Friday, January 29, 2010

BSC - What makes it special?

I'm feeling psyched about the re-launch of this blog and hope that as the semester progresses it will grow to be an exciting place for information, dialogue, and community!

Tonight is Winter Commencement and I am so proud of so many of our graduates! It is always a time where I reflect a lot on BSC and on this department. 

In case you don't know this about me, I "landed" here at BSC after a series of interviews that took me and my husband progressively up Rt. 95 on a goal of moving to the New England area.  I had some interviews in CT that  I didn't get or didn't want    "didn't pan out" and once we hit the Massachusetts border I found BSC. 

I'll confess... I didn't know much about BSC from my one bedroom overpriced apartment in  New Jersey about 15 minutes from my parents' house at the time.  But, reflecting back to that day in July of 1998 that I interviewed for this position I still like to think about what interested me about BSC and how I knew it would be a good "fit."  For those of you looking for summer internships or (gasp!) post-graduation jobs... the vague idea of "fit" with place might be similar to what you were thinking when you were college searching.  When looking for "fit" with a place you ask yourself "can I see myself here?" "Are there people I would connect with?"  "Do I like the idea of doing this job?"

If you are wondering about your next "fit", consider this...
  • A place that "fits" is founded on goals and values that you can support and enjoy the idea of helping to advance.
  • A job that "fits" offers you a blend of easy tasks that you can do in your sleep and things that you'll have to do that scare the heck out of you.  Challenges are good... but it's also good to be an expert in a few things too. Nothing wrong with looking brilliant in the first few weeks on the job.
  • A place that "fits" will take you one next step to the next stop along your career path
Digging in a little deeper...
  • A place that fits will have at least one person that you can visualize having lunch with and enjoying it. 
  • A place that fits shows you respect, treats you like someone special when you visit, and connects you with people that seem genuinely happy there.
  • A place that fits connects you with at least one person that will be someone you can learn from.
I've been here at BSC for a while and these are some of the reasons it "fits" for me.  How about you? 

Post a comment and tell us why you think BSC is a good "fit" for you and your personal goals!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Who Needs A Good Laugh?!?!

BAHAHAHAHA. Lo Siento (I'm sorry in Spanish), but I am more than exhausted and trying to debate whether or not im thrilled or upset that it's Thursday. Happy that at least it's not Monday, but sad because there's ONE more day until the WEEKEND, booo..but YAYAYAYYA!!! And what is with this blizzard outside?? I'm kind of not diggin' it my dear Bears :( Anywho, I am giving you a comical gift since this weather is depressing me and I'm assuming you guys feel the same way. With that said, enjoy this video and the evil look....
Rawr, Cat :)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5ALIL7T764

Monday, January 25, 2010

... It Happens On The Weekends

Hollllerrrr to our loyal followers... and to the first timers too!

Thanks to everyone who came out this past weekend to Vegas at Bridgewater! Hope you guys enjoyed the event, there was a good turn out, I'd venture to say around 125 people, and 1 lucky winner, Jim Hickey a Junior at BSC walked away with a brand new 26" flat screen LCD TV. So congrats again Jim!

Here's the low-down on this weekend's hip-happenings on campus.

To start off our Friday night, Program Committee is having Video Game Night in Crimson Dining Hall at 8pm. Everyone should come out and show your stuff on Beatles Rock Band! it should really be a good night, so you won't want to miss out on this one... who knows.. there might even be some prizes in store! So play your best.

Saturday we're staying in Crimson Dining but moving up to 7PM, so while you're eating your dinner you and your friends can take on the cafe in a trivia-game-show fiasco, You Think You Know...?! Prizes are still TBD... so leave me a comment and I'll consider your prize idea!

More interested in checking out the basketball games in Tinsley? The Woman's Team will play Westfield State at 1PM followed by the Men's team at 3PM.

Lastly.. and probably most importantly... are YOU following US on Twitter?! If not, do it do it do it! ( www.twitter.com/bscSWAT ) MAKE SURE you turn on Receive Mobile Updates from BSCswat in order to be eligable to win an INSTANT door-prize at our events! All you have to do is show me the text message that was sent to your phone and you win!

That's it for this weekend Bears! Hope to see you!

A Bear-ific Interview

Howdy Bears! I know it's Monday but hang in there. Think of it as this way, once today is done we'll all be one day closer to the weekend..yay!! So, to help you out with your Monday blues I've decided to pick one of our own Bear-ific students to answer a few questions so we can get to know them a little bit better!!

This is the first time we've done this and we're very excited. Today we are getting to know Rachel Rose Freedenberg, an awesome Bear from Maine..check her out. Do it.....you won't.

Oh and P.S. all of her answers are bolded in blue!!


Name: Rachel Rose Freedenberg
Nickname: No thanks.
Year: Some people would say Junior, some would say Senior, I'm not really sure, but May 2011 here I come.
Major: Psychology
Minor: Biology

Three things you didn't know about Rachel until now:
1. I have an issue with drinking obsessive amounts of water a day
2. Fish are probably the greatest animals ever
3. I am the worst texter-backer in the history of cellphones, seriously, ask any of my friends.

There isn't anything that a large ice coffee can't fix.

How are you involved on campus?
Where do I start... President of Program Committee, Member of the Student Leadership Council, Sister of Gamma Phi Beta, Student Weekend Activities Coordinator/Advisor, Weekend Task Force Member, Previous Summer & Winter Orientation Leader.. is that it?

