Monday, December 18, 2017

Architecture: Gingerbread building and final reviews

The members of the LLC are in full gear as the end of the semester is approaching. There are finishing up some final projects and are getting ready to start studying for their exams. We have a fun event coming up. For the second year in a row the Architecture Sustainability LLC will be hosting the Gingerbread Building Competition. Residents will use a variety of snacks to construct any kind of building they would like. Then they will be presenting their masterpieces to a panel of esteemed judges. The judges will critique the work after it is presented to them and select the top three. The top three designs will receive architectural prizes. Last year this event had very high attendance and we are expecting high attendance this year as well.
In Emmy's section of the LLC, students are currently preparing for their final review. Their final project consists of creating an elderly community on a local Milwaukee site. Students are responsible for placing each component on the site as well as adjusting the topography to ensure that everything on their site complies with ADA standards. The students will present their work next Monday via technical plan and section drawings as well as diagrams and a verbal presentation. Overall, I am very impressed with how the students have progressed over the course of the semester and look forward to seeing their final projects.
In J.P.’s section of the LLC, students are completing their final projects which they have been working on over the course of the semester. Since their last review, the students have been coming up with ways they can take their current models and destroy them – but find a way to reconstruct them architecturally.

Honors 2: Getting out and destressing

The Honors 2 LLC has been having a fantastic semester so far! Since the last post, the floor has had many events that have gotten everyone more involved, especially with the Honors College.


To start off the fall, the residents went over to an apple orchard for an event and got to pick their very own apples and go on a hayride! Later, they made apple pies! We also played Identity BINGO on the floor. This was a great opportunity for the residents to learn about themselves while also learning about each other in a comfortable environment, all while enjoying some candy!


Another event was going to see the Honors College’s production of “Art.” This play featured Honors College students, including one resident from the Honors 2 floor, and was also directed by a resident from the Honors 2 floor. This is just one of the opportunities that the Honors College offers. We had a great time going as a group to support each other while also seeing an amazing show at the Honors College!


To finish off the semester of events, we went bowling at the UREC center right here on campus! This was a great way to destress before finals. This event was held with the Honors 1 LLC, so the two groups got to hang out and talk about their Honors classes over a couple rounds of bowling.


The past couple of weeks have been filled with study nights in the lounge. What’s great about the Honors College and the Honors 2 LLC is that the classes are very small, so there is a good chance that a friend or two from the floor will be in the same class as you. The floor common area is also a great spot to watch a movie with friends in between studying. After picking classes together, everyone is looking forward to the new semester!

Panther Military: Humvees and Laser Technology

The Panther Military Learning Living Community has continued to be a small but great LLC to be a part of. Working with the National Guard here at UWM we have been able to put on awesome events that no other LLC could put on. In the mouth of October, we will able to put on a military Humvee driving test where the residents were able to drive a National Guard Humvee along their driving course. This was completed after a muddy couple of days and even though we had half of the LLC members go, they had an awesome time getting muddy and knocking down small trees with a Humvee. In the month of December, the LLC planned a training simulation with National Guard laser technology. Working closely with Sergeant First Class James Neville, we were able to allow residents to use realistic firing laser technology and have and awesome time learning different military skills. Residents could learn how to clear rooms, attack defending opposing forces, and develop a comradary while doing different situations. Working with the National Guard here in Milwaukee allowed us to have some awesome opportunities to use the extremely large National Guard armory and Motor pool areas close to campus. These areas are normally only accessible to military members only but due to our unique connections through the National Guard ROTC program here at UWM the Panther Military Group has been able to do some amazing events that you cannot do anywhere else. The LLC members are loving the opportunities that they have been provided and are very excited for the next semester and what comes with it. 

Performing Arts: Masterworks and Kids from Wisconsin

The Performing Arts LLC has had a very busy semester! Our residents have been moving and shaking all over this town! One of the biggest events that our LLC took part in was the Masterworks concert put on by the UWM Music Department. Both of the RA’s and one of the peer mentors of the LLC were in the concert, along with many other members of the LLC! Almost the entire LLC was either in the performance or were there to support! In addition to this performance, many members of our LLC are in many different shows including symphony programs, dance shows, theatre productions, and many more! 

One highlight of the month was when the director of Kids from Wisconsin came to visit the LLC. She spoke about what it takes to be in Kids from Wisconsin. She also gave the LLC insight on how to audition, and what she as a director looks for. It was a great opportunity for students to network, and learn about what professionals in their field of study are looking for! 


