This is finally the last week of school here at UDM.  Most people are probably already done with finals or just finishing them up.  My last final is this Friday.  People are moving out of the dorms and getting ready for summer.  My friends and I have been studying endlessly this week, and we have watched some movies after our finals to reward ourselves.  It will be very gratifying for this week to be over.

Well, I have had a pretty awesome time here this year.  So many things happened and I cannot even begin to state them all.  Just take my advice that it has been awesome.  I’m still debating on whether I want to be an Engineer or a Physician Assistant, but I plan on deciding over the summer.  UDM gives me the opportunity to take classes for both because they offer both here.  So, this will be the last time until next year that I can blog about UDM.  I have really loved blogging about the events going on here, and I hope you all have too.  See you all next year!!!

Glenn Oppenlander II

Civil Engineering/Biology

Freshman (pretty much sophomore now)

And so the year comes to a close. This has been my best year at the University. The year went by really quick, but a lot has happened. I am going to list a few things from the year [funny, sad, amazing, and random] and share a few photos. Enjoy!

• I have enjoyed most of my classes. There is always a class that is a least favorite. I won’t say what class but I will say that Frito-Lay does not make a bag of Hot Cheetos big enough to get me through that class.
• I entered a poetry contest for the first time and won first place. [Dudley Randall]
• I learned how to use Adobe design programs and made some really cool things.
• I walked to UofD Coney Island a lot and had some great food.
• I ran out of Flex Money for the first time ever because of the new Subway!
• I wrote so many A papers in my writing class!
• I tripped up about 784365297510 stairs total.
• I helped someone new get acquainted with the school and DMS program.
• I worked 4 jobs first semester
• I didn’t go home as much this year.
• My brothers grew taller than me
• I celebrated a one-year relationship.
• I had an amazing year with my new MacBook Pro

• I ate tons of ice cream, made new friends, got good grades, and got older.

• My life as a college student at UDM was amazing this year!

Lori E. Allan

Digital Media Studies + Creative Writing

3rd Year

I cannot believe that this school year is almost over.  It is incredible how time has flown by.  I remember posting my first blog about feeling like a deer in the headlights for my first day on campus.  Now, I feel like I truly know the campus and all the great professors and students that go here.  It has been a pretty awesome year.  I met many new people and have made a lot of good friends.  The professors here made this year incredible for me.  I became a part of CRU, ESSC, and ASCE.  Me and some friends played intermural basketball in Calihan.  I went to a UDM Titans Men’s Basketball game where they won.  I watched the men’s basketball team win the Horizon League Championship, and watched them participate in the NCAA Tournament.  I also felt like I became emotionally attached to the University.  At the beginning of the year, I thought that I maybe made the wrong choice on choosing UDM.  But, I later realized that I truly enjoyed it and all of the great people here.  I have had a great time at UDM, and I cannot wait for what’s on the horizon for next year.

Glenn Oppenlander

Civil Engineering

Freshman

Well, most of you may know about it but Friday, April 13 is the inauguration day of President Antoine Garibaldi.  During PTV, for the incoming freshman here at UDM, I was allowed to go into his office and he talked to the group of us about coming here.  He seemed very pleasant, and it was cool being able to meet the President of the University.  Not many other students from other schools can probably say that.  So, here is an article from UDM’s website about the inauguration happening on Friday.

University of Detroit Mercy Inaugurates 25th President

– In a ceremony filled with tradition harkening back to the year of the University’s founding in 1877, Antoine M. Garibaldi, Ph.D. will be inaugurated as the 25th president of University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) on Friday, April 13 on the McNichols Campus. Delegates from more than 65 colleges and universities around the country, civic officials, business leaders, faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends will be on campus to mark the special occasion when he is formally installed as president. The event will be streamed live at: http://www.udmercy.edu/inauguration/video/index.htm.

An inauguration Mass celebrated by Archbishop Allen Vigneron will take place prior to the ceremony
at Gesu Church,
17180 Oak Street, Detroit at 10:30 a.m. Gesu Church is located across from the McNichols Campus. A luncheon on the McNichols Campus is scheduled at noon prior to the 1:45 p.m. installation ceremony

Unlike U.S. presidential inaugurations, which typically occur on the first day in office, college and universities often wait until the president has been in office for several months before holding their ceremonies — giving the new president time to become more familiar with the university and its many constituencies and to develop a vision for the institution.

