Week 5

Hola Readers!

This week brought us very good news in terms of community service at the University. HuskyTHON 2010 was Saturday into Sunday this week. PRLACC was the first cultural center involved last year in the dance marathon for the children’s hospital. Originally it was simply Greek life but when the invitation was extended we happily accepted to attend and fundraise. This year the Asian American Cultural Center joined us from the cultural centers. It’s a wonderful thing to interact the cultural centers with Greek life in good causes such as these it allows the students to meet others and learn about different organizations that they possibly had no idea existed.

PRLACC walked into HuskyTHON with 22 registered dancers and fundraising over a thousand dollars for the CT children’s hospital. We had held a Madden tournament to raise money to donate to the event as well. Our 22 dancers were a part of a group of well over 600 dancers which raised $150,228 dollars donated to the hospital. The hospital counts on UConns donation every year since HuskyTHON provides the biggest donation. The money donated goes to help the children who for whatever means have situations where parents are unable to pay for treatment. No child is turned away from the CT Children’s hospital.

Our “dancers” stood for 18 hours in support of the children. Each group involved had a sponsoring child assigned. Each child was a survivor from the CT children’s hospital. Many told their story to the 600+ dancers, or parents did to individual groups. The girl that PRLACC sponsored was called Kayla she was in high school and was a leukemia survivor. She had been clean of the cancer for some time now and owed it all to the help she received at CT children’s hospital. Her family and her hold the hospital close to their heart because it gave her a future. After her testimony she continued on to sing “Hero” by Mariah Carey. She truly is an inspirational young lady and PRLACC was proud to have her as a sponsor for the second year in a row. Seeing all the children their made it a truly inspirational night and although our “dancers” could not sit for 18 hours and were in pain by the end they all stated “ I would gladly do it again”. The cause was so great and the children demonstrated to every dancer why they were doing the fundraiser in the first place and when it came down to it nothing could beat the feeling of helping the kids for our PRLACC dancers.

~ Be sure to keep your eyes open for all the internship fairs and career fairs the university is bringing in these few weeks, especially to all the graduating seniors!

Week 4

Hello Readers!
And a special hello to all seniors! Well seniors it’s been headaches these last four weeks don’t you think? I hope all of you have submitted you plan of study by now because I believe this is the last week we can. Let’s talk a bit about the check list we have to be doing these next few months. First off is clearly submitting the plan of study! I can’t put enough emphasis on this. Unless we submit this there is no way for the board to review our course work and approve graduation so keep that in mind. Secondly apply for graduation ASAP! It lets the university know that you are planning on graduating in May of 2010. If you are in need of completing one more class during the summer session you can still walk with class of 2010 in May but will not be considered a graduate till August.
Secondly is a thing we as seniors should have been thinking about since last semester. What we do after we graduate. I personally am pursuing the graduate school path. So in turn those that think about taking the same path should keep in mind some key things. The first one that should have been done last semester but can still be requested as long as it’s ASAP is recommendation letters. Some schools have rolling admissions or late application due dates. So keeping that in mind it take you a few days to get everything together and submit your portion of the applications but professors need a bit more time for the letters. You see many ask for at least two weeks and that’s if they really feel as if they know you so the sooner you ask the better. Along with that don’t forget to request your college transcripts. I found that I felt more comfortable mailing them out myself because I knew when to expect them to arrive. However, the university does offer to mail them for you as long as you tell them what schools to send them to. If you check your peoplesoft you can find it in one of the options.
If you choose to follow the work path career services is there to help with anything you need. They offer links to companies and offer connections to possible internships which can eventually lead you to a permanent job. Although right now the job market is hard to leap into a college education is worth a lot. Keep in mind that there are others who have a few more years of experience and a master will put u ahead of people going after similar jobs. Yet if school is not the path you feel is right for you UConn is here to help. PRLACC offers resume critique hours weekly with a student employee from career services. It is a more private and comfortable meeting for some people so it is left their as an option for the students. We welcome you to call and ask about the weekly hours.
The final key thing to keep in mind is to end strong. Yes we are but months away from graduation however it’s worth finishing strong. Senioritis has a tendency of kicking in with us especially the last semester but we must keep in mind that our last semester can be seen just as much as every other one. Our transcripts show everything from start to finish. So there is no point in showing employers or schools that when we are close to the end we loose interest in our priorities. So my suggestions are stay strong plan ahead and enjoy your last semester we worked hard to get here and times goes by quickly. Carpe diem!

