The Bags are (Not Quite) Packed

Students and parents sign-in at Knight U in May.

Parents of incoming freshmen:

Your kid just graduated last week. You’ve probably already eaten your weight in Sam’s Club sheet cake and cocktail meatballs at graduation party after graduation party. What more can life ask of you? You got a child through 18 years of growing after all.

Amidst this hustle, it’s my job to remind you that soon will be time to get serious about preparing for Bellarmine. Rather than overwhelming you with daunting “must-do” lists, I’m  starting you out with some easy ways to begin preparing to transition from high school senior to first-year college student. As the summer progresses, Bellarmine and Bellarmine Parent Programs will follow up with some more specifics (be sure to sign up for our Parent email list).

1. Keep in mind, but not obsess, that high school is over and Bellarmine begins in August. Last summer several incoming parents shared their worry that their son/daughter seemed to take no interest in preparing for Bellarmine (Other students might be the opposite!). Whatever the case, give your son or daughter a chance to come to terms with this life change in his/her own way—don’t panic too soon if the“normal” signs of being “super psyched” about Bellarmine aren’t on display every moment. Once Bellarmine begins, students should commit socially and academically. You (and the faculty/staff here) will begin to worry and intervene if warning signs show. Over the summer, your family might consider a summer day or weekend trip to Louisville to see the sights and get your son or daughter excited about the Fall. Doing something is sometimes easier than thinking abstractly.
2. On a practical note, encourage your son/daughter to begin self-management for the summer—getting up and going on his/her own is a start. Many students struggle with this when they get to Bellarmine. If you’re really ambitious, go over this article with you son or daughter and talk about what they’ll need to learn to do before beginning college. This is your chance to “keep an eye” on how well they’ll be able to manage daily life.
3. Make your own e-tours. You’ve been on the official tour, poked around our website, but take some time to really explore the BU website and student portal (only accessible with a student username/password). Also, students and parents can go ahead and get involved through social media. Once roommates are assigned, students can “friend” them on facebook and join the Class of 2017 facebook group (for students only!). Incoming students have been known to plan outings before classes begin, like a trip to an amusement park. Other social media accounts that provide solid information and access to the BU community are the Bellarmine ARC (facebook and twitter @BellarmineARC) and official BU facebook and twitter (@bellarmineU). Of course, for parents we have your facebook group, which is where I post the most up-to-date information!
4. Finally, be on the lookout for information from Bellarmine—you and your student should be receiving mail and email about housing, orientations, programs, and Learning Communities. An Academic Advisor might even call to follow-up with some students about their Fall schedule. First-generation students will be contacted by their Pioneer mentor. You don’t want to miss out on any crucial or helpful information. Remind your students to check their email frequently and return any phone calls or texts from Bellarmine!

Ultimately, take some time this summer to reflect on what this change really means for you and your family. Remember, your son or daughter is probably just as nervous as you are. You don’t have to do everything at once. Bellarmine is here to guide both students and parents along their way.

Experienced parents, what advice can you give at this stage of the transition? What is best to “keep in mind” the summer before first year at Bellarmine?

Last year’s group of Galileo Learning Community students celebrate the end of the year.

Uniting at Knight U

Students at Knight U 2012

Students at Knight U 2012

Tomorrow is “Knight U,” the annual early registration event for incoming freshmen and their families. Some of you seasoned parents might remember an event called ”SOAR.” Different name, same thing! Tomorrow will also be my first Knight U because I joined Bellarmine last July. I will admit that I’m excited, but a bit nervous, probably much like our incoming first-year students and their parents feel!

I want to take a moment to welcome any new parents and families that have already discovered our online Bellarmine community. So, welcome!

In addition, I’m going to tap into the wisdom from our current parents. Here’s my question:
In your opinion, what is the most important thing for parents of incoming Bellarmine students to do/remember/say with regard to helping their students prepare for college at this stage?

“Hillside” Tradition Continues in the Quad with Phillip Phillips

Hello parents!  My name is Emelia Dunston and I serve as the Director of Student Activities for Campus Programming here at Bellarmine.  In my role, I work with major campus programs including Homecoming and Senior Week and I serve as the advisor for the Bellarmine Activities Council – also referred to as BAC.  I am writing to let you know about an exciting event coming to campus in April.

The Hillside Concert is an annual tradition at Bellarmine, typically held in the spring.  It was named Hillside because the original concert was held in the natural amphitheater on the hillside behind the former Brown Activities Center, where the current University Dining Hall is located.  Past performers for this concert include Bowling for Soup, Gloriana, and Sara Bareilles.

