Hello!

Many students tend to second guess their major once they get a better idea of what it’s really like. It’s not always what it seems. While some may go from Architecture to History… Nursing to Political Justice… it’s all about making yourself happy and doing what you feel is best for you and your future.

I do not plan on changing my major. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do and I just love it. I also love to write and wouldn’t mind minoring in journalism. One day I want to write a children’s book. =]

Some often find it hard to tell their parents they want to change majors. Tips:

1.  Find facts about the major you are considering and break it down to them with details… Your reasons and how it will benefit you. (Tip from Anna J.)
2. Tell them things could be worse… maybe you aren’t failing any classes… you haven’t been partying… etc. [tell the truth]
3. Be sincere. If you take it seriously, act like it. Show your credibility.
4. BE BRAVE.

Here’s a picture that I took… it caught my interest as I walked by. I call it, “The Lord Stands Tall in Fall

Quote of the day:

 ”Just because the solutions of problems are not visible at any particular time does not mean that those problems will never be alleviated — or confined to tolerable dimensions. History has a way of changing the very terms in which problems operate and of leaving them, in the end, unsolved, to be sure, yet strangely deflated of their original meaning and importance.” -M. I. Abramowitz

Lori E. Allan

1st Year

Architecture

Well our semester is coming to an end soon and I wanted to explain how our university handles it.  With the coming of Thanksgiving break our students are given Thursday and Friday of next week off for the break.  So enjoy the short time you have with your family and have a great time.  When we get back it is going to be a running dash to the finish line.  The week we come back will be the final “normal” week of the semester where professors can still assign homework and other small assignments.  The second to last week of every week (the week before exams) is called Dead Week.  Dead Week here at UDM is a week period where professors are supposed to only give new data or lecture material for the course.  According to the University of Detroit Mercy’s policy of Dead Week they are not allowed to assign any new assignments or homework.  So this week should be treated as a gift and start studying for the upcoming exams.  The final week is obviously exams week.  Some exams are scheduled on the same day which can add to the stress.  From my experience here and a little knowledge of policies there is one more thing that can be helpful.  When you as a student have more than two exams (so three or more) on the same day you my request one professor to take your exam on another day it is being administered to reduce your exams that day to two.  Not all professors are able to do this so you must ask ahead of time and see if they are giving the exam on more than one day such as if the exam was given to another section of the class taught by the same professor. 

So that is a glimpse into how the final weeks are run around here.  If i sparked any questions please let me know.

Have the best of the rest this week!

R. Graham Greenland
Senior Student
Biochemistry Major

Hola!

We all have our own means of motivation that get us throuh the day. What would we do without them? The power we hold in the present to get where we want to go in the future is motivation on it’s own. While music may be the occasional pick-me-up for the day, our power at this day and time will always be more powerful than a 3 minute song.

So what motivates us? Perhaps the 4 page paper for philosophy? Maybe not… But hey, it contributes to where you’re trying to go in life and I’m assuming it’s up, not down. We are motivated by ambitions, goals… things that make us happy. =] I know that lunch time makes me happy. It’s the pick-me-up I need in the middle of the day. I don’t like breakfast nor dinner that much so I eat the most at lunch.

Whatever the case may be, we seem to get by on our motivations. They are very important to us in our lives.

Quote of the day:

“Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.”  -James Dean

 Lori E. Allan

1st Year

Architecture

Hello Readers!

Question: If you could sum up this past weekend in 2 words 3 WORDS, what would they be?

• Praise
• LeAnn

• Piano

Now, explain each…

• Praise: I went to a Praise and Worship night with my bible study group –> Detroit Campus Crusade for Christ on Friday. (Anyone is welcome to come Wednesday’s at 7:30 in Shiple Hall)

• LeAnn: My little sister came to Praise and Worship night and stayed in my dorm. We had fun!

