November 2011 – Page 4 – College Admission at Loyola

Running the Higher Education Panel was a Learning Experience

By | November 10, 2011

As I write, I’m sitting in the back of Mundelein Auditorium waiting for an event to finish. They’re just doing panel discussions, so I don’t need to be too proactive.

But that wasn’t the case last night and this morning.

For a while I’ve been passed around as a go-to contact for events in Mundelein Auditorium (Loyola’s home for the arts). On my website (www.EvanFazio.com) I spoke about supporting a speech by Robert F. Kennedy JR.

A little while later I was contacted by Suzan Cibulskis, one of the nicest executive assistants I’ve ever met. I went to her office and we planned her event. But on the night of the setup I ran into problems. The projector and screen that I had rented for free from the Digital Media Lab at Loyola weren’t big enough. Even further, the VGA cable wasn’t long enough to connect the laptop on the podium to the projector.

I went into problem solving mode. I first called the Digital Media Lab, but they didn’t have anything longer. Then I called my department, and they didn’t have anything either. I looked around the auditorium but to no avail. I know I had seen a long one once, and now it had disappeared. So I decided to look in our supply closet.

Only one problem; my key got me into the main office, but not into the supply closet. I called Campus Safety for an admit (basically to let me in) but they didn’t have an access list for that space and weren’t able to help me out.

So I settled for putting the projector on the stage, which made the screen a little smaller (it was small enough already) because of the short distance between projector and screen, and the projector got in the way of the screen itself.

The morning of the event it was deemed that the screen was not large enough, and especially so with the projector on stage. Luckily, Rob Kelly (Vice President of Student Development) knew to call the Office of First Year Experience and they managed to bring over a larger screen. We started the event only 10 minutes late, and by the time the first video was over we were back on schedule.

So I learned a lot about how many different departments work together. I could see what the Digital Media Lab had to offer, how things sometimes disappear from common spaces like the auditorium, how Campus Safety selects their admits, and, most importantly:

When the Vice President calls a department, they come running.

Shopping Penguin!

By | November 10, 2011

If my life were a pie chart, 62.5% would be dedicated to studying, 25% would be allotted for my attempts at a social life, 7.5% would be put aside for eating and 5% would be dedicated to the internet. I know this sounds a bit complicated, which is why I have provided a visual aid for you:

For me, the internet consists mostly of funny YouTube videos, so I thought that I would share one of my favorites with you. I’m not sure if it’s because I usually only watch this when I’m exhausted at 3 am, but I can’t help but laugh when I watch Parry Gripp’s classic, Shopping Penguin:

http://youtu.be/M4quM5UZg1M

20 days to go!

By Lori Greene | November 10, 2011

You keep hearing about deadlines. Deadlines. Deadlines. Deadlines. Well, here is one more reminder for high school seniors thinking about Loyola.

Don’t forget! Make sure you APPLY to Loyola.

Thursday, December 1 is Loyola’s priority deadline for admission. This means that you receive your best opportunity for admission and scholarship consideration when you apply by this date. The application for admission serves as your scholarship application as well—no additional forms or questions!

So, if you started your application already, remember to finalize and click “Submit.” We will then check for the rest of your credentials to complete your file and give you a decision in 4–6 weeks. If you have been putting off filling out the application, it is time to get it done.

The application is easy, FREE, and takes about 10–15 minutes of your time.

Wondering what else we require for admission consideration? In addition to your application, make sure you also have these:

Counselor or Teacher Recommendation Letter
Official High School Transcript
Official ACT or SAT test scores
Personal Essay (In 500 words or less, provide us a sample of your writing or share a little more about yourself and your achievements.)

Think about it. You have a head start. The hard part—all the time you put in during high school volunteering, participating, studying, competing, etc.—is already done. Now, it’s time to let your efforts speak for themselves in your application.

We are glad that you are considering becoming a part of Loyola’s Class of 2016!

Hello Everybody!

By | November 7, 2011

For all interested readers, my name is Nic Herrmann and I am a sophomore here at Loyola University Chicago. Currently I am studying Communication with hopes of working in the non-profit sector upon completion graduation.

I suppose I should explain why I am here at Chicago, because after all, there are many universities to choose from.

As a native St. Louisan, Chicago has always been a metaphorical neighbor to me. No more than four and a half hours away, I can remember many times travelling up here to meet my grandma (who lives in the suburbs) and visit this great city. With many fond memories to speak of, Chicago was a natural fit for college, and couple those memories with the desire to go to a big city Jesuit University, Chicago comes out as the obvious winner.

