To new students, welcome to USG! To returning students, welcome back for another amazing year! I hope you all enjoyed your summer break. I had the most adventurous and busy summer. I had two summer courses within a month as well as planned my wedding and honeymoon while working full time. Now that is what I call organization, time management, and event planning skills at work!

My husband and I traveled to Dublin, Ireland, London, England, Paris, France, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands for two weeks. It was an adventure, but we quickly learned that traveling from one place to another every two days was exhausting and not quite enough time to explore every part of each city. One major lesson that I learned is the importance of doing your research about the places that you are traveling to in order to have a better understanding of the people’s culture. For example, in Paris, it is considered polite to try to say “Bonjour” and “Merci” even when you do not know the language. Parisians are more friendly when you show that you are attempting to conversate with them in their language. On another note, though our journey had ups and downs, having had the opportunity to purely explore these places was a great experience. In my future blogs, I will share some travel tips especially if you are thinking of participating in your institution’s Study Abroad program. I would recommend checking with your institution about this opportunity to get more information if you are interested. Here is the link to UMCP’s Education Abroad to give you some ideas about it.   

Speaking of studying, though I had a wonderful summer, now that classes are back in session, I feel a bit anxious and stressed due to all the class assignments that are due. To destress, I started going to kickboxing classes weekly because it helps me lessen the negative emotions brought on by stress and makes me feel healthier 🙂 Are you feeling a bit overwhelmed too? No worries! Did you know that USG’s Campus Recreation Center provides Yoga and Zumba classes for FREE?! Personally, I think that physical activities help with distressing and lowering anxiety. For those who are interested in participating in one of their classes, below is their schedule of classes.

Yoga: Tuesdays- 7:30am & Wednesdays- 2:30pm
Zumba: Tuesdays- 2pm
Maxfit: Wednesdays- 4:30pm

Quick Notes:
You will need to apply for a membership and if you want to bring a guest or non-member, it is $5. Also, you will need to bring a yoga mat, water, and a gym towel.

If you would like more information about the Campus Recreation Center classes, please visit their Group Exercise Classes webpage.

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