You’ve finally gotten over the crazy midterms, quizzes, endless nights of studying, homework, labs, and soon you will conquer finals week! Even though some of you may be taking classes over the summer, enjoy your summer break! Take the time to acknowledge all of the hard work you have put forth these past semesters and treat yourself. Summer break will officially start May 4th, 2019 and classes will resume August 26th, 2019. Make sure to take advantage of this lengthy break and enjoy it with your friends and family. Get the sleep that you missed out on for the past couple of months, go out and explore, take road trips, go to the LOLLA concert, go to the 4th of July parades, work and make some extra money, try new restaurants, do some fun reading! This is your time to give yourself the well deserved break you needed, and throw the stress out (at least until September…). However, keep in mind, you should probably do some review and look into the classes you will be taking next semester, because the worst thing you can do is forget everything you have learned and have a rough start so early in the semester! Here are some school related things you should do aside from your fun shenanigans:

1. Add some classes to your cart and register!!! Even if the times don’t seem so great or it’s a professor you don’t want, just register so that you’re in a class! You can always drop this and switch it with another one.
2. Complete your to-do list on LOCUS! Many people may need to do verification worksheets, immunizations, or residential/commuting sheets, so look into that!
3. Check for any holds on LOCUS  because trust me, it will be annoying if you put these off to the last minute.
4. Stalk the registration page at random times! This will allow you to get the best classes at the best times when someone randomly decides to drop or swap.
5. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
6. Start the monthly tuition plan if it’s something that interests you. Some students prefer paying that big chunk of money over the couple of months, so look into the monthly I PLAN so that you can start paying your tuition and relieve the burden that may come later!
7. Look for research/internship opportunities
8. Set goals for the upcoming semester – this will reduce anxiety and make it more clear what needs to be accomplished.
9. Readjust your 4 year plan and make sure it is updated and clear.

There may be a lot of things you need to still look after during your Summer break, but make the most out of it. These are the moments you definitely don’t want to forget!

For many of you, this may be your first year; for others, it may just be another long semester. We all need a break from these crazy days or even just after finals! I don’t know about you guys, but my resort is usually food. During my first year at Loyola, I was able to discover awesome places to eat at so I thought i’d share it with you all and get a little study snack or lunch to make the summer more worthwhile!

Need a quick breakfast before that 8:15a class you are dreading: Anne Sather

This is super close to campus and one of the most popular breakfast places! Quick service, inexpensive, and pure satisfaction.

Where is it? 3415 N Broadway St, Chicago, IL 60657 (next to the Granville Station!)

Ordering: Their cinnamon rolls are perfect! If you are on a budget (about $3) and want to be filled up, I definitely recommend this!

Need some Instagram love?: Amorino Gelato 

Warning. When you get this… you won’t even want to eat it because it’s too pretty to eat! You can choose a bunch of flavors and somehow transform it into a flower.

Where is it?: 838 N State St. Chicago, IL 60610 (right across the Quinlan School of Business at the downtown campus)

Ordering: You can basically order whichever flavors you like! In my opinion the bright, pretty, fruity colors make the best flowers but the chocolate does its magic as well!

Have a sweet tooth?: Lickity Split Frozen Custard & Sweets

This should be a simple reward for you hard workers! If you need a break from all the studying, simply go to this place! Its very close by and they have items such as frozen custard, baked goods, candy, special sodas, etc!

Where is it?: 6056 N Broadway St. Chicago, IL 60660

Ordering: You can simply get a frozen custard flavor or if you really are indecisive, you can literally blend a cupcake in your dessert! Get the best of everything!

When you want a pizza and you can’t decide on a topping… get everything!: Blaze Pizza 

This is a hip pizzeria where you pay less than 10 bucks for a delicious pizza of your choice! It is fresh, made from scratch dough, healthy and quick! You decide what you want on it and then it goes right in a blazing hot oven made in seconds!

Where is it?: 6550 N. Sheridan Rd. Chicago, IL 60626 (Right next to the Loyola Train Station!)

Ordering: What can’t you order here? I usually get all the veggies because it’s so hard for us veggie lovers to get a pizza with as many veggies possible!
When you need an elegant atmosphere with some great tea/coffee: Three Arts Club Cafe

This place is so beautiful. You will fall in love the moment you walk in. Definitely something worthy of pictures, friends, and formal clothing.

Where is it?: 1300 N Dearborn St Chicago IL 60610

Ordering: The RH scramble is delicious and includes 4 pieces of toast with avocado and eggs with chives. Tie it with a cup of coffee and you are set! BTW I heard the cookies are amazing as well!