• Piano: I printed off the sheet music to Fallen by Alicia Keys and me and my sister went into Quad Commons to play it on the piano.  I was attempting to teach myself. Then, I went to dinner and decided to grab my laptop and some pen and paper and go to the Martyrs Chapel in Shiple. [Yayyy Shiple!!!] So I look on Youtube for the instructions on how to play Fallen on the piano and I was there until about 2:30am. I’m pretty good. =]

Quote of the day:

“Life is like a piano… what you get out of it depends on how you play it.” -Unknown

Lori E. Allan

1st Year

Architecture

This weekend was absolutely packed for me.  It seams that many of my weekends were busy but this one has been non-stop.  Friday was busy right off the bat with the morning starting out with two quizzes.  First in Study of Fiction and then in Special Topics in Biochemistry.  The later was harder than usual but I think I did okay.  Then it went right on to scarfing down some lunch and then meeting for our Teaching Assistants meeting which is held at 1 pm every Friday (I am a TA for the Monday section of Organic Chemistry Lab).  Once that meeting was done I was able to sneak in a quick nap and then give tours for the admissions office at 3 PM.  That was a great tour and when I returned my family to the admissions office I was told that my 4 PM tour had cancelled.  That was a relief though because I was able to leave campus early and head over to my girlfriends house.  Her mom prepared an awesome home cooked meal.  Her family is really Italian so the meal was absolutely out of this world to be h0nest.  After having the chance to watch two movies with her I had to return to campus to get some sleep.  This morning my friends and I had to wake up around 7:30 AM in order to get to Belle Isle.  This morning was the annual fall Girl Scouts Merit Badge clinic.  Dr. Roberts-Kirchhoff (who is one of our Biochemistry professors here at UDM) is the individual who gets our university involved in the event each hear.  That event had finished at around 1 PM and 150 screaming girls later (they were so funny though at all the different activity tables).  Once I had gotten back to campus I turned around and went to the best Valvoline Quick Oil change facility in Oak Park (they really are awesome and make sure that your car leaves in tip-top shape).  They changed my oil and then I went right back to campus.  Once back I grabbed my stuff and drove home which is about a two and a half hour drive (from Detroit to Rockford).  Now that I am home I am going to enjoy being with family and forget everything I have to do for about twelve hours.  So to everyone have a great rest of the weekend and have “the best of the rest”. 

R. Graham Greenland
Biochemistry Major
Senior Student

The Weekend has Arrived.

 This past week was great. I believe the sun was shining each day this week. On Tuesday, I went to TMP Architecture with about 11 other architecture students. This is a good way to build contacts and networking and get a glimpse of what goes on in a firm. In third year, students have to do a co-op so it’s best to start looking ahead of time.

TMP is in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The story behind TMP for me is that I knew I wanted to be an architect since I was in the second grade. On the way to my grandma’s house is the TMP firm. Since I was young, I would just stare at it until I couldn’t see it anymore. I knew architecture is all I wanted to do. I told myself that one day, I would walk into that building. I told my mother that I was going there and she said, “They say ‘you pass your destiny everyday.’”

Along with that saying, I’ve realized that the piano has been heavy on my heart lately. It is an art I have always wanted to learn. I am in awe when I hear other people playing and I want to make others feel that way when I play. When I graduate, I will know how to play. I will hold myself to that. I pass a piano when I go to check my mail and I swear it is calling my name to play it. I pass my destiny everyday.

 Quote of the day:

“Out of our beliefs are born deeds; out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grows our character; and on our character we build our destiny.” -Henry Hancock

Lori E. Allan

1st Year

Architecture

Everyone is unique in the most basic sense of how we each react to situations regarding the gravity between college life and family life/duty.  It would be feign to say that each person would potentiate the same feelings when it comes to family and having to miss classes momentarily for family needs.  But I must say that I have learned a valuable lesson when it comes to how I react with family and college.  Tonight I was notified by my sister Mercedes (we call her Sadie) that our mother was admitted to the ER at Spectrum Hospital (previously Butterworth Hospital) in need of attention to her difficulty in breathing.  I found out after I had called my mothers cellular phone without any answer.  In five minutes passing I received a message from my sister that my mother was in the ER via her transportation.  I was in a state of shock since it was myself who had driven my mother to the hospital thrice previously during this past summer for different reasons.  It was difficult for myself to comprehend my mothers need of medical attention and I not being there.  I will say it was a question if i was going to take my keys and drive home as quick as I could and explain to my professors why I will have missed both quizzes in my classes.  Though my sister told me that it wasn’t a “serious” thing with my mother I don’t take any family member in the hospital lightly (as i am sure most would agree to an extent).  I was unable to gain repose and decide on what to do.  I will say that my message of this story is having very good friends there when you need support and advice.  This moment reminded me no matter how prepared or cognizant of my duties I was unable to make a decision without my best friend to tell me that things were going to be okay and wait for more information.  She gave me the peace I needed in this calamity so to remain calm and enabled me to wait amazingly with a sense of calm I wasn’t able to bring about myself.  So as a reaffirmed and once again learnt principle the friends we hold dear keep us from harm or reclusiveness and shed perspective and light to situations we are unable to.  I realize this wasn’t my most uplifting post, but I want it to serve as a reminder to keep your friends close and dear.  They may unknowingly be the very ones who will provide you with a sense of comfort and perceptivity while events have rendered you incapable and away from home and family.

