Guess Who’s Back: Spring Semester Kick off

Hey everyone!

Hope you all had a glorious winter break and aren’t too stressed yet with the beginning of a new semester. Spring break is only a month away right? Anyways, I’m glad to be back but there are a couple changes with the blog this semester. Due to ongoing projects and my new schedule, yes I do have a life too, the blog will be updated on Tuesdays rather than Mondays. If you want to see me on Mondays swing by the MUB either 2nd or 3rd floor 11-3 and you can see me in action. This semester SHARPP will be putting up a Consent Wall on the 3rd floor and WE NEED PICTURES!! So if you want your couple minutes in the limelight say a little blurb about consent, and yes examples will be provided if you wanna copycat them, and COME ON DOWN. We’re trying to fill the wall with all your beautiful faces either take one solo or with your partner, think of it as an anniversary/valentine’s day picture if you want. We would love to have so many that we just won’t know what to do with all you guys. So if you’re interested Mondays and Thursdays I will be in the MUB come find me I’m sure you can’t miss me (girl with the camera bag, today in blue moccasins). I hope to see you all there.

Another change is I want to make this blog a little more interactive, I received a recent article from one of my bosses about what to write on this week and it made me think. What if you guys did the same?!?!?! Current events in the news or an event you saw on campus you want to ask about, Anything! I want to see what you guys want to hear, typing articles for myself is only so much fun. So try your hand out at a comment on the page leave your name or don’t either way try to get the word out!! I want to hear what you guys have to say agreeing or disagreeing. I’m an open book so I invite you guys to add to the pages.

Now my message for you all today is pretty simple. Get Involved. Yesterday I took part in the MLK Spiritual Celebration and hearing the music and the readings of other students and members of the community really showed me how important it is to give back and be a part of your environment. We are all lucky to be a part of UNH and for those of you reading this who aren’t you can learn how to get involved in your own community. Go to an event you wouldn’t typically attend, talk to someone you want to get to know, go to a food drive, drop off clothes at Salvation Army. The pearl of wisdom I received yesterday from this celebration was one I know we have all heard but don’t think about often, and that is to Love and spread that Love. I’m not a very spiritual person but by attending this event I realized I didn’t need to be. You are who you are and to grow as a human being we all need love and interaction. So go try something new this semester and see if you can give back in whatever capacity you can, big gestures are unnecessary just do what you can to be truly present in this community. Below I listed the events for the MLK events happening around campus and I know there are other events going on as well, so look into something new and get involved.

MLK Forum: Public and Private Schools:What’s Working . . .What’s Not

Wednesday, January 30, 4:00 – 5:30 PM

Memorial Union Building, Strafford Room

Commemorative speaker Rob Dixon and visiting professor Winston Thompson join community leaders to ask what freedoms and responsibilities serve us best as we strive toward the building of MLK’s beloved community. What do we need to know about education underserving some of us? How are some initiatives working? How are other, well-intentioned programs not achieving their goals? What are the personal impacts of poorly performing schools? How are after-school programs working? How do we continue to build community in our educational institutions?

MLK Commemorative Address : Are You Making Your Mark?

Tuesday, January 29, 7:00 – 8:30 PM 

Johnson Theatre, Paul Creative Arts Center

Reception to follow at PCAC

Rob Dixon will speak about his transformative work in Boston and how he believes everyone can carry out the legacy of Dr. King. Dixon, a record-setting UNH basketball player and former professional athlete, became an educator and community activist following his graduation from UNH in 1983. He organized the Boston area establishment of the non-profit Project RISE (Respect, Integrity, and Success through Education), which has the impressive record of a 96% high school graduation rate. His program asks students to focus on their life experiences and to consider how they may be leaders in a world of challenging realities. A nationally recognized youth advocate, Dixon was named an “All-Star Among Us” by People magazine for his commitment to bettering the lives of children. Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton, GHW Bush, and Carter celebrated Dixon’s work at the 2009 MLB All-Star Game.

Taking Action: Change as a Calling – UNH Inspires

A Campus Activism Fair
Tuesday, February 5
12:45-2:00pm
MUB, Strafford Room

PUTTING YOUR COMMITMENTS INTO PRACTICE: WHAT CALLS YOU TO CREATE CHANGE?

