Halloween Decorating
Hosted by: Alumni RA StaffCB Category: Unitas/Veritas
Objective: Teach residents how to create Halloween themed decorations
***Description to come***
Friday, November 22, 2013
CB Spotlight: Week of 10/21/2013
CB Category: Unitas/Veritas
Objective: Teach residents how to create Halloween themed decorations
CB Spotlight: Week of 9/30/2013
Grilling Grilled Cheese
Hosted by: Simpson/O'Dwyer RA Staff
CB Category: VeritasHosted by: Simpson/O'Dwyer RA Staff
Objective: Teach residents how to use the grills on campus to make grilled cheese
***Description to come***
Bulletin Board Winners: October 2013
East Campus
Winner: Dan Wu, Sheehan
Bulletin Board: Don't go Solo!
Main Campus
Winner: Kate Florio, Delurey
Bulletin Board: Check Out Our Pack
South Campus
Winner: Susan Formosa, Stanford
Bulletin Board: What's Brewing?
West Campus
Winner: Shannon Markert, Rudolph
Bulletin Board: Words to Lift You UP
Friday, November 1, 2013
The Woes of Public Speaking
by Shondaray Ducheine, St. Mary's RA
With their eager and intense eyes all on me, my throat suddenly felt dry as I began to conduct my first floor meeting. The words uh and um started to pop up into my speech. Even though I was following an outline, I definitely remember skipping over information. I couldn’t get a handle on their attention. They would constantly start talking and whispering to each other. The ice breaker I had planned went out the window once my nerves began getting the best of me. Honestly, I was a wreck and, just like my residents, wanted this meeting to end. It wasn’t the best meeting I’ve directed, but I learned a lot about myself in that instance.
Having an outgoing personality does not mean I am a public speaker. Mistakenly, I used to think it did. I assumed the common thread between them was being able to put myself out there. Since I could express myself and my opinions very well with people I had met for the first time, it made sense for me to believe I could do the same in a public speaking situation. However, that is not the case. When I’m conversing with another, verbal and non-verbal cues provide feedback on the conversation. I know things are going well when the other is laughing or smiling. Because I’m used to the flow of reactions in conversations, I didn’t know what to make of the silence or at times disturbances of a floor meeting.
It didn’t take me long to realize that public speaking situations like meetings and presentations have mostly non-verbal cues for feedback. Blank stares can be interpreted as people not listening or boredom. Anxious movements indicate the meeting pace needs to pick up. The occasional nod means I’ve got their attention. Once I learned these cues, I had a better handle on communicating publicly. At least I think so if my stellar presentation grades are anything to go by. Just recently, I volunteered at an open house for my Education major. I spoke to a group of students without a single stutter or dry throat. I was shocked and very impressed with myself. Without even meaning to, I have overcome my public speaking issue.
It is fair to say that I would have gotten better with public speaking as I progressed through my academic career. But, being a Resident Assistant has accelerated this development and has provided me with more opportunities to succeed. This position has tremendously enhanced my social, creative, and authoritative skills. As a result, I am more involved on campus with organizations that require me to speak publicly and connect with others. Because of my increased leadership involvement, I know my confidence will continue to develop and solidify itself for my future profession as a Latin and Science teacher.
With their eager and intense eyes all on me, my throat suddenly felt dry as I began to conduct my first floor meeting. The words uh and um started to pop up into my speech. Even though I was following an outline, I definitely remember skipping over information. I couldn’t get a handle on their attention. They would constantly start talking and whispering to each other. The ice breaker I had planned went out the window once my nerves began getting the best of me. Honestly, I was a wreck and, just like my residents, wanted this meeting to end. It wasn’t the best meeting I’ve directed, but I learned a lot about myself in that instance.
Having an outgoing personality does not mean I am a public speaker. Mistakenly, I used to think it did. I assumed the common thread between them was being able to put myself out there. Since I could express myself and my opinions very well with people I had met for the first time, it made sense for me to believe I could do the same in a public speaking situation. However, that is not the case. When I’m conversing with another, verbal and non-verbal cues provide feedback on the conversation. I know things are going well when the other is laughing or smiling. Because I’m used to the flow of reactions in conversations, I didn’t know what to make of the silence or at times disturbances of a floor meeting.
