High School Senior: Determination

DETERMINATION 

Alex Swider, St. Augustine High School, San Diego CA. College Choice = Undecided

The biggest fears: Finding friends and failure

The excitements: College life and individuality

I explained..college life can be intimidating and scary because mom and dad are no longer there to help a new first year coup with being on his or her own. The world can be a scary place, but that scary image can be changed when a first year looks at his goals and strides to achieve them over his time in college. Every first year is excited about the parties and the personal freedom of individuality, but the fears are what have bigger weight on this first years shoulders. It is up to this first year to stay determined and push through even the worst of times. Failure is the worst fear for first years. They want to make a good impact on their GPA right from the start, but the fear of failing can bring this first year down. Determination can help this first year study harder and more efficiently. Secondly, first years can become depressed and feel alone when they have trouble finding a group of people to hang with. Again it's determination that can help because there will always be others who like the same things. All the tasks a first year takes on is going to be difficult for them and that is why they must push forward and finish. The ideal of determination is an amazing quality that can help anyone succeed.

A good example is from the Greek mythology of Sisyphus. This man was cast to his own personal hell, just like a first year suffering from their first mid-term, where he must roll a massive boulder up a mountain and if he can get it to the top he will be set free from his hell. The catch is that whenever he gets close to finishing the boulder becomes extremely heavy to a point where he cannot hold it in place any longer and it rolls all the way down the mountain. Sisyphus must walk down the mountain and continue to try and achieve his goal of freedom. He could give up at any time. He could quit and not have to roll the boulder and just live with his consequence of being in hell, but he does not. Sisyphus shows extreme determination to finish and tries over and over to get this boulder to the summit. He knows there might be no chance for him to succeed he still pushes on because he believes and he is determined.

Sisyphus might not be the stereotype leader, but he plays a good example of a leader and how one should work for what was they believe and want. Just as a first year must keep a steady look on his studies and social life. A leader can never give up, because if his followers, the people who look up to him, see him quit, then they are bound to quit just like him. Leaders are role models; therefore determination is a necessity.

This is another example of determination that helps keep people like soon to be first years who have to face these fears pushing forward. The ideal quality of a successful person. Let this video show anyone and especially first years that college does come with it's difficulties and it is up to us to push through and succeed.

True, Real, Determination...

First-Year Wisdom

Though some of us may deny it now that we are “at the top of the food chain,” at some point in our college lives, we were all First-Years.  Transitioning from being the big, bad Senior in high school to “First-Year” is awkward enough, but the new experiences of college life may make this an even more difficult conversion.  However, of course, we have a solution for that: New Student Orientation (cue the angelic chorus.)  As Orientation Leaders, we serve as the bridge between the students we serve as well as the Rutgers community.  But what do those First-Years really think about Orientation?  Does it help?  I interviewed my friend and neighbor, Jess, to find out!

Each of us comes from different areas of New Jersey, the country, or even the world, and where we come from often influences our perspective on Rutgers. However, sometimes this includes negative influences and predispositions.  Jess is a First-Year from Pittsburgh, PA, and from an outsider’s perspective, she had always heard about how Rutgers was everything she was looking for in a college: big school, spirit, great academics, college town feel, and it was also close to two major cities: Philly and NYC.  All of us have heard horror stories of Rutgers, and even Jess knew how people sometimes look down on Rutgers and take the university for granted, but when she told people from her hometown she was going there, it was a big deal. 

Jess attended Orientation mid-summer, under the care of Jess L., one of last year’s OLs.  She believes that one of the best things about Orientation included meeting tons of people—she even met her current roommate and best friend at Rutgers (awwwww.)  The things that seemed to be frustrating included countless ice breakers and the “miserable” Livingston Towers.  She, “[didn’t] mind getting to know people, of course, it’s just that [she wishes they] could have done other activities to get to know one another…Such as mingling with other groups.”  Although NSO cannot do much about the overnight accommodations for the First-Years, we can try our best to put forth a positive attitude and not only ignore the heat but also be as accommodating as possible.    

 
I next asked Jess to take a retrospective approach towards her past year and Orientation.  She mentioned that her first weeks with the bus system were a little shaky, so she wishes that they had a chance to get more accustomed to using buses during Orientation.  Also, because there are, five different campuses she, “[wishes they] were given the opportunity to explore the other campuses more.”  I definitely agree with this viewpoint.  Whether it is a simple bus tour of the other four campuses after the actual one campus walking tour, I believe that it would be very beneficial.  Jess agreed and said she thinks students would feel much more comfortable the first week of classes if they had a rough view of what the campuses were like. 

Now that she has completed one semester here, Jess has definitely learned some important concepts that I think we, as Orientation Leaders, should definitely bring up at sessions this summer.  One idea to focus on is time management.  In high school, students essentially do the same thing everyday: wake-up, school, after school activities, homework, bed, and repeat.  Now, in college, it’s a totally different playing field.  Jess felt as if she struggled with time management and organization skills so that by finals, she was very stressed out.  Of course, she learned from her mistakes, but maybe at Orientation, one of the seminars on Day Two could be about De-Stressing or about the different resources available for students during the regular school year as well as finals time such as tutoring, Learning Centers, Career Services, libraries, CAPS, and so much more!  When I asked her for a bit of advice for future First-Years, she said, “It’s never too early to get involved.  You’ll meet much more people that way, and feel more at home at such a big school.”  This is definitely something we should encourage all First-Years to do—even I can testify to wishing I got more involved before this year.  Each of us is involved in something, so spread the word to your students.  Or, if one of your students is interested in an activity, there might be an OL who already participates in that group or club so definitely refer the student to them!

