Hello friends and happy Friday! I hope the snow-pacolypse has given you a chance to get ready for the semester and finish binge watching anything you had not finished on Netflix. Your GPA will thank you later! We are officially in February which means two things: Couples beware, Valentines day is around the corner and it is Black History Month!

Black History Month, or National African History Month is an annual event celebrating and recognizing African Americans in U.S History. It is an extremely important movement in our culture and was an initial step in the acceptance of people of color into society as full citizens.

It was initially “Negro History Week”, an event sponsored by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). The founders Carter G. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland, A Harvard trained historian and a prominent Minister respectively, chose the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Though initially shunned by many the event grew to a full month celebration on many college campuses and was recognized officially by president gerald R. Ford in 1976. Since then it has been recognized by every U.S President, each giving it a specific theme. This years theme is :
A century of Black Life, History, and Culture.  

As a person of color and a first generation American I am comforted and encouraged by the growth of acceptance and love and the downfall of ignorance. The fact that this country chooses to educate people about its controversial history makes me feel as if I have the same chances of success as any other person as long as I work hard.

I hope all of you have an amazing weekend and enjoy Black History Month!

-Migs

Hey friends!

I hope you’ve all been staying warm, safe and enjoying your time off from school! I’ve been relaxing, catching up on some work and I did some therapeutic sledding. 🙂

It’s still the start of the semester and I have been asked of ways to get involved on-campus. One thing I would like to teach you all is something magical that may be make you mind blown. There is a website called Collegiate Link. This website holds everything and anything you would like to know about an organization on campus! I told you, it’s magical!

If you go to the this link, it will bring you to the Home page. I have displayed it in the image below.

On this home page, you will find several notifications from leadership opportunities, club information and student conferences. You can click one of four tabs: Home, Organizations, Events or Campus Link. However, remember to SIGN IN! It is in the top right-hand corner, where all you would need is your student email and password. Below the notifications is Events and News, there are flyers of events that are hung up around campus for you to click on and view digitally.

Now, if you would like to find an organization to find more information about, you would press the Organizations tab and here is what it would look like:

The Organizations are set-up in alphabetical order. You can use the search bar, directory, categories or recommendations on the left-hand side. For example, say you’re looking for something in relation to your culture. You can go to Categories- Culturally Oriented and it will be alphabetical order.

If you would like to see what’s happening tonight, tomorrow or for the next week on campus. Go to the next tab “Events.” Here is what it would look like:

Hey! So there’s a club event tonight in the Serenity Center at University Crossing, an event tomorrow with the Muscular Dystrophy Association and SWE first general body meeting! There’s already three options you can choose from and there is more if you keep scrolling down.

For the last tab, Campus Links, it contains every form any club would need from reserving a space, starting a new club, filling out a form to start an event… etc.

See, I told you this was magic! If you would like to know more ways to be involved, look around at the flyers on campus and you can add Office of Multicultural Affairs and Office of Student Activities on Facebook to see events they share on the daily!

Well, that’s all folks! I hope you all have a good weekend.

Stay beautiful
-T

Hey friends!

Welcome back! I hope you all had a beautiful and eventful break. I was able to catch up on a good amount of sleep and watch my favorite shows. It was great! As I am now transitioning back into the college swing of things, I wanted to share a few tips with you all to keep in mind during this semester.

Memorize/Print out your schedule
It’s the first week of classes! YAY! It’s always good to know where you’re classes are because sometimes, not always, you could end up in the wrong classroom. Don’t worry! It’s happened to me before. Please, look at your schedule to know what classes you’re taking or what supplies you will need for class.

Hey friends!

It’s close to the end of the end of the semester… Can you believe it?! This semester is going faster than you know it. There’s only two and half weeks of the semester left and you all are off for break!

So, I wanted to do something different for a change. DIY’s (Do It Yourself) are projects that I LOVE doing. Being a college, I’ve always tried to find ways to save money whether its making it by hand or finding it cheaper somewhere else. Money doesn’t grow on trees and if it’s cheaper, why not?! I am an avid user of using the website Pinterest. This website gives you images of anything you type in the search bar. If you enjoying looking up random things, like photos or ideas, this website is for you!

