The Universities at Shady Grove (USG)

Hello!
Are you one of the many students with final exams creeping around the corner?? Starting to get yourself organized and your study plans in place? While this time of year is a little overwhelming, fear not! USG has a number of resources, events, and activities to help students prep and destress during exam time. Below is a list of upcoming library hours, recreation center events, and other ideas to help you get ready for “the final countdown!”

• Priddy Library Night Owl Hours: 12/9,10,16,17 extended hours open until 12am Sunday-Thursday 10pm-3am USG ID REQUIRED           Night Owl Hours
• Feeling stressed? Visit the Center for Counseling and Consultation! Stop by or make an appointment to see one of the nine professional counselors at USG. Click here!
• Check out some cute pups as a study break!! Pause for Paws is coming back! December 8th, 11am-1pm in building III in front of the rec center (2nd floor).
• Don’t forget to reserve a breakout room! If you’re planning on doing some group study sessions, plan ahead and reserve your room. USG ID REQUIRED to reserve. This can be done at the front desk of Priddy Library.
• Struggling with certain study material? Visit The Center for Academic Success. Schedule a tutoring session to ensure you end the semester strong! Check it out!

Happy Studying!

Hi Everyone –

Sorry for the late post…stomach flu is not the easiest of things to wake up in the morning with.

I found this amazing advice-giver sort of guy on YouTube and I have been wanting to share it with people, so what better way than to post it in this blog?

It’s easy to feel down or look at the negative aspects of a situation…We all do it, but that doesn’t make it a good way of thinking. In times of stress, like those two weeks before winter break, I am sure a substantial amount of students are complaining or dreading upcoming final assignments and exams. Whether you’re feeling extra negative on this rainy day, or just are having trouble finding happiness the past couple of weeks, check these videos out. I play them in the background sometimes during my lunch break. The messages are really valuable, and in only a few days I have a better perspective on how to live life to the fullest. It’s all up to you.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgeicB5AuF3MyyUto0-M5Lw

Some awesome things I remember from the videos:

1. To help you think more positively think of 3 things you are thankful for and 3 things you are looking forward to
2. You are independent of the good or bad opinions of others
3. Know that your thoughts guide your emotions, so thinking negatively will only make you feel worse. Try to change the negative thought, and perhaps you will feel less upset about a situation

I hope you enjoy this as much as I am. The videos cover several topics so if you’re a happy, positive person already, there still may be something in it for you!

Good luck on finals!

Frist, I am writing a paper and wanted people to know about shark fining. Let me paint the picture of why we need to know about this topic (let me set the mood right #Justin Timberlake). The ocean is a vast place, full of beauty and filled with unexplored resources. It covers almost seventy-five percent of our Earth. It can also be a scary place for most people, due to the limited information we have about the ocean and maybe because as a society we fear what we don’t understand, which could misguide our feelings and ideas regarding its beauty and splendor. Ten years ago, I feared what I didn’t understand about what lurked in the ocean. I based my ideas of the sea on a movie named “Jaws” that depicted sharks as monsters, which made me terrified of the deep abyss. Once I moved to Hawaii, I started spending more time in the water and encountered sharks periodically. I started to realize that Jaws was a very horrific misrepresentation of these beautiful creatures because of my personal encounters with sharks. I then became interested in wanting to learn more about sharks. I was fascinated with the crucial role sharks play in our existence. Sharks have been swimming the ocean for about four hundred million years. They are the kings of the ocean due to their evolutionary success and adaptability to survive. After the movie Jaws, hunting sharks became a trend that dramatically reduced the species by 50% percent. While without tangible evidence fear and a misunderstanding convince our society that sharks cause more harm to us, when actuality sharks are essential to our survival. Our misunderstanding of sharks is symptomatic of our inability to understand sharks, which can lead to our own extinction. As a society, we fear the unknown and because we fear what we fully don’t understand we become victims of that fear.

The over killing of sharks has grown over the last forty-years. The killing is done in an awful and cruel way to these beautiful creatures we take for granted. It is called finning and the way it is done is by hacking off the shark’s fins and just tossing the rest of the mutilated shark back into the ocean. The fin is then used to prepare what is called shark fin soup. The soup has no flavor, no color, and is consumed primarily by Asian countries just to demonstration a symbol of status. The shark fins are very valuable and shark meat is worth so little and that is the reason why the shark is just tossed back into the ocean as a worthless piece of trash. The bizarre thing about it is that the people that consume shark put themselves at high risk of Cyanobacterial Neurotoxin B-N-Methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA). This neurotoxin has been linked to diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS (Neil hammerschlag). In addition to the deadly effects it poses to humans, shark fins have no nutritional value. The ocean isn’t a terrifying place because of sharks in the water. It’s a terrifying place without sharks in the ocean. We are the real Jaws. Thank you for reading.

It was only three posts ago when I wrote about Healthy Halloween, and now it’s already December? My goodness, how time flies! Michael Buble’s singing “Let it Snow!” on 97.1, wreaths and lights now decorate neighborhoods, ugly Christmas sweaters are on sale, Secret Santa gift exchanges have begun, and holiday card worthy pics are being posted on the ‘gram.