Spring Week 3

Hello Readers!
This week started off with a special visitor at the Puerto Rican Latin American Cultural Center. Dr. Rosalie Torres Stone visited the cultural center on Monday at noon. She is the assistant professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Multicultural Core at the Center for Mental Health Services Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The event was sponsored by the Institute for Puerto Rican and Latino Studies, Puerto Rican and Latin American Cultural Center, and Department of Sociology. Her presentation was titled “Culture in research” and was insightful presentation on the minorities and their thoughts and feelings about research projects. She informed the attendants how the Latino culture really affects how we react to participating in research. One key thing that stuck with me was that we as Latinos when asked to be a part of research that may better ourselves we are less likely to do it than if we are told it is to better the community. She gave interesting points in what she found to be the best form to approach minorities in terms of asking them to partake in the study. From research her experience was that if you approach a minority with honesty as opposed to just facts you will have a stronger chance of getting them to become involved in the study. She presented some information about the fears minorities hold. Often times it can be a matter of language barrier. She said Latinos have a tendency of being a little shy with language barrier and take translators. Yet since in most cases money is also a problem the translator is not always a profession but instead a relative or a child. This may sway the information because a child will not always translate directly what the person is saying or may omit things. While adult may translate better for the patient certain things may be omitted by the patient to avoid awkward situations with adult family members. It was a very insightful and educating presentation. She was wonderful example of a strong educated Latina. As a Latina I feel it is great to see the Latinos professor and professionals that come to campus. They are examples and role models to follow. Many current Latinos/as at the University of Connecticut are first generation college students. Although that does not define how much success we will hold in our college career it does play some influence. However, when meeting people such as out Latino faculty and professionals who pushed and studied hard through college it serves to remind all the younger generations of Latinos that we can and more importantly should achieve success. It becomes a matter of not wanting success simply for personal satisfaction, but instead wanting success to push forward the success in the Latino community. So to all the young Latino/a reader I wish you success look around and look at our professor and always remember you are aspiring for success and to be a role model for those that follow you.


- The picture of Dr. Torres Stone was supplied by UMass Medical School website

Spring week 2

Hello Readers,
This week I decided I’m going to hit on a subject that has been on the news and in our mind for the last couple of weeks, Haiti. I’d like to say my condolences go out to those students and readers who lost family member in the horrible earthquake. It was a tragedy what occurred. Yet luckily to this day they are finding people alive who have miraculously made it days with no food or water. Although such a tragic thing has occurred it is great to know that when need be a political unity can come about. Many places are uniting in helping Haiti and Cuba has gone as far as to open specific door to let our planes land and allow medical attention to those hurt. I’m sure like many of you I wish the best to those affect by the earthquake in Haiti.
This week also started another campus wide event. It was UCONN’s kick off in Relay for life. For those readers who don’t know Relay for life it is a fund-raising event for the American Cancer Society. Teams are started by different people or organizations. It is an overnight event and each team has to be represented on the “walking track” at all times. As a team member you get sponsored to walk in support of all those suffering from or fallen from some form of cancer. It is a beautiful event for a great cause. I encourage all readers to participate in the cause. PRLACC is forming a team much like many other organizations so there are many groups to join. If none of the existing teams appeal to you, you can always start your own team with a group of friends or family.
The big fundraiser that UCONN is known for in Hartford is HuskyTHON. HuskyTHON is an 18 hour dance marathon in which Greek life, organizations, and now cultural centers each form teams and fund-raise for the Connecticut Children’s hospital. Any money made goes to the kids. This year we have 32 teams and over 600 dancers fund-raising for the kids. We hope it is going to be another successful event! It will be held on February 20th 2010 and the dancers will dance form 6pm – noon the next day. Of course PRLACC is also hosting a team and ask that if you would please donate to the team and keep in mind that everything we make is going to the Children of CT children’s hospital. Hope you all had a great second week and are starting to settle in to classes well :) Have a great and Safe weekend! I’ll be writing to you all in February :)



<- HuskyTHON link to donate :)

Welcome to spring semester

Welcome Back Readers!
Well in returning back this fall semester I get to fill in all you readers on one key part of life, the last semester college experience. Although I cannot fully fill you in on everything because I am just starting much like all of you students, I will be sure to fill you in on all of the details. One main recommendation though, is figure out your classes this week! Many students wait till the first week of the semester to continue “stalking” their classes. In other words you check daily on our system to see if the class you need/want opens up. This is understandable because many students find the class they are looking for by “stalking” their classes. However, there is one main problem with that method of choosing classes; the longer you wait the more you fall behind. Granted the first week of school is mostly “syllabus week”. All students know most professors simply review their syllabus and assign the first readings (which are usually just background readings) for the following week. Yet the problem arises when after two weeks you keep “stalking” your class and are still not enrolled. The University gives you till the start of the third week to assure your seat in a class. Some students within that time still are not even close to being enrolled in the class that they need. Within the first two weeks, if there is no opening the best piece of advice I can give is to email the professor and ask for a permission number. Many professors welcome students who are interested in their class, although sometimes it is out of their hand. Ultimately the department and the room capacity is what cause professors to turn away students. Yet it’s always worth a shot. As students, we always have to keep in mind one main thing, the later we enroll the more we have to catch up with. The second week has a tendency of moving fairly quickly in classes since not much was done the first week but readings. In some cases you can miss in class writing assignments, quizzes, or the start of assigned papers. It can be tough when you enroll the Sunday before the add/drop deadline, since by that point you have missed a good solid two weeks of class. One must do a lot of things to catch up and make up work so that it will not reflect on the final grade of the student. So after seven semesters of experiences talking from personal and view others I ask all reader to settle your classes this week! It will ultimately save you lots of stress and late hours catching up. I hope you all have a great first week and enjoy your classes!