Chad Friend in London this summer.

Although you may think that studying abroad is not for you or will not benefit your major, there are plenty of options that Maryville offers during the summer. Two students that recently studied abroad this summer are Chad Friend and Leo Bassi. Both students are going into their senior year at Maryville and both had amazing experiences this summer. Chad Friend, a Marketing and Sport Business Management major spent his summer taking classes London, England. Leo Bassi, a member of the Maryville men’s soccer team is a Legal Studies major with an International Studies minor studied in Madrid, Spain.

Friend was in London from June 18 through July 9. He was accompanied by Maryville professors, Dr. Albrecht and Dr. Murray. While in London, he earned 6 credits that counted toward his majors, which were “British Business and Marketing” and also “International Business”.

After being back for a while Friend can now take in what he learned from the classes. “We were able to not only go visit different businesses in London such as Lloyds of London, Enterprise, and Harrods just to name a few places. Seeing how their day to day operations go with the city as well as other things going on around the world. The biggest difference I felt was the amount of walking you did everyday in order to get places”, said Friend.

Outside of the classroom, he had free time to explore the city with his classmates and professors. London being such a larger, diverse city always had so many things for him and his classmates to do and explore. Friend said, “We walked around daily to see different sites and try to see them while “being” someone from London. The thing we experienced that was the most memorable was going to Wimbledon and experiencing everything that goes on there during the event.”

Friend will surely never forget his 3 weeks in London as he has over a thousand pictures to remember his experience. Not only did he have a great time, but he also earned 6 credits that will count towards his major. He highly recommends students of Maryville to study abroad in London next summer, whether it be for the 3 week trip or the 6 week trip to London that Maryville also offers. “It’s a great experience in itself.  It’s something that if able to do you should go. You get to see many different things that you usually only read about in textbooks, but by going you get to see those places as well as experience the culture of the place your visiting but the other cultures that are there to visit the city”, said Friend.

Another student who had an incredible experience studying abroad this summer was Leo Bassi. Bassi was in Madrid, Spain from May 18 through June 12. Although he was only there for 3 weeks, he took 3 classes and earned 9 credits, which count toward his minor. The classes he took were “Madrid Museums and Galleries”, taught by Maryville Professor Mike Schatz, “Intensive Spanish” and “Experiencing Madrid”, which was an independent study. 

During his time in Madrid, Bassi tried as much as he could to explore the city. His “Madrid Museums and Galleries” class required him to visit some of the most famous museums in Europe and do critiques on the artwork. The Prado, the Reina Sofia and the Thyssen Bornemisza were just a few of the museums he went to in Madrid.

Soccer enthusiast Bassi also had the opportunity to see Real Madrid, one of the best teams in world play an exhibition game. “I got to see legendary players like Zidane and Figo play, so that was like a dream come true”, said Bassi. When he wasn’t in class, he also got more of his soccer fix by going to an athletic facility within the Parque del Retiro to play soccer with the locals.

Overall Bassi found the Madrid to be a true learning experience. “The adapting part of the trip I think is a huge valuable experience. My Intensive Spanish class was just like it sounds. We had class four hours a day, everyday. My particular class consisted mainly of writing compositions and speaking Spanish, with the use of new vocabulary that we would learn each week. We also learned about the type of lifestyle people in Spain have and we also looked at the history and how that history made what Spain is today”, said Bassi.

Bassi also had his thoughts about Spain and the lifestyle there, which is quite different than United States. “In my opinion, everything is Spain was different in comparison to America. From the music they listen to, the food they eat, the way they drive to the way they party. But the most obvious was the way people in Spain live their lives.  People in Spain live to enjoy their lives, while people in America live to work. Spaniards are very laidback and whenever they get a chance to just relax and enjoy the little things life throws at us, they do so”, said Bassi. 

Leo Bassi in front of the Madrid Palace.