As a side note I started this post around 10:00 PM after I had been notified about my mother.  It is now 12:30 AM and my sister has told me that my mother experienced an acute asthma attack (which has happened before but not recently).  She will be treated and released later this morning.  Longest fricken 2.5 hours of my LIFE and writing this blog was the only thing keeping my mind on something else so thanks for bearing with me.  Sleep will be a little hard after this one.

Hello All

I have witnessed - since I was young - people do many things that are both beneficial and harmful to their futures.

Beneficial

• Education
• Working
• Volunteering
• Helping peers
• Being optimistic about things

Harmful

• Drugs
• Alcohol
• Negative attitudes
• Sitting around
• Procrastinating

As we grow, we learn. We all make mistakes. I feel that we should be more cautious of our choices as well as actions. Young kids tend to focus more on fun than school. My younger brothers are so sucked into technology and less on school work… Especially on weekends.

While fun is always good once in a while, we must keep in mind that “too much of anything isn’t good.” In college, we don’t really have time for fun-fun. One must really stay focused on their school work. So as we go through life, it’s good to keep these things in mind:

• What will be the effect of this choice?
• What can I do today to achieve more than yesterday?
• Who are my decisions affecting?
• Where do I want to be in the near future and far future?

Food for thought.

Quote of the day:

This year our school has moved from our original system to the new banner system.  Though it has caused many problems I think the technology department has done a great job working with our school’s staff to get it working with few glitches.  Yesterday when I registered for my classes I couldn’t believe how fast it was.  On the original system you would log on and wait for your patch to get connected to the server on campus.  It took even longer to fight everyone else on-line to add classes to your registration list.  When you were fighting with at least a hundred students on-line for about twenty spots to be logged in at a time it would take forever waiting.  Now with the banner system I logged in yesterday in three seconds.  Pulled up my registration tab and started typing in the CRN numbers for all of my classes my advisor had printed for me.  I typed in the seven different numbers and hit the register button and was done.  My classes appeared on my winter 2010 schedule and said I was all set.  I sat in my chair wondering what to do with the rest of the 25 minutes of the half hour I had expected to use in registering for classes.  So long story short, if you are wondering what class registration is like on our campus it is now lightning fast.  Well, just as long as you have your CRN numbers at hand.  If you didn’t copy them down or have them printed out from your advising appointment you will have to search for them to type them in.  That was about the highlight of my week so far.  At this point I am just trying to catch up with my homework and prepare for exams coming soon.  Hope everyone has a great week and a “best of the rest”.  Thanks for dropping by and don’t forget to write anything you feel when reading our blogs.

R. Graham Greenland
Biochemistry Major
Senior Student

Hi!

It’s Monday again. Yay…  I have good news and bad news. Bad news first? Okay. I have a PowerPoint for architecture to do but Microsoft on my computer does not work anymore. Turns out, it was just a trial on my computer.. So I got 25 times to use it before it ran out and today was the day it ran out. Ugh. At the library, all the sports players are on the computers.

Good news!!! I have a very great roommate who is letting me use her computer. Awwah!!

More examples… When I remember a shirt that  haven’t worn in a while, I can’t find it. When it’s too cold to wear it… BOOM! There it is. The audacity. I feel like I have tons of things to do and not enough time. I can’t do anything without Microsoft… School revolves around it!!!

Anywho, I will stay strong and have no worries. I’ll be just fine.

Here is a photo I made:

Quote of the day:

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” -Confucius

Lori E. Allan

1st Year

Architecture