Hear UNH students talk about their favorite service orgs and how they got involved. Join UNH’s outstanding social justice activists in roundtable discussions on how the work sustains them as individuals and their surrounding communities.

          This student-centered conversation will feature local service opportunities that can build both professional and personal skills.  Come see how your life and career paths can change when you do life-changing work with others!

ALSO tune in to the Vagina Monologues coming in March!

Sorry I have a date with myself. Raincheck?

In the aftermath of midterms and the reality of what has happened on campus I feel that this week we should talk about self care. I know that I have had a hectic past couple of weeks and this upcoming one is not looking any easier. How do I handle it all, school, work and a social life but still have time to write on here cheerfully every Monday morning? The answer is simple; I am a pro at self care.

For those of you who don’t know the term self care, you are unfortunately one of the many who are probably not practicing it. How I like to define it is pretty literal.

Self care: practices and/or activities you do for yourself to care for your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.

Essentially self care practices can be any type of activity that de-stresses you after a hard day or week you had. I’ll point out now that partying on the weekend does not count as self care because you are using a substance to handle your emotions. While I know it is common for people to “drink their feelings” or think on that Thursday or Friday “I need a drink” or “I can’t wait to black out.” The appeal is understandable as most people use alcohol as an outlet to deal with or conceal their problems. The problem with this however is that alcohol being a depressant does not help these stress and emotional levels it only brings you lower or in worst cases gets you arrested, gives you a hangover or puts you in the hospital with alcohol poisoning because of excessive drinking. So, I suggest instead of claiming alcohol as your savior at the end of the week that you should think about something you really enjoy doing. It could be watching junk TV, playing/watching sports, going for a run, crafting, painting, or getting your favorite coffee/cup of hot chocolate, curling up and watching Hocus Pocus to get in the Halloween spirit (which for those of you who love that movie, aka EVERYONE, it’s on this Tuesday night…just saying).

The best part about self care is that it truly has no rules, you do what makes you happy with yourself focusing on a healthy habit you enjoy that will relieve you and really take care of your problems even just for a little while. The minimal time I suggest you take is 15 minutes because in all honesty while we are all busy we have 15 minutes to spare to curl up with a book, make some tea, paint your nails, go on a quick walk, call home, etc. I’ll be honest in admitting I love my self care time and many of my friends know this about me. Monday nights you can most likely guarantee that I will have spent a minimum of 2 total hours watching junky TV shows on TLC or Bravo (yes I know can’t help it) while I do some writing or reading or sleeping. The thing about it is that when I’m done I feel rested, even if I don’t nap, because I feel great about myself and I know that no matter how stressed I feel that I will handle it and it will all work out in the end. Yes I know this sounds presumptuous but trust me self care has literally saved my life. I won’t say I am a saint and health guru because I truly am not however, most of my friends know that when it comes time for a test or paper while I will complain about doing it I am hardly ever truly stressed about the outcome. What self care does for me in those situations is let me know that this paper or exam isn’t the end of the world and that at the end of the day it is more important to know I feel happy and satisfied with my life than worry about a paper or a Midterm I won’t remember in 5 years.

This week is a perfect time to focus on just 15 minutes of self care a day. Think about your Halloween costume if you haven’t already, take that time and try on funky clothes in your room, or search the internet for the most original costume idea on campus, watch your favorite Halloween movie. I can tell you I will basically be Disney themed all weekend and I can’t wait to finish my costume for my favorite princess (not telling). So that’s what I’ll be doing with my 15 minutes every day this week if not more. And if all this doesn’t help you my professor last week gave my class some words of wisdom last week to try and ease our anxiety about the upcoming paper to be due telling my class “Guys don’t worry C’s get Degrees right?” … Yeah it didn’t calm us either half of the class hyperventilated over getting a C but it did make us laugh, so remember to do that. Take a deep breath it’s almost Halloween after this week we can all laugh and have some fun because isn’t that what life is truly about? I think so. See you next week!

images from google images search. definition of self care based from SHARPP advocate manual.