Pulled!!

Well... where do I begin? I found out from a fellow classmate that my blog has been taken off of the UIS Bloggers. I can only deduce this was done for 2 reasons:

1) They want to get some new faces to represent the university.

2) Blogging has recently become a paid position at the university. As such, it would be a HUGE added incentive for those who CAN be paid by the university to blog even more than a volunteer might. Unfortunately, I cannot assume this paid position because I'm already being paid by the university.

Well, what can I say? I had been a volunteer blogger for the better part of 3 years; it's been a good run, and I'm extremely thankful for the opportunity to have been a part of this program. Furthermore, this new found "freedom" allows me to blog about what I want to blog about, rather than continuing to find things regarding the university to blog about.

The blog title will remain "Student Life..." as long as I am a college student. Once this chapter in life is complete, the next chapter shall receive a new title.

I suppose there is not much else to say, really. Here's to blogging of a more personal nature! :) I hope all is well with you all, wherever you are in the world.

Cheers!

~ N.

*Positive* Pranking?!

The other day, I finally decided to use my "seniority" as a...senior to pull a fast one on an unsuspecting freshman.  While the event was fun and lighthearted (and, quite surprisingly, WORKED!), that was it.  The one time I will be mean to another student has come and gone.  But it left me wondering: do I just not do ANYTHING anymore with regard to interacting with other students or the campus community as a whole?"  Oh no...there is something I can do:  Positive Pranking!

While taking a break from my homework the other day, I decided to catch up on my Youtube subscriptions; I never thought I'd be so inspired by watching a Youtube video, but nevertheless, it happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJYveUp-MU

(Apparently, embedded videos do not fit on the blog screen. BLARG!)

I have a couple of ideas which I may try, but I am curious about what you think out there in Internet Land.  Have any of you out there tried something like this?  Any suggestions?  I'd be interested (as would John Green) in hearing about any positive pranking results you get if you decide to try it!

Take care, all.

~ N.

P.S.:  The next blog will be about the Stars Lounge...I promise.  :)

Who's Missing From This Picture/Who's Missed?

My wife was invited to attend a girl's weekend with our good friend Melody and several of her friends at Lake of the Ozarks.  I urged her to go, have fun and get out of the area for awhile.  This would also make me feel much more comfortable working a double-shift in an effort to earn some extra coin and comp. time.

What I didn't realize is that she was going to leave on Friday afternoon vice Saturday.  Mind you, she was the one who was a little hesitant on going; yet, as she was leaving and after she left, I felt suddenly saddened.

I guess sometimes you don't truly realize how much you love spending time with someone until they're out of the picture.  The sad thing is, it's ONLY 2 DAYS!!!  Still, when I went to bed last night, it took a very, very, very long time for me to get comfortable enough to fall asleep.

All this to say that I miss my wife terribly and look forward to seeing her tomorrow afternoon when I wake up!  Missed you, honey.

~ N.

P.S. - I haven't forgotten about the Stars Lounge blog...that's still coming, ya'll.

Cheap Food is GOOD Food!! (Part 1 of 2)

Okay, so they may not look like much, but these bad boys are DELICIOUS!  What are they?  Pepperoni Pizza Bosco Sticks.  They are new to campus this semester and taste every bit as good as the original (slightly boring) mozzerella-flavored ones.  But wait--there's more!

Apparently, there's a bit of a disparity regarding the pricing of food across campus.  Food is more expensive at Founder's than the Eastside.  For, I believe, $1.50, you can get *1* normal bosco stick at FRH, whereas, if you can walk your happy butt across campus to the newly revamped Stars Lounge, you can get 2 normal bosco sticks for $1.25.

The new pepperoni Bosco Sticks are smaller, but you're given more (like, 3 or 4) so it pretty much equates to that of two regular Bosco Sticks.

The new Stars Lounge has a lot going for it as well!  For instance, there are now 4 or 5 Xbox 360's in the spot where once 3 or 4 ludicriously slow computers were.  There's more on the Stars Lounge which I'll share with you all soon.

For now, there are other food items available at the Stars Lounge which are cheaper than other places on campus--including the vending machines!!  So if you'd like to save a buck or two on snacks--the Stars Lounge is a great place save!

I'll be talking more about the Stars Lounge here in a day or two...

Until then...

~ N.

The Army in the Sky

I'm going to stray from UIS just for moment--unless you're in the photography class!  :)

I was thinking during my drive to work today that it would have been an awesome day to take pictures.  Why?  What made today so special?  Was it sunny?  Well yes...and no, but that's not it.  Was the air clear and haze-free?  Well yes, but that's not it either.  The reason why is that the clouds looked amazing--like a never-ending army of oval-shaped, globular cloud-tanks were driving towards the front.

