It's been about two months now that I've been back from my semester in Costa Rica, and I still miss it terrbily! My experience abroad turned out to be so much more than I expected, and I have come home with more memories and knowledge than I thought possible to attain in just three months. I studied in Costa Rica's capitol, San Jose, where Monday through Friday, 8am to noon, I took Spanish classes. Four hours of speaking only Spanish (we would get in trouble if we tried to speak English). After Spanish class, I took a photo class where I was able to go to downtown San Jose and take pictures of the markets and the little kids running around in parks. It was such an awesome way to immerse myself in Costa Rican culture. Some of my favorite memories, though, are outside of San Jose. Every weekend my friends and I would take buses to different parts of the Pacific or Caribbean coasts. Each weekend was a different beach with different people and different stories. I was able to practice my Spanish whenever I traveled. I got so used to speaking Spanish to strangers and new people I would meet that when I arrived back in the States I was met with expressions of confusion when I would say, "Hola, buenas dias!" to people in the airport as I passed them. My time abroad was something I will never forget, and I cannot wait to travel again. Chatham offers a lot of different abroad opportunities, so if it's something you are interested in, please don't hesitate to ask us about it!
*I used the one of the little tico for my photo final
One of best things about Chatham's semester schedule is that we are able to have an optional 'Maymester' period to take up to 5 credits of course work over roughly a 3 week period. It takes place during the month of May after our second semester courses are completed in April, hence, the name 'Maymester'. It is required of Chatham undergraduates to take a minimum of 2 Maymester before they graduate. There are a number of options that you can pursue when taking Maymester courses here at Chatham.
There are 3 credit courses you can take to meet major or minor requirements or just for fun. There are 1 credit gym courses that will get you in shape for swim suit season. If you have an on or off campus job, this is a great time to get a bunch of hours in so you have some spending money for the summer! Chatham's campus doesn’t slow down bit either. My favorite event during Maymester is the marathon trip to New York City. Sponsored by Chatham, there is a bus that travels to NYC on a Friday night, stays in NYC for ~11 hours and then you drive back to campus all by Sunday morning. Maymester is the best semester to enjoy the great weather on campus and do some traveling while not being stressed out by a full course load.
Speaking of traveling, is NYC not an adventure to you anymore? By your sophomore year, if you're looking to spend a little time on the beaches of Puerto Rico, hiking in Belize and Guatemala, or wandering through Germany and western Russia, Chatham offers this too! At a highly subsided rate you can travel to one of many destination that Chatham offers that year. In previous years, this has included China and Brussels. May years they try to make to trip to the country we are honoring for our Global focus in that year. This year, on May 6th a group of both graduate and undergraduate student will be traveling to Brazil, the 2009-2010 academic year of focus! Check back soon for some exciting blogs a few of our Ambassadors return home from her excursion to Brazil and other countries. The cost of these trips vary each year, but I can tell you, as a student whom has already taken advantage of this opportunity, it's a lot cheaper than if you were to do it on your own. It's a steal of a deal, and I promise, you don't want to miss out.
Remember, if you've already completed 2 required Maymesters, there's no reason why you can't stick around for round three or four! All of Maymester, excluding the travel abroad option! Remember though, if you don't attend Maymester it means that you're done with school by the end of April. This means that you have another month above hundreds of thousands of other college student that don't have the Maymester option. You're on the job market so much quicker than they are. Potential employers love to have college student that can stick around for another month in the summer, so they're looking for YOU!
The option of Maymester opens a wealth of opportunities for you here at Chatham. If you have more questions or want to hear some great stories of our Maymester excursion contact the Ambassadors!
After my last blog about organic chemistry, I though I’d stay with the same theme and discuss my Organic Gardening Course.
This past spring break I spent four of my days at the newly acquired Eden Hall Farms involved in a one-credit course called Organic Gardening. Dr. Lynne Bruckner, an English professor, and Kerri LaCharite, head of the Theatre Department, accompanied my and 10 other undergraduate students to put some student sweat into the land. We spent our days there involved in a number of activities to prep the farm for the (eventual) coming of spring. We had a laundry list of task to complete with only 13 pair of hands, ~10 hours of productive daylight and 4 days.