After being home and in his normal routine, Bassi has had time to take in what he has experienced in the land of tapas and sangria. Bassi strongly recommends future students to look into studying abroad in Madrid. “It gives students the opportunity to travel outside of the United States and it is a great opportunity to practice a second language”, said Bassi. The only thing Bassi regrets is that he did not study for longer than 3 weeks. “I just felt that three weeks was not enough time. If you study abroad during the summer, I would recommend only taking six credit hours instead of nine. I just know that if I would of taken six, I would have had way more time to explore Spain”, said Bassi.

As a freshman, you will go into college a little nervous, unknowing and willing to take advice from anyone that takes a few minutes to sit down and focus on you. Just be sure that “that someone” isn’t taking your money and running. Something that I wish I knew as a freshman would have been to get the correct adviser right away.  A lot of freshman students just call Maryville University and schedule a time to meet with an adviser, not really knowing what they are getting themselves into. This is dangerous and crazy in my mind.  Don’t get me wrong, most advisers are doing their job, and they’re great at it. They are very persuasive, trust me, I know. The one thing you have to remember is they are doing just that, their job.  They are doing what they are told to do, to say what they are told to say and suggest things that they are told to suggest.  Most freshmen start out in classes that will most likely NOT benefit them in the long run and can quickly have them digging deep into their pockets for money that will be spent on useless classes.  Don’t let this happen to you.  It happens all the time, and it gets a lot of students frustrated by the end of the semester.  No one wants to spend over a thousand dollars a class to find out they didn’t need it.  “But my adviser told me it would count,” this is a phrase I have caught myself saying numerous semesters.  A lot of students catch themselves going to a different adviser every semester and finding out something new every time. This can be devastating.  Don’t be duped! Some suggestions I have for you, coming from an older student, who has taken this dysfunctional ride many times, and has wasted countless hours on school work gone unnoticed is this: Don’t take classes that are not part of your major.

Discover Who You Are

Make sure that you know what major you want to get into before you step foot in any University.  It can be overwhelming today with the list of options you have.  Some people think the more options you have means more to think about.  I look at it like this: more options means I will find a job at the end of all this!  If you are undecided going into college, that’s okay, most students are. Try to think about what you want to do before you sign up for classes. Try something like this: go online and take some quizzes.  There are certain websites that you go to such as Rocketquiz.com that can point you in the right direction.  Ask around and see what your friends are interested in.  You may find that you and your best friend are bestties for a reason; you have the same interests and career choices.  Ask your parents. I know you don’t want to ask mom or dad, it’s not cool in your mind, but your parents know you best and they would never try to aim you in the wrong direction. Take the summer before you attend school to really think about things, weigh your options and have fun with it.  Discover who you are, what you like to do and make a career out of it.  Make sure that what you choose as a major is something that you can see yourself doing for the rest of your career life and that you can see yourself happy doing that.

Taking Control

Once you are confident on what you want to major in, you need to call the University and schedule an appointment with a professor who teaches in that particular major. This is the key for a successful semester. For example, let’s say you are a great communicator and want to major in Communications or Public Relations.  I would schedule a time to meet with a Communication professor to get you started on the right foot.  They know what classes you have to take, when to take them and how they are taught.  They are your best advisers by far and will not try to get you signed up for classes such as basket weaving.  Even though basket weaving sounds sooooo interesting, resist.  Take what you need first, before you dive into anything that sounds suspicious to your major.  This also gives you the chance to meet with some of the professors that will be teaching you, not a bad idea to score some brownie points before you even step into the class room.

The Maryville Alumni Association host events throughout the year and makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and classmates and connected to Maryville.

Upon graduating, you become a lifetime member of the Maryville Alumni Association.  Make sure to keep your alumni profile information up to date and stay informed on upcoming alumni events.

A few of the events that every alumni should attend include:

• Annual Young Alumni Night at the Ballpark
• Alumni Weekend
• Trivia Night

You will not forget your years at Maryville as you face the challenges ahead and just because you have moved on does not mean missing out on the Maryville fun!

