friday nights and Saturdays along the Main Line and one which goes to King of Prussia Mall on Friday and Saturday nights. All of these services really do make it easy for students to get around if and when needed.

Although I was still so happy to have seen family, when I returned to Nova I had to buckle down and study. The week ahead brought 3 tests and a paper. Despite working hard that week I had an ACS (the required class for freshmen, and since I am a member of a learning community I take it with people who live in my building and are in the same learning community) trip to Gettysburg. In ACS we were looking at the Civil War, in particular Lee’s writings, and so we were able to see the battlefields on a guided tour and go the museum where we saw a short film and the cyclorama. Although it was a class trip, it was so much fun spending part of the weekend with my ACS class.

Last weekend I also was able to see the musical Bat Boy which was being performed at Villanova’s Theatre. It was performed by both undergraduate and graduate students but you would have thought it was being performed by professional actors and actresses it was so amazing. There have been many other performances on campus such as: Murder in the Cathedral, Children of Eden and Rope just to name a few. These are all amazing and are worthwhile seeing, especially since some are free to students (if it isn’t you can see it for free on preview night or by ushering!!!)

Last night I played intramural ultimate frisbee with my Pittsboro, North Carolina Sprig Break Trip group. Intermurals are so much fun and so easy to get involved with. All you have to do is find other people who want to play and sign up for one of the tournaments that are being held. I have also been on a softball team with girls in my dorm and some of my friends have been on basketball and volleyball teams too!

Before I leave you all to go to the last 10 Spot Mass of the year (the Mass held on South Campus once a month) I have been asked some questions by prospective students which I want to share with everyone.  Living in Katharine and being part of a Learning Community has been the best decision I have made. I have made such close friends within Katharine, my ACS class and my Learning Community. I do not feel that this has hindered me in anyway, if anything it has been beneficial.  Although Stanford is a large dorm, with the majority of students, living in Katharine does not exclude you in anyway. I have lots of friends who live in Stanford who I have met through orientation, friends, classes and groups which I have joined around Nova. As I have said before, being in a Learning Community is the best decision that I have made since being at Nova and made me choose to be in the Sophomore Service Learning Community next year.

If anyone has any questions or want me to further elaborate on any blogs, don’t hesitate to email me at kspitz01@villanova.edu.

School days are winding down and school work is picking up. Man, you gotta love how life works sometimes. But hey, I've heard the saying "life isn't fair" too many times to complain about having a lot of work. There's only 8 school days left until Easter break, and then after break, there are 3 days of class and then Finals week. It's kind of crazy to think about. I remember move-in day like it was yesterday, but in under two weeks of school days, my freshman year will be essentially over.

So, as I said, since school is almost over, work is heating up, naturally. In the past two weeks, I've had a business test, a business statistics quiz, and a test and essay due in my Ethics of War class. Oh yea, and a lingering research paper that is due this Friday for ACS (Augustinian Culture Seminar).  I don't consider myself a natural writer when it comes to essays, and so I was dreading the research paper and Ethics of War essay a lot. But my new motto in college has been "day by day," and it's helping me. My Ethics of War paper was due last week, so I worked on that first, devoting a whole afternoon to getting it done. The next day I edited it, and then handed it in. I then focused my attention on the research paper, which would take much more time due to its length and requirements. I took this paper step by step, first deciding on my topic, then researching it, and then finally sitting down and writing a rough draft over the course of three days. Getting this rough draft done early is important because I can then have my ACS teacher revise it before I have to hand it in. Her revisions are always very helpful, and during this week I will make the necessary changes to hopefully get a good grade.

Like I said before, along with these essays, I had other work, mostly tests and quizzes. It's tough getting everything done, but you just have to be able to plan things out ahead of time, limit yourself on facebook, and stay focused on the work you are doing. Since I use this planning strategy, I still have had free time to hangout with my friends, workout, and play basketball. College work involves a lot of juggling and it takes time to figure out a strategy that works best for you so that you can stay on top of everything and prevent procrastination. I'll admit getting used to all this work was overwhelming at first, but I learned to take it day by day, and everything has turned out really well so far. Everyone's different, and so this may not work for you, but hey, it can't hurt to try right? Regardless of whatever strategy works best, I think after awhile everyone starts to realize that life may not always be fair, but with a little bit of planning, it can also be damn good.

As I sat in the office of my study abroad advisor last week and discussed my upcoming travels, it dawned on me that a year from now I will be three months into one of the greatest adventures of my life so far.  My Villanova education has given me a strong chance of admission at schools such as Oxford, Cambridge, and Trinity University in Dublin, and I am currently in the process of completing these applications. While it will be difficult to leave Villanova and all the great friends I have here for an entire semester, I could not be more excited for the opportunities that lie ahead of me. But while I’m already extremely eager to study in Ireland or the United Kingdom for a semester, I won’t even have to wait until January to travel over to Europe.

