By: Ashley Kerby

Coming to college is an eye opening experience, where you have the opportunity to explore different avenues and encourage growth in yourself. It is a time to join organizations that maybe you didn’t have the chance or knowledge of in high school or at other universities. However, many students do not know how many organizations there are on campus, or the opportunities that are available on Eastern’s campus. In this blog I will introduce you to a few campus clubs and organizations which may not have been well-advertised or are relatively unknown to the Eastern community, due to their unique content.

May I first present you with the Cycling Club at EMU. This is a group of students, faculty and staff who enjoy the opportunity to meet and mingle with fellow cyclists, or soon to be cyclists. This group enjoys biking on road, off road and long bike rides on the beach. Except for the beach part, unless you consider the bank of Frog Island to be a beach. So if you enjoy building your calf muscles, feeling the warm breeze blow across your face and wheels on your bike going round and round, this is the club for you!

Secondly, if you see people with broomsticks wandering around campus in brightly-colored capes … no, you are not actually at Hogwarts. However, Muggle Quidditch is an actual sport played here on campus, with the different houses competing for the Quidditch cup every year!!  Join the Flying Squirrels Quidditch Team if you are interested in running, or … flying around on broomsticks chasing the golden snitch around campus.

These are just two of our various and unique organizational activities offered at Eastern’s campus. If you are interested in looking into the other areas we have on campus, follow the link below and as always GO EAGLES!

http://emu.collegiatelink.net/organizations

By: Misty Sparrow

Here are some handy tips to get you through the end of a semester.

1. Don’t Procrastinate – As much as you don’t feel like doing work, you will thank yourself in the long run if you work and study a little each night.
2. Get Some Sleep – Unfortunately all nighters are inevitable in college, so prepare yourself by getting as much sleep before you are forced to stay awake.
3. Eat Healthy – Red Bull and coffee may seem like a primary food group right now, but it’s not! Drink lots of water and eat your fruits and veggies.
4. Take a Break – You will wear yourself thin if you work or stress 24/7. You won’t succeed! Hang out with friends or just watch your favorite TV show. Take some time to act your age!
5. “Me” Time is the Most Important – Take some time to reflect by yourself! Go on a walk, do some stretching the morning, journal down your thoughts or anything else you need to let your mind wind down. This will help you in the long run!

Let me remind myself to take my own advice! Next semester, remember these tips before finals!

May the odds be ever in your favor!

By: Andre’ LaMont Moses

Let’s be honest: Today, the television shows and “cool things” that kids enjoy, for lack of a better word, stink.

Yeah, I understand that Apple products, video game systems and all other technology of today is super advanced and really cool, but we didn’t have that when I was younger. Our IMAGINATION and CREATIVITY served as our engines to have fun. I do admit, I miss being a kid. Things were so much easier and carefree than they are now. Most of all though…I miss the cartoon shows, the toys and all that other stuff that represented the 90’s. Here’s what I miss most:

1. Digimon- I must admit, Digimon was kind of a knock-off of Pokemon, but I loved it. Having your own digital monster that could change form whenever you needed it to? Pikachu couldn’t do that. Digimon also had a really good storyline to follow. The 1^st season was the best one in my opinion.
2. Uncanny X-Men- On Fox Kids, X-Men was my favorite cartoon. I still am a super big X-Men geek, and that cartoon was what started it. Storm was, and still is, my favorite character, followed by Gambit. Miss it? You can still watch it on Netflix.
3. Zoids- So, few people remember this Cartoon Network show, but basically, giant animal-like robots fought with each other. When it came to the toys, you had to assemble them yourself (it sometimes took me 3-4 hours to make one).
4. Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Cards- What more can I say? This game took middle school by storm. My cousins and I used to make up our own “tournament,” where I would always win by the way…Did you have a favorite card? Mine was Injection Fairy Lily.

What was your favorite trend, toy or moment from the 90′s?

By: Rachel Burford

You know that voice in your head that says, “Hey girl! Yeah … you. You want to look good and feel great, right? Let’s go to the REC and make it happen.”

For a split second, even for half of the class period you’re thinking, “Yeah, absolutely. I’m absolutely going to go to the REC and workout!” But then you look at the clock … lunch time. So, you start thinking you have to eat to get energy enough to work out, but then you have to wait at least an hour before you run so you don’t get sick. By then you’ve wasted two hours you could have used on homework. So you spend a few hours on homework. Wait, it’s about dinner time now and, oh boy, your iPod only has half its battery life. Now that you think of it, your calves are achy anyways and the REC is ALL THE WAY across campus. Maybe you’ll just work out tomorrow!

