Hey friends and happy Friday! Can you believe it’s almost October?! School just started a few weeks ago and its almost the second month of the semester. I looked at my calendar and I couldn’t believe it myself! I was already putting my schedules in for the month to manage everything within the next few weeks.

Now, talking about managing. It’s around that time of the semester where your professors give quizzes, tests, exams and critiques on what you learn. Time management is HUGE during these next few years. When you start getting involved within the UMass Lowell community, you start having less time than before and  having time management is great! It helps you stay on task, get everything done accordingly and no stressing out!

Here’s a few of tips you can use:

Monthly Planning
It’s always great to be a head of the game! Invest in a planner that has a large blocks to write things within them daily. Look at all of your syllabuses and write down when assignments are due. This will help you plan things accordingly and give yourself time to get things done on time. This is something I do around the end of each month for the next month. I have a color for academics, clubs, events, meetings and work. It helps me stay organize and get a head start on things. It also gives you an idea of what your week is looking like ahead of time as a way to prepare yourself instead of forgetting something.

Weekly Planning
I definitely would encourage buying a planner. This will help you write down your homework for the week and things you need to do daily. If you forget something that you need for class, write it down in your planner! It helps out more than you think. When you take a look at it, you may have something for the class like, “remember to bring a book for class or read an article that will be talked about in class.” It’s little things like that can help you in the long run.

To Do List/Prioritizing
Being a part of the UMass Lowell community, there are so many opportunities you can be involved in. I could name all of them, but it would be longer than the blog itself. As you take on opportunities, just make sure you prioritize yourself. If you know there’s a few assignments that are coming up, do them in order of importance. I use sticky notes as a “To Do List” of things to do for the day or when a certain assignment is due. Remember, its not good to leave things for last minute. Its always good to prepare yourself rather than stress out.

Block Study Time & Breaks
I am guilty of last minute studying because I found out there was a quiz or test the night before. It’s never good to do that.,, You don’t study at your best potential and you will be nervous when the time comes to take it. Try to set up some time for yourself beforehand to organize the material and find what you need to study more than other information. This will help you remember more information and I promise, you’ll ace it!

Academics FIRST!
It’s great to enjoy college, go out with your friends and create memories. Remember that you are a college student. The faculty and staff do understand that things may happen, but it is your responsibility to maintain your grades. I understand its a lot of pressure and you want to explore new opportunities, I was there. There’s one thing I’ve taught myself recently, you cannot do everything. You can enjoy life and accept new opportunities that go your way. Just keep in mind, you are student, too.

I hope this week went well for all of you! Happy almost October friends!

-T

Hello friends and happy Wednesday! It is crazy to think that September is about to end and we are heading into our fourth week of classes. You all will come to find that college time does not function like real world time. We are at a very specific point in our lives. All that is expected of us is to learn and I think that is a beautiful thing because the real world has a tendency to be unfair and unforgiving. But right here and now, all we have to focus on is learning the rules of life as they apply to our (hopefully) wildly successful journeys. Those rules include being a decent human being to whoever your living with. With that in mind I now give to you my thoughts on how to be a good roommate vs. a bad one!

VS.

   Hello and happy hump day! This year feels like it has a lot of promise and I hope you feel the same way.
     As some of you may know I am a senior in the Music Business program here at our beloved school. But I do not only practice in the business sector of the industry I am also highly involved in Music Education. I have my own private studio of students as well as teaching marching band at the high school level. Because of this I wanted to talk about an event happening on campus that is near and dear to me and to anyone that is involved in the wonderful world of music.

    The UMass Lowell Collegiate Chapter of the National Association of Music Education (NAFME) is partnering up with The Party Band (A 20 piece community brass band based in Lowell) to facilitate an Instrument Drive! The instruments collected will go to students who need them in the public school system as well as the local Boys and Girls Club. These facilities do not have enough instruments to give all of their students a quality musical education.

    The instruments collected that are not in the best shape will be repaired by our very own Blair Bettencourt, A professor in the Music Department. Professor Bettencourt will be running an instrument repair clinic for students in the Music Studies programs so that when they get into their respective classrooms they will be proficient in instrument repair themselves. Literally Everyone Wins!!

The first two drop of dates are Today the 17th of September in front of Fox hall on East/Durgin Hall on South and tomorrow the 18th in front of Durgin hall, both days from 12-5 PM. The instruments that are being collected are your average band instruments (winds, percussion etc.) guitars, electric basses and drums. The only items they are not being accepted are amps and effect pedals.

You can seriously make a difference in a kids life through getting rid of your old trumpet that is collecting dust in your attic. I was a benefactor of an instrument drive when I was a budding musician  in the fourth grade and now it is my career, hobby and life. Make a difference whenever you have the opportunity and I think you will be satisfied with the result.

Just some food for thought!

-Migs

Hey friends!

I hope the start of the semester went for all of you! I remember my first year at UMass Lowell like it was yesterday. There was so much to do for the first month with events, clubs and exploring the university. I learned a lot within my first year and I would like to share it with all of you.
                                                                  

Trying new things

This is a new experience for you. Think of it like a game board. You get decide the next move you get to make, whether its rolling a die, picking up a card or starting a timer. Each decision you make adds on to your time here at UMass Lowell.  Please, don’t be scared to try something you have not done before. Try going to an event, a club or activity hosted on campus. Who knows? It may end up being something you’ll end up loving!  

Meeting new people

UMass Lowell is a large population of college students. You can meet people by just walking to class or sitting next to someone on the shuttle. Never be afraid to say hello and introduce yourself. A simple conversation one day could make a friendship for life. It’s true what people say about the friends you make in college are the friends you make for life!

YOU Time

Taking time to yourself is NOT a bad thing. Never feel guilty of staying in one night to spend time to yourself. I am quite guilty of not taking time to myself and I’m always on the go. I started to make time to watch my favorite television shows and take a nap whenever I had an hour or two to myself. It’s a good way to relax and feel refreshed. Try not to run yourself on empty. It will catch up to you, so please try to take a day or two off to just kick back and relax!

I hope these tips were helpful! Hope you all have a good weekend!

Much love,

T

1. Staying in my room way too much.

   The only times I left my room the first 2 weeks school was to go home, go to class and to eat. I just sat in my room and watched a deadly combination of Netflix and YouTube all day. Looking back, that was the least productive thing I could have done. I was not making any new friends or exploring the campus that would end up being my home for the next 4 years. Thankfully I made some friends that brought me out of internet cocoon and into an awesome social life.

2. Going home way too much.

   I went home every single weekend that I could my first semester at UML.  Granted I had my reasons (family, work, girlfriend etc.), but I wish I had spent more time exploring the campus and getting acclimated to college life. The experiences you have in college will shape you into the adult you are going to be, while staying in touch with who you were in high school is important, personally I wish I had experiences from my first year and established my independence as a young adult.

3. Saying no to anything out of my comfort zone.
   Yes, there is a trend here. While I was in my room eating Cheetos/at home away from the college I was, you guessed it, NOT participating in anything that had any sort of time commitment. Fast forward to the present I am highly involved on campus and have reaped most, if not all the benefits a UML student could possibly receive. The moral of the story being: It took me four years to get to that point!! I could have been bettering myself for an extra 3 years if I had just taken the plunge, gotten out of my comfort zone and joined a club or organization that did not involve my major. Freshman year is the time to do it friends, you will only get busier from here!
   I hope you all take notes from my pitfalls and avoid them altogether, I wish I had!

   –         Migs