Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Welcome Back Lab Rats!

Is it spring yet?


Welcome back Lab Rats! Don't you feel like the fall semester went by quickly? I sure do. Even now I can't believe we're already in the middle of February and only about a month away from Spring Break!

Last semester was great getting to know you all and enjoying the times we had together; movie nights in the lounge, dancin' it up at West Tower's Halloween dance party, de-stressing with tea and hot chocolate, and our end of the semester gift exchange and party (including like 2 hours of playing Cards Against Humanity)!

Let's keep that energy going into second semester and pull off a good end to the academic year! Even if you felt like fall semester didn't go as well as you had hoped it would, spring semester is giving you a new start. You have the ability to change your habits, whether it be studying more and going out with friends less, or even something as simple as getting more sleep! There's never a bad time to make a change in your life. Take it from the inspirational picture below; you can always become a better you!


For this month's event, we'll be heading over to the Physic's building (again) to try and see a Planetarium show. Last semester when we tried, it was sold out by the time we got there. Lesson learned: we'll be leaving a little earlier so we can make sure that doesn't happen again.

So, Lab Rats, let's continue to do work and definitely have fun along the way! I'm excited to see the things we do this upcoming spring semester!




Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Meet Parker-Business Panthers LLC

Hey everyone! I hope you all are ready for another semester! My name is Parker Macareno and I will be the mentor for the Business Panthers LLC. I was born right here in Milwaukee. I lived about 6 blocks from campus most of my life. I am a senior finishing up this December with an undergrad in Human Resources Management and a minor in Economics. I am a transfer student from UW-Madison, so this will be my second year here at UWM. The Business Panther LLC consists of students pursuing an interest in a Bachelors of Business Administration. The Business Panther LLC is the largest of all the Living Learning Communities and I am very excited to be apart of this. We have many events planned this semester and I hope that everyone takes advantage of what we have to offer. Lets finish this semester strong!

Monday, February 17, 2014

Amazing Race Milwaukee Winter Style



Residents will be able to race against the clock and  take pictures with popular landmarks in Milwaukee
Take a picture with "The Calling" and make it your Facebook profile!

Experience the Red Phone Booth on Milwaukee's Riverwalk

Give all thumbs up with Bronze Fonz
Meet and greet Gurtie the duck 
This is just a taste of this awesome Milwaukee experience , there is much more to come!!!!
Saturday March 1st @ 1:30pm
Amazing Race Milwaukee
Be there or wish that you were!!!!!


Meet New Business LLC RA, Colleen!

Hi Business Panthers! I'm one of your new RAs, Colleen.
(I'm on the left with Business LLC RA Nishant in the middle and 
Journalism LLC RA Katie on the right) 
I'm a senior at UWM majoring in Political Science and Sociology with a law studies focus and honors. Although I am not a business student, my summer job is as a manager at Saz's Festivals. Working as a manager has given me some experience in the business world by doing things like: hiring employees, handling tax paperwork, and scheduling. 
I'm from Milwaukee and attended DSHA for high school. I love the city and am a great resource if you are looking for good restaurants or things to do. My job at festivals also allows me to attend all the great festivals in the summer, so if you are looking for events in the summer let me know! 
I used to be an RA on the 16th floor, but moved down to 570 at semester. Stop in and say hi! I'm super involved in student organizations on campus, so if you are interested in joining or starting a student organization you can ask me about the process. 
I look forward to meeting you! 

Thursday, February 13, 2014

February Game Night


         



Hey this is the Global Village LLC.  We just had our first event, which was our monthly game night.  We didn't really play any games but had some good conversation.  One of our stakeholders, Veronica, was able to come.  It was a lot of fun and a good way to get to know the residents that do show up.  It attracted some of our residents that were walking past the kitchen on our floor too.  Even though we didn't play games and it wasn't very successful, it was a good way to kick off the beginning of the semester because our game nights are open events for people to just stop on by.