In the green house we planted seeds and transplanted seedlings while cleaning terra cotta pots. The pump house was cleaned, the cold frame laid into the ground, compost to transport and spread, and the whole organic garden to be turn via Ditch Witch Dingo multiple times. Our class cooked 3 meals a day constructed from local, organic, and raw substances. Onsite course work was completed after dinner just in time for us to unwind from the day’s labor.
I’m so thrilled to be able to be involved in the new campus. Our class was the first to lay the University’s first organic crops (radish and carrot seeds) into the soil. The green house can now live up to its name as it is over flowing with basil, tomatoes, dill, mesclun lettuce, peas and more. This experience was an excellent example of Chatham ability to reach across disciplines and engaging student and professors of different academic origin to unite under a common interest.
Next semester we will be reaping the product of our hard work and devotion via SDE 104: Organic Gardening: Reaping the Harvest held on Fridays at 3:00 – 5:00pm. This course description is provided below. I encourage you to investigate this opportunity as I hear you will be rewards with delicious meals containing ingredients of our own earth!
-Tierney
Course description: Students in this course will learn about best practices for organic gardening through class discussion and the physical experience of harvesting and preparing the garden for winter at Chatham’s Eden Hall Farm Campus. Gardening is a great physical activity at times strengthening muscles, increasing bone density, using fine motor coordination. This class will also literally reap the harvest and experience cooking with vegetables.
Pass/fail grading only.
Transportation between Eden Hall Farm and Woodland Campus will be provided.
In preparation for my trip to Brazil over Maymester, my friends and I have a countdown going on Facebook (currently, we are at 44 days...)! I don't think any of us could be more excited for the trip! And as for academic preparation, our professors leading the trip, who are graduate professors in the Landscape Architecture program, have set up a course listing on Moodle, Chatham's online "blackboard." On Moodle are Portuguese lessons, maps of the cities we will be in, pictures of the hotels and fun stuff we can do in the city after class. We are also taking sketching classes before we leave so we can all have some basic information about what we will be doing in Brazil. I am really happy that I will have a sense of what I should be expecting to see, do an hear before leaving, especially since I have never been to South America before. It really relieves some of the anexiety of traveling. Plus, I learned on Moodle that we will be staying on the beach in Rio, so if worse comes to worse, at least I'll get a tan ;)
I decided last October, during my first semester as a sophomore, that I wanted to travel somewhere and learn how to speak Spanish- so, here I am, studying in Costa Rica. I've been here for a month and a half and I have about a month and a half left, I'll be back just in time to take some Maymester courses. It's been such a great experience so far! I take Spanish classes Monday-Friday, 8-12. I'm also taking a photography class- taking pictures of Costa Rica is amazing! My school is based in San Jose, Costa Rica's capital, but every weekend my friends and I catch a bus to different beaches and national parks. It's very cheap and incredibly fun! My Spanish is getting so much better just from interacting with all the Ticos here. I'm extremely happy I decided to study abroad for a semester, and if you have any questions about it I'd love to help you out!
You may have heard of it... there is a place, about 45 minutes North of Chatham's campus where there are open fields, dense woods crisscrossed with deer paths, and large old buildings, much like the one's on Chatham's campus: buildings frozen in time that are still filled with the furniture, musical instruments like organs and a grand piano, and even an old manually set bowling alley from a time anywhere between 20-40 years ago. This place is Chatham's newly aquired Eden Hall Farm. I have been lucky enough to experience some of the many 'firsts' at the Chatham Eden Hall Farm. I am currently enrolled in the course, Organic Gardening, where every Friday afternoon our class works to grow the first organic vegetable garden by Chatham students. I was also able to attend the first Rea Environmental Living Community Retreat last weekend at the farm. I am beginning to find that every experience I have at the farm is filled with excitement and possibility; I almost wish I could re-do my undergrad experience just so I can see where the Chatham Farm will go next. I would like to share with you some of the experiences I have had, and hopefully you can get excited too.