ASL: Faculty dinner and WSD

The end of the semester is just around the corner and what a semester it has been! There have been a lot of puzzles recently and the number of puzzles completed each week keeps increasing the closer we get to finals. I wonder how many will accumulate on the floor before we are drowning in puzzle pieces?  
In November the LLC had a Faculty Dinner with the ASL Department. There were three of the ASL teachers there and we had a great time eating together and playing a few games. It really helps to meet with the professors outside of the classroom and see that they are fun people and not just teachers that lecture at us all the time. We are thinking about doing another dinner next semester and hopefully we can find a day that even more of the teachers will be able to attend.  
The last day of classes is December 14th and that night the LLC will be going to Delevan to the Wisconsin School for the Deaf to see their winter performance: It Happened at WSD. Everyone is looking forward to visiting the school and seeing what it is like. They are even more excited for classes to be over and watching a play is a great way to celebrate that. Until then, the residents of the ASL LLC are focused on school and trying to keep the ever-increasing list of homework assignments at a reasonable level. People are congregating in the lounge to get help from others and there are partners scattered all over the floor working on their Deaf Culture final presentations.  
Only three weeks left and then it is time to say goodbye for a whole month! It will be great to have some time off but then it is back to Sandburg to start all over again for the spring semester.  


Art and Design: Screen Printing

This semester the students in the LLC have been doing all sorts of awesome things in their classes! Right before thanksgiving break we had a fun screen printing day! The students were able to submit a design and then vote on which one they wanted to use. They chose a design and we, used the class right before thanksgiving break to learn how to screen print, and get a cool t- shirt!
                                                                                                            

After break the student begin working on their final projects!! For this project they will be creating artist books. In the class immediately following break we will be going to the special collections section of the library to get a closer look at different types of artist books that there are! Hopefully from this the students gain some inspiration for their projects!

Something that has been great to see is the closeness of the community. They are always bouncing ideas off of each other in class and give helpful and constructive feedback in critique! It has been great to see them grow as a community and turn in great work!

Social Justice: Multicultural America

The Social Justice LLC has to take History 150, Multicultural America, to be in the LLC. As an assignment for the class, students have to attend at least four Social Justice related events on campus or around the Milwaukee community. UWM Student Involvement and the LGBT+ Resource Center hold many events relating to Social Justice and inclusivity. One event that I know many students may be going to is put on by the LGBT Resource Center is Intersex Stories, Not Surgeries talk by Pidgeon Pagonis. This can be related to being open to all people and cultures, no matter any circumstance. Other events students have gone too for the assignment were the screening of Malcolm X in the Union Cinema and the Confronting Mass Incarceration panel. They can also watch movies for the assignment, therefore a couple students have watched 12 Years a Slave and have really liked it!

Some of the Social Justice LLC students also took part in the viewing of all the films within the LGBT+ Film Festival. The students that I have talked to about the films said that they were very well put together. Also that even though they’re movies, they’re still very informative.
The students in the LLC have seemed to really become interested in Multicultural History throughout this class. It looks like more and more students are becoming interested in the material being presented in class. As we talk more about other cultures that most students did not realize that were mistreated by Americans.

Career Quest: Make a Difference Day

As weeks pass more students in the LLC begin to discover their true passion. A student in particular began their first year at UW-Milwaukee as a journalism student and switched their major to something completely different. We believe that the LLC course is just one of the components that led that student to make such a big change.
The students were recently apart of Make a Difference Day. The students gathered in the union and grouped around their fellow peers to prepare themselves for the day to come. It being early in the morning with no food or coffee in their system they fled for the free bagels, granola, fruit, and coffee given out to those volunteers that were willing to spend their Saturday morning to make a change. At the start of it all it didn’t go as planned. The group was not assigned a house to rake because there had been so many others coming out to help our community. But, we were given another project. The students were assigned a specific street around the campus to clean. Local residents showed admiration to the UWM students. Shocked faces and confused expressions, they were at awe that total strangers were giving them any recognition for their work. These students realized the fact that they were exerting effort and spending their time on developing our city.
We are in the works of having a volunteer event at the nearest Boys and Girls Club by the end of this semester. Since our past volunteer event the residents are eager to get started.


Education and Leadership: Make a Difference Day

The Education and Leadership's class requires that they reach 25 hours of community service this semester, so we decided to start a Make a Difference Day team. At first, the students dreaded it and saw it more as a school assignment than anything else. However, once we arrived at the house, they started to love the process. Their leadership skills showed almost immediately. They started delegating tasks once we got there with little help from me. 
 