Study Hard, Play Hard-Welcome Back Honors House!

To the readers of this blog,

We are back! It's been a couple of weeks since Spring semester began and the semester couldn't be busier. What with all the concerts, valentine's day plans, back-to-school socials, study sessions and floor dinner dates this semester is off to a great start!
UWM Winter Basketball game
I am really excited for this semester in all honesty. Last semester was great, but this semester is going to be great! I have a bunch of ideas for events and I plan on getting my residents outside to enjoy all that UWM and Milwaukee has to offer!
Getting ready for the photo booth at the UWM Basketball Game
Before we do that though, my plan is to focus on academics. "Study hard, play hard" is the "self-proclaimed motto for this semester. Every Monday this semester from 7-9pm I am holding "study sessions" - residents can do homework, ask for help, or just sit and read with their RA who, let's be real, needs to get her homework done too.

For Valentine's Day we are having "Hot and Cold" themed events. On the 13th the floor and I will be decorating cookies and cards - cookies for us and cards for those serving in the military - and on the 16th we will be making hand-warmers before we go ice skating!
Pokemon movie hang-out in the lounge
 Like I said, I am excited for this semester. I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures so tune in next time!!

Until then..."study hard, play hard"


RA Hannah (RA-nnah)

Welcome Back Social Welfare LLC

Social Welfare LLC! Are you all ready for another great semester!? We were given so many great opportunities last semester and the opportunities continue!

This semester we will be able to visit the Milwaukee House of Corrections. The staff is excited to take us on a tour of their faculties and so are many of you. We will also be taking part in the Relay for Life event that is taking part on campus. Another event that is on the horizon is visiting the city of Chicago as part of a school wide LLC trip. I can't wait for another semester with the Social Welfare LLC.


Also if you did not get the chance to see it in the student union theater, I highly recommend that you join the Student Social Work Association in watching 'Fruitville Station'. Criminal Justice majors are welcome too. 


Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Cuing the New Semester

Last semester, the Music Community had a blast and we're looking forward to bringing in the new year with exciting events.

The LLC is buzzing about our upcoming trip to Chicago. Although our destination is undecided as of right now, Chicago is thriving with different music experiences including the Art Institute, and shows such as the Blue Man Group, and Million Dollar Quartet.

Also this semester, there will be many opportunities for our community to get out there and support the music department through attending performances. Besides recitals, there are large ensemble performances, opera, jazz, and so much more. One of our larger events in April will be the Swing Dance, an event that helps raise money for the PSOA scholarship fund.

This month, our LLC will be having a combined event with the Dance community. We are having a leisurely game of Just Dance and a little bit of karaoke on top of that. The event is in the process of planning, but we will post details to our Facebook page soon!


Monday, February 10, 2014

Welcome Back Communication and Conflict LLC!

First off welcome back! This semester the Communication and Conflict LLC is going to be pairing up with other LLC heads Shayla Jackson her colleagues to take part in the amazing race through Milwaukee. Students will have the chance to navigate through Milwaukee and go around and take pictures with iconic buildings throughout the community and learn a little more about the beautiful city they are attending school in. I am very excited to be apart of this and bring this experience to my LLC.


This is one of the possible attractions that students can go and see first hand.

Meet Scarlett-New CQ RA!

Hello! My name is Scarlett Young and I am the new RA of 7 North in RiverView! I have gotten the awesome opportunity to run The CQ LLC and am super excited for the awesome opportunities for my residents this coming semester! 

Now a couple things about me: 
I am from Shawano, WI. 
I am a sophomore studying Biochemistry.
I am a Pre-Dental student that loves chemistry and teeth!
I am very active in many student organizations around UWM!
I love goats, cats, chocolate, and helping people.
This is my first experience with any LLC, but I have heard many great things about them!

Already this semester has been very interesting! We started off with the great flood of RiverView, which impacted every floor except 7. I was moved from the 5 South floor of RiverView to the lovely 7 North. It has been amazing getting to know all of my new residents and everyone has been super nice!

