...of Celebrating Halloween!

It is that time of year again, where everyone gets to ditch their normal lives and pretend to be something/someone for a night! However, the older we get, the "trickier" Halloween tends to get.  We are too old to go knock on our neighbors doors for candy, and frankly most of our neighbors are college students so they don't have the money to buy the good stuff!  And then we are at that point in our lives where at times homework has to take priority over our social lives, so who has the time to celebrate?  Especially when Halloween falls on a WEDNESDAY! <---Who decided this? Really??

As college students, we don't like anything getting in our way of partying! As an Honors student, my conscience gets the best of me when I decide to go out for a little fun.  Luckily, UNI has many activities that are enjoyable and don't take too much time away from my studies! Yes, I realize I might sound a little nerdy, but I actually had a great time at the Honor's Halloween Party this past Monday.

As I was deciding whether to go or not, a couple of things ran through my mind:

• I don't have the money to go out and buy a costume. So, what can I throw together from random stuff in my closet?
• I still want to look cute, but it is FREEZING out and I don't think fishnets will cut it. So, I came up with this:

• Who is going to show up on a Monday night?
• Will this be fun? It is the Honors Program.

Opposite of my thoughts, I had a blast! It was short and sweet, and a great impromptu plan to my normal Monday night routine.  Just because it was Honors, didn't mean I had to automatically think it was lame.  A lot of my friends put a lot of time into planning the event and they made sure that they were going to have fun there too.  Here are some pics of the night:

Fashion Show for Best Costumes :)

A group picture of the girls on my floor!

It turned out that everyone was looking for the same thing I was - a fun night out with the friends and nothing too extravagant!  I understand that when Halloween falls on a weekday, the partying starts the weekend before - so just a side note: party safe and remember that professors don't buy the "the zombie apocolypse came early and kept me from writing my paper" excuse. ~STAR Joslyn

...of a Level III Field Experience Participant!

Hi Folks,
My name is Vanessa and I want to tell all of you about my level III field experience in a 2nd grade classroom at West Bend-Mallard Elementary School!  If you are studying to become a teacher at UNI, you will go through 4 levels of field experience.  There is level I, II, III and IV (student teaching)!  I am a senior so I am nearing the end of my program!

The classroom I was in all week! :)

Anyways, I'll proceed with my blog!  I traveled to Mallard, Iowa to be with the 2nd grade class there.  The welcome sign going into Mallard says, "We're a bunch of friendly ducks," and let me tell you, it's true!  The family I stayed with and the entire school faculty were so kind and welcoming!  Everyday I was in the morning announcements highlighting that I and another UNI student were there for the week! The 2nd grade class was tons of fun and I enjoyed getting to know them.  There were 19 students and 18 of them were boys!  My knowledge of superheroes and Star Wars proved to be very helpful!  My cooperating teacher taught me so much and she sent me back with a TON of resources and ideas!  What I enjoyed the most about my experience was that I gained the confidence that I needed to student teach.  I am thankful that UNI has given me the opportunities to be in many classrooms and working with an ample amount of students, however, I still had never experienced what a full day and week look like in a classroom.  I have been able to apply almost everything that I have learned in my classes and relate it back to my experience.

As well as having a wonderful experience in the classroom, I was fortunate enough to stay with a lovely family for the week!  My host family took me to pick pumpkins out to take back with me.  We also went to the Grotto in West Bend, Iowa, to the playoff volleyball game (which West Bend-Mallard won) and to see their puppet ministry practice at their church!  The ceilings were rather low in the gym so when the volleyball hit the ceiling, it was still in play! I have never seen that happen before but the four matches were rather exciting!  It was the best experience I have ever had!  Now I can look forward to my student teaching semester that still seems so far away from now!
~Vanessa, STAR

I just LOVED this calendar activity!  One of the many things I took away from the week I was there! :D

...of a Panther Marching Band Member!

So last week was UNI's Homecoming! Woo! Homecoming means many exciting things like pep rallys and football games, which means an awesome halftime show from the Panther Marching Band!

I play the piccolo and this is my second year in PMB. I joined the marching band last year because it is a great way to meet new people, and I wanted to keep playing my instrument. I'm glad I did! It has been a great outlet for me to meet people and show my Panther Pride!

We have new uniforms this year, which is super exciting!!

PMB has 250 members, which is the largest band in UNI history! We practice 3 days a week and perform at every home game! We have had some great halftime shows so far, including 2012, Funk, and Superheroes! I'm very excited to debut our last show in a few weeks because it's going to be awesome!

Go Panthers!

~Diann, STAR

... of branching out

Kickball tournaments are one of the many things I like to do with my campus family :)

Coming to college can sometimes be a little bit scary, and leaving your friends and family back home is a pretty big deal. The most helpful college advice I have ever received was to make a home for yourself on your campus, and I still think that's why I am as happy in college as I am. A huge part of this is  building a "family" on campus. For me, my campus "family" is largely made up of my sisters in the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. It's really nice to have a place to go to, and a bunch of girls to talk to when you're having a bad day. ( These girls are the best!) :D

Something to remember, though, is to not limit yourself to one group of people to hang out with. When you come to college, you get the opportunity to meet HUNDREDS of new people. So why limit yourself to just the people in your residence hall, in your classes, or people you work with (even if they are fantastic)? There are so many clubs, groups, and organizations for you to get involved in and meet to people as a result of!