The owner of the house came out on a few occasions, to give us candy or thank us for what we're doing. He once came out to give us a quiz on trivial facts about Wisconsin, which the students found charming and really fun. Several of the students told me by the end that they were surprised to find that they really enjoyed themselves and want to do it again next year; they were already starting a plan for teams.
 
The students asked if we could take a picture with the owner of the house and he was really happy to do so. He told us that he appreciated how kind we were to rake for him. The students felt so happy with their experience that they asked if we could send him a card with the picture in it. We plan to write that out and send it to him this week. Overall, it was a heartwarming experience for both the students and I.


Honors 1: Video games and basketball games

This past month the Honors 1 LLC participated in two different social events. The events were tailored towards recommendations provided by members of the LLC. Residents were looking forward to hanging out with their friends before Thanksgiving and wanted to compete against one another on the floor in some way. The LLC hosted a Super Smash Brothers and Mario Kart tournament in the community and went to a UWM Men’s basketball game. Residents were able to compete against one another in the video game tournament and enjoyed going to a UWM athletic game before Thanksgiving break.
The LLC hosted a thirty five person Super Smash Brothers and Mario Kart tournament in the common area. Pizza was provided for all in attendance and the prize at stake was a coconut carving of a monkey provided by RA Ben. Residents went head to head in the tournament and took time off of studying in order to try to win the ultimate prize. The stakes were high for the grand prize and everyone that participated was competitive. Everyone enjoyed eating pizza with friends on an otherwise dull weeknight and appreciated how many community members decided to show up.
Residents from the LLC also attended a group outing to a UWM Men’s basketball game. The game was well attended by members of the floor because of the free t-shirt offered to students in attendance. Another incentive was the reduced rate food that residents enjoyed at the game. For some residents this was their first time attending a UWM athletics event. Some of the residents in attendance liked the UWM Panther Arena and enjoyed going downtown for the game. Many of the residents in attendance expressed interest in going to future games.
Both of these events were great stress relievers as midterms were winding down. Residents in the LLC were able to recoup during the Thanksgiving break and prepare for finals in the month of December.


Friday, December 15, 2017

Engineering: Discovery World

Greetings everyone! Welcome to the Engineering LLC experience! To bring everyone up to speed on what has happened so far, let us go through events that have already taken place. Our kickoff event was in coordination with engineering student organizations and a great time for residents to meet each other and start networking. Following that we had our Engineering Olympics that was a huge success, our students formed teams and accomplished tasks that challenged their engineering brain to see who would take home the trophy. Dean Peters of the College of Engineering and Applied Science even came to cheer the students on and lend advice.  

Our most recent event was our trip to the Discovery World. Although the weather outside was crummy, the time inside the Discovery World was delightful. The trip allowed residents the chance once again to use their STEM focused brains to have fun and design. Residents did a large variety of things, from making laser-cut toys, learning about mechanical advantages to petting string ray.

The future event in the LLC is our resume workshop, we invited the Career Services and Career Planning Center to come in and talk with residents about the tips and tricks of creating a professional and selling resume. We encourage residents to come who need their resume to be spruced up as well as residents who don’t have a resume. We hope this will help the students feel more prepared when they go to the Career fair in the spring. As well as land them an internship or Co Op.
We are excited for the rest of this semester and look forward to next.

If anyone has any questions, please stop by the 9-11th floor of South tower. We look forward to the rest of the semester!

Sincerely,


The Engineering LLC RAs

Welcome to Honors 2!

My name is Bri, and I am the Honors 2 LLC Resident Assistant this year. This is my second year as an RA and third year in the Honors College, and I am so excited to work with the residents of this floor to continue making the Honors, campus, and Milwaukee experience a great one.

We are off to a great start! During the first couple of weeks, we did some events to get everyone back into the swing of things and to meet some new faces. We started off the semester with the Un-bowl-ievable LLC kickoff, where residents got to bowl and learn about how to get involved with their LLC. We also had a floor game night. It was great to see everyone come out to our common area and make connections within the LLC.

We also had our Honors LLC kickoff, where both Honors 1 and Honors 2 LLCs went to the Honors House and ate pizza with professors. This was a great opportunity to learn about clubs and how to get involved with Honors College while speaking with professors. We also all got our super awesome Honors 2 LLC shirts, and now we get to rep our LLC all over campus!