As a student here, I take part in many activities. For one, I am planning on an event called Christmas on Campus; a Christmas gathering full of games and activities for local children to enjoy. This event functions as a way to interact with and serve the neighboring community. I am also a member of the Catholic Student Organization.

With a background in Jesuit education since freshman year in high school, Ignatian Spirituality is something I have grown accustom to and fond of. These formal Loyola activities take up a lot of my time, but in my free time I thoroughly enjoy throwing the frisbee, reading and jogging. In fact, I ran one of the many half-marathons this city has to offer. Another hobby of mine is discovering new places and venues in this expansive city.

Though familiar with the city, I am certainly no expert on all of the exciting opportunities this place has to offer. My list of places in the city grows daily and I am always on the look-out for the new hidden gem.

A Bit About Me

By | November 7, 2011

Hi everyone! My name is Cat O’Brien. Generally, when I introduce myself to people, one of two things happens. First, if I am talking to a kid (or young adult if you take the title “kid” offensively) they accept my name and make a small joke about being an animal. If I am talking to an adult though, they almost always say, “Oh, is that short for something?” Somehow adults have a hard time accepting that someone would actually be named Cat. Well, much to my dismay it is not my real name. Catherine Ruth O’Brien is the name my parents gave me when I was born but I have not gone by Catherine in years.

I am a sophomore here at Loyola University of Chicago and I love it! I grew up in the small town of Richland Michigan and after high school I was ready for something more exciting than the corn fields and cows that Richland offered. Don’t get me wrong, I love and appreciate where I grew up (probably more since moving away) but I would not trade the experience of living in Chicago for anything.

After a little internal debate freshman year I have decided to major in Secondary Education and English with a minor in ESL studies. All that means is that I want to teach high school English and be able to help out students who have English as their second language. I have taken mostly core thus far in my college career but the few Education classes that I have taken have made me very excited for my future as a teacher.

This semester I am taking my first ESL class, two English classes, and three core classes. That amounts to eighteen credits and some stressful nights trying to get all the homework and studying done. At the end of the day though the hard work usually pays off with a decent grade.

Benefit Show at the Heartland Cafe

By | November 6, 2011

This weekend was pretty awesome. With my band Mapmaker I got to play a benefit concert for children of Invisible Conflicts at the Heartland Cafe. It’s a great cause and you can read about it at the Invisible Conflicts website. The show was trying to raise money for educational materials.

The best part of the whole night wasn’t the show, but the letter that was circulating around from one of the children. I took a picture of it, it was dark so I’ll try to update with a better photo later:

But the point was that this child from a completely different continent had named my band by name in his thank-you letter. I was so touched. This is the kind of gratification everybody wants from doing service, and so few are lucky enough to get it.

The show went really well and all the other bands kicked butt too. A lot of friends from Loyola were there, but there was a good number of Alumni and community members as well. I can’t wait for my next show!

Top 5 Experiences While at Loyola, SO FAR!

By | November 4, 2011

Over the past two years I have experienced quite a few things due to different opportunities offered by Loyola. From simply going downtown to traveling around the world Loyola has opened many doors and I look to travel through many more in my next year and a half.

1. Champions League Final in Barcelona 2011 – This was literally the most amazing experience of my life! After first being embraced by the community of Barcelona and playing football on the street with some of the locals we proceeded to the park to watch the game. We then marched with the rest of the city to the center square and celebrated till the team arrived. Celebrations in Europe are no joke: flares, fireworks, riots, etc.

2. Has anyone seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I lived it! – I had only been going to Loyola for a couple weeks when I found out that Oprah was closing Michigan Ave. for her 24th anniversary show. We skipped classes arrived at 5am and stood about 200 feet from the stage and spent the entire morning learning the dance.

3. Pentecost at the Pantheon – While at the JFRC (Loyola’s Rome Campus) we decided it would be appropriate to spend Pentecost in one of the worlds oldest churches. The site was literally the most aesthetic experience of my entire life.

4. Flamenco Bar in Madrid – The girl was beautiful, the music was amazing, the food was perfect and the culture swept us off our feet.

5. Live Band at McDermotts in the Doolin! – The combination of music, Ireland and the nicest people in the world just made us all feel at home.