All in all, Jess believed Orientation to be an important experience for First-Year students.  It helped her become more accustomed to the university—especially because she is an Out-of-State Student.  If we take these positive notes and constructive criticisms and make changes, we can further enhance our program and help out even more students.

Rutgers Career Services

Field Experience Observation and Participation



Richard L. White, director of Career
Services at Rutgers University. (rutgers.edu)



Richard L. White, director of Career Services at the University, and I have a professional relationship. He critiqued my resume, gave advice about cover letters and observed my spring 2011 internship program.  His office, located on College Avenue, aims to help undergraduate and graduate students improve their stock before entering the workforce.  White's message, especially to first-year students, was first to find something interesting to do on-campus.  Become involved, work as part of something valuable and ultimately earn a leadership position. 

Career Services: The Best Resource on Campus 

(Even for First Years!)

Rutgers University can be an overwhelming place for first years because there is so just so much that this university has to offer, that you do not know where to start. Well if you are having any time deciding, let me strongly encourage starting at career services.

“Now wait a minute, career services? For a freshman? I don’t even know what I want my major to be? Plus, I just want to do well in my classes for the first semester, maybe I’ll check it out next year.” This is a common attitude for many first years and I agree that any first year’s main priority should be grades. However, career services is such a valuable resource that should be taken advantage of one by everyone. No, it’s not always “fun” but when you graduate college with two internships under your belt and a job waiting for you, you will be happy that you stopped in the office or checked out an event.

Story Time

Personally, career services has already impacted my life in a very big way in only my second semester:

"Within the first few weeks of being at Rutgers, I was given the incentive to attend a mock career fair and an actual career fair in exchange for some extra credit points in my business forum class. Although I initially only went for the extra points, I can say now that it was one of the smartest decisions I made as a first year."

Important Message: If you take anything away from this blog post it is this:  “IT IS NEVER TOO EARLY TO START THINKING ABOUT YOUR CAREER”.  Even if you are undecided about a major, career services is still a valuable resource.

"When I went to the mock career fair, I only planned on staying for a half hour maximum and then going back home. However, my plans changed immediately when I saw all of the valuable resources they had to offer and I ended up staying for nearly two and a half hours and in the process, I learned a lot of crucial skills including resume writing, interviewing skills and how to conduct myself professionally in a business setting. Then a few days later, at the actual career fair, I was able to explore multiple different career options, discover companies to potentially intern/work for and establish connections with recruiters. In fact, at the third company I approached that day (Johnson & Johnson), I was asked to keep a running email dialogue with one of the recruiters (even though I had no experience, the recruiter just liked my enthusiasm as a freshman) and to this day, we still talk and are currently discussing possible internships and co-ops for me next fall or next spring. However, most importantly, it gave me confidence that Rutgers was giving me the proper resources that I needed so I can be successful in life once I graduate."

Another Important Message: Just because you are a freshman, do not think going to a career fair is a waste of time. Recruiters like the fact you are enthusiastic and are eager to start thinking about your career and your efforts will be rewarded. 

Treat Yourself like an Athlete in Training...Trust Me, It'll Make Sense in a Second

For a second, pretend you are an athlete and getting a job is like making it to the pros and college is the intense training that you’re going through so you can be ready for the big leagues. Although college (and intense training) will prepare you for the pros, you need to take additional steps to ensure your success. In addition to training, make sure you stretch before your workout, have the proper footwear, find a way of staying hydrated, maintaining a healthy diet and taking the necessary steps to recover after the workout is complete. You could get make the pros without doing these things, but by taking care of yourself and going the extra mile, you set yourself up for a much better chance of getting the most out of training and making it.

By going to career services, you are taking the extra, necessary steps and going the extra mile. By not attending any career services events or visiting the office, you can potentially get a job after graduating but why take the risk? Give yourself the best chance to get a job and by starting freshman year, you will have the edge (over those who waited longer to visit career services and those who never went at all) you need to be successful. So maintain a healthy diet and do your stretches so you can make it to the big leagues after four short years. But you got to start now!

Welcome Bash and PEEC Retreat!

Hi Everyone!!

Hope your Thanksgiving break was great and that your week back is going well! We have finalized the date for the New Student Orientation Welcome Bash for Friday, December 9th from 4pm-6pm. It will be held in the back half the the BCC's Multipurpose Room. Please enter the MPR through the doors closest to the food court and exit doors of the building.

We hope to see you there to eat and have some fun! The get-together will be a nice way for everyone to get to meet each other before the retreat on January 20th-22nd.

Also the retreat will be held at PEEC in the Poconos! Here is the link of the site if you would like to take a look at it: http://www.peec.org/.

While at retreat, you may want to bring a few things with you such as a sleeping bag or twin sheets, a pillow, shower flip flops, and anything else that you think you might need while away for the weekend.

As new staff members we know that you all are anxious and excited to be part of the NSO program and probably have some questions that you want to ask. We are fortunate this year that we have fourteen returner staff members who will have the opportunity to answer those questions during our retreat. So we ask that everyone comes to the Welcome Bash with a question that they would like to have answered at PEEC!

Have a nice week!!