So branch out a little bit because each time you do, your "family" gets a little bit bigger. :)

Now go get 'em, Tiger!

-Melanie, STAR

...of a Student Hoping to Study Abroad!

Hello, all!

Although this country of ours is quite a fair land, there are often times when I dream of broadening my horizons beyond the United States. I am so excited to say that I am currently in the process of making this dream come true! With the help of UNI's Study Abroad Center, I will hopefully be spending my spring break in South Africa!

The Study Abroad Center at UNI sponsors over 1,000 programs to universities in more than 60 countries and regions. There are also a number of different formats and lengths of programs to choose from. Luckily for me, my choice was made easy by the fact that I have been obsessed with South Africa for a number of years now. Even though the trip itself will be fly by and be absolutely fabulous, the process necessary to get to that point will not be so simple.

There are a number of requirements a student must fulfill if he or she wishes to study abroad:

1. Apply online at uni.edu/studyabroad.
2. Pay the $65 application fee.
3. Attend an "Abroad 101" info session.
4. Apply for a passport (I still need to tackle this step...oops).
5. Complete the program-specific paperwork.
6. Submit all scholarship applications.
7. Complete a pre-departure orientation.
8. Purchase airfare.
9. Have the time of your life!

If I finally force myself to stop procrastinating and complete all of these steps, everyone can be on the lookout for an AMAZING post about South Africa coming March of 2013! Wish me luck, and consider taking advantage of UNI's Study Abroad opportunities yourself!

~ Jordan, STAR

...of SigEp/ADPi Pride Cry!

Hey guys, hope you're all having an awesome October!

This year my sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, teamed up with one of the fraternities on campus, Sigma Phi Epsilon, to compete in the Pride Cry competition. Since the theme of UNI's Homecoming this year is Throwback, we decided to use N*Sync's "Bye Bye Bye" as our song. We practiced really hard but had sooo much fun along the way! It was a great way to meet people and score a sweet t-shirt!

Monday was the big night of the competition! I was so nervous, especially because we were last out of the 10 teams competing! We all had so much energy and were super loud, which was awesome! When the time came for the judges to announce the 3 groups who will move on to finals, my heart was racing. Guess what?! Our group is headed to finals!!! We all erupted into cheers and all started jumping up and down and high fiving each other! All our hard work paid off. The finals will be tomorrow night in the McLeod Center with TONS of people there! So wish us luck! Whether we win or lose at finals, it was still an amazing and fun experience and I look forward to participating again next year!

Here are some photos from practice:

 Immitating the puppets from the "Bye Bye Bye" video...

Ashley and her partner Nick striking a sassy pose.

 Check out our awesome snapbacks!

My partner Aaron and me looking fly at the competiton!

Peace, love, and Panther pride!

-Emily, STAR

...of Door Decs!

Hello Future Panthers!

As of right now, most of you are living in rooms that you have had for most of your high school career, if not longer!  If you are anything like me, you probably still have the same decorations from when you moved in; except for the memorabilia collected throughout the years, such as photos, homecoming gear, and random birthday gags.

Take a moment and reflect how you came upon our blog right now:

• You need a break from homework, but you don't want your parents to know you are procrastinating.
• You are tired of the same old posts from your friends on Facebook.
• If you refresh your Twitter timeline any more, you might get sent to Twitter Jail.
• Tumblr - it is just too depressing at the moment.
• Pinterest - that will take up too much time and your homework will never get done.
• You just finished your DOR contract and you are excited about living in the dorms!
• You are looking for possible color schemes, furniture, etc.
• You need ideas, so who better to ask then current students!

I am here to tell you that you will get all that taken care of at graduation parties, trunk parties, and you can figure that out with your roommate another time.  One thing that may not come to mind is your DOOR DEC!  Now, you are wondering what that could possibly be... Well, it is the bulletin board on every dorm room door and more often than not, that is what conveys the inside of your room, personality, etc.  When people are walking down the hallways and your door isn't open, that is what they look at and wonder who lives there!  Don't get freaked out, it isn't a whole judgement issue or first impression! It is just another one of those unique things about dorm life ;)

Unfortunately, I am not a very creative person and my roommate last year did not really care about the door decoration.  So, I was left trusting the basic scrapbook paper as my main guide to creativity.  I don't want to show you what NOT to do because that is pointless.  Fortunately, my roommate this year is very into arts and crafts! I let her deal with the door decs and she is being an overachiever by redoing our door dec almost every month! You don't have to go that far into it, but if you'd like then go for it! Here are the two door decs I've had this semester:

The skyline is the Chicago Skyline since my roommate and I are both from the Chicagoland area (we've known each other since the 7th grade).  Yes, that is her parachuting from the sky - I was too lame to get a picture...

This is our current one for Halloween of course! Yes, that is her screaming in the haunted house - she is weird (I know...)

