Meet Stephanie Jensen!

Hello Hixson Scholars! My name is Stephanie Jensen and I’m a 2010 Hixson Scholar from Marion County, majoring in Interior Design. I’ll be one of the peer mentors for the fall and couldn’t be more excited to meet you all! 

Now some of you might be thinking, “Study abroad? But I’m only a freshman!” Yes - it does seem rather early to take part in this opportunity, but why not? If you have the chance, you should take it. I may be blunt when I say that, but it’s true. Speaking from my experience in Fall 2012, studying abroad in Rome, Italy was the best semesters of my whole college life. I will never regret every Euro and dollar spent, trips made and missed, friendships made, the gelato and cappuccinos consumed, and the outrageous amount of pictures taken. I can definitely go into detail about my study abroad experience, but I won’t since it would take hours. In the fall, please please please ask me if you have any questions, comments, want to see pictures, or just talk about my experience with studying abroad! Anytime, any place.

Study abroad can be intimidating at first considering (from my own viewpoint) that I didn’t know anything about the whole process and how to prepare for it. I knew for sure that I had to get a passport and plane tickets, but other than that, I was completely lost. My situation may be a little different since I am an interior design major and the program is pretty set-in-stone for the fall of your junior year. However, the preparation is similar. Later on in my blog post, I’ll list some tips if you plan on studying abroad in the near future (which I hope you will greatly consider!). 

Now to get technical, Iowa State offers Study Abroad Shorts – these are exactly what the name says. Short. You can either spend your spring break or 3-4 weeks during the summer at your wanted destination. That of course is dependent on if they offer a “short” for the area you want to visit – as of now there is: Belize, Bahamas, Italy, China, and Spain. These shorts are if you don’t want to spend a whole semester abroad and if you just want to get a taste of being away. If you would like to study abroad for a semester (or a short for that matter), the next step would be to talk to your academic advisor to see what they offer for your major and college (Liberal Arts and Science, Engineering, etc.). Then I would suggest talking to someone in the Study Abroad Center in the MU (Memorial Union on campus near the Campanile on Central Campus).            

Remember those tips I said I would tell you about? I’ve included them below – Study Abroad Tips and Advice:
1)    It is worth every penny.
2)    Get your passport and plane tickets ASAP.
3)    The cheapest plane ticket isn’t always the best – look around for dependable airlines or go to your local travel agent.
4)    Keep up on the language that your country will be speaking (if going to a non-English speaking country of course)
5)    Don’t be afraid to ask questions!
6)    Go out of your comfort zone!
7)    Enjoy the country. Meet new people. Learn something new everyday – there are so many opportunities just waiting for you to try!
8)    You will find out more about yourself and possibly figure and narrow down more goals in your life.
9)    Look up transportation options ahead of time so you know what to expect when you get there and what can be the best bang for your buck.
10) The meaning of pack light will become even more apparent when you actually begin packing everything for a whole semester.

 I can’t wait to meet all of your bright and shining faces in the fall! If you have any questions/comments about any of this, please don’t hesitate to email me anytime over the summer! Here’s my email address: sjjensen@iastate.edu  ENJOY your summer!

Meet Shelby Lemmon

Hello Hixson Scholars!

My name is Shelby Lemmon and, like all these other lovely people, I’m also a peer mentor for the Hixson program! I’m a 2011 Hixson Scholar from Carroll County majoring in Event Management. The Hixson program is one part of Iowa State that I’ve become greatly involved in, but another huge part of my involvement here is with the Greek community!

I just joined the Greek community last year, as a sophomore, and although I’m still a bit new to the whole thing, going Greek has hands down been one of the best decisions I’ve made at ISU!

Let me just start off by saying that I do realize that there is a stereotype about Greek life – the media likes to portray sororities and fraternities as these groups of college kids that just want to party and have fun. Unfortunately, a lot of people believe this is how it really is, which is why many college students never even consider going Greek! To be honest, I’ll admit that this is the image I had of Greek life when I first came to Iowa State, which is why joining a sorority never even crossed my mind.