This year’s Hillside Concert will feature American Idol winner Phillip Phillips and special guest Churchill.  Phillip Phillips is a singer-songwriter and guitarist from Georgia who won season 11 of American Idol last year.  His first album, “The World from the Side of the Moon,” was released in November.  Churchill is an alt-country/pop-rock quintet out of Denver with a skill for blending various genres of music that highlights the talents of each member.  Their forthcoming full-length debut album is scheduled to be released this spring.

Phillips Phillips

Churchill

Hillside is scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at 7:30pm in the Quad behind Horrigan Hall (Rain Location:  Knights Hall).  This event is standing room only.  The show is open to students, faculty, staff and the general public.  Tickets are $5 for Bellarmine University students and $15 for the general public, faculty and staff.  You can purchase tickets online at www.BellarmineTickets.com.

We are very excited about welcoming Phillip Phillips to the Louisville area and having him on campus for the students.  I hope that you will encourage your son or daughter to purchase a ticket and come out for the show that evening.  You are also welcome to attend the show and join us for a great evening of music out on the quad.

If you have any questions about the event or other activities taking place on campus this semester, feel free to contact me at edunston@bellarmine.edu for more information.

For more information on each performer, visit the links below:

Phillip Phillips:  http://www.phillipphillips.com/default.aspx

Churchill:  http://churchilltheband.com/

You want me to do WHAT over spring break?

It’s pretty quiet here on campus this afternoon. All the students must be busy studying before they leave for Panama City or Cancun!

As far-fetched as that scenario might seem, I do want to address a topic that sometimes receives eye rolls: time management during spring break. Although some students might see studying over “their” break as unreasonable, I’ll lay out my case as to why it is necessary.

Spring break is nothing more and nothing less than five days without scheduled classes. So, that doesn’t mean that there will be any less work when students return to campus. In fact, some professors may wait until after spring break to schedule tests, reasoning that students will have more time to study. So, there may be even more to do the week after spring break than in a “typical” week.

I tell students to consider what is due the week after spring break. Then, I have them write down everything they absolutely must accomplish—studying for a test, reading X pages, writing an essay, practicing a speech. Next, I tell them to estimate the number of hours it will take them to thoroughly complete that work and make sure that they have at least that time budgeted into their week. Finally, I ask students if the number of hours they estimated is more or less studying than they would do on a typical weekend. If it is less, I suggest that they add the difference. It makes sense to plan to spend at least the same amount of time studying over spring break than one does on a typical weekend.

For students still buying in at this point, and especially for those without “big plans” over spring break, I go a little further to suggest that they look ahead in their calendars to see what’s coming up. Some productive ways to work ahead are:

• Start an essay—Simply looking over an assignment prompt and brainstorming for ideas in advance of a due date can save a lot of precious writing time later
• Start a research project—Our library databases are accessible to all students from any computer with internet access. Just because your student can’t go to the library, doesn’t mean he/she can’t use the resources!
• Complete required reading—Many students say they don’t like to read ahead because they won’t remember what they read. Reading ahead can be productive if it is done actively—by taking good notes and annotating the text. Then, when the reading is due, quickly scanning the text and the notes will help jog one’s memory.
• Organize and re-read notes—Just re-reading notes can help students learn material. Organizing notes can also consist of typing them out.
• Another active studying technique is making flashcards— This forces students to both organize information and review it. Making them well in advance of a test will also save precious study time later.

I hope my suggestion to use spring break as a productive time doesn’t sound as crazy now as it did at the beginning. Encourage your students not to check-out over break—there is plenty of time for resting, relaxing, socializing, and studying!

The Presidential Achievement Scholarship: Not Just for Freshmen

Perhaps you’ve heard something about the Presidential Achievement Scholarship (I’m calling it PAS for short!). If not, check it out for the basic run down here.

Although we started announcing the PAS way back in December, students may have waited until the last-minute (it’s due Monday!) to start the application. Since my very competent predecessor wrote an excellent blog last year about the application, I thought I would choose a few specifics and elaborate on them.

First, a lot of freshmen apply for the scholarship. They’re new. They’re used to doing new and different things. All of this is a good thing! We don’t have to sell it to the freshmen too much—many just do it along with everything else.

Upperclassmen are different. One would think that they hear “scholarship opportunity” and come running, but, no. Upperclassmen get into a routine and sometimes, to their detriment, think “that’s not for me; that’s for freshmen.” The same thing sometimes happens with taking advantage of the ARC’s free tutoring or joining a new club— upperclassmen forget that they should keep doing that stuff. So, the PAS definitely isn’t just for freshmen, and since upperclassmen don’t apply in as high of numbers as freshmen, the chances of an upperclassmen getting the scholarship goes up. That’s just plain odds!