The inauguration ceremony provides an opportunity to reflect on University of Detroit Mercy’s strong history and affirm UDM’s commitment to academic excellence and social justice in ourcommunity.

Glenn Oppenlander

Civil Engineering/ Biology?

Freshman

After 3 years at the University, I have gathered techniques on how to get through finals.

Stress levels are up, tons of work crammed into two weeks, what to do, what to do?

1) Have an agenda and a to-do list. Stick to it. Set deadlines for yourself.

2) Lunch dates. Have lunch with a friend or two. Someone who makes you laugh! Laughter is a great stress-reliever and you need to eat!

3) Carry snacks for when you take study breaks. Make sure you take breaks! Have you ever been so tired or hungry that you just can’t focus?

4) Go for a walk! Male sure you keep the blood flowing through your body!

5) Do something fun that doesn’t take up too much time. Sometimes I may watch a funny Youtube video, check my Facebook page, or do a little writing. Make sure you don’t get distracted.

6) Make someone else smile. Spread the joy!

Remember: A million things go right in a day.

Lori E. Allan

Digital Media Studies + Creative Writing

3rd Year

                UDM was founded on the basis of helping others.  The Jesuit Priests devote their lives to people.  The goal here at UDM is still the same.  This article has convinced me of it and makes me pretty proud to be a part of this faithful institution.

University of Detroit Mercy has been named to the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll (2012), the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement. The announcement was made at the American Council on Education’s 94th Annual Meeting Ahead of the Curve on March 12, 2012, in Los Angeles, CA.

Launched in 2006, the Honor Roll annually highlights the role colleges and universities play in solving community problems and placing more students on a lifelong path of civic engagement by recognizing institutions that achieve meaningful, measurable outcomes in the communities they serve.

“Honor Roll schools such as University of Detroit Mercy should be proud of their work to elevate the role of service-learning on their campuses,” said Eduardo Ochoa, the U.S. Department of Education’s assistant secretary for postsecondary education. Galvanizing their students to become involved in projects that address pressing concerns and enrich their academic experience has a lasting impact – both in the communities in which they work and on their own sense of\ purpose as citizens of the world. I hope we’ll see more and more colleges and universities following their lead.”

Ochoa will be congratulating the University personally as he will be the University’s keynote speaker at the McNichols Campus commencement on May 12, 2012 in Calihan Hall.

Volunteering is common practice at the institution and as part of UDM’s celebration of the inauguration of President Antoine M. Garibaldi, UDM employees and students have been invited to participate in additional community engagement activities on April 7-15 at various not-for profit agencies in metro Detroit.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Easter.  He is Risen.

Glenn Oppenlander II

Civil Engineering/ Biology ?

Freshman

                Have you ever walked around or were you in the middle of something when you noticed someone looking at you and you realized that you knew that person.  This has happened to me twice at UDM.  The first time was at the beginning of the year, and I ran into my good friend Ashley who I have known since 1^st grade.  She told me that she was a student here and I couldn’t believe it.  We’ve like gone to the same school for 13 years!  It was pretty crazy seeing her.  I thought it was someone that looked a lot like her then she said my name, and I knew it was Ashley.  We see each other around campus from time to time, and we sometimes go to lunch.  But, I thought it was pretty cool.

            So it happened again today.  I was in the Chemistry lab putting some sodium hydroxide into my beaker and I noticed my high school classmate, Dawson, looking at me from across the room.  I was trying to figure out if it was him, then he waved and I realized that it was.  I talked to him for a bit, and he told me that he was going here next year for the 7 year dental program.  I told him that I might switch my major to Biology, so there would be a good chance that we could have a class together.  It was pretty cool talking to him because I had not seen him since I was in high school.  This sort of thing has not happened to me often, but it has twice here at UDM.  I guess it’s just that good of a school and everyone wants to go here.

Glenn Oppenlander

Civil Engineering/Biology ?

Freshman

I would like to share some good news:

In my design studio, we were asked to pick a social issue that we care about and to design a poster based on that—something that encourages change. I chose father absence. I was raised in a single-parent home so this is something personal as well as something that I see around me here in Detroit.