Coming up, the Honors 2 LLC will be joining the Honors College Panther Prowl team. The Panther Prowl is a run/walk that raises money for scholarships. This team is a way for the Honors College to come together and interact outside of the Honors College while raising some money for a good cause. Plus, we can’t wait to all have those matching socks!




U1.0 & MKE Scholars: Make a Difference Day and more

November has been a busy month for the U1.0 and MKE Scholars Living Learning Community. Starting on November 2nd, the Career Planning and Resource Center had a speaker who spoke on the 21st floor lounge. This presentation allowed the students to ask questions that they had about resumes, cover letters, volunteering and graduate school applications to better prepare them for their future. Students were also able to create/update their resumes and cover letters at this time. As an LLC we also participated in Fall Make a Difference Day on November 11th. This event took place from 8:00am-12:00pm on a Saturday morning which was great that we had a total of 12 residents on our team to participate in this great cause. This event allowed the students to help the elderly in the Milwaukee area winterize their homes while bonding with additional residents from their floor. As of now for upcoming events, we are hoping to hear feedback on what students enjoy for their holiday dinners. If we have some suggestions with adequate time University Housing and the Inclusive Excellence Center will hold a holiday dinner for the LLC students to attend.


Aside from fun events, the semester is coming to an end leaving many things on your To Do list before enrollment. As 1st Generation students this is all new to you, so don’t be afraid to reach out and ask questions to your Peer Mentor or Resident Assistant. Before you enroll for Spring 2018 classes you must meet with your academic adviser to discuss your recommended courses, complete the Panther Enrollment Checklist on PAWS, vote in the Union Referendum and pay the remainder of your tuition charges. It is also important to check the Holds and To Do columns on PAWS to ensure you have completed everything before enrollment. Your Spring Enrollment date will appear on the left had side of your PAWS home screen. To plan ahead, PAWS has a schedule planner that allows you to view all the possible schedules with your required classes. If you would like help accessing these materials and making sure you have completed everything on time feel free to reach out to RA Teagan in N2170C. 


Local Hosts: Web Empathy

Over the past month, we have been doing some incredible things to promote the Local Host LLC, as well as making the Local Host LLC a beautiful place to be for the current residents that are involved. At the start of the month, we had an LLC Event on Web Empathy that really made the residents within the LLC think about how they would create a webpage, and how that applies to having empathy for the company or business that they are making the website for in their future careers. We are also in process of planning some more LLC events that included a panel with SafeNet Consulting which is one of many local companies that would hire our students, as well as a trip to discovery world to see how their website matches up with how they run their company. The lounge also consistently has a board that is promoting the Local Host LLC is some way, shape, or form. This month’s board was related to the event we had a on web empathy, with a Halloween twist. This upcoming month will consist of a board on how to spot an informative website, including ways to spot hacks as well. Overall, The Local Host LLC community is on a roll, and we are very excited to see what the next few months bring for us, and for the success of the students that are involved.


Architecture: Projects

Hello from the Architecture LLC! We are about halfway through the semester, and things are going great.

In Emmy's section of the LLC, students just finished their first project. This week they are pinning up and presenting their work to gain presentation skills as well as get used to the critique format that goes on in studios. All of the students have produced amazing quality work, and we are very proud of how far they have come this semester. Starting next week, the students will begin their final project, which will take the rest of the semester to complete. We are very excited to see how their work continues to develop and improve throughout this final project.

In J.P.’s section of the LLC, the students are currently working on their midterm projects.  Each student is composing a final board to present their work.  They are working with software such as InDesign, Photoshop, and Sketchup to piece together elements of their design.  Learning these skills and software now will benefit the students greatly next year when they begin studio courses.  The students have also been working closely with J.P. in study sessions outside of class each week.  He is helping them with their projects as well as giving them tips and advice on other architecture courses as well. 

In November, the LLC will be taking a tour of different studio spaces around the architecture building as well as the architecture level 2 LLC in the Sandburg Residence Hall, which they have the option of joining next year. 

We look forward to giving another update on the LLC next month!


RA Katy, and Peer Mentors Emmy and J.P.


Engineering: Kickoff

Hello everybody and welcome to the Engineering LLC. Nicole Vigon, Aaron Siewert, and Charlie Ross are the resident assistants of the Engineering LLC in South Tower. Nicole and Aaron are new resident assistants this year, while this is Charlie’s second year of being a resident assistant. Aaron is in his second year at UWM studying mechanical engineering. Nicole is also a second year student at UWM, but is studying biomedical engineering. And Charlie is a fourth year student at UWM studying mechanical engineering. Charlie was one of the resident assistants on the all male floor in West Tower last year. So this year, all three of us are new to South Tower as RAs and are looking forward to running the Engineering LLC.

