Done with Undergrad... Now What!!!???

So, I am officially a graduate from Grand Valley State University as of about 2 weeks ago. It was a blur of excitement the day of graduation. I graduated in the afternoon with about 1,000 other students in VanAndel arena in downtown Grand Rapids. It was pretty surreal. I felt as if I shouldn't have been graduating!! Its too soon! It seems like yesterday I was moving into my freshman living center! The ceremony for graduation was awesome and they made all of us graduates feel very important. We individually walked across the stage with our name being called as we did so. I was fortunate to find a group of my friends to sit with at graduation among the thousands which made the ceremony that much more special. After the ceremony I ended up celebrating with my family and friends.

The day after graduation, life was back to normal! I didn't feel any different now having a bachelor's degree and all. Now the excitement is wearing off and a lot of my friends that I graduated with are looking for jobs and moving away. I am slowly finding it is quite the bittersweet time. As we are all moving on and starting our careers and lives, we have to leave Grand Valley and everything we have grown to love these past 4 years... I do not want to say goodbye to my friends!

I rest a little easier knowing I will be back to GVSU in the fall as a graduate student. I was accepted into the Occupational Therapy program so I will begin that in September. It is very exciting and still very intimidating! We shall see what the fall brings!

For now, I am working in admissions giving tours this summer while also doing an internship at the American Diabetes Association in Grand Rapids, MI. It has been really busy thus far but I am doing my best to soak up the sun and all of the fun that summer has to offer!

If you have any questions at all or anything you are wondering about - PLEASE do not hesitate to ask!!!

Hope everyone is doing well!!

-Leslie

Spring Semester

It’s been about a week since I last wrote anything here, and things have changed quite a bit since then. Spring Semester started this Monday, so life has returned to the campus in a manner of speaking. Students are in the commons areas, walking to and from class, using the buses, so on and so on and so forth.

This is probably a decent time to talk about Spring/Summer Semesters, seeing as they’re actually happening. Both periods are accelerated semesters, so the classes take place over a six week period. There are exceptions, but usually the classes are held twice a week for between two and three hours at a time. It’s a great way to take care of just about any class, but students tend to use them to take care of a lot of base requirements. I took “legal environment of business” (BUS 201) last year during spring and it worked out pretty well. I’m not taking any Spring/Summer classes this year, since I wanted to look around for a second summer job, which, by the way, has been pretty successful (if by “successful” you mean “a total failure”). All in all, though, Spring/Summer classes are pretty nice, because it’s generally a more enjoyable and less frostbite ridden experience to go to the beach after class than it is during Winter Semester. As an added bonus, the buses are still up and running, so my gas bill is considerably lower than one would expect.

That’s all I have to say about that. As a quick note to anyone who will be coming by for a tour soon, I thought it might be a good idea to suggest that you remember to ask a lot of questions. I had a great tour today with a family that had a lot of good, relevant questions, which made the tour more fun for me and more informative for them. Or don't, but realize that I won't be singing and dancing to fill the awkward silences.

-Kyle

First Post and Refresher

Hello everyone, this is my first post to the GVSU blog, my name’s Kyle. Just since it’s been a little while since the last post from anyone, I figured I’d go over how things tend to work as a refresher (mostly, though, it’s just to walk myself through the process).

A couple other admissions employees and I occasionally write here on the day to day life and student activity here at Grand Valley State University. Check back here if you want to hear about special events, upcoming calendar activities, or just general comings and goings. As a reader, you can submit any questions you have for us in the comments for each blog post, and they will generally be answered in the comment section under which they were posted or in the next blog entry. If you’re reading this, I think I can presume that you already know how to find our blog, but just in case you happened across it some other way, you can get back here by going to the GVSU website, clicking on Admissions, then Undergraduate Admissions, and just follow the links from there. I’ll try to keep talk on my personal life or activities outside of GVSU events to a minimum; unless nothing’s going on, I’m pretty sure that nobody cares to hear what the cute girl in my accounting class thinks of me (just for the record, though, she thinks I’m a nice guy).

That being said, we’re in the week between semesters, and nothing’s going on. While the campus is normally pretty active, even when class isn’t in session, this is one of the few times a year when it is a legitimate ghost town. After about a year of almost nonstop activity around here, it's kind of unnerving to see the campus be so quiet. On the bright side, class for the Spring Semester starts on Monday, so activity will bounce back up shortly.