At the first floor meeting I handed out little goody bags for the residents full of candy, a pencil, and a little message to each of my residents wishing them luck with their semester! 

On February 1st, the other 7th floor RA of RiverView, and I had planned a Winter Onesie Party! We both wanted our sides of the floors to get to know eachother and to have a fun event in the residence hall in this chilly weather! We watched Identity Thief and told funny stories! Amandla and I both got to know our residents more and a great time was had by all!

This upcoming Wednesday on February 12th is the Exploring Majors Fair, and I have made an event for my LLC and the rest of my residents to participate and check out this amazing opportunity! Because everyone's schedules are completely different, I hung up posters and have been telling the residents to check out the Exploring Majors Fair and to either take a picture of them at the event, grab some brochures or information, or some type of evidence for them to receive a sweet surprise! 

Something that I am looking forward to for this upcoming semester is a service project. A lot of the residents had shown a lot of interest in wanting to have more volunteer experiences and I want to find out many unique service projects that we can help with around here in Milwaukee!

I am super excited for what this semester will bring!


Welcome Back Transfer LLC

Are you uncertain about what major to choose? Have you chosen a major but are unsure? Are you interested in adding another major or possibly a minor?


If any of the above statements seem to fit YOU, tune in for this important announcement!


UWM's Exploring Majors Fair is happening On Wednesday February 12th from 11:00AM to 4:00PM in the Union Ballroom


Representatives from all UWM undergraduate academic programs, as well as staff from the Career Development Center, will be available to answer any questions. This interactive fair will give you the opportunity to learn about the majors, minors, and certificates at UWM and provide you with the next steps for choosing your major and planning for your career.




This is just one of the events the Transfer LLC is attending this month and it is a great opportunity for the Transfer LLC. Many of the Transfer LLC students are considering switching majors or have still not declared a major...so there is no better way to help them explore the options UWM has than to attend the Majors fair! I'm excited to attend this event with the transfer LLC in hopes of helping them find a major that sparks their interests, or gives them ideas for majors they may have never thought of before. 





Welcome Back Wisconsin Covenant!

Hello LLCers. I hope you are all rested and ready for a new semester after the Holiday break. I hope everyone can hit the ground running and achieve great things this semester in their academics and on campus involvement.

The first event that we will be kicking off the Spring semester is a little different than anything we have done so far. We are going to have an amazing race challenge. Now that everyone has had a semester to see the city of Milwaukee, or if you have been looking for a chance to get out and explore, we are going to have a race to see who can see the most of Milwaukee's famous places on a Saturday afternoon. We will be racing against the Leadership LLC to see who can rack up the most points. Everyone will have a map, a list of places, and a certain amount of time to get to each. Each team will have to take a picture of themselves in front of the place on the map to get points. Whoever has been to the most places in the given amount of time will be the victors. 

I hope everyone can make it out to the event so we can all explore the city together. 

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Welcome to the Arch LLC Family, Chaz!

This is my face
Hey everyone, my name is Chaz Schwandt, and I am from Nekoosa, WI. It’s a very small town with only about 2,000 people, so being here in Milwaukee has definitely been a new experience for me. I am currently a sophomore studying Math Education with a minor in Architecture and am mentoring the LLC for Architecture 190 this semester.
Being an Architecture student has been one of the most eye-opening experiences so far in my life -- from the time commitment to the handful of amazing friends who I have made in studio 1st semester sophomore year. They say the friends you make in college will be your friends through life; well that same thing applies here, if not more. The people in your studio section will become your closest friends, probably because you spend every waking moment with them. So far from my times in my first and second year with the Architecture LLC, I can say that they are pretty close to a family. They all seem so connected and hang out all the time helping each other with whatever architecture related topic. That is my experience so far, and I am proud to be associated with the Architecture group.
One of my favorite architects would have to be Le Corbusier. His architecture is so grid planned with some random design movements that break the grid to stick out. My design strategies are similar to Corbusier’s, and I think that is an incredible achievement for myself. If you have the time, I recommend checking him out!