My final piece of insider advice about the PAS is that the essay matters—and someone will actually read each one! My stance on scholarship essays and personal statement type writing is this: the quality of any given applicant pool can probably be mapped on a bell curve—a few are terrible (not proofread, not organized, generally sloppy), many are mediocre (which could be for various reasons), and a few are spectacular. Do many students get in or get by with mediocre essays? Yep. Does it pay to spend some extra time and effort to make your essay spectacular? You bet it does. Revision is key with any piece of writing with which one has an investment.

The best piece of advice I can give for writing the PAS essay is for students to be honest. Don’t write what you think the essay readers want to hear. Be specific. Be yourself. Give examples. Write an essay that no one else but you could have written. Make an appointment in the Writing Center when you’re brainstorming or when you finish your first draft. There are appointments available on Sunday and Monday!

Parents and families— remind your student about the PAS—they can access the application through their My.Bellarmine account. Since the incentive is financial, you might even have some leverage with them to “strongly encourage” them to apply!

Will you be my recommendation?

Advice for students applying for the Presidential Achievement Scholarship!

The deadline for the Presidential Achievement Scholarship is fast approaching– February 25. One major component of the application are two letters of recommendation– one must be from a Bellarmine professor; the other could be written by a Bellarmine coach, work-study supervisor, or other Bellarmine staff member. Many students (especially first-years)are unsure about approaching professors, so they end up waiting until the last minute. Here are some basic guidelines, from Dr. Sutton, for not only getting a recommendation, but getting one that stands out from the rest!

1. Give the recommender plenty of time to write the recommendation before the due date of February 25. Take into account that some people may be out-of-town and may have other commitments which will prevent them from writing the recommendation immediately. So, give them a couple of weeks notice.
2. Select a professor or staff member who knows you well.  If the person you ask doesn’t know you beyond the grade you earned in the class, provide that professor with a statement about yourself in which you highlight your interests, achievements, involvements, etc.  Give professors assistance in recommending you. Tell them why you are asking them to write on your behalf; if their course is especially important to you, explain why.
3. Ask the professor or staff person personally for a recommendation; don’t rely on email.  Your application for the scholarship is worth the time and effort of a five-minute personal exchange.  If nothing else, approach the professor after class or during office hours.
4. Give the person you’re asking for a recommendation your Bellarmine ID number written down on a piece of paper.
5. Do whatever you need to do to make the writing and submission of the letter as easy as possible for your professors
6. Don’t forget to thank the person for taking the time to write for you.  Most professors devote real time and energy to writing these statements, so thank them for their time and trouble.

They’re (More) Ready Now: New Advisor Day is Thursday

On Tuesday January 22, students on their way to lunch in UDH browsed some available minors at “Minor Mart.” Here Dr. Lopez speaks with interested students about the International Studies Minor.

The annual Bellarmine tradition of “New Advisor Day” happens this week. I want to take a minute to talk about the significance of this event in the academic lives of BU freshmen.

Ever since freshmen got to campus in August, those who “knew” what they wanted to major in, what career they ultimately aspired to, were anxious to get on with meeting an advisor in their major. They come to the ARC and ask: “Who is my advisor? I’m a Theatre major, and I want to talk to someone about Theatre.”

Our standard answer is always: “Your advisor is your Freshman Focus instructor.” Most students seem to like their Focus instructor well enough, but that doesn’t keep them from being visibly disappointed that they haven’t been assigned an advisor in their major. They want to get on with it!

I’ll digress for a minute. Bear with me. The reason Bellarmine doesn’t assign advisors in a student’s major from the beginning is because we’ve learned that students change their minds. What seemed like a great idea for a major as a senior in high school doesn’t always seem like the best plan after one semester testing the college waters—seeing what worked, what didn’t. Often it isn’t even a significant academic set-back that initiates the change of heart and mind. Instead, students get exposed to an exciting possibility they didn’t even knew existed as a high school student.

So, what we don’t want is for students to feel inadequate that they didn’t choose the “right” major from the beginning or guilty for making a connection in one department, only to say “sorry, it’s not you; it’s me.” Instead, the Freshman Focus class and advising program recruits faculty from academic departments and staff across campus. First semester emphasizes transitioning and connecting with Bellarmine without the added pressure to transition into a department. If students wish to seek out someone in their declared major, we encourage them to initiate that contact!

(Back on topic!) However, all this transitioning leads many freshmen— those that have been waiting and those that declare or change a major after first semester— justifiably ready to meet “their” advisor—the one from the department of their declared major. And that’s how New Advisor Day was born. On Thursday during free period in Frazier Hall, freshmen will gather and then separate into their individual majors. This will give them a chance to meet faculty, other freshmen, and an upperclassmen (or two) in that major.

So, ask your student about New Advisor Day! Students’ new advisors will also be listed in their student portal on My.Bellarmine. Also, try to be supportive if your student changes majors—what have you changed your mind about since you were eighteen?