In the Organic Farming class, the group of students in the class and myself work closely with our professors Dr. Lynne Bruckner and Kerri LaCharite to study the needs and processes involved in growing a large organic garden from seed. The class has been much like a Friday afternoon workshop, where we trade off between studying the needs of individual plants like Brussels sprouts and Kale, to plotting out the space, and starting the little plants from seed in the greenhouse. An organic farm takes a lot more work than you may know if you are not familiar with this kind of thing, it involves planning how plants work together to naturally resist pests to avoid the use of pesticides, how to rotate crops to avoid nitrogen fertilizers (which can be very harmful to the natural environment) and even comes down to spending hours deliberating over what kind of fence will keep out larger creatures like deer, rabbits, and groundhogs. So far we have all learned a lot about both preparing for and maintaining our own naturally grown produce, and what it means to work together in a large group to make something like this actually work. When we finally see all of our produce at the end, I think it will be worth it, and somewhere I think Rachel Carson will be proud. :)
The other great experience I had at the farm, was the Rea Environmental House Retreat. Rea House, is the environmental living community on Chatham's main campus, and the students along with the Residence Life staff planned a weekend event last weekend to take place at the farm. At the last minute, it was open up to all students and I was lucky enough to be able to join them. So a group of about 12 or 13 of us headed out last Friday evening starting off the weekend with a trip to the Organic Pizza Shop, Pizza Fusion just a few minutes from the farm. We were all pretty impressed with this truly sustainable company: most of the store was built from recycled material, appliances were low flow or energy efficient, and pizza ingredients were local, organic, and some products even vegan! After we filled our bellies with really yummy pizza, we headed back to the farm where there was a large dorm-like living space: big living rooms, bedrooms, showers, bathrooms, all in immaculate condition. During the rest of the weekend we were able to do things like tree identification with Dr. Nancy Gift, talk about sustainable initiatives at Chatham with Mary Whitney, the campus sustainability coordinator, and hear from the Graduate Landscaping students about their vision for a sustainable plan for the farm in the future that included ideas like wind and solar farms, personal organic garden plots, and eco-living space. We were also able to repair a fleet of bicycles stored away in the farm's barn, that we students fixed ourselves, led by student bike mechanic Chelsea Rumbaugh, then we rode the bikes back over to the main retreat center, to make earth friendly beauty products and cleaning supplies.
By the end of the weekend, it was difficult to say goodbye to the farm, but I was happy to realize I would be back in just one week to bring our seedlings from the Organic Gardening class, to start their growth in the greenhouse. I am looking forward to the many more 'firsts' that I may get to experience at the farm, and the possibiilites of what an eco-campus may do for Chatham's progress to becoming a sustainable school, and I am glad that I was able to experience these 'farm firsts' right before I say farewell to Chatham as I graduate this May.
Chatham University Celebrates President Barack Obama
TODAY, January 20th, 2009, I was able to witness a historical moment. TODAY, January 20th, 2009, I witnessed the first African American be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. TODAY I cried tears of joy.
Chatham University celebrated this glorious day by providing food, beverages and two big screen televisions in its own Athletic and Fitness Center. Here students, faculty and staff, together, watched this historic Inauguration. Together, we sat in awe as President Barack Obama gave a powerful speech. Together, we smiled at each other and silently asked ourselves “Who would have thought in a million years that this day would come?” Well folks, the day came. The day continued on with fabulous conversations about a positive future for America. Later in the evening, Student Activities hosted an Inauguration Night Party in our Carriage House to carry on the celebration of today’s historical event. Here friends and members of the Chatham community watched the coverage of the Inaugural Ball and listened on while great musicians performed. Students enjoyed hot chocolate, made political buttons, and conversed with each other about how lucky they were to be able to witness such a wonderful event.