A Bit About Myself

By | November 4, 2011

Hello Everyone! My name is Raven Icaza and I’m a senior at Loyola. I’m a Journalism major, with a minor in Studio Art and English. A native to Illinois, I am surprisingly not from Chicago or the suburbs! In fact, my hometown, Galesburg, is an approximate 4 hour drive away. Very small. Very boring. Fun fact: The poet Carl Sandburg, who wrote “City of Big Shoulders,” (famous poem about Chicago), was born and raised there.

I came to Loyola a little more than 3 years ago, and I LOVE it here! I spend a lot of time working on stories for my reporting courses, but they get me out into the city, where I’ve met some really fantastic and exciting people. They also force me to trek into parts of the Chi I would otherwise have no reason to go to. These treks often turn out to be totally awesome and really adventuresome. Some of my favorites parts of the city, include Pilsen, Andersonville and Boystown, just to name a few.

If I’m not doing homework, I might be found roaming around the Lake Shore Campus with my friends in search of campus events, which usually mean free food, or scoping out the Quidditch practices or games. YES, there is Quidditch! And YES, it is awesome! And if I’m not doing those things, then you may very well run into me downtown getting my shop on. Which I do. Quite often. In fact, I think by Loyola standards, I would have a minor in “shopping” by now, if not a major. All in all, I would say my experiences thus far have been pretty amazing!

Nursing: We Call the Shots

By | November 4, 2011

Me dressed as Agnes (from Despicable Me) and my friend dressed as Desert Rose (from It's Always Sunny in Philedelphia)

I’m not too good at introductions. Even on Facebook, my “write something about yourself” section simply says “something about yourself. haha. i’m so witty.” (Get it? It says, “write something about yourself,” so I wrote the phrase “something about yourself.”) I don’t think I can get away with that in this case, so I should probably just start with my name and some basic information.

My name is Ellen Gordon and I’m a sophomore BSN (nursing) major here at Loyola. I was one of those kids with a restless parent who moved them around a lot, but I consider Palatine, IL to be my hometown. I chose to come to Loyola University Chicago because it has an amazing nursing program and because I had an amazing overnight visit my senior year of high school; it was the first university I visited in which I felt like I truly belonged.

As a nursing major, almost every aspect of my life is consumed with labs, classes, planning for clinicals and studying. That’s how I came up with my blog name – you know that cliché of the girl walking around campus, looking like she’s running solely on magic and clutching a Monster in her hand like it’s the only thing keeping her upright because she’s been studying until 4:00 am? That’s me, along with the other few hundred or so nursing majors.

In fact, the picture of me (I’m the one dressed as Agnes) at the beginning of the post was taken with a fellow nursing student, Jackie, at her awesome Halloween themed lab practical study party birthday party.

When I do have the occasional second of free time, I watch Doctor Who, bombard people with facts and food from my Jewish culture, read anything that I can get my hands on and go on random adventures. My favorite part about Loyola is having the city as my backyard.

I can’t count the nights where I’ve been convinced that I’m going to spend the whole evening in my residence hall, yet somehow find myself ending the night at the other end of the Red Line, having gone on a journey to Chinatown or some other Chicago locale with my friends. And I look forward to telling you all about my adventures, nursing and otherwise. I hope you enjoy reading!

Im Tad, Like a Tadpole

By | November 4, 2011

In 2009 I started my attendance at Loyola completely unsure of what I wanted to do with my life. I knew I wanted to help people and I decided I would take advantage of every opportunity that was given to me.

I came to Loyola for a number of reasons, but I stayed after I realized how perfectly the school fit me. To this day I can approach any one of my professors, at almost any time, and ask for help on basically anything. Loyola offered me the college experience that I had never expected.

Since making the decision to come to Loyola my life has completely changed. I have done things that I never would have dreamed of and been involved in opportunities that have opened every possible door for me. Not only was I involved in research my freshman year, I also just got back from 12 weeks in Europe at JFRC (Loyola’s campus in Rome). And this January I am preparing to go to Panama on a dental brigade. And if like that wasn’t enough: I am fully trained as an EMT, I’ m involved in many different student organizations and I volunteer at different places on a weekly basis.

As for majors I started with Biology, like every other person interested in pre-med, and soon after changed everything, and then changed back. After a long process and 5 different changes I am a Biophysics and Biology double major, with minors in Math and Art, on a pre-dental track.

I grew up in Southern California, yes I know, why did I leave? It’s actually a pretty simple answer, Chicago!

Frank Sinatra put it best when he sang “Chicago is my kind of town”. The people are friendly, the sports are awesome, the environment is amazing and I can experience any of it with a simple thirty minute el ride downtown.