It wasn’t until a few weeks after I moved into the dorms that I really began to reconsider this image I’d built up in my mind about sororities and fraternities. I lived on an all girl floor in the dorms my freshman year, and a lot of the girls I met and became friends with were in sororities! They weren’t at all like the sorority girls you see on TV and in movies – they were all down to earth, honest, caring girls who really just wanted to become involved and meet new people.

And that’s exactly why I decided to go through formal recruitment last year. I still wasn’t sure I wanted to join a sorority, but figured “what the heck, I’ll be in Ames anyway – might as well see what all the fuss is about!” So I signed up, paid the $25 participation fee, and went through formal recruitment. Formal recruitment, or “rushing,” as some call it, is basically six days of meeting people.

Let me break it down for you:

·      Day One: You’ll meet with your formal recruitment group, which is a group of girls living in your general residence hall area or floor who you will be with for the remainder of the week.

·      Day Two: You will go to all fifteen chapters, talk to girls, and learn a little about each one of them.

·      Day Three: You visit nine of the chapters (narrowed down by both you and the chapters themselves) and will see them each perform some funny, entertaining skits!

·      Day Four: You’ll go to six chapters and will be given house tours of each.

·      Day Five: As the final day of visiting the chapters, you’ll go to just three. You will have one last chance to ask any questions and really get an idea of if you could picture yourself in one of these sororities. If, after this last day, you decide you want to join a sorority, you will have the option to preference it and, if the chapter preferences you back, you’re in!

·      Day Six: The big reveal of what sorority you’re in, and you will also get to meet your new sisters!

Because so many girls are doing recruitment and each chapter can only house so many girls, those who go through recruitment do not always get their first choice. But as clichéd as this sounds, everyone ends up where they are meant to be! I know quite a few girls who did not select the sorority they are in as their first choice, but they love where they ended up and wouldn’t trade it for anything.

With all that said, I realize Greek life may not be for everyone, but how are you going to know whether or not it’s for you until you give it a chance? I’m still friends with a lot of the girls that were in my formal recruitment group and have found friends for life in many of my sorority sisters. Greek life provides students with many campus leadership opportunities and also with a way to give back, as each sorority or fraternity has their own philanthropy they fundraise for through various activities throughout the school year.

I’m sorry this post got so long, and I’ll wrap it up; this is just something that I’m very passionate about! I truly believe there is a chapter for everyone, and I’d encourage anyone who has any questions at all to send me an email! I promise my response won’t be as wordy as this blog post. :)

So if you have any questions – about Greek life, recruitment, fraternities, or Iowa State in general – please don’t hesitate to email me at stlemmon@iastate.edu! I really can’t wait to meet all of you in the fall. You’re going to LOVE Iowa State!

Meet Brad Christensen: Health and Wellness Fanatic!

Hey everybody! My name is Brad Christensen and I am one of your fantastic Peer Mentors this fall! I am a 2011 Hixson from Polk County majoring in Animal Science/Pre-Vet. Aside from studying to be a vet, you will all soon know me as the Peer Mentor that loves fitness and working out. The good thing about Iowa State is there are plenty of awesome resources on campus to help you get your physical activity amped up!

Living on campus, the two main places for working out are Lied Recreation Athletic Center and State Gymnasium.

My personal place of choice for exercise is Lied Recreation Athletic Center, or Lied Rec for short. Lied Rec is located on the east side of campus, so everyone living in Maple-Willow-Larch and Oak-Elm and Birch-Welch-Roberts will most likely choose Lied. The weight room was recently upgraded last year (to my enjoyment) and I highly recommend checking it out. Oh, and just because you might not want to lift weights does not mean Lied doesn’t have something to offer you….in addition to two indoor tracks it has basketball, volleyball, and badminton courts as well as racquetball, table tennis, and a rock climbing wall.

Don’t want to work out on your own? No sweat (pun intended), grab a friend and sign up for one of the 40 different group fitness classes, (I recommend Buns & Guns).