Need a lot of options and a nice place for lunch/dinner?: Grand Lux Cafe 

Where is it?: 600 N Michigan Ave Chicago IL 60661

Ordering: The pastas are always great and the macaroni and cheese skillet is definitely a great appetizer!

Craving a classic Chicago Deep Dish Pizza?: Giordano’s 

Where is it?: 6836 N Sheridan Rd Chicago IL 60626

Ordering: Deep dish and your favorite toppings will satisfy your cravings! Make sure to plan early because it takes about 45 minutes to cook! The garlic parmesan fries and the frozen lemonade are the best pairings!

It may seem a bit too early to even talk about what you can do in preparation for finals week; however, the truth is that its never too early. After going through my first semester, I realized that it’s better to mentally prepare yourself for what may seem so far away. What I did to prepare for finals week is just kept it in the back of my head throughout the semester so that it doesn’t come by surprise. Don’t let this stress you out, but motivate you. I always thought of it in a way to prove to myself that I actually learned useful information and that I will be stress free afterwards, so might as well do well if you’re going to do it.

Here are some things you can do to prepare:

1. Find out which days you have which finals, and at what time. This helps you clearly see if you have two finals the same day and how you can equally study for them.
2. Find out if your final is cumulative or not!!
3. Whenever you’re in class, make sure to take beneficial notes that can help prepare for finals week. This will help you not only for the next midterm you may have, but it will also help you prepare information for the final.
4. When you find out if it is cumulative or not, this will give you an idea of how much to study. You might want to add in more study days if it is cumulative. Don’t let that scare you though.
   1. If its cumulative, it’s most likely 1-2 questions per unit — so make sure to get the key point out of each topic.
   2. If its cumulative, its going to be shorter and more spread out, so don’t focus too much on one topic!
   3. More than likely, it will cover 2/3 of the more recent stuff, and 1/3 of the previous stuff! **this may depend on the professor, however.
5. DO NOT study a couple days before the finals week, or only the week before. That is why I make this post. I know a lot of people that waited until the last minute and did not do so well; staying up until 4 am just a few days before is not going to be beneficial for many people.
6. Start calculating your grade based on the syllabus, and see what you minimally need to get the grade you want for the class. STRIVE FOR THAT GRADE.
7. Start AT LEAST 2-3 weeks before and make a schedule. Dedicate a certain amount of hours to each class. Type out/rewrite notes so you can make sense of it again. Form study groups and go over a topic a day.

NOTE: A CUP OF COFFEE/TEA/SOME SORT OF CAFFEINE IS REQUIRED FOR THIS – NO EXCEPTIONS!

These are just some things you can do in preparation for finals. Don’t let it scare you, conquer it! Think about it, if you get a head start on it now, you will kill those exams and then have an awesome Summer break back at home (or else where) until next semester, I don’t know about you, but that sounds awesome to me… 🙂

 

Finals are approaching faster than it may seem, and as nerve wracking that sounds, the bright side is that summer break is almost here! You should be preparing for finals because you’re going to have a lot of reviewing to do, depending on how many exams you have, whether they’re cumulative or not, and the level of easiness or difficulty of the content.

You should also know when your finals are scheduled, and if you don’t, here is the link: http://www.luc.edu/academics/schedules/spring/exam_schedule.shtml

NOTE: Make sure this matches up to your syllabus, and if it does not, bring this up to your professor.

Now enough of the scary stuff, FINALS BREAKFAST IS ALMOST HERE.

Finals breakfast takes place at the end of each semester, the Tuesday of every finals week! The fun part of it is that its at 9PM instead of the morning, so take a break from the stress and get together with friends. Take advantage of the free food, after all, food makes everyone happy.

I wish everyone the best of luck on finals! Do the best you can, make sure you have tons of caffeine, and be optimistic. You won’t have to deal with this again until August 26th!

Remember: Finals Breakfast Spring 2019: Tuesday, April 30, 2019 9:00-10:30PM

Sometimes we become so caught up on what we HAVE to do, rather than what we CAN do. Don’t let a list of plans overwhelm you from doing it. I have learned to make use of my time by not overworking myself nor wasting my time. This doesn’t necessarily have to be school related, but in general, we become so stressed over things we have yet to do, and that takes up the time we actually have to do it. What I personally do to overcome this, is make a list of what I need to do for that day. I enjoy waking up early and being productive, because if I don’t, then I just get lazy and watch Netflix. This is okay sometimes, and I’m not encouraging non-morning people to do this too, but find what works for you and what allows you to get the most things checked off your list. Also, when I wake up, my motivation to get up is usually going to get a cup of coffee; sad, but true. Find something that motivates you to get up and running.