Last semester, my International Relations professor informed me of a program taking place in Germany this July. I expressed my obvious interest, and will now be one of many students from across Europe and the United States participating in a two week program held annually at an academy in Germany. This year’s theme is German relations with the international community following World War II. This program will allow me to spend a week in Lambrecht, a town outside of Frankfurt, and another week in Berlin, hearing from distinguished speakers and participating in activities with students of various cultures and backgrounds. Even better, the program is sponsored by the German government, which will cover most of the costs of travel and lodging. As if this wasn’t good enough, my cousin will be moving to Germany in June and I will be one of her first house guests. I may even get the chance to travel Europe a bit (although my parents have pointed out that the summer is a good time for making money instead of spending it).

Ever since I traveled to London last summer through the Villanova Learning Communities Abroad program I’ve had the urge to get back to Europe. I’m thrilled by the fact that I will have two opportunities to do so within the next year.

Unbeknownst to most, Fraternity Life is not like what movies such as American Pie, Animal House, and Van Wilder portray. Ok, maybe you already knew that, but for those of you who are still reading, fraternity life really doesn't consist of crazy hazing or insane amounts of drinking. What’s most interesting, at least to me, is the brothers and pledges whom I’ve come into contact with. For most of us, the party scene was not our primary reason for joining a fraternity (and yes, the social part of fraternity life does exist and is a plus) but for the most part it is the brotherhood aspect of “Frat-Life” that appeals to most.

Nearly all fraternities on campus, with the sororities, do several philanthropy events every year, even every month. For example, my fraternity, Sigma Chi, is participating in a Kickball Tournament for charity headed by Delta Delta Delta alongside many other fraternities. But I’ll level with you, while I am very service-oriented, this is not the reason for my joining a fraternity. The main lore for me was the brotherhood aspect. During my first semester here at Villanova I had a very close group of six guys who live on my floor that did everything together. My philosophy was: “if I had six guys who I could always trust then why not have sixty?" The idea of brotherhood is something I’ve always been attracted to and now I have it.

Do think about joining a fraternity or sorority because, based on my own experiences, it’s a solid choice.

            While most of you already know this, I’ll explain this for those who may not -- being in a Learning Community mean that you attend ACS classes (Augustine Cultural Seminar) with your fellow dorm residents. This class consists of learning about early (first semester) and modern/contemporary (second semester) writers. It is basically a great combination of English, Theology, and Philosophy, tying concepts from all three to gain a greater understanding of the topics discussed. For example, first semester we studied past writers such as Dante and St. Augustine. We examined and critiqued their philosophies and, of course, wrote essays on them. There are some pretty cool things that we also covered about these writers to enrich the learning. For Dante, we had a Dante dinner, where they had a band playing Medieval music and some students dressed up in Medieval garb. It was fun because literally everyone who lived in my residence hall, St. Monica, was there. Plus, the food was really great!

The really cool part about ACS is that for the second semester, when we read more contemporary authors such as Cormac McCarthy and T.S. Eliot, we drew connections to some of their influences, who just happen to be writers such as Dante. I really enjoy how the two semesters are ultimately related and cohesive to each other. For McCarthy, the ACS program was able to attain one of the premier critics of the famed writer who came and discussed his philosophies, themes and motifs. Subsequently, as an entire Dorm Community, we watched the film adapted by the Coens Brothers. It’s a nice experience to do things as a huge group and then literally trek back, all of us ending back in the same dorm.

I thought that ACS would be one of the boring mandatory classes that no one would enjoy, but now it has ended up being the class I look forward to the most. Being in a learning community just adds to an already great program.     -oj

You know, it is really hard to believe that this first year is almost over. If this is an indicator of how fast college will go, I am a little concerned that I will not have enough time to do everything that I want to do! The good thing though is that it seems like there is always something to do to get away from doing school work non-stop. For instance, a great way to get your nose out of the books is to get a group of friends together to make an intramural team. Villanova offers a ton of different intramurals like softball, basketball, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, soccer, and dodgeball; you can either have an all guys team, an all girls team, or a co-ed team. It's great! I had a blast this spring being a part of a softball team with a big group of my guy friends. Unfortunately, we only got to play two games due to rain cancellations, but it was a blast getting out there with the guys. The awesome thing about intramurals is that you can make it as competitive as you want it to be so that you have the best opportunity to have fun while playing. I can't wait to get involved with more intramurals this next year!