My favorite sport is Hockey, Go Bruins!

How can your personality be best described?
A. Dorky <----? I have no idea
B. Fun
C. Timid
D. Loud
E. Other: _____

My favorite class so far has been Anatomy I, because I'm a nerd.

One of my favorite memories here at BSC so far is meeting miss Catarina Martins over our love of toast.

I am _______'s #1 fan:
A. New England Patriots
B. Indianapolis Colts
C. New Orleans Saints
D. Pittsburgh Steelers
E. Other: I think these are all football teams? So I'm going to go with the Chicago Bears, because I have a really comfy old Superbowl XX t-shirt that I love to wear.

My favorite kind of food is:
A. Italian
B. Chinese
C. American
D. Crimson Dining (glad it made the cut)
E. Other: Deli fresh anything



So what do you guys think? Do you have anything in common with our very own Rachel Rose Freedenberg? Do you have any questions for her? Comment away my dear bears..rawr!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Tuesday- Haiti

Happy New Year to all of you and hope that every single one of you have come up with some great new year’s resolutions!! Mine tend to be the same from year to year:

1) Try my hardest to earn some decent grades I can be proud of
2) Maybe finally trying that whole eating healthier thing (although I can never seem to resist those Reese’s peanut butter cups..and kit kats..and just chocolate in general)
3) To try to make some great memories with friends and family.
This year however I am adding one more to the list and it would be great if everyone could join me, and that is to help out Haiti. It's a New Year right? Why should people have it start out on such a tragic note?

So many, a great deal many, have suffered so much and keep suffering. I mean everyone has in their life time at least once thought "Hey I wish I could really help. I really should do something, try to help out the situation but how am I going to do that?" If you've always wanted to help out, I really couldn't think of a better time than now. And I'm not just writing this and not believing in it, I've actually already donated $10 myself. It's easy, just text "HAITI" to 9-0-9-9-9 and you will automatically have donated $10 that will show up on your phone bill; just watch this youtube video of the commercial that Michelle Obama is in that I'm sure most of you have already watched on tv (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLd_5LFKPUQ).

Also, I was watching comedy central today (The Colbert Show) and even Stephen is trying to help out! Apparently he got a new set for his show and is auctioning off pieces of his old set now! A Colbert Nation Liquidation he calls it, it’s already started this week and the bidding will continue until January 25th; it's for the table where he interviewed a ton of celebrities. And get this, AT&T will even match the winning bid, I don't know I just thought it was pretty cool (http://www.colbertnation.com/colbert-report-charity-auction).

Actually, I don't know how much tv any of you guys watch, but I feel like so many people are coming together to really try to help out. I mean this unfortunate tragedy didn't even occur in our own country and yet so many people are lending a hand or a few bucks to really try to make a difference in another part of this world, our world. I guess when it comes to things like this we all just come together and it's really nice to see that. Even my grandmother who lives in Portugal donated too! What a sweet lady I miss her ha. And I feel like I'm a part of all of this because again I donated some money, $10 that I gave instead of going and spending it on a medium hot caramel latte with skim milk and no sugar...just extra caramel haha. See I'm already fulfilling my new year’s resolutions; I'm being healthier by not choosing the latte and donating to a great cause. That small action, believe it or not, will make such a difference. Imagine if we all didn't spend money on things that we buy every week that we don't even need and donated it instead to those that are in great need?

So stealing some of Stephen Colbert's words I say to you, BSC Nation...let's make a difference. It's a new year; let's give ourselves and Haiti a new start :)  - Cat Martins

Monday, January 11, 2010

Greetings from OSIL 2010.

It's hard to believe that today we are preparing for the arrival of about 450 brand new Bears!  Tomorrow begins the January Orientation events and we are gearing up for a busy few days!
Starting your academic career in the middle of an academic year is a little different than our typical welcome activities that happen in August and September.  However, we're geared up to help make the arrival of our new students a great one as we ready the team of Orientation leaders and make sure that all of our speakers, rooms, materials and pearls of wisdom are in place and ready to serve.
If you are able, please comment with some important advice for new students that are arriving now. What do you think they should know to be successful?  See you soon!!!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Firing up the blog!

Happy 2010, Bridgewater State College!

Your friendly neighborhood OSIL staff is back and rested up for a brand new semester. While we're dusting off the holiday cobwebs, we're spending this week getting organized for Orientation next week and the rest of the campus to return.

See how hard we are working?


(I know some of you have taken naps on that couch, but now Erin's daughter has followed suit.)





But seriously, we're back and excited for a new year. To prove it to you, let's ask the OSIL staff that is in today about what they are looking forward to the most about Spring semester...

Christina: Getting to break the mold and being really innovative with my work
Sally: Taking a vacation in March
Sabrina: My financial aid refund check
Laurie: Springfest...it's a fun and exciting week around here
Bristaco the Bear: (unavailable for comment due to hibernation for winter)
Me: Getting this blog site to reach as many students as possible. Equally important is the fact that this semester I'm turning 40. Only a few more months of shopping left, people!

Tell a friend...this blog site is going to be THE place to follow this semester! With the help of our fantastic marketing staff, we are excited to do some fun posts!

Enjoy the last few days of break... we will too!