Exams are done! Freedom abounds and I am back home tucked safe and sound in my country home of youth! Time to unwind and relax; get someone to rub the stress cramps out of my shoulders and catch up on all the reading material I missed in the past year.

This summer I resolve to do the following:

1. Train for Fencing in the fall
2. Do well at my summer co-op
3. Write some 10k+ cumulative words for recreational stories
4. Be an awesome sister

Lets see how well that goes next semester! My co-op should start Tuesday, so lots to do before then! Have a good summer!

Eva Berndt

Electrical Engineering

Junior, ’14

I am always a little sentimental when the semester ends. No matter how difficult a class – or series of classes, the last exam is always bitter-sweet. I won’t lie; some exams were sweeter than others, but I did the best that I could.

Now grading is in the hands of the professors. For those of you that may not know, the grades for the final exam are rarely posted. Usually, only the final (overall) grades are posted in Titan Connect the week after final exams. This year, the exam grades are due by noon on Monday, April 30th. It’s already Friday – we just have to hold tight a couple of days more.

Meanwhile, I’m wasting no time to begin my next adventure. Tomorrow morning, I will be volunteering at the Science Olympiad State Finals (at MSU). I will be judging the morning section of my favorite event, Mission Possible. To get an idea of the event, check out this link, but the event is basically this: using simple machines or other permitted energy sources, create a contraption that sets off multiple reactions in succession to complete a task. For example, with the drop of a golf ball down a shoot, that activates a mouse trap that pulls out a pin that activates a lever that pops a balloon…and on and on it goes until the task is complete! I’ve spent years of my life tampering with machines like this, so it’s great to finally be a judge for such an event.

After Saturday’s events, I need to sit down an iron out my plans for Europe – oh yes, Europe! More about that on Tuesday.

Let the adventures of summer vacation begin!

Lisa Cocco

Sophomore (But not for long!!), 5-Year Physician Assistant

Biology, ’15

It’s just the beginning of exam week and the campus could not be quieter. What conversation you do hear in the dorms are endless recitations of notes and friendly encouragement (and not a small amount of learning angst). Most everyone has moved out all but their most necessary items in preparation for after that final exam so they can just leave! Freedom! Quick, before the professors call us back!

Personally, I have a headache from studying and staring at the computer screen. I officially despise Ethics, even though I’m getting an A in the class. Circuits couldn’t be anymore terrible if it tried and Digital Logic is The Best subject ever!

May you retain what you read over, and forget nothing!

Eva Berndt

Electrical Engineering

Sophomore, ’14

(Soon to be Junior!)

Hello and welcome to exam week. If you took a lab this semester, then you may have already taken a practical or two. (Lab finals are commonly slated during dead week.) If you began your finals this week, welcome to the party!

It was quite the weekend preparing for finals. I single-handedly kept my local Panera Bread in business by frequenting it every day. I also drank more coffee in a weekend than I have over the last month, but such is the cost of preparation. After sixteen weeks of classes, it’s hard to know what the professors will cover on the exam, much less how thoroughly. But aside from studying, here’s how I usually attack finals week:

• Know the concepts and why everything works; the details will fill themselves in.
• Be confident in your knowledge. You just spent sixteen weeks in this class. What did you learn?
• Try not to alter sleeping, eating, or exercise patterns. Finals induce a certain amount of anxiety, but it can be dulled by maintaining other healthy and familiar patterns. If you run in the mornings, make sure to get at least a short run in edgewise. If you go to bed at 10:30 every night, don’t attempt an all-nighter! Inducing physiological stress to match your psychological stress is not going to help you.

But perhaps the most important advice that I can give is to stay positive – you can do this! For all of you that watch your GPA like a ticking time bomb, just focus on the task at hand. Take it one test at a time. If it went well, good for you! If it did not, you can’t let that affect your next exams – or your sanity.

Do what you can do. Just try to do it well. J

Take care and good luck,

Lisa Cocco

Sophomore, 5-Year Physician Assistant

Biology, ‘15

Our last Digital Logic lab was today. We’ve been trying to program a PLD chip to function like the insides of a traffic light. SUPPOSEDLY, once you have the wiring and programming right, the light will switch between the red, yellow, green colors of a traffic light… supposedly.

I spent five hours on it! And it’s still not working! My professor and another engineer even tried to figure out what was wrong, and they were stumped. (I’m so awesome. I can make a circuit that defies the laws of physics and confuse people with years of engineering experience. Praise me!)

We plan on going over the circuit again after finals on Tuesday. Let’s hope it works then!

Eva Berndt

Electrical Engineering

Sophomore, ’14

The final week of classes in finally over! Now for finals. (Everything seems so finite, no?)

So it’s important to prioritize this next week! Seven days to go and your studying cannot take a back seat. Now I’m not saying be a hermit – I myself am going to the Opera this evening – but make sure that you crank it out this last week.

