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 

Alright, so I know this summer (for most of you anyway) is going to involve going back to your hometown. HOWEVER, if you’re in the Lowell area at all, I highly recommend hitting up the Lowell Summer Music Series. Throughout the course of the summer, Lowell has different artists perform at Boarding House Park on French Street. You can buy tickets online at lowellsummermusic.org!

                                       

Hi folks!

Sorry we’ve been M.I.A. on here for a bit. But we’re back! We’ve been working on another newsletter, the last one of the year actually. Can you believe how time flew? You’re first year is less than two weeks away from being over. Insane.

So in lieu of finals being next week, I thought it would be beneficial to show you guys how you can improve your brain function with a little physical activity. I know time is of the essence and finals mean you’re time is already dedicated to studying, but you have to make some room for things other than books! And no, I don’t mean make room for video games and naps…okay naps are pretty awesome so scratch that.. Anyway, what I’m trying to get at is the importance of exercise. Yes, you probably should have been exercising throughout the semester, but now is the time to really push yourself to get out when you get stressed. Even if it’s just for a walk, getting your heart rate up has actually been proven to relieve stress and boost grades.


Last year, Purdue University did an experiment on this theory. Their students also have I.D. numbers just like we do. This allowed them to track each time a student went to their on-campus gym. From that, they could compare GPA’s from students that regularly went to the gym and students that rarely or did not attend at all. And they did, in fact, find that students who regularly attended the gym did have a higher average GPA than other students. You can read more about their findings by clicking here!

It’s just some food for thought. And speaking of food, a healthy diet benefits both your grades and your exercise routine. So skip the fries for a change and eat a piece of fruit, got it? Good.

Best of luck on your finals! 🙂 
-Rach 

Hello friends!

A very good friend of mine is the president of an on-campus club called SASA (South Asian Student Association). She has organized her very first event that is next Friday, April 18th. It is the Holi Festival of Colors and it is open to everyone! Along with learning a bit about SASA and their purpose here at UML, you get to have an immense amount of fun as well! Here’s the deal, you wear white = you get color thrown at you. It’s that simple. Check out the picture below for more information!

-Rach

Hi there 🙂

So since today is the Redsox home opener, I thought I would make a blog about good ol’ Beantown. This city man, NOTHING can bring it down.

As we all know, the next Boston Marathon is fast approaching. It’s important to take a moment and remember what our city went through last April. The 2013 Boston Marathon bombings shocked the nation, even other parts of the world were in awe. It’s an international event, a time when people from all over the world can come together to do one simple thing, run. Everyone has a different story as to why they do it, but what matters most is that it brings people together. It’s safe to say this incident brought Boston together more than ever.

I live ten minutes north of Boston in a little town called Saugus. I can see the incredible skyline from my back porch. In high school, my friends and I would always take trips to Boston to walk down Boylston Street, window shop, etc. We always used to stop at this little candy store called Sugar Heaven. It’s a hole-in-the-wall candy store with just about every candy a little kid could ask for. They even have a downstairs section, filled with more candy of course. My point to this little personal insight? I met someone here at UML this past summer. Got to know her pretty well, and soon learned about her love for Boston. The city, the sports teams, everything. We went to Boston one day last fall, and she told me she wanted to visit the bombing site. She was at the marathon, luckily far enough away from the devastation that she wasn’t injured at all. But as soon as we came up on one of the sites (what then was just a giant construction area), I saw it. Sugar Heaven was literally right next to one of the bombing sites. Now I’m not very good with directions and addresses when it comes to the big city, so the shock literally almost brought me to tears. I had no idea a place I used to go to so many times was right next to where tragedy struck. I never put two and two together. A really bad feeling came over me that day. I was mad that it happened even though months had already passed. I didn’t know anyone involved, but it still hurt to know it all happened in a city that has brought so much life to where I grew up.

This April, the city of Boston will come back with avengance. The next Boston Marathon will happen, and the city will be stronger than ever. If you’re from the Boston area, you obviously know what I’m talking about. We are people you do not want to mess with, especially when it comes to big events in Beantown. I know this is Lowell, and you might be thinking “but we’re not even near Boston..”. It does not matter where you are from, the bombings affected everyone in some way. If you’re not a Boston native, I suggest you go check it out. The city has so much to offer! It only takes a day of being in Boston to realize just what a tight-knit city it is. There’s a place for everyone. My place (other than Sugar Heaven) happens to be the North End. My grandparents grew up there, and hands down, there is NO better place to get pizza and cannolis. So my little blog moral for today is to go to Boston. I don’t care when you go, or what you do when you get there. Just go. It’s an experience nonetheless. And remember to show your support at this year’s Boston Marathon.

Have a great weekend everyone. You deserve it.
-Rach

So after an extensive talk in the office about Beyonce, I felt the need to make a blog about her. Because, you know, Beyonce deserves her own blog post.

Some fun facts pertaining to the amount of cash this woman has:

• Her emerald earrings at Obama’s January 2013 inauguration cost $1.8 million
• Jay-Z and Beyonce spent a whopping $600K on Blue Ivy’s gold-dipped rocking horse
• Here are some of her monthly fees:

Tribeca NYC apt- $30,000 a month

Publicist Yvette-$10,000 a month

Bodyguard Julius-$8,000 a month (more overseas)

Makeup Artist oncall $2500 a month

Live in Chef $ 7500 a month

Live in maid $ 4000 a month

Personal Accountant 4000 month

Dereon Accountant 3000 a month

Manager (matthew) $!!!100,000 a month!!!

Personal asst Angela $5000 a month

Personal Trainer: $7000 a month

Dietician: Max $4000/month upon diet change

Car detailing and driver: $7000 a month

Pocket cash on hand about $50,000 a month

Here are some random fun facts that make me feel a little less hopeless: 

• Her full name is Beyonce Giselle Carter-Knowles
• She has a sister named Solange who is also a singer/songwriter
• She married Jay-Z on April 4th, 2008 and had Blue Ivy on January 7th of 2012
• She is allergic to perfume
• She has a weird obsession to curry
• A a child, she used to charge her parents’ houseguests $5 to watch her perform

Just like the rest of us though, Beyonce has had her moments..

That is the end of my Queen B spiel. Hope you enjoyed it!

-Rach 😀