Welcome Back from the Innovation LLC

Hello everyone and welcome back!

We're looking forward to the coming semester and all the events we have planned for it.  This month we'll be kicking off board game nights, which there was a lot of interest for at the start of the semester.  The first one will be on Thursday, February 20th, at 7:30pm in the Innovation House lounge, and we will be providing snacks.  If as many people show up as showed interest we will likely make this a reoccurring event.

Other exciting events we have planned for this semester is a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry down in Chicago, a community service project with Habitat for Humanity, a trip to Discovery World, a visit from the UWM Chancellor, and by popular request: a Video Game Olympics (similar to the Engineering Olympics we had in fall).

We're excited to see all these events and more in our LLC this semester and can't wait to report on how they go.

Resident Assistant Calvin Berceau and Resident Assistant Cody Crotty

Welcome Back Social Justice LLC!

Welcome back Social Justice, Diversity, and Pride LLC! Let me reintroduce myself to new readers. My name is Anna Crow and I am the Resident Assistant for the LLC, I am a Engagement and Education major and am minoring in General Business.

I am so excited for this semester in the LLC! Highlights for this semester include the Chicago trip and in the month of February, hosting a discussion guest for The Color Purple. The Sandburg in Residence Hall movie theater will be showing The Color Purple on February 20th. This event will be an all housing accessible event to hold an event around Black History Month. Following the movie will be refreshments and a discussion facilitate by an academic guest.

More details about the Chicago trip to follow!

In spirit of the New Year, try something out you have always wanted to! New challenges help us grow!




Friday, February 7, 2014

Meet School of Rock LLC RA Isaac

Hello! My name is Isaac Wallander and I am the Resident Assistant for the School of Rock LLC in Cambridge Commons! Everyone in the LLC loves to have fun and its awesome to see everyone form bonds through music, whether it be improv, jazz, or classical.

Plans for this upcoming semester include attending concerts, making some music of our own, and possibly seeing Blue Man Group perform live in Chicago! We also like to do random fun activities like sit out in the lounge while passing around a couple of guitars or a saxophone and simply jam. When it gets warmer outside, we plan to have regular drum circles on Cambridge's patio.


Welcome Back!



Welcome back everyone!  The ASL-LLC is looking forward to great things this semester.  We have our annual event for University Housing where we will teach basic signs and play Deaf games will all attendees.  We are also planning a field trip to Chicago where we are hoping to see a play!  We are also planning another volunteer trip to Water Tower View to volunteer with the Deaf residents there.






Our February event will be a game night.  We will be playing games that challenge students to use gestures and no signs.  We will also be playing a signing version of the game “Who Am I?”  This will allow students to practice their signing skills!  We will be having this game night in our community lounge on Tuesday, February 11.  Hope to see you all there! 

Welcome Back, Superheroes!




It's back to school for the 

UWM Superhero LLC! 

Spring semester will be packed with adventure.  In April, the LLC has the opportunity to take a trip to Chicago.  RA Danielle and the LLC residents are currently discussing which activity to do in the windy city.  

There is no LLC course this semester, so most of the interaction among residents will take place in floor events.  The events' focus will remain on leadership, personal strengths and goal setting.

Any questions or suggestions for the Superhero LLC can be directed to RA Danielle at ddstobb@uwm.edu 

Happy spring semester, everyone!

Greetings from the New 4th Floor Business LLC RA!


Salutations! My name is Patrick Porwoll. As the title states, I am the RA for 4th floor, one of the four floors that makes up UWM's Business LLC. I am from Racine, WI, from where I commuted the roughly hour long trip last semester. I am a first year graduate student working for my licensure and Masters in English Education.  I received my undergrad in English at UW-Madison and studied abroad in London while there.