This is my absolute favorite time of the year. For me, personally, it’s all about high spirits and sharing magical moments with family and friends. But it’s also about giving! Speaking of giving (you saw this coming), USG is hosting its first ever Holiday Bazaar next week on Tuesday, December 6 from 11am to 1pm by the SAS Suite in Building III.

Get excited! There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago… Just kidding, there won’t be any of that. But there will be vendors, holiday music, and free hot chocolate! A table will also be set up for holiday gift wrapping in exchange for a small donation. ‘Cause let’s be honest, ain’t nobody got time for wrapping their own gifts while studying for finals!

APhA-ASP Operation OTC Medicine Safety will be selling DELICIOUS chicken and pork steamed bao buns (made with love by my mom and me). Other student organizations will be selling holiday photos, apparel, mugs with hot chocolate, and holiday themed arts and crafts. The proceeds for some of these items will go directly to charities like St. Jude’s Childrens Hospital. Raffle tickets will also be on sale to benefit the USG Scholarship Fund.

Most of us are now busy, busy, busy with projects, presentations, papers, and exams. It’s a crazy time at USG! But we can do it, only a few more days till winter vacation. Best of luck on those final assignments and see you next week at the Holiday Bazaar! Don’t forget to come say hello — I’ll be the one with the Santa hat and holiday cheer!

It is back again!!! If you go to USG, you will realize that students all over the campus are getting ready for final examinations or final papers to submit. At the library where I work, all students passing by are either talking about how short the Thanksgiving holiday was or about how they are getting ready for exam weeks.

Students are not the only ones talking about finals. Professors are reminding their students about final papers or procedures to follow for the upcoming examination. Faculty members are also on the list of groups getting ready to close this semester chapter. Lastly, but surely members of the Office of Student Service and RAC (Campus Recreation Center) are also making sure that students are well taken care of and that their needs such as, tutoring and last minute advice about their class or papers are fulfilled. Those groups and associations for students are not the only ones making arrangements for final week, also Student Clubs, facilities at school our cafeteria everyone is on the move.

One arrangement that I found particularly interesting, is indeed a new concept for me since, I am an International Student, it is called the “De-Stress Lounge”. The “De-Stress lounge” is situated in building three, second floor, right above the cafeteria and next to the campus Recreation Center. It is a concept that has been there for quite some times now and dedicated to students. The “De-Stress lounge” is a collaboration between the RAC center and the Office of Student Services.

The idea behind it, is to provide students with a whole classroom where they can relax and De-stress from the pressure of finals week. They do not just provide room for the students but also provide games, massage chairs, coffee, and a couple of different refreshments. If you are on campus I highly suggest that you stop by and go check it out. They have had excellent programs especially this semester such as yoga classes, Zumba classes, and fitness programs for students. They are bringing this semester therapy dogs for students.

Being from a different background I am amazed how those organization actually stretch themselves to extremes for the well-being of their students and for free. We should totally take advantage of this opportunity and at least stop by, even if it is just for a moment just to see and appreciate the effort they past through.

If you can find time in your schedule, the De-stress lounge should definitely be a stop in your schedule.

Here is the schedule to help you guys organize your time and choose which event that you are more interested in.

Hi everyone!

I hope you enjoyed your holidays and are preparing for the last leg of this semester (I know I am).

As excited as I have been about my time in Brazil and all the adventures I been on, I have been feeling a little homesick. Part of these feelings are due to all the happenings back home that I feel like I am missing out on but most of it is due to the holiday season. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

There are many reasons why this holiday is so special to me: the gathering of family, remembering all the blessing of the year, the food, and the traditions. I decided to take these feelings of homesickness that I was experiencing and do something. So I called home got recipes and set myself to make a Thanksgiving feast with the help of a few friends.

I was very proud of what we had accomplished not just sharing food with the families and friends we have made during this semester but sharing part of our culture. This whole semester we have immersed ourselves in the Salvador, Bahia, Brazil culture learning about food, history, cultural norms and expectations, Candomble (an afro-Brazilian religion), their universal healthcare system (SUS), and various social movements. Celebrating Thanksgiving gave us an opportunity to share with our homestay families a little bit about where we come from.

This got me to thinking about the diversity on the USG campus, which is something that many universities across America lack. Many of my friends on campus have family and loved ones many miles away. While their address is in the US, home is in another country. Some of the people I know haven’t been able to go back home for various reasons but I know they miss it very much.

If in only 10 weeks I was experiencing these feeling of homesickness, I can only imagine those around campus that have been away from home for 1 year, 5 years or 10 years. I’m sure there are many traditions that each of us cherish from our countries and/or cultures and I would love to hear about them! Take a moment and ask your friends about their traditions, holidays, and culture. Thanks to the diversity at our campus we do not need to travel far to learn about a culture different then our own, it’s all just around the grove.