As the weather is changing and the winter season is approaching, I thought it would be cool to have a DIY to make a scarf. This process will only take 30 minutes of your time. The only materials you need is your hands and 4 skeins(length of string that’s about 40m/130 ft/44 yd long and weighs .25 lbs) of bulky yarn.

Here’s the instructional video below:

Enjoy your break!

Hello and happy Wednesday, or as I like to call it, Blog day! Next week is Thanksgiving, which means that all of you are very close to the end of your first semester of college. As exciting, or terrifying, as that may be you can take solace in the 4 glorious days of rest on the horizon.

For many of us Turkey Day is our first time back home from college and it can be Jarring for both you and your family. You have been staying up until 2 in the morning for three months, eating at all odd hours of the day and have not been told what to do since you left. They have been without there first born child for 3 months and have probably gotten used to not having a messy college freshman around the house. It will take some adjustments from both parties.

Your first thanksgiving home is always a unique experience, here are a few tips for before during and after to make it a positive, rather than a drag.

Before:

During:

After:

Hey friends and Happy Friday!

I hope midterms and advising are in your favor. This can be one of the most tough times during the semester for college students and if it is, I wish you the best. On the bright side, you are one step closer to walking across the stage and receiving a diploma in the major of your choice!

 
Now, going back to advising, making a schedule is IMPORTANT. I can’t stress it enough because this is something you can schedule with the help of an adviser with your preference of time, day, professor and campus. Here are some suggestions below to help you out!

1. Please, see an academic advisor. They are there to help you, whether its deciding what classes you would like to take or helping you make this schedule. If you’re not sure how to figure out who they are, check iSiS on the Student Center page and it says “Department Advisor” with their name under it. You can also email the Centers for Learning to schedule an advising meeting and they will help you as well. The email is: advisement@uml.edu 
2. Choosing classes can be overwhelming. However, you know yourself well enough to know how many classes you can take with homework and any other commitments outside of academics. This is something you can control, but make sure you have time for yourself, too! 
3. If you need help choosing what classes, each major has academic requirements in order to graduate. It is divided up by semester for a four year plan and a credit amount for each semester. It is not required for you to follow exactly of what the paper says. Make sure you are taking each class that is necessary for you to graduate and check it off, so it’s one less thing you can worry about. 🙂
4. Always have several options for classes! If there’s a class that doesn’t fit in your schedule, you have a list of others you can use and fit in.
5. If you have other commitments outside of academics, factor them in with your schedule, too. It will help you stay organize and you can see what you’re working with.
6. Pay attention to deadlines!! With each amount of credits you complete, you are able to sign-up for classes at a given date. If you would like to know the date, on iSiS look on the Student Center page where it says “Enrollment Dates.”
7.  WHAT TIME IS IT?! This is a question you don’t want to ask yourself when leaving one class to go to another. When scheduling classes, always leave yourself a time gap in between to get to your classes on time, maybe print out a paper, grab a snack or get to class on time. I usually give myself a 15-30 minute gap with classes if its on the same campus. If its not on the same campus, give yourself an hour gap, you will be able to get to class early, get a few things and if there’s traffic, you have some time to yourself. Its whatever you prefer, but this has always worked for me.
8. Make time for eating, ALWAYS. Your health is important!

I’m hoping this was helpful! It’s a lot of information at once. If you have any questions at all with scheduling or classes in general, feel free to talk to us with social media or email!

I hope you all have a good weekend! 😀

-T

Hello friends, I hope you had an awesome weekend and took Veterans Day as a day to relax and decompress. A huge thank you to all veterans, they are the reasons we enjoy all of these amazing luxuries and freedoms.

As we approach Mid – November I am sure we are all starting to feel the end of the semester heat. Term papers are due, research projects are everywhere and you might be asking yourself : where is all of this information going to come from??

Wikipedia can only give me so much. 1: Wikipedia is not a reliable resource for serious academic work. 2: You have amazing online and offline resources at your disposal through the UML Library!

