It's Friday !!

Heyy everyone!!
Another week has gone by way too fast!! The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS and the snow is starting to melt. YAY!!!
As a communications major, I am takingly a Radio Practicum. One of the requirements of the course is that I must spend at 3 hours a week in the radio studio. How awesome is that!! As a student ambassador, I give weekly tours and I always mention (multiple times!!) how much I LOVE the fact that I get hands on experience even though I'm only a freshman!! I have currently been DJing, playing songs, promotions, breakers, etc. Next week I get to talk on air!! I'm so excited, but I'm also kind of nervous!!
Softball practices this week were INTENSE! We got a new conditioning routine, and boy did my body hurt!! But it'll be well worth it in the end when we win regionals and go on to nationals :-) One thing I love about playing softball at Dean is that the team is kind of like family. We practice together, eat together, study together and support each other. Last night AAA Awards were handed out to athletes that maintained a 3.2 GPA or above. One of our captains recieved an award and the team was there to cheer her on!!! I, however, missed it because I was tutoring a student. :-( But now it's the weekend, and a long one too!! YAY!!

Happy Valentine's Day ! ♥

Catch ya later!!

Know Your Limit

I have realized that it is important to know when to say no, when enough is enough, and when you have hit your limit. During college there are many temptations and distractions; despite the obvious more consequential ones, there are many others that can creep up on you.
-Time Management
It is so important to manage your homework, studying, activities, and job in a timely manner.
-Friends
Living in a college environment creates situations that are easily avoided while living at home. It's not everyday that your best friend shares a room with you or your group of friends live on the same floor as you.
-Clubs/Activities
At any college, getting involved is a stressed concept. Students that are involved on their campus have more connections which usually results in a higher success rate for their academic, as well as social life. Getting involved, however, should not overshadow or take precedence over school work.
It is important for a college student to learn when to say no when their friends ask them to hang out, when their workload has become too much to handle and they may need extra help, and when they have gotten to a point where they feel as though they cannot move forward in their studies, as well as their activities.
At Dean, our academic support services range from peer tutoring to organizational help. When things seem overwhelming they are a great tool to aide in keeping stress levels low and success rates high. Overall, it is the student's responsibility to ask for help and know themselves enough to be aware of how much they can take on and when they have hit their limit.

New Blogger :]

Hey! My name is Joelle Carscadden, a freshman here at Dean College. I am a Student Ambassador at Dean and it is my job to make sure prospective students and parents know what life is like here at Dean from a student who knows it the best. I major in Musical Theater and currently am taking 7 classes: Movement Improvisation, Jazz II, Tap II, English, Ballet I, History, and Musical Theater Education. I have participated in every theater event here at Dean, whether on stage or helping out behind the scenes. Dean gives great opportunities to freshman that in other schools students would have to wait until they are juniors or possibly seniors to experience. As a freshman I have been able to be on stage in four musicals (two of which are part of a class) and a play, and I am even getting the chance to be a lead in the upcoming spring musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Besides being able to get to perform on stage there are many other things that I love about Dean. The staff at Dean is very accessible and whenever I need some extra help the professors are always willing to me out. Also the living here at Dean is very nice, the majority of the dorms here have large rooms with very comfortable living spaces compared to other schools that I saw while doing my college tours. There are many ways to become involved at Dean and meet new people and there are no shortages of fun activities to do with your friends.

Sundae Sunday

I don't have a lot to write about this week, due to being sick and it only being Tuesday so I thought I would take the time to talk about the little things at Dean College that I love...
-Jazzman's iced coffee (one of our cafes located in the Library Learning Commons)
-late night talks with my roomies
-Tues./Thurs. "Fire and Ice" night in the dining center
-RDs (resident directors) stopping by to hang out
-driving across campus to class that would normally be a 5 minute walk (only sometimes)
-getting care packages from family, friends, and the like
-free beta fish (mine is named "Skrappy")
-awesome events on campus (sponsored by SAC-Student Activities Committee)...can't wait for mechanical bullriding next weekend
-watching Family Guy marathons
-rehearsals where nothing gets done because everyone is so overtired
-Sundae Sunday in the dining center (I usually take my ice cream and toppings home separately then eat them later-it's like a fun surprise when I'm doing my homework/studying)

Like everyone else, I seem to finally be settling back into the Dean life. I have always been really close to my mom and the rest of my family so it's hard for me to be away from home too often. Lately I have been trying to keep myself busy which has not been hard at all. My classes are all a bit time demanding, although it pays off when I get my quiz grades returned with a big "A" on them. YESS!! Other than my school work I've been getting out and doing stuff with friends. I try to get off campus and go out to eat every once and a while. (Usually at Rick's diner located just around the corner from Dean. Cheap, good food, what more could a college student ask for?) I've also been looking at professional comtemporary dance performances around the area that I can go to see. As a requirement for my modern class we have to write a paper on a modern/contemporary performance. Get graded on going to see a show!? Love it! This past Friday I went to see the Showcase put on by my fellow dancers. It was so much fun getting to see the different dances, and my friends perform in the show. There was a really good turn out too! I didn't expect to see so many people there to support the dancers here at Dean. The small campus deffinatly helps create a bond between all the students who go here. It deffinatly gives this place a home-ish vibe!

Stepping Outside of My Major

Hi everyone,
This past week was an interesting one here on the Dean College Campus. The semester seems to be in full swing now and all of the classes are buzzing ready for the long President's Day weekend that is coming up in a few days. Although I am a Liberal Studies Major concentrating in political science and international relations I tried out for a play that will be showing here on campus, and to my surprise I got a part. The play is "As You Like It" which is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare. The director is staging the play in the beatnik-era America, in a big city setting. I am really excited about the play, which will be showing at the end of this month, February 26-March 1, at the Center for Performing Arts right here on the Dean College campus. This right here is one of the most interesting parts about life at Dean. Although I am not a theatre major, I still made a role in a play competing against theatre connoisseurs.
Good luck during the long weekend, and have fun over Valentine's Day.

My Childhood Flashbacks

To follow up my last post, the show went great and we were sold out. From what I could tell and the feedback I personally got, was that everyone did a great job and the show was a success. Hooray for that!
This Saturday, February 7th, our Resident Life Department sponsored an event named, "Playground Games". I was planning on attending and watching everything go down, however, as soon as I showed up I found myself part of a very competitive game of kickball. I don't even know how it happened but I was nine years old again during recess, begging for people to not kick the ball in my direction. I am a reasonably confident person when it comes to intellectual, problem-solving, analyzing situations; when it comes to competitive sports, noone would want me on their team. Despite my reservations and anxiety, we ended up not keeping score and I was able to pitch (allowing me less contact with the ball during those quick-thinking plays...phew!).
After, there was a short game of "knock-out", a game I consider way too stressful, followed by an intense game of "four square" that I played for a good hour. At this point I had been there since 8:15pm and it was pushing 11:00pm so I decided to not stay for the dodgeball game that was coming up next. All I wanted was some Dunkaroos and a double popsicle. I have to also point out, my roommates and I prepared for this event by coloring Disney pictures and such earlier that day (we got in the childhood zone).
I did, however, come to the realization that it does not take much to connect to your childhood roots. It is important not to take things too seriously, that a little competition never hurt anyone, and that deep down we all possess a small piece of ourselves from a simpler, happier time when life didn't have to make sense. Anyone there could see the transformation from college age to playground age and everyone that attended had a great time.