Some other things that I am currently involved in are band, VSEC (Villanova Social Entrepreneurship Competition), work at the Career Center, and club ultimate frisbee. What I think that is great, is that each of these things are so different; because there are so many different organizations on campus, I am able to seek a bunch of my different interests such as music (band), leadership and collaboration (VSEC), work (Career Center), and athletics (ultimate). And there are so many other things that I want to get involved in, like Orientation Counseling (which I am currently waiting to hear back about to see whether I made it), Habitat for Humanity, roller hockey, and Special Olympics (which I was a part of this last year and can't wait to get involved in again this next year). At Villanova, you're not just limited to organized events like the ones mentioned above; there is usually always someone that is up for getting together to play some basketball, go to the gym, or grab a bite to eat off campus. There is always something to do, believe me!

So get out there, and show the world what you're in to!

Alex

Hi All,

  Today I woke up to a rainy day, but the sun is starting to show up. Lately weather has been weird- we had snow at the end of last week and yesterday was in the low 70s. April is already starting to show signs of spring, and I am excited for the Earth Day celebrations that will take place throughout the month.

I am particularly happy for the completion of a project I’ve been working on for the past year. As a student member of the President’s Environmental Sustainability Committee, I helped coordinate a recycling program for the residence halls. Today, we finally rolled out the project which mainly consists of providing each room in Katharine and St. Monica- two Learning Communities Halls - with recycling bins. As part of Villanova’s commitment to sustainability, I hope that students will actively participate in this recycling effort.

This year Villanova is again celebrating Earth Day, only this time will be on April 15^th because otherwise it would overlap with Easter break. As part of VU’s efforts to go green, there will be a farmers market with samples of organic and fair trade products. Also, the keynote address will be by Jennifer Redfam, producer of “Sun Come Up,” which was nominated for a 2011 Academy Award. She will talk about her documentary on climate change refugees.

Well, the Nova Nation is going green and I hope some of you choose to come here and bring more of the energy and enthusiasm necessary to achieve Villanova’s sustainability goals.

 -H. 

Hi Everyone,

 I have just arrived back to my dorm from giving a presentation in ACS, Augustine Cultural Seminar. We were given a project at the beginning of the semester to write a 6-7 page research paper about the best or most influential piece of music in the last 20 years and to present it to the class in pairs. I wrote my paper about the song “Beautiful Day” by U2. Although this assignment has seemed like it has gone on forever, and I am not exaggerating, it has been a really enjoyable project. While completing the research, I attended a lecture by Dr. Garrett who came from Austin, Texas to talk about ‘The Gospels According to U2’ which really helped me understand the history behind U2. Although it was coincidental that I was writing a paper on a very similar topic, there are many events on campus which are free and extremely interesting and all students are encouraged to go and listen.

This last week my ACS class had two dinner events to attend. The first was last Thursday where the learning communities within Katharine Hall all joined together for an African themed meal. We enjoyed amazing African cuisine, watched an outstanding performance of African dance and culture and learned parts of a traditional African dance. Some students as well as faculty also got to help with the musical accompaniment. It was so much fun!

The second dinner was Sunday evening, where my ACS class went to Buca di Beppo. It was organized by our fourth hour professors, Stacy and Kathryn, as a chance to catch up and enjoy a meal together as our fourth hour finished before spring break. Fourth hour is extra hour a week of class for learning communities where you talk about the theme of your learning community. It is a really casual class, which lasts an hour and is taught within the dorm. I choose ‘Mind, Body and Spirit’ where our focus was topics which concerned health; some areas which were covered included: stress management, healthy eating, financial health and mental health. Each week we had a different speaker come and talk to us about their area of specialty. I really enjoyed this learning community; it was a perfect fit for me.

One of the other classes which I am really enjoying is my Engineering class. As we are in the last quarter of our freshman year we are currently in a major-specific class. My Civil and Environmental Engineering class is looking at the US interstates and the factors which determine where the highways are placed, how far signs are placed before a junction so that we have enough time as drivers to be able to maneuver and also the types of water management structures there are in order for the roads to be as safe as possible when, for example, it is raining. Although we are not going completely in depth into the topics, it is really exciting me for future classes.

Well I am off to RUIBAL, a volunteering opportunity for freshmen to tutor children in the city who are in K - 8^th Grade. I’ll talk about this in a future post. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions: kspitz01@villanova.edu. Talk to you soon!

Hey everyone! It's good to be back sharing my Villanova experience with all of you. For those of you who haven't read my blog, I'm Melissa Rooney. Currently I'm a triple major in physics, secondary education, and honors with a minor in theatre. I'm almost halfway through my time here at 'Nova, and boy has it gone fast. 

