What will Juniata be like in the fall?
“Knowing that we will be back on campus in the fall with in-person classes because of our success this past year is exciting, and I am hopeful that our new normal will continue to evolve and include some of our old normal as well.”
There really are no words to describe the climate of the past year and a half. We can try and search for words to succinctly describe the chaos of our lives, but no words seem to really summarize the world changing under us overnight. We can try “life-changing,” but that seems too generic. We can try “confusing,” but that seems like too-simple of a word to describe all the ways that the world has shifted and will continue to shift. We can try “heartbreaking,” but this word never fully encapsulates the feeling of what it means to lose someone. In so many ways, the past year and change has been a whirlwind whipping past us while in others, it feels like time is minute grains of sand slowly slipping through an hourglass.
(more…)Life as a Juniata Student Interviewer
I interviewed with Terri Bollman-Dalansky for the student assistant admissions counselor position in the middle of the Summer over zoom in 2020. I had a nice shirt on and tried to find a relatively blank wall to set up my laptop in front of. I think in my head I had hoped that “normal life” would resume in time to get back on campus and meet perspective students.
After learning that the pandemic was far from over, I realized that being a student interviewer would look different compared to friends who had the job in previous years. When I found out that I had the Juniata Associate position I was still planning on spending my Fall semester at Raystown Field Station. Being remote from campus and with the limited number of prospective students coming to Juniata, myself and the two other student interviewers were not able to conduct any interviews during the Fall semester.
How Juniata Helped Me Get into Dental School
When I was in high school, I realized that I wanted to be a dentist. However, I did not have the slightest clue how I was going to get there. The journey to become a dentist involves a variety of steps. Dental schools are competitive, looking for well-rounded, compassionate, insightful candidates. Before you plan to matriculate into dental school, you must take the Dental Admission Test (DAT), score in the competitive range, and apply to schools of interest. If a school likes your application and feels that you are qualified, they will offer you an interview to determine if you are the right ‘fit’ for that particular school. Once admitted, you must complete another 4+ years of schooling in order to become a dentist. Daunting, right? As a high schooler, I was overwhelmed.
At Juniata College, I was fortunate to receive ample guidance which made this process simpler. In my first semester, I met with Dr. Jim Borgardt who was assigned as my academic advisor. Dr. Borgardt advises all of the pre-dentistry students at Juniata, which means that he knows a lot about the admissions process for dental school. We meet every semester, helping to track my progress and keep me on pace for my goals. He also is an awesome guy who has made my overall experience at Juniata a great one.
(more…)A Transfer Student’s Goal to Complete Every Tradition at Juniata
When I came to Juniata College in 2019, my goal was clear—to complete every tradition on campus. Why? Well, as a transfer student who came to Juniata my junior year, I knew that I only had two years to try everything and to meet everyone. So, this is where my journey began
First, it was the fall semester in 2019 and I was living in Sherwood Hall with my freshman friends. We have a tradition at Juniata called Lobster Fest, where all of the clubs set up tables outside on the quad and students can sign up to be a part of them. We have over 100 clubs here at Juniata so our options are limitless. Me, being someone who wants to try everything, signed up for way too many clubs, so I received hundreds of emails welcoming me as a new member (oops)! For Lobster Fest, Juniata gets lobster all the way from Maine to feed all of the hungry new students. My friends and I sat on the grass on the quad and we dined on lobster, chicken, steak, and other delicious food! This was the first tradition on my bucket list to complete.
Gameday “Sticious-es”
“I’m not superstitious…but I am a little sticious” – Michael Scott
If you’re one of my roommates coming into my room as I do work, you know that some show like The Office will be on my TV. I’m probably sitting on my bed, I may or may not be taking another “break” on social media, and, if it’s past 3 o’clock, I’ve almost certainly had a snack already. When I’m in the thick of a semester, I like fun, spontaneous weekends, but weekdays are for strict schedules and daily routines.
I wouldn’t call myself superstitious, but I could sometimes be called a creature of habit, maybe even a little sticious. Which is why, on March 20th, I had a little predicament when it came to me and my sticious-es. March 20th was my first real game in a long time. It had been exactly 372 days (yes, my team did the math) since my lacrosse team had played a real game that actually counted toward conference play. As I rode on the team bus to Scranton, PA for the game, one of my most important sticious-es was challenged.
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