For our kickoff event, we wanted to host an event that acted as an informative and fun activity to get our community members involved and excited about their majors. This event also gave them a wonderful opportunity to meet and become friends with fellow members of the Engineering LLC. For our kickoff event, we thought it would be great to have engineering student organizations make an appearance and present their organization. This also acted as a recruitment event for the organizations and allowed our residents to join this organizations very early in their engineering collegiate years. We invited all of the engineering organizations on campus, however, only four were able to make an appearance. Those four organizations included: UWM Baja Society of Automotive Engineers, UWM Society of Women Engineers, UWM Triangle Fraternity, and UWM American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

After each of those four organizations gave a presentation, the Engineering LLC members, student organizations, Engineering RAs, and RLC Ethan Sykes all socialized while eating pizza and drinking soda. This was a time where the RAs and Ethan Sykes really initiated conversation amongst the LLC community members and got them talking amongst each other by implementing a game. The game was people bingo, where the LLC community members were given a sheet that had several questions on it that required them to meet someone who met the requirements of the question. For instance, one of the questions on the bingo sheet was to go and meet three different people who also have your major. The intent of this game was to get the LLC community members out of their comfort zone and initiate conversation with new people. A major incentive to play the game, was that if you completed the bingo sheet, you could win an Engineering LLC t-shirt. 

All in all, the event lasted longer than expected and the LLC community members really hit it off with each other. That’s what we wanted to see for this kickoff event, and it certainly didn’t fail considering the residents spent over an hour just socializing in Flicks. We were very pleased to see the blooming and development of our LL community members. A big concern for our LLC floors, was that most of the residents would be overly introverted and not develop any sort of friendship with each other, or develop community in the lounges and such.

We already hosted our two day event of the annual Engineering Olympics this semester. This event challenges our participating residents in completing problems within a group and doing it the most efficiently. The winners names were put on a plaque on the 9th floor lounge, and will remain there as a part of history in the LLC! We are also going to Discovery World this upcoming Saturday as our next event! A lot of the residents have been talking about this particular event and are excited to experience going to Discovery World for the first time!


Architecture 2: Kickoff

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Architecture 2 LLC! A little background about myself for those who don’t remember, my name is Zach Thiel. I am a junior architecture student and this is my second year as the Arch 2 LLC Resident Assistant as well as it is the second year of the Arch 2 LLC. I am very excited to be here and look forward to work with you all and help you through problems both in studio and in the residence halls. If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to drop by in studio or check to see if I’m home in E1660C.

To bring everyone up to speed on what has happened so far, let us go through events that have already taken place. Our kickoff event was in coordination with AIAS at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning courtyard. It was a beautiful day with a brat fry, tailgating games, and getting to mingle with some professors and staff. I know I saw many of you there and I look forward to seeing more of you at future events, studio willing.


For future events, a major one that I hope everyone can partake in is with the Architecture 1 LLC. On Monday, November 13, RA Katy of Arch 1 LLC will be bringing a bunch of her residents over to get a preview of what it is like living in East Tower. They will be checking out one of the suites and the residents there will be answering any questions regarding life in the LLC or with studio. Afterwards, we will head over to SARUP where they will get a tour of all the studios and catch a glimpse into their future academic careers. I will be talking with a couple suites soon regarding this. Another future event will take place the night before final review for Arch 310 studio. I will have an ice cream social at studio as sort of a final treat before the end of your first studio experience. I know everyone will be looking forward to that!

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Performing Arts: Resident Bonding

The month of October has definitely been an ookey spooky and cooky month. The amount of effort that was put forth into decorating the Performing Arts LLC was amazing. Many of the LLC Residents went out of their way to buy their own decorations for the LLC, or went home and brought decorations back.

October has also brought a lot of support within the Performing Arts LLC. There have been residents actively going to the other resident’s performances to give them support. This ranges from the choir concerts to dance performances.

The Performing Arts LLC was also one of the LLCs that won an award for their LLC banner. This has earned them an ice cream party that they are very excited about.

There has also been bonding outside of UWM events. There was a large group of Residents from the Performing Arts LLC that decided they wanted to go to a showing or Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Oriental Theater. After this showing was done and everybody returned to the LLC, you could see the bonding that had happened and the friendships that had just strengthened.

The LLC has also organized a daily poll to see what horror movies they want to watch for the night from a list that they compiled. Every night there are 15 to 20 Residents in the 9th floor lounge watching horror movies together as they finish their laundry as a group.