With nothing else to write about today, I figure I’ll just mention to any of our High School readers who are just finishing up Junior year that you can apply for admission to GVSU as soon as you finish Junior year. Bear in mind, though, that the counselors won’t start looking at applications until after Labor Day, so it will be a little while before you get news back.

Well, thanks for reading, and don’t forget to post any questions,

-Kyle

Crunch Time

Its pretty much like I am running a marathon right now and I am at the end of the race. I really really really want to sprint just to get to the end!! But, I know that these are some of the last weeks I will have as an undergraduate before I hit the real world so I am trying to slow down a bit!

I am continuing with a group of my classmates to produce Grand Valley's first indoor triathlon like I had stated in an earlier blog. It is less than a month away and all the last minute details are being taken care of these last couple weeks. We are in the process of finding vendors and getting donations and prizes set up for winners. It should be a really cool and rewarding event in the end. It has taken lots of hard work from all of my fellow classmates that are planning it, along with all the participants that have been training for the race. Lots of press has been generated from this being the first thing of the sort at Grand Valley. We are all really excited to see how it turns out.

Classes are still really enjoyable! I am starting to see that things I had learned in past classes are being put to good use in the later, upper level classes I am taking now. But, with the end of the year comes end of the year projects... therefore, this makes my life pretty hectic right now! End of the year group projects, papers, and portfolios are on the 'To-Do' list for the rest of the year.

I am still waiting to see if I get into Occupational Therapy Graduate school at this point. Whether or not I get in will affect a lot in my life including where I live and if I need to find a job!

A lot of big things will be happening these last few weeks of school!! Keep checking up on the blog to find out how everything pans out!!!

-Leslie

March Madness!

Hey,

I can't believe another month has gone by and we are looking at April already! Graduation is just about a month away! My student teaching experience at Kenowa Hills, a local high school, is almost coming to a close, and I am not looking forward to leaving. It has been a fun, stressful, tiring, but ultimately rewarding experience. I guess that is what life as a teacher is all about. I am looking forward to getting my first permanent teacher job as soon as possible. With that said, orienation is kicking into high gear as we approach May. It is certainly bound to be another fun summer! I can't wait.

As far as life at Grand Valley goes, things are going well. Many professors are giving their last exams shortly before they gear up for finals. So it is like that calm before the storm time. Most students are going to be getting busy in the coming weeks! It's a very nice time of year in terms of the weather though! The sun has been out just about every day this week and temperatures are getting back up into the 50's, so that is always welcome!

Thanks again for looking at Grand Valley, and don't hesitate to send us any of your questions.

Until next time,
Eric

Back from Spring Break with 6 weeks to go...

Its the first Monday back from Spring Break. Surprisingly, I was looking forward to getting back to classes! There is only 6 weeks left until graduation so now it is just a push until the end!

For Spring Break, I went to Arizona with a few friends and got to see the Red Rocks and Grand Canyon... something I have always wanted to do. We hiked and did all the tourist things in each one of the cities. It was a pretty good time!

Now that we are back, I have been talking to my friends and have found that alot of them had pretty good spring breaks as well. Lots of people I had talked to went to the warm, sunny destinations like Florida and California while a good portion decided to do something called Alternative Spring Break. It is where you go with a group of people and do community service in another state for a week. Grand Valley has programs that send students all throughout the United States for Alternative Breaks. I have done two alternative breaks in the past and met some wonderful friends on the trips and had some wonderful experiences too.

Hope this finds everyone in good spirits! Feel free to ask any questions!!!

-Leslie

It's February already?!

Wow, this winter semester is flying by. I cannot remember the last time I felt the year was going by so fast WHILE it was happening. Maybe it is the fact that this is my last semester at Grand Valley as an undergrad? Definitely a bittersweet feeling. The weather seems to be getting warmer, which is making the walks across campus more inviting. I have taken over my ninth grade classroom full time now, and am loving it. It is definitely an intense work load and can be tiring, but my kids are very nice, and the staff at Kenowa has been extremely helpful. Other than that, I have been keeping busy lesson planning and trying to meet up with friends in any down time I have. Like Leslie mentioned, the President's Ball is coming up soon and should be a fun time!

As far as paid work goes, freshman orientation is in full swing and although I am not in the office on a daily basis to help out like I would like to be, it is going smoothly, and the new recruits have been hard at work. If you have any questions about freshman orientation, the admissions process, my specialty areas of biology, chemisty, and education, or any other academic programs, or just want to know some random Grand Valley facts and statistics, post away! We are always looking forward to new responses.

Take care,
Eric