Tag: Senior Year

Are You Sure I’m Almost a Senior?

Are You Sure I’m Almost a Senior?

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I promise you that just last year I was moving into a college dorm for the first time, trying to decide on a major and making new friends.

Or maybe I was back for round two, just starting to get the hang of things, making some really good friends and even spending a semester abroad at Loyola’s John Felice Rome Center.

Okay, Okay then I’ve only just begun year three, finally getting to move off-campus, am excited about my major and am embracing being an upperclassman.

But there’s no way I’m almost a senior.

Then again…

For the past three years I’ve been calling Chicago and Loyola home. These years have felt like some of the fastest of my life. As they say, ‘Time flies when you’re having fun!’ Which I would say has been exactly the case for me. Sure, I’ve faced my fair share of stresses and hardships during my college experience, but honestly I wouldn’t take any of it back.

My junior year has been especially good to me. I’ve finally chosen a major that I’m excited about in Public Relations and am looking forward to another year of classes at the School of Communication. And thanks to some inspiration from a favorite Loyola professor of mine, I’ve also added a Marketing minor. My classes this year have pushed me academically, made me a better writer and helped shape my worldview.

I’ve gotten to live with some incredible girls during my time at LUC and this year has been no exception. I’ve loved having the chance to live in an apartment off-campus where I get to be more connected to the Rogers Park community.  This year I got much better about getting out and exploring the city and hope to continue doing so over the next year. (One of my new favorite foods is Spanish tapas–which are especially good at Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba in Lincoln Park!)

This year I’ve experienced the most personal growth yet, academically, spiritually and in my relationships, for which I am truly grateful.

My college experience has been completely different than what my freshman-self would have expected and everything my (almost) senior-self could hope for. I’m not sure what this next year will bring or what will follow, but I think I’ll have a hard time topping my junior year at LUC.

So I guess that after looking back on it all again, it does seem like it’s time for me to be a senior. Even if I’m not quite ready to admit it.

So Say We All

So Say We All

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As y’all may have noticed, I disappeared last semester. When they say that your spring semester of junior year is the hardest in the nursing program here, they aren’t kidding. Luckily, I was able to have such a relaxing summer that I feel rejuvenated and ready for my senior year!

So, what did I do this summer? Well…

1. I moved!

That’s right! I moved into my dream apartment in Lincoln Park! There is a little schlep to my classes on the lake shore campus (hello, 4 am Thursday morning wake up calls)…
The view from my rooftop!

… but it’s totally worth it for the neighborhood. I’m right by the Lincoln Park Zoo, the lake shore path, North Avenue Beach, countless restaurants and parks, and I’m only a 10 minute bus ride from work/the downtown shuttle.

I spent all summer exploring my new neighborhood and hanging out on my rooftop, and those two things alone made it a summer well spent.

2. I read!

When I first moved, I didn’t have internet for a week. To entertain myself, I started making progress on the giant stack of books on my nightstand. Once I started, I didn’t stop. To the chagrin of all my friends and my new apartment walls (I mayyyy have thrown a book or two out of anger), I constantly had a novel with me at all times.

The books I read this summer!

The books I read included:

– The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
– Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
– A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
– A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
– This Much I Know is True by Wally Lamb
– The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
– The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
– Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert 

Hopefully, I’ll have read enough to hold me over until I have free time to read again!

3. I watched!

Once I did get internet, Netflix essentially became my new roommate. On the recommendation of my friends, I started watching Battlestar Galactica (BSG).

I watched it at the end of May, and it wouldn’t be an understatement to say that it took over my life to the degree that I couldn’t watch any more series until August (at which point I embarrassingly became obsessed with Teen Wolf).

Obsessed.

While it took me a while to get through season 1 of BSG, but I watched season 2 – 4 (60 episodes about 40 minutes in length) in the span of 5 days. I. Became. Consumed.

Right now I’m fresh off of Teen Wolf, and I’m watching Scrubs because “it’s a medical show, so it counts as studying.” Unfortunately, since it IS the school year now, I can’t marathon 10+ episodes in a row, but Netflix will definitely be a part of my life year round.

In addition to watching Netflix, my senior year will be pretty busy with nursing school. I’m done with all of my core classes, so I can focus all my time on clinicals, skills, and theory courses. I accidentally joined the Bioethics Bowl team today, so I’m going to try and keep up with that for an extracurricular experience this year.

Either way, I’m pretty excited to really start getting ready for the “real world”!

Photo 1 attributed to Group Fox

Photo 2 attributed to myself

Photo 3 attributed to SyFy

 

The Beginning of the End

The Beginning of the End

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It is my senior year at Loyola University Chicago. Typing the sentence itself for my last first post as an undergraduate student is still surreal.

This year I am looking forward to begin the steps needed to embark on the next chapter in my life. I will be enrolled in graduate school, hopefully in the fall of 2o14.