While I have little experience personally with business, I think the Business LLC is a pretty fantastic place for a resident with any interest in business or a related field. There is a diverse group of students who share a similar interest all living and going through classes together. The current LLC is very close and hangs out a lot in the lounge. There are many events that the LLC does that are business related as well. Last semester they learned about small businesses while visiting a cupcake shop, learned about team management and played a basketball video game, and will be attending an upcoming Bucks game.

Film LLC...Meet Spencer!

Meet the RA for the Film Living Learning Community

Hello there! My name is Spencer Ortega and I am the Resident Assistant for the Film Living Learning Community. So far this year has been a blast! The Film LLC is full of fun, energetic, aspiring filmmakers. It has really been neat being a part of their first year here at UWM and watching them grow as filmmakers. The ability to collaborate with many people who share a similar passion is one of the greatest benefits of living in the Film LLC. I am excited to see what the future has in store for these filmmakers and I will do whatever I can to help them along the way as much possible.

If you wish to see highlights from the Fall Semester in great detail, check out the Film LLC Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/UWM-Film-LLC/185461981493365

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Falln' into Place

This Fall semester the Art and Design LLC came together inside and outside of the classroom. We collaborated with the Milwaukee community and our own UWM campus as well and formed lasting friendships. It things keep up this way, Spring is gonna be another semester to remember.



We created a project called A&DLLCLOVE where students made art letters (the front had a work of art, the back asked the viewer to reflect on family and friends) and hid them throughout campus for others to find. We asked the finders to upload a picture of themselves and the art letter to our Facebook page. 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ADLLCLove/439989159440519



Art letter made by Shelby Degroote 

Trina is proud of her hiding spot for art letter

Hidden art letter in the union!

We also started a collaborative project with the Maryland school in Milwaukee. 3D and 2D Students met and interacted with the Maryland students and recreated portraits of them to create a large mural combining painting and wood carvings. It will be installed this Spring at the school.
3D student wood carvings

2D student paintings

Welcome Back/Event: Exploring Majors Fair



Exploring Majors Fair

The Exploring Majors Fair will be held in the Union Ballroom on Wednesday, February 12th. This program is supported by the Advisors and Counselors Network and is funded by the Divisions of Academic and Student Affairs. At this event, students will be able to explore the endless major possibilities that the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee offers. Students who are undecided, who have selected a major but are unsure of their dedication to this field, and those interested in adding a major, minor, or certificate are encouraged to attend this event. I personally will be taking a group of my residents to this event who have expressed interest in adding a minor or certificate to their degree as well as students who are currently undecided. This event provides an opportunity for students to network with advisors and other professionals within their desired career field. Finally their will be opportunities to win prizes such as $100 to the UWM Bookstore. 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Spring Awakening





This semester the Art and Design LLC's first event will be a trip to Milwaukee's Jewish Art Museum to see the Andy Warhol exhibit. Andy Warhol was an incredibly influential part of the POP ART movement in America and forever changed the art world. His focus on pop culture, mass media, celebrities and bright color have inspired a wave of later artists to follow in his footsteps. It'll be a great way to start off the semester with a bang! Stay tuned for later blogs with photos!





From your mentor Claire:

This spring semester for the Art and Design LLC I am looking forward to the many experiences to come. Being involved in the class room is one of my favorite aspects, I get to see the progress of the students over the semester. Also, seeing how each project evolves is an amazing process. I am just overall excited about the time spent with the students and instructors.

Last semester students in the Art and Design LLC in both the 2D and 3D class created their final project for the Maryland Avenue Montessori School. The students combined portraits from the 7th and 8th graders to create a piece about identity and portraiture. With this piece they created an instillation of 2D and 3D materials. The 2D class developed their painting and color mixing skills creating an 18in x 18in portion of a portrait. The 3D class took this same approach but with wood-working using shapes, textures, stains, scraps, etc. to create the portion they were given. This piece is planned to become installed this spring semester to create a beautiful wall instillation.