It was today that the students, faculty and staff members of Chatham University watched as President Obama said those powerful words –"the world has changed and we must change with it". It was then that time seemed to stand still as we looked at each other and nodded our heads in agreement. The world HAS changed and we WILL change with it. Obama reminded me that the nation has come very far to get to where it is today. The nation and its people have overcome so many odds and adversities. Yet Obama assured me “We’ve been through tougher times before and we are going to get through these”. I have faith in my President and I know that he will help this broken nation heal its wounds and move forward in this time of change. I also know that it is our duty as citizens to have the strength and confidence to work with each other and other nations to strive for peace and prosperity for all.
Hey everyone! The beginning of school has been crazy (as always), but this year especially so because I'm planning my study abroad trip! I'm hoping to go to Brussels for a semester to intern at the European Union. I would study at Vesiallus College which is one of the English speaking universities in the city, and would work at the EU for credit. It sounds pretty amazing to me!
I feel sort of overwhelmed though - Chatham just announced the Maymester Abroad trips and I know I can't do both. Maymester abroad was changed this year so there are even more options. Ok, so here's how Maymester works: you have two options for the two Maymesters you have to do while at Chatham. One, you can stay on campus for three weeks in May and take a class or two to get ahead in credits. Or, as a sophomore you can go abroad on one of the trips offered. (You don't have to go abroad, you can stay on campus for both Maymesters if you prefer.) Previously the trips had been run through Chatham, and different professors would lead trips in their areas of expertise. But in order to make the trips longer and ultimately safer for students, the University decided to do the trips through external providers. This year we have trips going to Brazil, Argentina, Brussels, Costa Rica, two to the Czech Republic and one or two others I think. Most of the trips have been extended to a full month, but some are still shorter so if you need to work or your parents want you home that's still possible.
The Maymester I really want to do is 6 weeks in the Czech Republic to study Art and Architecture in Prague and Central European History. As a Political Science major I have not had much time to take Art classes so this would be a really interesting and diverse opportunity for me. Plus, 6 weeks in Prague...wow, what a tough summer...
I'm not sure how my parents would feel about me doing a whole semester abroad PLUS six weeks this summer, so I'll have to see. But the way I see it is Chatham has given me so MANY good opportunities it's hard to choose. What a tough life ;)
I'll write again soon! And for those of you traveling in the meantime, bon voyage!
Have you ever heard of “Invisible Children?” Invisible Children is an organization that leads a movement focused on helping Child Soldiers and their families in Northern Uganda. In September some friends and I hosted an event on campus with the help of the Invisible children East Coast Roadies. We invited them to come to Chatham to show their latest documentary “Go.”
Hosting an event on campus is really easy. For this event we had to reserve a room, put in a facilities request to have chairs set up, borrow some equipment from the Information Technology Department, and order a few snacks and refreshments. The Student Activities Coordinator, Kristin DeLuca even helped us. She was really enthusiastic about our event and helped us advertise it to students. We ended up having a really good turnout.
We hope to have the Roadies back again next semester and in future years to come.
write agian soon,
Bianca
If you have any questions or are interested in how you could get involved feel free to contact the Chatham Ambassadors at Chathamambassador@chatham.edu
The Chatham University Office of Admissions will be hosting an Undergraduate Open House on Saturday, November 8th, 2008! The Chatham Ambassadors are extremely excited about the event and hope to see you there. The day will include a student panel with us, the Ambassadors. We will be available to answer any and all questions that you have about Chatham University! Topics will include housing, dining, student life, the city of Pittsburgh, transportation, athletics, student activities, etc. There will also be a parent panel for all of the parents to attend with Public Safety, Residence Life, faculty, and Deans of both Student Activities and Student Affairs.
Tours will be offered by us as well throughout the day, and lunch is provided! Come see our campus, including a residence hall and even a Chatham Apartment for transfer students.
Please contact the Office of Admissions at (412) 365-1825, (800) 837-1290, or chathamambassador@chatham.edu if you would like to attend!