The month of October was a great month for the LLC with a lot of bonding, and we are looking forward to strengthening these friendships with further events and support for each other’s performances.






Tuesday, December 12, 2017

ASL: Movies and Pumpkin Farms

Hello again! On October 27th the LLC watched Versa Effect. This movie is an American Sign Language Film and all of the performers are Deaf. The movie is about Jackie and Seth who love to... HATE each other. They are working in the same school and are arguing about whether an athlete who should stay on the team because he has a lousy GPA. They don't get along but, something terrible happened to them; their bodies were switched. There are a lot of moments where they are struggling to find a way to switch back to their own bodies. They must find a way to get back to their original bodies or else they will be stuck forever! Some of the residents thought this movie was similar to Freaky Friday. After the movie we all took a picture in our matching LLC shirts.  It was a GREAT night!   
On October 28th the ASL LLC residents went to Lidner's Pumpkin Farm and Corn Maze in New Berlin, Wisconsin. The temperature was only 40 degrees but we still had fun! The farm has many goats, a pony, a pig, red-eyed rabbits, chickens, and peacocks. We even got to feed the goats! After that, there was a giant slide, and it was kind of rough to ride on it. Also, there were many photo opportunities of Halloween and Fall Fest paintings. The final thing we did was the corn maze. It was a little small but we saw a lot of scarecrows and tried to get ourselves lost. There was a lot of laughing and a lot of pictures. One of the residents was joking and took a picture with a scarecrow and said it was her boyfriend. The Peer Mentor took a picture with the scarecrow too and said she stole the boyfriend.  Overall, we had a great time at the pumpkin patch! 
It was a weekend full of fun and a much-needed break from college. Now back to school and ready for the last six weeks! 

-Peer Mentor Katelyn and RA Vanessa  



Health Professions: House Cup Challenge

October has been an exciting month here in the Health Professions LLC. Students have settled into their routines, made great friends, and survived midterms. We have had a lot of fun and exciting things happening this month. The students were able to go on a tour at the Blood Center of Wisconsin and learn all about the health professionals that work there. 

One of the most exciting things this month was the start of the annual Health Professions LLC House Cup Challenge. This consists of weekly challenges and goals for the students to complete that earn them points towards their teams. The team with the most points at the end of the six weeks earns dinner with the Deans of the College of Nursing and the College of Health Sciences. The residents earn points for going to their RAs events, going to tutoring, and visiting various resources on campus. The residents love the challenge and are getting very competitive to earn dinner with the dean of their college.

Everyone also had a great time showing school spirit for homecoming early in the month by making the Health Professions LLC Banner. The spirit continued for Halloween with the residents decorating the lounge and going to RA Kayla's Pumpkin painting event. We also made a Halloween-themed gingerbread house the week of Halloween while learning about how to stay safe during Halloween weekend.


It has been another great month in the LLC and we can’t wait to update you in November on more events and to reveal the House Cup Challenge Winners!


Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Honors 1: 5ks and Planetariums

The month of October was eventful for the Honors 1 LLC. Members of the LLC participated and were organizers of various events throughout the month. Members of the LLC attended such events as the annual UWM Panther Prowl 5k run/walk and a show at the UWM planetarium. Also, various LLC members helped organize various events through their roles in University Housing.

The events attended by the LLC this monthsupported the UWM student community and the surrounding Milwaukee community.The annual 5k Panther Prowl raises money for student scholarships and hosted approximately 1,500 participants this year. The UWM Honors College hosted a team for the run which allowed Honors 1 residents and Honors faculty to come together for a greater cause outside of the classroom. Even though it was a chilly and rainy Saturday morning, residents fought the elements and their sleep schedules to support the event.

The “Moons and Myths” Planetarium show was a great experience in order for residents to utilize a sometimes forgotten resource on campus. The show not only hosted UWM students but was also open to the general public of Milwaukee. Honors 1 residents in attendance enjoyed learning about space in an interactive and unique environment from the director of the UWM planetarium herself.