Here are a few studying tips that have been helpful for me:

Flash Cards – I reserve these for vocabulary words or affiliations (i.e. functional groups in organic chemistry). It’s helpful to make these and continue to flip through them once per day. And don’t dwell on any one flash card! Keep the cards a’shuffling.

Dry-erase board - I like to rewrite my notes over and over again. I like to save some paper – and have a little more fun – by chalking up a chalkboard or a dry-erase board. For my last microbiology exam, I re-wrote my notes on my driveway. It was very colorful.

Quizzing – Have someone quiz you. Even if you don’t feel very prepared with the material, there’s nothing like having someone shame you into learning the material. It sounds harsh, but it really works! I usually coax my sister into quizzing me while I do the dishes.

These are a few techniques that I have found particularly helpful. If you have any helpful studying methods, please post a comment!

Take care and good luck,

Lisa Cocco

Sophomore, 5-Year Physician Assistant

Biology, ’15

Ahh, Dead Week. The biannual event on campuses across the nation where college students replace the hemoglobin in their blood with caffeine,  commiserate with their friends about hard classes, and recite notes down the hall. It’s the time of stress, no sleep, and angst.

And I find myself in the middle of it all. An eight page ethics report due Thursday, the last programming lab due Wednesday, and a SWE Bake Sale to preside over tomorrow. The glorious college experience.

Survival advice?

• Turn off the internet: its tough, but trust me, you can ignore your status updates for two weeks. You’re friends are going through the same thing.
• Prioritize: get what needs to be done soonest done first. It makes those extra large things easiear to handle.
• Chocolate: the answer to everything. It helps with stress. Trust me.

Eva Berndt

Electrical Engineering

Sophomore, ’14

As Dean Hannifin steps down from deanship, there is some question as to who will step up. Four candidates have been narrowed down thus far.

The first candidate was interviewed throughout Monday by faculty and students alike. The lucky students to quiz the candidate were the presidents of the various clubs and committees within the College of Engineering and Science. So far, everyone seems impressed, but it is too soon for anyone to feel sure just yet.

But meanwhile, the beat goes on with the students. It is now dead week – the week before final exams. Many labs have their finals/practicals this week, so many students have already begun their panicking. I’m teasing – everyone that I know is just staging that end-of-the-term anxiety associated with brilliant students. There’s nothing like a little bit of insecurity to keep you motivated after a grueling fifteen weeks.

But it’s all good. We can do this!

Take it easy,

Lisa Cocco

Sophomore, Biology

5-Year Physician Assistant, ’15

Well, folks, the big day has arrived! Pull on your nice slacks and sound the alarm – today is the President’s Inauguration to UDM!

Yes, it’s true that President Garibaldi has been doing good things for UDM since fall. So yes, we’re a little late on the fanfare. But April is as good of a time as any – a better time, weather-wise. Plus, now that President Girabaldi has made face with many faculty and students on campus, I think that the late inauguration will encourage a much better turnout.

But aside from what I think, here’s something that’s actually interesting: This last week (April 7-15) was celebrated President Girabaldi by the vast opportunities for volunteering. Every day of the week had multiple service opportunities that the students, alumni, and faculty could get involved in. There were opportunities from serving food to yard work to stocking a boutique store.

There were less physically demanding opportunities, too. The one that intrigued me volunteering time and a good ear to the  South Oakland Center (SOS), a place where people in desperate circumstances meet up with people like us to obtain guidance, play a game of cards, or just to have someone to listen to. As a patient sitter, nurse’s aide, and a sister to three women, just demonstrating to someone that you are willing to listen to them is worth more than anything.

For a full listing of events, click here.

After a week of good service, the President will be royally received on Friday, April 13, 2012. The campus will be full of alumni, cameramen, and all sorts of others to crowd the limited parking spaces. Oh, I say that in good fun. Sure, I don’t want to park outside of campus, but the President should get some fanfare and celebration before he becomes slammed with dissenting voices and things to do.  I wish him a wonderful day and a very successful presidency.

Take care,

Lisa Cocco

Sophomore, 5-Year Physician Assistant

Biology, ’15

We had our last Society of Women Engineers meeting today. It was short. Our President, Megan (Mechanical Engineering)just summarized the year and made sure everyone knew what to do for next week’s Bake Sale. April 17th from 11 to 2 in the library. We are selling cheese cake! Come get some!

Other than that we also held elections for next year. Megan is graduating so someone needs to re place her as president. I nominated myself and by virtue of being unopposed got the position! Betty was made VP, Ivan (our honorary male member) was made secretary (without his knowledge in his absence).

We’re one of the smaller organizations on campus. The most we have at one time this year was twelve. Most of the engineers commute or are involved with other clubs, so we don’t get much traffic. We plan on remedying that next year at the Organization fair with a booth. Lets hope we get more members!

Eva Berndt

Electrical Engineering

Sophomore, ’14