Features

Graduation is approaching quite quickly for most college students around the world. It is no different at the University. Time flies during college years. One minute you are entering your very first class and before you know it, you’re walking out of your very last class of undergraduate college. It’s a memorable time in your life, but what are some experiences that every University student should have before they graduate? As the unforgettable movie character Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Learning to understand a foreign language well enough to fit into a new social setting is difficult, so imagine having to master that language with enough proficiency to pass college courses and ace job interviews. Many international students still struggle with the English language, but some are overcoming the challenge through the University’s English Second Language (ESL) support service, a part of Tutoring and Writing Services in the Center for Student Success (CSS).

From a blade of grass to the wing of a falcon, to the seed of a coconut to the stem cells in your bone marrow, almost all known life uses DNA as an instruction manual of sorts to carry out its representative functions. Recently, a team of biomedical engineers at Harvard led by Nick Goldman has successfully stored 739 kilobytes of hard-disk storage into synthetic DNA, sequenced it, and recovered the original content with 100 percent accuracy, according to Nature.

Declaring Majors, Minors and More

In a few short weeks students will be picking their new classes for the 2014-2015 school year.  For freshmen this is especially important because this also means transitioning to a new academic advisor and possibly changing or declaring a major.

As we hit the mid-point of the spring semester (if you can even call it spring), students are navigating through midterms, anxiously waiting for summer, and of course gearing up for spring break. If you are like me, those nine days are full of glorious naps, Netflix binging and possibly a little spring-cleaning. Others are packing their bags and heading for warmer waters for some fun in the sun. However, if you have no plans whatsoever, have no fear, for there are plenty of local trips and activities to partake in during spring break.

Bad habits. They start pretty much as soon as we’re old enough to walk, whether it’s sucking on our thumbs or not sharing our toys. As we get a little older, the habits change, for example, my younger brother used to color himself with markers every time someone was in plain site. A habit he luckily grew out of. As we get even older, the habits can be little things we don’t even notice, like chewing with our mouths open, or worse habits, like smoking or drinking all the time. Even if you have a clean record, can anyone truthfully say that they do not have bad habits?

It is almost time for a much needed break from school and for some, a fun get away with friends. But with an abundance of snow days putting classes behind on work and nine more weeks after break to cram in work, there is still a long way to go.