You don’t need to get everything done back to back. Take a break in between and get something healthy to eat, hang out with friends, surround yourself with optimism. Set goals for yourself to get certain things done in a day. I have learned to set aside some time for myself, so after classes I go for a 20 minute run just to get my mind off of things and relax. I found myself doing significantly better in classes and relatively much more relaxed and happy.

If you find yourself being “lazy” when you have so much to do, just get it over with so that you can be lazy and not even have to look at a list of “yet to-do’s”. (Its an incredible feeling, trust me.)

These tips may or may not work for you, but find what does. Everyone deserves leisure time, but it comes best knowing you don’t have to look at a list. Don’t stress over the little things, avoid complaining, and just do it.

 

Yup, you read that right: “Anatomy Fashion Show.” It consists of students volunteers having an organ system painted on their body by other students and then modeling in front of a crowd. Sounds fun, right? The Anatomy Fashion Show is one of Phi Delta Epsilon’s (our International Medical Fraternity on campus) ways to collect funds to donate to their Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, and all proceeds go to the Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. I remember looking at the info for the AFS and thinking “Oh that looks cool! I wish I could go!” Well, this year I took it a step further and decided that I would be modeling myself (for the children, of course!), opening my own fundraising page in order to support the cause.

As soon as I had committed myself to be part of the AFS, I felt extremely conscious about my body and how I would look that day and started getting worried that nobody would donate towards my page. However, I remembered that this event was for a cause, a GOOD cause, and that even if it meant getting out of my comfort zone, I would be doing a good thing. Therefore, I put myself together and decided that if I was going to do this, I was going to do it willingly and to my best abilities. And so I did: I started posting on my social media a week before, letting all of my friends know what I was doing and that if they wanted to support me, they need only to donate $1. Thankfully, many of my friends responded, and on the day before the AFS, I felt like I was really going to enjoy this.

· · · · · ·

I had no idea how much fun being painted on was going to be. Before the day of the event, I had chosen that I wanted to have the female reproductive system painted on me that day, and that itself had brought up the fears that maybe my artist would do something small on me, and that it would be barely noticeable. Fortunately, my artist, Emily, had come with an open mind and an ace under her sleeve. Seeing that the theme for the Fashion Show was “Heavenly Bodies,” Emily had the idea to depict the female reproductive system as our Solar System, floating in space and representing the center of my body, my galaxy. I was fascinated by the idea, and let her paint my whole body in dark blue to simulate. As Emily finished the last touches and added some rhinestones to simulate the stars, I was in shock by the transformation my body had undergone in the lapse of two hours: I had gone from a normal body to a celestial one and was in awe at how beautiful it looked. Now it was just time to model that masterpiece down the runway.

When the time came to model, I have to say, I was so nervous. Not only had I been running around the building for around 4 hours in only my underwear and covered in paint, but I was also very cold. To say the least, I was very excited to get the Fashion Show started, as I wanted to see what I would do on stage. As my turn came to walk down the runwa, I froze and stopped in my tracks. I now look back and think that it must have been very funny to see me, but I was petrified at that moment. Thankfully, I was able to snap out of it and continue strutting down the runway, bedazzling the crowd with Emily’s beautiful art and my awkward modeling moves.

The AFS was a success: PhiDE was able to reach their donation goal, and everybody who had been involved in the event that day was happy and satisfied with themselves. The audience also seemed to have had fun, as they congratulated us and the artists on our way out. And on a personal note, I am so happy that I participated in such a fun experience. I hope to be part of it again in the next couple of years, hopefully with a friend of mine strutting down the runway with me next time to make it twice as fun. 🙂

Eventually that point into the semester is coming where you are starting to feel slightly home sick but can’t really go home either because all those first round of exams are here. Did you know the variety of hotels near Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus that your family can lodge at? Definitely check out the variety of selections, especially during Commencement Week, which will take place May 7-10!

Hampton Inn-Chicago North/Loyola Station
1209 W. Albion Avenue
Chicago, IL 60626
Phone: 312.265.5800
www.hamptoninnloyola.com

*The Hampton Inn is now filled to capacity for Family Weekend, please see below for other hotel options.

Loyola Flats (Loyola’s student run luxury guesthouse)1216 W. Arthur Avenue
Chicago, IL 60626
312.508.0200

Hilton Garden Inn

1818 Maple Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201
847.492.6548

DoubleTree by Hilton – Skokie

9599 Skokie Blvd
Skokie, IL 60077
847.679.7000

There are other options as well that are closer to the Water Tower Campus if you reside there!