Now if you happen to live on the west side of campus, your fitness place of choice will likely be State Gymnasium. A short summary of State Gym would be to take Lied Rec and add a pool, hot tub, smoothie café and skywalk. And don’t worry about thinking you can’t fit exercise into your busy schedules. Lied Rec and State Gym are open until midnight on most weeknights. Plus, it is less crowded then. Interested? I thought so.

On a side note, for anyone looking for an on-campus job or anyone that has work-study, the two fitness centers are great places to work.

Besides the fitness centers, there are plenty of other places to get your physical activity in. Get some friends together and throw the Frisbee on central campus or play soccer on the Maple-Willow-Larch fields.

Health and wellness is more than just working out at the gym though. Healthy eating is hugely important. I am a major fan of eating at Season’s and I know there are plenty of healthy options. I also know that there are plenty of options that are not as healthy. Pizza and French fries are great in moderation kids...

The other thing to remember is get enough sleep. Seriously. For everyone with an 8 a.m. class, you will thank me.

In short, exercising, eating right, getting plenty of sleep are essential to being a successful Iowa State freshman, which I know all 100 of you will be.

If anyone has any questions or would like more specifics on anything related with health & wellness, or the facilities on campus, definitely email me at bradc24@iastate.edu. I would be more than happy to help.

I’ll see you all in August. Go Cyclones!!

Meet Cole Schlitzer and learn about sports packages!

Hello all first-year Hixsons!

My name is Cole Schlitzer, I am a 2011 Hixson Peer Mentor from Dubuque County, majoring in Supply Chain Management.  I grew up on a 425 acre dairy farm, were we milk about 100 Holstein dairy cows twice a day. In High School I played football, basketball, baseball, and tennis! During the Iowa State school year I work for the Iowa State Football program as a student assistant, where I help with the recruiting process. I am a big sports fanatic and love to go to as many Iowa State Athletic events as possible, so I can cheer on my Cyclones! Speaking of all of the Athletic events at Iowa State we pride ourselves in having great sports teams. Iowa State fields 18 varsity squads in the Big 12 Conference, the nation's premier athletics league. We have not only a strong student fan base, but also a strong alumni fan base. Every year the Cyclones continuously break attendance records and earn top honors in national online polls ranking the best "student spirit" (Hilton Coliseum) and "most dominant mascot on Earth" (Cy). Just in 2011-12, Iowa State finished 46th nationally among 278 NCAA Division I teams in the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup. Go State! The Cyclones’ four-year federal government graduation rate of 65 percent (for all sports) was best in the conference! I could go on and on with statistics, but the real way to experience these great events is to go! This is a big part of the Iowa State experience while being an Iowa State student. An involved student makes a better student. To be eligible to order student season tickets, you must be a full-time registered student at Iowa State University for the fall semester. (I hope all of you are!)

Here are the three options you have when purchasing your student passes.

$249 All Sports Package

Includes football season tickets, men's basketball season tickets, Cy's Pass, Cyclone Alley/Student Alumni Association membership and a t-shirt. (men's basketball excludes holiday break games). (Also access to men's basketball will be on a first-come, first-serve basis the day of the game.)

$125 Football Season Ticket

Includes six home games at Jack Trice Stadium.

$30 Cy's Pass

Includes wrestling, gymnastics, volleyball and women's basketball (women's basketball excludes holiday break games).

These student ticket packages are simple to buy. Simply log onto cyclones.com and click on tickets. From there you will want to navigate to student tickets. When you purchase online, you will be using your student ID number. You have the option to buy now, pay later. Make sure you select ADD to UBill, which will allow for you to wait until August to pay.

I hope this information is helpful and useful! The sooner the better, because they will eventually sell out! You don’t want to miss out! If you have any questions about anything, just shoot me an e-mail at cschlitz@iastate.edu. I will be looking forward to meeting you all in the fall! Go Cyclones!

Cole Schlitzer

cschlitz@iastate.edu

2011 Dubuque County