I’m Katherine, Regional Admissions Representative here at Chatham.Sounds confusing, right?Well, I am an admissions counselor, but I live in the same area as the students I work with!This year, I will be taking on the Northeast yet again and travelling all around New York and New Jersey (with occasional stops in New England as well).For those of you who have never been to Pittsburgh before, let me just tell you – the ‘burgh is fun! Having grown up in New York, I’ve always been proud to be from “thecity.”But Pittsburgh has become a second home to me and one that I really love.First of all, Pittsburgh is smaller and less populated so it’s easier to get around and learn the city.Native Pittsburghers are so friendly; they made this New Yorker a little nervous at first (I mean, why would strangers be so nice unless they wanted something from you?).There are so many colleges in Pittsburgh and the city feels really young and hip. Beyond all the great things a college student needs like museums, internship opportunities and fun places to hang out, there are many excellent options in Pittsburgh for two of my favorite things to do: eat and shop!Chatham is in a part of the city called Shadyside.Shadyside reminds me a lot of Greenwich Village (for you New Yorkers), South Street Philly (for my South Jersey and Philly girls) and also pretty much any part of Boston.There is shopping and restaurants (I told you I love it!) and we are right down the road from two of the biggest universities in Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.So, if you are nervous about leaving the Northeast and heading to western Pennsylvania for college – don’t be!There are a lot of the same things that you love about home in Pittsburgh, plus many new things for you to discover (like a Pittsburgh salad – who says salads are healthy?).Hopefully I will get to meet many of you during my travels – but if not, feel free to get in touch with me (732-658-1043 or kzimoulis@chatham.edu).I’d be happy to tell you all about Chatham and possibly set up a one-on-one interview in your hometown. I will be running a bus from New York City to Pittsburgh (with stops in Philly and Harrisburg) in February – you should plan to join me on that trip!
As classes get underway, the Admissions Ambassadors would like to welcome all of the new students to Chatham.We’re very excited to have you here!We are also looking forward to the upcoming year of student visits.If you are a current high school student or considering transferring to Chatham, we’d be happy to see you on campus.Please set up an appointment with the Admissions Office at (412) 365-1825 or (800) 837-1290.We offer tours at 9am, 11am, and 2pm Monday through Friday.Also, we have many unique experiences available to high school students like: staying overnight in a residence hall room or checking out a sporting event with a current student, attending a class, going to lunch with some students, and whatever else you can think of!Please let us know if there is a way that we can help you in your college search!
*I used the one of the little tico for my photo final
currently enrolled in the course, Organic Gardening, where every Friday afternoon our class works to grow the first organic vegetable garden by Chatham students. I was also able to attend the first Rea Environmental Living Community Retreat last weekend at the farm. I am beginning to find that every experience I have at the farm is filled with excitement and possibility; I almost wish I could re-do my undergrad experience just so I can see where the Chatham Farm will go next. I would like to share with you some of the experiences I have had, and hopefully you can get excited too.
Fusion just a few minutes from the farm. We were all pretty impressed with this truly sustainable company: most of the store was built from recycled material, appliances were low flow or energy efficient, and pizza ingredients were local, organic, and some products even vegan! After we filled our bellies with really yummy pizza, we headed back to the farm where there was a large dorm-like living space: big living rooms, bedrooms, showers, bathrooms, all in immaculate condition. During the rest of the weekend we were able to do things like tree identification with Dr. Nancy Gift, talk about sustainable initiatives at Chatham with Mary Whitney, the campus sustainability coordinator, and hear from the Graduate Landscaping students about their vision for a sustainable plan for the farm in the future that included ideas like wind and solar farms, personal organic garden plots, and eco-living space. We were also able to repair a fleet of bicycles stored away in the farm's barn, that we students fixed ourselves, led by student bike mechanic Chelsea Rumbaugh, then we rode the bikes back over to the main retreat center, to make earth friendly beauty products and cleaning supplies.
is today. The nation and its people have overcome so many odds and adversities. Yet Obama assured me “We’ve been through tougher times before and we are going to get through these”. I have faith in my President and I know that he will help this broken nation heal its wounds and move forward in this time of change. I also know that it is our duty as citizens to have the strength and confidence to work with each other and other nations to strive for peace and prosperity for all. 
around New York and New Jersey (with occasional stops in New England as well).For those of you who have never been to Pittsburgh before, let me just tell you – the ‘burgh is fun! Having grown up in New York, I’ve always been proud to be from “the city.”