The online databases have thousands of  peer reviewed journals, articles and books that are available to you as a student here at UMass Lowell. Here is a step by step guide to getting to/using the databases:

Go to uml.edu and click on libraries

Click On Databases

Choose a search method

Use a keyword, title or author search to look up your information!

The library databases have amazing resources for what ever project you may have. If you need more assistance with how to use these databases to there full potential please visit this collection of tutorials and research guides pulled together by our wonderful libraries.

He is definitely not getting enough sleep.

Hello and happy hump-day friends! I hope all of your mid terms exams and projects went well.

When I arrived here at UML I was told by many an upperclassmen that there where three facets to college life: academics, social life and sleep. They would go on to say that you could only pick two of the facets and still function. There are only 5 weeks left until final exams, which means we will all be in a constant state of sleep deprivation until December 18th and that just isn’t healthy. In hindsight, my older friends where very wrong. succeeding in college is all about finding a balance and what is mentioned above is a perfect example of what an unbalanced lifestyle would look like. No one is here to sacrifice academics and one of the most important parts of college is to make friends and explore socially. Naturally the first facet to go is sleep, which actually is one of the most important things you need to do!

Sleep is important for so many reasons. It restores our energy, fights off illness and fatigue by strengthening our immune system, helps us think more clearly and creatively. It strengthens our memory, puts you in a good mood and allows you to perform at an elevated level throughout your day. Sleep is vital for us as to be able to function, not just inactive time that can be filled with other activities.

this student on the other hand seems relaxed and ready for finals!

If your feeling the mental stress from your coursework sleep is most definitely a helpful simple remedy. Lack of sleep has been connected to depression, anxiety and an overall unhealthy mental health situation.

Relationships can also suffer. When sleep deprived, students will:

•  have trouble enjoying activities that are typically fun 
• have difficulty listening to what their partner or friends have to say 
• become quickly irritated

All of these result in more conflict, stress and anxiety and will absolutely affect both your social life and your academics.

Overall you need balance. We cannot function without sleep, it is what powers all of our creative thoughts and activities and without it all other facets of our lives would suffer. Go get some sleep!

– Migs

Hello friends and Happy Halloween! I hope you all are having an amazing end to October (Where has the time gone?!). I you are all safe tonight, if you need any tips on that make sure you check out last weeks blog!

As you know it is almost time to pick classes for the upcoming spring semester. This is usually when everyone starts scrambling to take care of holds, pay their bills and have last minute meetings with advisers. The Solution Center is now fully functional and here to ease the your stress! It is a one stop shop for all of your university needs.  It integrates all of the services currently provided independently by the offices of the Registrar, Student Financial Services and Financial Aid. It is located on the first floor of the new University Crossing Building. Not only well it help with the services mentioned above, it will also provide information on jobs on campus and all the major functions of ISIS.

The Solution Center is here for you during the November rush, make sure you use it!

-Migs

Hey friends and happy Friday! It’s half way through the semester and now transitioning from sweater to coat weather. Sooner than you know it, it’ll be Thanksgiving weekend!I’ll back track a little bit… It’s t-minus 7 days until Halloween. Fun fact: Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.

For those who don’t celebrate Halloween, there are events happening on campus that are non-holiday related. There are events on campus for those who would like something to do on Halloween, too! UMass Lowell is an inclusive community for everyone attending the University. Here are some events listed below with a description about them!

These are more geared towards Halloween. If you’d like to pass by anytime, feel free to do so.

If you like to watch movies, a big marvel fan or would just like to do something Wednesday night, Guardians of the Galaxy is getting screened at Moloney Hall at University Crossing!  The movie is about a group of space criminals must work together the fanatical villain Ronan the Accuser from destroying the galaxy.

If you would like to watch the extended version of the trailer, click here!

On the bottom left, there is another event in Fox Common that’s host by Student Government Association. If you’d like to sing, watch people sing or get some food! It’s from 8-10 PM on Thursday, October 30th and food will be provided!

The ICC is the Inn and Conference Center in downtown Lowell. This residence hall is a hotel style set up with residence hall furniture. To get to On Thursday, the ICC is having a magician come and have a show from 7-8 PM. It is $5 for students and $10 for faculty and staff. For more information, please call the ICC at 978-934-6920.