 This semester has brought many opportunities to my fellow classmates and myself. The first being a trip to New York City to the Bloomberg building, where we were given a tour of the facility, met with the CEO of the company, and had the ability to network with various Villanova alumni who have been successful in their careers. Another exciting event would have to be Early Action Candidate's Day. I felt super official walking around in my Villanova polo and khakis, making sure that prospective students knew where they were going. I was lucky enough to get the chance to share my experience with the honors program, and getting to explain to so many people why I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world was really something special. 

Currently, I've been bogged down with some homework and projects. When you're a triple major it tends to happen, but don't worry I still have time to hang out with friends, while finishing things on time. A planner or Calender is definitely useful at this stage of the game to balance out school and social time. Right now I'm working on some research papers for my Ethics and Philosophy class: The Politics of Film. The former is looking into the various definitions of happiness that philosophy has provided us, compared to the happiness presented to young children through fairytales. This delves into the topic of narrative ethics, and as an avid reader, this is definitely interesting to research. My other big research project is on the Political and Social ideas that can be applied to, and are arguably concealed in, the text and film versions of The Wizard of Oz. Both papers are delving into topics that on the surface seem to be trivial, yet deep down inside they have the ability to convey powerful messages.These papers are a nice break from mathematical proofs and applications of various physics theorems.

Hopefully I'll get all this work done by the time the weather improves again. Right now we're back in the 30s/40s, which is a shame because just last week we were all running around outside in shorts and t-shirts. If you're visiting campus in the next few weeks here are some cool things happening that you could check out.

April 1st/2nd: The Dance Company & Ensemble Recital

April 5th-9th: Student Theatre presents ROPE (I'm the tech director, its going to be a pretty sweet experience)

 April 11th: Musical Theatre Cabaret

April 16th: CANDIDATE'S DAY! I highly recommend coming because you will truly experience what it's like here. Coming to Candidate's Day made me put down my deposit and become a Wildcat.

 If y'all have any questions feel free to shoot me an email at melissa.rooney@villanova.edu.

That's all for now.

 ~Melissa

Hi all,

It’s been a while since my last post so I wanted to give you an update of what I’ve been up to in the last few weeks. Spring semester of junior year has been pretty interesting so far. I am taking a few electives towards my major including a Land Use Planning and Management course. As an Environmental Science major this is a fascinating subject, especially the topics of zoning ordinances and the legal framework behind land use planning.

At the same time I am working on a research project to determine the presence of chromium in tap water at Villanova and in the surrounding communities.  We are in the final stages of writing our report, as well as putting it all together. Next week we will be presenting a poster with our results during the Earth Day celebrations on campus. As a heads up, only a small concentration was present so the tap water at Villanova is pretty clean!

In the following weeks I’ll be starting my research for a couple of papers. For my American Environmental History class I will be looking at some environmental laws – the Homestead Act of 1862 or the Superfund Act 1980- and their impact on public policy. Also, for my Latin American Culture class I will be researching the early independence movement of Spanish colonies in Latin America, specifically in Puerto Rico since that’s where I’m from. 

Beside all the school work, I still have other things going on. So far I’ve been trying to figure out what I’ll be doing this summer. Hopefully I can get a job or internship, but you never know. I have a habit of deciding my summer plans at the last minute.

Well, this is a quick overview of what’s going on “inside the classroom” for me. I hope that you are enjoying all the blog posts, and feel free to send me any questions at hsanta01@villanova.edu.

 -H. 

Unbeknownst to most, Fraternity Life is not like what movies such as American Pie, Animal House, and Van Wilder portray. Ok, maybe you already knew that, but for those of you who are still reading, fraternity life really doesn't consist of crazy hazing or insane amounts of drinking. What’s most interesting, at least to me, is the brothers and pledges whom I’ve come into contact with. For most of us, the party scene was not our primary reason for joining a fraternity (and yes, the social part of fraternity life does exist and is a plus) but for the most part it is the brotherhood aspect of “Frat-Life” that appeals to most.

Nearly all fraternities, with the aid of sororities, on campus do several philanthropy events every year, even every month. For example, my fraternity, Sigma Chi, is participating in Kickball Tournament for charity headed by Delta Delta Delta alongside many other Fraternities. All right, I’ll level with you, while I am very service-oriented, this is not the reason for my joining a fraternity. The main lore for me was the brotherhood aspect.

During my first semester here at Villanova I had a very close group of six kids who live on my floor that did everything together. My philosophy was: “if I had six guys who I could always trust then why not have sixty?" The idea of brotherhood is something I’ve always been attracted to and now I have it.

Don’t be discouraged to join a fraternity or sorority because based on firsthand knowledge, it’s a solid choice.