With the help of the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, facilitated through the Graduate School, I have begun the process to prepare for my post-graduate education as well as gain research experience.

Conducting this research this past summer has been similar to peeling off the layers of an onion. Every macro idea thus far reveals many micros that cannot be explored in nine weeks.

Why spend time behind the computer exploring the “virtual world” that is New African Social Media? The advent of African youth having the space to show creativity and to share it through virtual communities hits home. Producers are able to communicate and share what they believe Africa was like in the past, what Africa is like in the present, and what Africa will be in the future. New African Social Media is an example of how new forms of media impact culture. Those within this “virtual world” are able to re-appropriate content and attach new meaning to the content they create or share.

With this, it is interesting to unpack how this content differs from Africa-content material in mainstream media. New African Social Media allows producers and consumers to shed a different light on what Africa means and is to them: diverse, progressive, and positive. People are given the freedom to be bold to create, report, and share what they do not see in mainstream media; as well as to give a more balanced view of what occurs on and off the continent.

So far in my research, I have found that people most popularly share visually contextual content that depicts people, daily life, and women. The peeling of this onion continues as I unpack the why, how, where, and when of these findings.

Luckily, with the help of my faculty mentor, I am currently continuing what I started this summer through an independent study. I look forward to interviewing participants to learn their perspective on this topic.

With my research aside, my class schedule is light compared to semesters past. I have a little more free time to study for the GRE, as well as catch up with friends; especially those who studied abroad last semester.

I know that this is the beginning of the end of my undergraduate career at Loyola. My senior year will flash right before my eyes, but I will savor every moment of it.

You Can Call Me MC

You Can Call Me MC

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As a newcomer to the Loyola blog-isphere, I figured it was a good idea to start with a short introduction.  So here it is – a brief glimpse into my life at Loyola!

I am currently a senior majoring in English and Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences, with a minor in Sociology.  Being a double major is no walk in the park, but having an interest in what I am studying certainly makes the homework load seem much more bearable.  I am on track with graduate in May 2014, and I am looking to go law school soon after.

Over my three years at Loyola, I have increasingly involved myself in things outside the classroom.  One of my true passions in life is people, and doing what I can to serve others.  Recognizing my role as a member of my Loyola community, but also a citizen of the larger global community, has given me a determination to give back.  On campus, I am on the leadership board of UNICEF and Loyola 4 Chicago.  I am also part of the planning team of an annual non-profit event called Christmas on Campus that serves the children in urban areas of Chicago that might not have a traditional Christmas experience.  Service and social justice have become very important to me, and Loyola is great at supporting those interests.

When I’m not on campus, I am taking advantage of life in the Windy City!  There are so many things to do, and sometimes it seems like four years is just not enough time to do them all.  I am originally from Cleveland, Ohio, so I came into college with the impression that I was somewhat adjusted to life in a city.  The two cities could not be more different.  My favorite part of Chicago is that there are always people to meet, places to be, and things to do.  While Cleveland has a special place in my heart, Chicago is certainly my home away from home.

I’m looking forward to living it up in my last year at Loyola.  So throughout my senior year, I’ll be recording all my Chicago adventures in this blog!  Enjoy!

Senior Classes Rock!

Senior Classes Rock!

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I’m not going to lie: I am loving my schedule.

The first couple of years were great too- don’t get me wrong. I got a broad experience of classes and classmates. But now that I’m a Senior, I get to get deep into topics that normally would only be glossed over.

For instance, my Philosophy seminar is going to be awesome. It’s about how we constitute our identities, and the ethics involved in socially constructed and socially damaged identities. I can’t wait to see how this plays out. Our first class already had some really high level discussion. Plus, the teacher rocks. Dr. David Ozar came highly recommended, and I can already see why. He is intensely knowledgable, very experienced and has a wonderful sense of humor. He instantly established a great rapport with the class.

Truth be told, there aren’t a lot of bad Philosophy professors at Loyola. The program is great.

On the other hand, my Ad/PR capstone is going to be just as engaging. I am getting to spend the entire semester researching and digging deep into the exciting world of Gamification. Gamification is a really fascinating field, and I’m going to be getting in direct contact with 8-12 professional gamification practitioners throughout the semester. The networking alone is going to be awesome, but I will also get to watch as this trend continues to grow and try to find a way to fit into it myself.

The best part about both these classes is that the students themselves are just as crucial as the instructors. I get to learn about all the other interesting things being researched by my other Capstone classmates, and see if we are looking at complimentary topics or see if there’s something new that I want to learn more about. Similarly, the Philosophy class is full of some of the brightest minds that I’ve encountered at Loyola (I’ve had class with a few of these people before) and I just know that the discussions are going to be very revealing. In fact, they already have been.

This is the kind of upper-level knowledge that I’m going to miss out on later, so I better enjoy it now!