Trust me, you say you’ll work out tomorrow, but you’re just going to rinse and repeat the day before and end up making a plethora of excuses for why you can’t go to the gym. But, never fear, a new fun, enjoyable workout regime is here. When it hits 8-9 p.m. and you’re winding down from your day with a movie with your friends or roommates, make a workout game out of it. Say you put in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Before the movie begins, write a list of exercises you can do every time something particular happens. For instance:

You see an owl: 10 jumping jacks

 A point is scored in Quidditch: 10 push ups

 Snape stares menacingly at Harry: 10 crunches

By the time the movie is over, you not only would have been able to enjoy the magical world of Hogwarts, but you were able to do a structured exercise that will make you look and feel good. So, why go the REC to get fit, when you can just pop in a movie?

By: Emily Boeman

As a current or even prospective EMU student, you’ve probably been to visit the Student Center. If you happen to be one of the few that’s never set foot in the building, or even if you’re a regular, you may not know all of the opportunities it has available for you. So here’s a list of some of the offices and resources it has to offer:

1. Service EMU – Instead of walking across campus to Pierce Hall, why not just stop by Service EMU to get all of your financial aid, records and registration, or student business services questions answered.
2. Bookstore – Whether you need a textbook or some extra notebooks and pens, you can find everything you need for class. They also sell tons of EMU apparel and gifts, and there is even a computer store in the back where you can buy all your computer supplies.
3. Food – If you need to grab a snack between classes, a quick lunch or even coffee with a friend, the student center has so much to offer: Subway, Wendy’s, Starbucks, Green Market Bistro, International Kitchen, Salsa Grill and the Lobby Shop.
4. Computer Lab – Whether you need to finish up that last homework assignment, or print out PowerPoint slides for class, the 24 hour computer lab will always be able to assist you.
5. There are countless resources available and ways to get involved including our Student Government and Student Organizations Offices, Greek Life, VISION Volunteer Center, Center for Multicultural Affairs, LEBT Resource Center, Women’s Center, Ticket Office, Chase Bank and the Disability Resource Center. So go out and take advantage of all that this wonderful building has to offer!

By: Christopher Knight

It’s a lot like waiting for Christmas. You spend most of your day waiting for it to come and wondering what joys the future will bring you. Only it’s not Christmas. It’s the next phase of your life, so the wait is just that much more extreme. The anxiety is that much more intense. Tomorrow is that much more terrifying.

I’m graduating at the end of April, 2012. I’m graduating from college, and in a way it feels like I’m graduating from the first phase of my life, and entering adulthood. Looking back, it’s crazy how everything has culminated up until now. How I’ve become the man that I am today. There may be some things that I would have done differently, maybe a few more hours studying here, choosing to going abroad, but I do not regret any of the decisions that I have made on my path to the present. In truth, I am grateful for all that I have experienced, and for every individual I have shared my experience with.

I sometimes worry that I will lose these people to distance, to work and life in general otherwise. I worry that in the future, some of my best friends now will become merely fading shadows in my memories. The relationships I have built here are truly special to me, and I pray that they last a lifetime.

Although the future of my relationships with my friends may be uncertain, as I turn the page to the next chapter of my life, I know one thing is for certain. I feel fully prepared for the road that lies ahead of me. I know that I am fully capable of achieving the success that I set out to accomplish the day I enrolled at Eastern Michigan University. Despite the fear and the tremendous amount of uncertainty that surrounds the future and what it holds, I am ready to plunge head first into the rest of my life.

By: Margaret Beccavin

These final weeks of my college career have been an emotional roller coaster complete with tears, excitement, anxiety, joy, relief, sadness and pride. Between trying to take advantage of every last opportunity college has to offer me, whether it relates to academics, my professional future or my social life, I’ve hardly had a chance to stop and catch my breath.

Looking back at my move-in day freshman year, I never imagined myself getting to this point in my life. Of course I knew it would eventually happen, but not this soon. Since when did 45 months of my life seem like such a short period of time? It should have been sooo much looonger! Well it’s not. It flew by. I hardly know the girl who moved into the residence hall that hot August day in 2008.

Memories of all-nighters in the library, Ypsi summer shenanigans, balancing countless obligations, sipping on margaritas at Los Amigos with friends after a long week of work, accepting a lower grade on that paper because hanging out with friends was more important and meeting people who changed my life all flow through my mind on a daily basis. What exists after this? Who will stay in my life after this? Where will I be a year from now? Will my life always be this exciting and phenomenal?

Obviously I can’t answer any of those questions yet but I do have the ability to affect their outcomes. The college memories will last my lifetime. The people that shaped who I am will hold a place in my heart forever. And one day at a time I can choose to make sure my life does stay as phenomenal as I’ve learned it can be. If life at EMU was this fantastic, I can’t wait to see what the rest of the world has to throw my way.

Look to the sky, I’m gonna fly.