This month also hosted a variety of events planned through University Housing. A handful of Honors 1 residents are members of Sandburg West Activities Team which implements events for residents living in Sandburg. Events were planned throughout the month with spooky and festive fall themes such as pumpkin decorating, a Halloween dance, and a haunted woods. All of these events were well attended by Sandburg residents which attests to the effort put into planning the events by Honors 1 residents. All in all, this month was packed full of fall activity on campus. The residents of the Honors 1 LLC put forth great effort in supporting and being leaders of these campus activities.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Career Quest: Exploring Career Choices

This September, the Career Quest LLC has been up to a lot! We participated in the LLC Banner Competition and won the grand prize! We won a pizza and ice cream party that will be held on November 16th. We plan to bring out some board games and play a few different ice breakers. The professor for the LLC class and the Peer Mentor have been invited as well. The banner is displayed on Floor 24 of North Tower and will be up for the rest of the school year. Career Quest residents also received their t-shirts this past month, which many were excited about. We’re planning on decorating the shirts to make them more personable as an LLC. On the 30th, we had our first Mental Monday, which is an event once a month where residents can voice their opinions about the LLC and corresponding class, as well as use this as a time to chat and get to know one another better. We’ve been brainstorming other ideas and are working on a trip to Chicago to get a behind-the-scenes tour of Shed Aquarium – per the resident’s requests. Currently, we have a few other events planned for the remainder of the semester, and are hoping to see more participation from the LLC residents. It’s been a bit of a struggle to try and get residents to step out of their comfort zones and explore multiple career choices. However, we’ve been working hard to cater to their needs and figure out how best to get them involved. The Career Quest LLC has been hard at work and already has seen improvements so far. We’re excited and looking forward to the remainder of the semester and all we have planned!




Monday, December 4, 2017

Welcome to Performing Arts!

We have had a very exciting start in the Performing Arts LLC. Since move in everyone has been jubilating in the lounge, and all around campus. We kicked off the year with a fun open mic night which included singing, spoken word, instrumentalists, and dance. We truly have an extremely talented group of kids! 

One of the highlights so far have been attending two workshops sponsored by the UWM theatre department. The first workshop we attended was a dance workshop with Karl Miller, choreographer of UWM’s upcoming musical 9 to 5! At this workshop we learned a combination to the opening number of the musical. We got a chance to meet with the choreographer afterwards. He is a well-known choreographer in the Milwaukee area. The next workshop we attended was with Tony nominee Lara Teeter. He did a three part workshop covering acting through song and body, auditions, and the business of show business. We had the opportunity to work on song, and monologue with Teeter. Both of these workshops inspired us all to work on our craft, and better ourselves as performers. 

In our LLC’s free time they indulged in all that Fall Welcome has to offer! Laser tag, beach day, you name it; someone was probably there. Our LLC’s loves having movie nights and playing games every night. Our LLC also loves to plan events all on their own. 

The theatre students have already had the opportunity to see two performances in the Milwaukee area with their LLC course, Out and About.  In a few short weeks the dance students will be going to the ballet for their LLC course. These students have been thriving in their LLC courses with the opportunity to not only learn in the classroom about their craft, but by going out into the professional world of the performing arts to take a look at what their futures could be. 


In these short few weeks we have had the opportunity to grow as performers, but also grow as an amazing community. We are excited to see how we continue to grow, and learn from each other over the next year!

 Here are some of our students enjoying the Fall Welcome soccer game!
 All ready for Laser Tag in the Union!
 Enjoying the last day of summer!
Musical Theatre students and I at the dress rehearsal of The Hot Mikado at Skylight Music Theatre!

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Welcome to American Sign Language!

Hello everyone! My name is Vanessa Kersten and I am the Resident Assistant (RA) for the American Sign Language Living Learning Community for the 2017-2018 school year. I am a sophomore and I lived on the ASL floor as a resident last year. I loved it so much I just had to come back! I am Pre-med, majoring in biochemistry and minoring in ASL Studies.

Hello! My name is Katelyn Miller and I am the Peer Mentor for the ASL LLC. I am a sophomore in college and I am a Middle Childhood Education major and an ASL Studies minor. I lived on the ASL LLC last year and I am looking forward to another great year!

The LLC started off the year with our kick-off event where we played a variety of games including videophone, which is just like telephone but with gestures. Our stakeholder Erin Wiggins was there and even joined in on the fun.

This past week was Deaf Awareness Week Wisconsin (DAWW) and many of the ASL classes cancelled class so people could go to the events. There were people from all over Wisconsin who came to learn about Deaf culture and support the community here at UWM. I had class and wasn't able to go but from what I've heard the people in the LLC had a great time!


Things are settling down around here now that Fall Welcome is over and people are starting to really focus on classes. Almost every night you can find people studying in the lounge. Most people in ASL 1 are in the same class so it's very easy to ask questions about assignments and to get notes if you missed class. Other ASL students in higher levels are able to help with vocab, grammar and facial expression.  It is amazing to see our community growing together and improving on our ASL skills!




Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Welcome to Business Panthers!

We are so excited to have you and we can’t wait to see all the wonderful things you all do this year!
As we approach the end of our first month of the semester, we wanted to discuss some of the fun stuff we have done so far!

We had a wonderful Business LLC Kickoff! We played a “Guess the Company Logo” game and gave away LLC t-shirts, Southcat t-shirts and lots of study bucks! We also went through a ton of pizza and ha an amazing time! At our Kickoff, we asked you what fun type of trip we as an LLC could take and everyone seemed very excited about the idea of trip to a Bucks game! We can’t wait to start planning that for all of you!

Something we would like everyone to keep an eye out for are LLC Study Nights! These will be every few weeks on floors 1,3 and 5 in South Tower! RA’s will be in the lounges ready to help and your peer mentors will stop by to help as well! Oh, did we mention each study night will have snacks on each floor and different activities for stress relief? No? Well it is going to be a blast and we can’t wait to get this started for all of you, so that you can have a successful first semester here at UWM!
Your RA’s have a lot of fun events coming up for you so keep an eye out for what is on the horizon, and your Peer Mentors are wonderful people and are a huge help to you so make sure to utilize us all! We are here for you!

We can’t wait to see what the rest of the year holds for all the Business Panthers!
Go Southcats! Go Business Panthers! Go UWM!


(Picture Below from Business LLC Kickoff, Pictured left to right: Angela, Brent, Madison)


Monday, November 27, 2017

Welcome to Honors 1!

The Honors 1 Living Learning Community is an engaging space where first year UWM Honors College students live, learn, and socialize with one another outside of the classroom setting. This LLC was acknowledged as the 2016-2017 LLC of the year at UWM for its residents being highly engaged on campus and for it being one of the most social communities on campus. Events that are planned in correlation with the Honors College are meant to immerse LLC residents with unique campus resources and the City of Milwaukee. Opportunities that are presented to residents living in the Honors 1 LLC may only be found through living in the LLC. The month of September was met with LLC residents settling into their classes and making new friends by attending different campus events.

The Honors College courses that various LLC residents are enrolled in this semester are “Telling Tales,” “The Rise and Fall of Human Rights,” and “Writing Milwaukee,” to name a few. Honors College courses offer the opportunity for students to expand their knowledge in very unique and interesting topics while developing their writing and discussion skills. These classes are even more impactful for Honors 1 LLC residents though because classmates are also living amongst one another and the discussions carry outside of the classrooms.

The month of September was also meant to make residents feel comfortable on campus and to make connections. Residents in the LLC attended events such as a Pool Party held at the Klotsche Center, the annual Honors College Pizza Party, and the inaugural Un”Bowl”ievable LLC Party at the UWM Union Recreation Center. Numerous Honors 1 residents will be running together on the Honors College Panther Prowl team on Saturday, October 7. Also, the LLC will be attending a show at the UWM Planetarium titled “Moons and Myths.”


The Honors 1 LLC offers first year students the opportunity to make quick connections on the campus of UWM. The students that makeup the LLC are goal-oriented individuals that are looking to be leaders in the world and on campus at UWM. These are the reasons this LLC continues to be social, inviting, and productive on campus.


Monday, November 20, 2017

Welcome to Education and Leadership!

LEADing off the School Year with the Education and Leadership LLC!  

My name is Macey and I'm the RA of the education and leadership floor. I'm a second-year exceptional education major and I couldn't be more excited to spend the year learning and growing together with our community. A great deal of the students living on the floor are pursuing degrees in early-middle education and exceptional education.  
We started off the year by participating in our kickoff event "LEADing into the school year". We took some quirky personality and leadership style tests as well as attempting the infamous human knot teambuilder. We talked about how we can work together with our different leadership styles and mesh well as a community.  
We also had the opportunity to go on a camping retreat at Camp Minikani, just a short bus ride away. The retreat was planned by Ed Pol professor, Laurie Marks. After having free time and eating dinner we pulled our sleeping bags and pillows out into the common area and watched the film "Waiting for Superman" which discusses the impacts of failing public schools while taking a positive outlook on charter schools. We woke up early the next morning and completed a low ropes course as well as other teambuilding activities. The retreat gave students the opportunity to see one another in a different light and work together towards a common goal.  

September was a big month for us as an LLC! I can't wait to see what October brings seeing as we have some cool events in the works such as Dinner with the Dean and Make a Difference Day.