Helpful Tips:

• Include "In", "Out", or any other place you might be a lot to let people know if it is safe to knock or not.
• A lot of people redecorate to go along with the Holidays.
• Have fun with it!

~STAR Joslyn

...of Panther Pride Cry!

A Day in the Life...of a student attending Panther Pride Cry!
After 365 days of waiting, UNI's Homecoming Week 2012 has finally arrived!  Tonight's kick-off celebration was Panther Pride Cry!  What is Panther Pride Cry, you may ask?  You just sit back and relax and Ashley and I will tell you all about it!  Pride Cry is an event where different student groups/organizations on campus create a 3 minute long song/dance number that incorporates the UNI Fight Song, the homecoming theme and any UNI-related lingo they can think of!  This year's homecoming theme is "Throwback," so we are bustin' out the jams from the 80's, 90's and today.  Tonight, we heard Spice Girls, N'Sync, Queen, Sugarhill Gang, Vanilla Ice, and many more!

 Pride Cry is always held on the top of Maucker Union and you will always see many famous faces there, such as President Ben Allen and his wife, Pat, T.C., T.K., and the student body president.  The UNI Cheerleaders and the UNI Dance Team perform and the Panther Marching Band play some rockin' tunes as well.  It's a fun event to show your Panther Pride and kick off the week's festivities! Here are few recaps of tonight's event!

The Orchesis Dance Company threw back so far that they made themselves into elderly people!  It was HILARIOUS!  They obviously made it to the finals!

This is Sigma Phi Epsilon (fraternity) performing with Alpha Delta Pi (sorority)!  They moved onto the finals, which are on Friday at the Pep Rally!  Ashley and I have two co-workers that performed in this group!

The Black Male Leaders Union (BMLU) did a fantastic job and we loved their suspenders and bow tie's!

The Dance Marathon Exec Board, maybe even a few Morale Captains running around as well! 

The crowd showing their Panther Pride! Wahooo! "Hail our Panthers, we are ever loyal!!"

The Student Admissions Ambassadors (SAA) and Connecting Alumni to Students (CATS) performing a Queen melody!  We have co-workers in this group as well so we were a bit biased :P  They moved onto the final round as well!  YAY!!

Ashley and I had a BLAST cheering on our co-workers and our friends, can't wait for the other activities this week!  We may have lost our voice cheering, so we need to rest up before the big game on Saturday!  Have a great homecoming week!

~Ashley and Vanessa, STARS

...of Separated Sisters

I remember thinking when I first came to college that I would be really homesick. Surprisingly, I wasn't. My family visited me when they came to watch football games and I went home for a few weekends to watch my sister in a musical or one of her band competitions. Last year, I saw my family almost every weekend or at least every other weekend, which really helped my transition to college.

This year, I haven't visited home as much. And my sister has only been able to visit me once so far this year. I've really been missing her a lot! It has been almost 3 weeks since I've seen her in person. I know that doesn't really sound like a lot, but when you're used to seeing someone on a regular basis, it is.

When going to college, a lot of people think about how far away it is from home and worry about missing their family and friends. These were some of my concerns anyway. I've definitely taken advantage of my access to technology. :) Skype has become my best friend and I will drop everything if my sister calls me. I am so excited to see her next weekend for homecoming!

~Diann, STAR

...of Laundry day!

The day I've been putting off for weeks has come, when all of my clothes have sadly been thrown into the laundry basket and I have nothing else to wear. You guessed it, it's laundry day. 

Doing laundry in the dorms is a little bit different than doing it at home (mainly because your mom isn't there to do it for you!) but once you get the hang of it, it's really pretty easy.

A major difference from doing laundry at home is that in the dorms it isn't free, so you can either pay with the spare change you find in your futon, or use this:

All you have to do is slide your card, and your laundry is automatically charged to your UBill. (Personally I like this way a LOT better than searching for quarters around my dorm room!)

Once you slide your card, or put your quarters in the washers, it's pretty smooth sailing. Just follow a few basic rules and you should be just fine: 

• separate whites from darks (unless you want all pink socks) 
• use the right amount of detergent
• and don't try to shove too many clothes in the machines (believe me, not a good idea)

Oh, and don't be that kid who leaves their clothes in the machines to hang out way past the time that they're done...

no one likes that kid.

Don't be intimidated to do your laundry in the dorms because, let's face it, you do not have enough clothes to last you till Thanksgiving Break!

-Melanie, STAR

:)

...of a member of UNI's Fraternity and Sorority Life!

There are four sororities and four fraternities here at UNI, and each one of them hosts various events throughout the year in order to support their respective philanthropies. Today, the lovely ladies of Alpha Delta Pi held a "Pie an ADPi" event to raise funds for their philanthropy, Ronald McDonald House Charities.

By donating money, UNI students and faculty got the chance to throw shaving cream "pies" at the Alpha Delta Pi women. The larger the donation, the closer the thrower was allowed to get to their victim. Baked goods and Pinterest-inspired crafts were also sold, and a"best fraternity leg" contest was held. At right, an Alpha Delta Pi sister happily advertises outside of Maucker Union, wearing a lion costume to represent the sorority's mascot, Alphie.

~ Jordan, STAR