It didn’t take me long to realize that public speaking situations like meetings and presentations have mostly non-verbal cues for feedback. Blank stares can be interpreted as people not listening or boredom. Anxious movements indicate the meeting pace needs to pick up. The occasional nod means I’ve got their attention. Once I learned these cues, I had a better handle on communicating publicly. At least I think so if my stellar presentation grades are anything to go by. Just recently, I volunteered at an open house for my Education major. I spoke to a group of students without a single stutter or dry throat. I was shocked and very impressed with myself. Without even meaning to, I have overcome my public speaking issue.
It is fair to say that I would have gotten better with public speaking as I progressed through my academic career. But, being a Resident Assistant has accelerated this development and has provided me with more opportunities to succeed. This position has tremendously enhanced my social, creative, and authoritative skills. As a result, I am more involved on campus with organizations that require me to speak publicly and connect with others. Because of my increased leadership involvement, I know my confidence will continue to develop and solidify itself for my future profession as a Latin and Science teacher.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
CB Spotlight: Week of 9/23/2013 (Part B)
Sustainability Shopping
Hosted by: Erin Digan, St. MonicaCB Category: Veritas
Objective: Take residents to Target armed with a shopping list of the sustainable options that Target has to offer
Erin said this about preparing for and running this CB,
"I created a shopping list of products that Target has to offer that come from companies that are practicing social responsibility and are sustainable. From this list, I gave each resident a copy and told them that as they did their shopping they should think twice when picking their usual brand if there is an alternative that is sustainable. One of my residents said it was easy to make the switch to the alternative because the products were relatively the same price and she was excited to try something new. It is a easy way to take an ordinary trip to Target and make it a sustainable one!"
Check out Erin's sustainability shopping list to inspire your own CB or to make your Target shopping more sustainable!
CB Spotlight: Week of 9/23/2013 (Part A)
Spies and Lies
Hosted by: Matt Gregory, KatharineCB Category: Veritas
Objective: Discuss the CIA and espionage
Matt said this about planning the CB,
"The 'Spies and Lies' discussion was presented by Noel Dolan who works with the Freshman Learning Communities. The talk was about Espionage and the CIA during the 50s, specifically during an era known as the McCarthy Era. Noel brought in Dr. David M. Barrett, a Villanova University Political Science Professor. The talk was done completely by Dr. Barrett as he gave background of the era and what occurred along with information about the CIA, including common misconceptions. He then finished with a Q&A with the attendees and it ended in little under an hour. My role in this talk was mostly to drum up interest with the residents. Early in RA training we had a dinner with the learning community professors and were able to work out the nitty gritty details regarding where the CB would take place and they left the advertising of the CB to us. There was a signup sheet for the CB in our lobby which included a small description of what the talk was which I felt was very helpful. I found that the best way to get residents interested was to email them about a week in advance and then in the days leading up I used word of mouth to keep the event in their heads. The turnout was much better than expected, about 15-20 residents showed up. The feedback from my residents was that the talk was informative and interesting and that they were glad they attended."
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| Look what RAs can do when they partner with other offices on campus! |
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
CB Spotlight: Week of 9/16/2013
Life Lessons from TED Talks
Hosted by: Joey Reckamp, DelureyCB Category: Veritas
Objective: View TED talks that contain messages about different life lessons
Joey shared the following about planning this CB:
"To prepare for the TED talks event, I had to do some research to gather applicable TED talks from the website (www.ted.com/talks). I have seen many of the TED talks before so it was more about finding ones that I had seen previously and verifying that they were appropriate for a CB. I was mainly looking for the shorter videos that were a bit more fast paced to keep the residents interested as well as ones that had some interesting lessons taught in different ways than they were used to.
After organizing the event, I found that many of the residents were interested in attending the CB, but had various commitments (intramurals, sports practices, rushing events, group projects, etc.) that night. Since I was on duty, I ended up basically just showing videos all night and having people come in when they could to watch them. Some of the good ones definitely changed the residents' perspectives (especially the shoe-tying one) and overall I was given a very good response about the event. I even had a few ask for more videos and the link to the general TED talks website so that they could look up their own videos."
Check out the shoe-tying video that Joey's residents really loved!
Here is a list of the other talks Joey used during his CB.
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