140 East Walton Place
Chicago, IL 60611
312.422.1417

The Talbott Hotel – Corporate Code 3224
20 East Delaware Place
Chicago, IL 60611
312.944.4970

Residence Inn Marriot
201 E Walton
Chicago, IL 60611
312.943.9800

Other options near the Loyola Campus area are:

Loyola’s Baumhart Hall Lodging
26 E. Pearson St.
Chicago, IL 60611
312.915.6178

Lang House Bed & Breakfast (formerly Cat’s Cradle B&B)
7421 North Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60626
773.764.9851

Millennium Knickerbocker
163 East Walton Place
Chicago, IL 60611
312.751.8100

The Hilton Orrington / Evanston
1710 Orrington Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201
847.866.8700

So no need to fear or have your parents awkwardly squished into your dorm with your roommates, Loyola has a variety of hotel options that are fairly distant and will make Commencement Week, or any weekend in general, an amazing experience!

Let me just say right away: I am not a runner. I think the last time I purposefully ran was freshman year, and I regretted every moment of it just because it hurt. all over. I won’t even hurry up to catch my friends if they walk obscenely fast – I’m a big believer in getting there when I get there, and not a moment sooner.

But, I support and am so impressed by people that are runners. I think my running genes were edited out sometime over a hundred years ago, as nobody in my extended family are runners either, on either sides. Well, my brother tried for a bit in middle school before genetics reminded him he’s really better suited for powerlifting and football. It’s really amazing, what the human body can do, and runners show that – I mean, alongside everyone else that uses their body for more than just getting around, like me.

So as a part of my sorority and as a personal interest, I volunteer twice a year with the Bank of America as they host their runs: the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in the fall, and the Shamrock Shuffle in the spring. Usually we’re tasked with handing out water or Gatorade, and also cheering on the runners, which is the most exciting part for me. I love cheering.

Here are my sisters making and pouring the Gatorade before the runners started winning. We eventually had to dump it all – they never told us!, I’m not sure why, but it was … interesting to watch anyway.

I don’t drive in Chicago, but I can imagine drivers do have to take note of the days, since both runs close down streets for the runners. I mean, the Marathon is a marathon – that’s like 26 miles folks – and the Shamrock Shuffle is an 8k, but both are impressive feats.

You can volunteer at either run as an individual or with your group! Or, you know, you could run. Or watch! These runs are part of the Chicago landscape like holidays and Cubs games. If you come to Loyola, take some time and experience them!

Chicago knows its business about a lot of things – and one of those things is definitely theater!

I’ve been lucky enough to see several productions put on in Chicago. Minnesota has its own great theater life, but it feels like Chicago just has more companies. (Plus, I mean, it has a whole musical named after and about it.)

So, every year for the graduating seniors, Loyola gives discounts and puts on a few special events. This year it is a boat cruise, a Cubs game, a special Senior Toast, and a viewing of Broadway’s Anastasia! Of course I had to go. Theater can really rack up, which is why I seized my chance to see one of my favorite movies as a play for more than cheap.

There are a lot of amazing student discounts, like a student ticket price for the Joffrey Ballet (I went and saw them last year put on a production of The Nutcracker, but set at the exciting 1893 World’s Fair that took place here in Chicago) or special discounts at smaller venues too. Different Loyola programs also sponsor trips to relevant shows – in my freshman year, the Honors Program took us to see Galileo at a tiny theater near DePaul University. It was alright, but made better by the fact we were studying him at the time.

So yes, Anastasia. If you get a chance, I’d recommend it! It was held at the old Oriental Theater, now the Nederlander, which is so beautiful and a work of art on its own. Although the musical cut out my roommate’s favorite parts (the Rasputin parts, which I always found a little too scary and creepy for my liking) they added in more Russian-Revolution bits and the impact it had on the aristocracy and how the aristocracy impacted it, although of course it was still very much pro-royalty. I mean, who doesn’t want to find out they’re actually a lost princess? You know?

I couldn’t take pictures during the show – nor would I, really – but the costumes were absolutely fantastic. I was utterly distracted by all of the shiny things that sometimes I forgot to listen to the music! It was mostly the same songs, plus some more new beautiful ones, if I remember the movie correctly.

This is all to say that I love theater, Chicago loves theater, and even if you don’t, if you spend any time at all in Chicago I recommend you try something. After all, there’s not just this Broadway stuff and Shakespeare – there are troupes that specialize in satire, improv groups (improv Shakespeare anyone?) and some, like the Splatter Theater for a bloody Halloween, that make things exclusively for holidays.