What I enjoy about this course in the Digital Media Studies program and in many other classes is that I get to explore things that I care about. I began researching facts and statistics dealing with father absence and even contacted the president of the National Fatherhood Initiative, Roland Warren, and got some feedback. I was deep in the issue and began to look at my life and myself and wonder how things may have been different if my father was in my life.

Over the summer, I taught kindergarten and first grade and took so much delight in the kids and wondered how anyone could not want to be a part of that and to help them blossom into young men and women. One student asked me something I will never forget: “Ms. Lori, am I going to college?”

Children have hopes and dreams and they look for someone to encourage them.

In my poetry class, we were asked to write about an issue we care about. What a coincidence! I wrote about father absence. After peer feedback and revising, I came to a “complete” poem (no poem is actually really finished, I believe). About a month later, my professor, Dr. Crabtree encouraged me to enter it into the Dudley Randall poetry competition here at the University. I won first place! I have joked that not having a father in the home apparently has its perks, but the truth is… it is a huge problem. 72% of African-American children are raised in single-parent homes. It leaves me wondering if there is a difference between who I am and who I could have been. I expressed that in the poem.

If you would like to see the poem, shoot me an e-mail. Allanle@udmercy.edu

Lori E. Allan

3^rd Year

Digital Media Studies + Creative Writing

This has been a pretty stressful week for me.  Maybe some of you students out there feel the same.  I am thinking about switching majors from Civil Engineering to Biology.  Yes, I know, it’s a pretty significant change.  So, I registered for some Biology classes at Henry Ford Community College for the summer.  I also registered for Chemistry, here at UDM, for the summer.  Then today, I registered for classes for the fall.  This has been a pretty crazy time in my life.  I am still thinking about Civil Engineering as well as Biology and the Physician Assistant program offered here.

The one thing that has made this week better however, are the professors here at UDM.  I was able to walk in and talk with Dr. Grabowski about Biology classes for the Fall.  He was extremely encouraging, and convinced me to try out the Biology path and see how it goes.  I also talked with Dr. Andrzejak about it.  She is one of my professors for Natural Science, and she has helped me immensely in deciding what to do.  If it wasn’t for them I do not know what I would do.  They have been extremely helpful, and I am very thankful for their guidance.    UDM has been so great to me in so many different ways.  They have both programs that I am interested in, and the professors truly care about you and your desire to learn.  I have never felt so welcomed in all my life.  I truly felt like I was the only student that these professors dealt with.  It seemed that their ultimate goal was to help me with my situation.  I cannot say it enough, but I am truly grateful for the encouragement and instruction that Dr. Grabowski and Dr. Andrzejak have given me.  For any students contemplating on going here, you will not find more caring advisors and professors than the ones here at UDM.

Glenn Oppenlander

Civil Engineering/ Biology??

Freshman

The weather outside this week has been pretty awesome.  It has been in the high 60’s, and I cannot get enough of it.  I actually just got done throwing a Frisbee around with some friends on campus.  I’m definitely looking forward to more of this kind of weather.

Well, this Friday is going to be pretty intense.  Your Detroit Titans will be playing the Kansas Jayhawks in the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.  I have confidence in my team, and I know that it would be difficult to pull out a victory but the Jayhawks better not take the Titans lightly.  The Titans were not very good at the beginning of the season, and look at them now.  Champions of the Horizon League and participants in the NCAA tournament.   If the Detroit Titans can pull out a win, it would be one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.  I have faith in the Titans, and I believe that if any team can do this, it’s them.

It’s so awesome that I could see the Horizon League Championship on ESPN.  The Detroit Titans were on national television, and they sure did make the most of it.  During the regular season, Detroit lost to Valparaiso twice blowing big leads in the game.  But, in the Championship game it was a very different story.  The Titans were down by a few points going into half time, and you know that Coach McCallum had something to tell them in the locker room.  They came out in the second half as a whole different team.  Their defense was dominant, and they made every shot they threw up.  Watching that game made me proud to be a Titan.  So, if any of you athletes out there want to play for a real contender, Detroit Mercy is the place to be.  I hope the Titans can pull out an upset of a lifetime, and I think they have it in them.  Go Titans!!!

Glenn Oppenlander

Civil Engineering

Freshman