And then I thought about how amazing it is that something so simple--water vapor--can look so amazing.  A scene taking during a clear day is nice, but for some reason, if you splash a cloud or two in the sky, it changes the whole scene for the better (in my humble opinion).

Below is a picture I took during our last family vacation.  It is not what I would classify an "awesome" picture, but it proves the point (FYI: the reason why I took this picture is that it was literally straight down to the rocks, but you can't really tell).  Imagine, though, if there were NO clouds in the picture.  It would look okay...but because they're there, it adds depth and color to the photo, no?

What do you guys think?  I'd love to hear...

Anyhow, my advice...the next time you go out taking pictures of friends or of nature (or of friends IN nature), pay attention to the army in the sky: they could be a great ally!

~ N.

Classroom Etiquette 101

Okay, everyone.  I've about had it...especially with those freshmen who are straight out of high school.    Not *all* freshmen, but the ones who have no respect for their professors.

Our professor in one particular class tends to fly by the seat of their pants, which can be interpretted as being unorganized.  Furthermore, we are still at the beginning of the class, so the information being put out might be overly simplistic.  Whatever the case may be, the professor is STILL TEACHING THE CLASS!!!

So! Whenever the professor would change direction and approach the topic from another angle, one particular student would put his head in is hands as though to say, "This professor is SO STUPID!"  Not once did the student make eye contact with the professor during the class; rather, they were continuously online or texting.  They did not take notes or give any inclination they were paying attention (aside from the head-in-hands gesture).

This.  Drives.  Me.  Nuts.

We are NOT in class to goof off and/or not care.  For crying out loud, the class is only 75 minutes long.  Surely you can live without your buddies for that long.  I'm just saying, people: give the class your best for the short while you're there--it's the least you could do to show respect for those teaching it.

Attention Criminal Justice Majors!!!

(My thanks to Jessica F. for the inspiration for this post)

Okay, it has been my observation that many students majoring in criminal justice are doing so because they intend to become a police officer.  Here is my question to those students: is criminal justice your passion?

If studying about criminals is where your heart is at, then by all means: go for it!  However, if you're majoring in criminal justice because you feel you'd have a better chance at getting a job post-graduation, I think you're doing yourself a huge disservice; Everything you need to know about criminal justice will be taught at the academy, during the job, or at supplemental training while at the job.  While you're in college, why not study something that you love??

Whenever I tell people my major (Mass-Media Communication) they often ask, "Well, what are you going to do with that?"  Honestly, I haven't the foggiest doggone idea.  But I do know that I'm majoring in something that I enjoy.  There is a pretty good chance that I will not end up in the field of mass-media communication, but at least it's a degree.  That's what most companies are looking for--a degree.  Unless it's an extremely specified position, any degree is a good degree.  I believe that a degree simply shows that you took the time after high school to continue your education and you didn't give up.  That's it.

The status quo these days is that applicants to jobs have a B.A.  It used to be that exceptional applicants had B.A.s--this is not the case anymore.  Instead, exceptional applicants nowadays have an M.A. or a Ph.D.

I suppose this could also go to all students:  I understand that a "business admin" degree will "get you places".  But my point is...if you're not going to be happy at that point, then why even attempt to get there?  Study what you love and enjoy that, instead.

I wish you all the best.

~ N.

A Special Informational Session by UIS for Veterans = Amazing Thoughtfulness!

Dean Korte laughs as Becky entertains.  Meanwhile, Janet speaks with Jeff Young.

On Wednesday afternoon, a special informational session was held in PAC Conference Room C by various departments for veterans and those still in active-duty status.

John Ringle from housing, Rebecca Prather from Financial Services, Karen Willard from the TRAC along with several others from Counseling, the CTL, and Center for First Year Students were on-hand to entertain any questions servicemembers had.

The information provided was incredibly helpful, and meeting the people behind the departments face-to-face certainly helped to open doors that otherwise may have been ignored.

However, I left the conference feeling a little bit...concerned: less than 5% of veterans and servicemembers enrolled at UIS attended the conference.  I feel that had more shown up, it would have done us all good to forge relationships and support with one another during our collegiate careers.

One veteran--a woman named Becky--talked about starting up the Military Veterans Student Organization again this year.  A meeting is slated to be held with Dean Korte next Wednesday.  We'll see what happens.  I'll keep you all posted.

Until next time...

~  N.