For more information contact the Alumni Association at alumni@maryville.edu or 314. 529.9338.

Photo courtesy of Maryville website

Mike Denney has been chosen to lead the team as coach.Denney is a nation wide recognized wrestling couch who has been extremely successful in his coaching career, most recently at the University of Nebraska (UNO)- Omaha where he was a coach for 32 seasons, claiming seven national titles throughout.

Denney says,“I’m excited to move to Maryville, along with many of my current student-athletes, so we can replicate the type of success we’ve had in Omaha in St. Louis. A lot of hard work lies ahead in establishing our new program, but we’re confident in our ability to maintain high standards of excellence for our student-athletes on and off the mat.”

Denney brings with him to Maryville some wrestlers from his team at UNO. There will also be other students joining the team that are new to Maryville and/or Coach Denney.  Assisting Coach Denney as they head into their first season at Maryville are Assistant Coaches James Reynolds, Mario Morgan and Aaron Denson.

Wrestling will be added to Maryville’s already existing athletic programs that include; golf, baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and softball.

Grab your friends and show your support for Maryville’s newest addition this winter! Sporting events are a great way to meet fellow classmates, hang out outside of the classroom and to have fun!

The easiest way to request a copy of your transcript is by filling out a Transcript Request form.  These forms are available online at http://www.maryville.edu/academics-registrar-transcripts or in the Registrar’s office.  Requesting your transcript can be a hassle and there are a few things you should know before you begin.

Here are a few tips for making this process quick and easy:

• Print off several copies of the Transcript Request form and keep some filed for when you need them in the future.
• Make sure you do not have an outstanding financial obligation to Maryville.  Transcripts will not be released if there is an outstanding financial obligation.
• Check to see if the recipient will accept a copy of your Unofficial Transcript.  Maryville provides copies of your unofficial transcript at no charge while Official Transcripts (those with Maryville University’s seal) are $5.00 a copy.
• Gather information needed to fill out form:
  • Student ID #
  • Social Security #
  • Address of Recipient
  • Credit Card Information if paying by credit card for an Official Transcript

For more information on requesting your transcript, contact the Registrar’s Office at ssc@maryville.edu or 314.529.9360.

University Library Courtesy of Google Images

is fully staffed and ran by students themselves with the exception of Dr. Jen McCluskey director of the Center for Academic Success and First-Year Experience, Kelly Mock, associate director of the Center of Academic Success and First-Year Experience and Diane Arnzen, assistant director of the Center for Academic Success and First-Year Experience.

“I chose to get involved with the Peer Tutoring Program because of the direct impact this program has on a student’s success.”  Mock said “ This is a valuable resource for our students and I look forward to help expand our services to reach even more of our student population.”

Peer tutoring is available for any subject Sunday through Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m to 2 p.m. Tutoring is provided in the Academic Success Center located in Maryville University’s Library. Walk-ins are welcomed, however an appointment guarantees one on one time with a tutor. For an appointment, please fill out the online form or call 314-529-9288.

Courtesy of Maryville Bookstore

The University bookstore is making changes along with the rest of our community.   This summer we renovated the store to accommodate the General Services department.  With that change, we have lots of exciting new services to offer! 

Here are the new services:

• Complete Copy Center:  Self-service or counter service if you need help
• Fax services:  incoming and outgoing – .10¢ per page.  The incoming fax number is (314) 529-9778. Please be sure to have your full contact name spelled out on incoming faxes.  We want to make sure you get your fax. 
• Post office:  one location for mailing letters, shipping packages and receiving mail.  Please make sure that whoever is sending you a package/letter addresses it with your full name and room number on the label.   We wouldn’t want someone else to receive your package.
• Complete counter service for all textbook needs.  Placing your order on our website www.maryville.edu/studentlife-bookstore.htm  or calling ahead (314-529-9438) to order is going to be the quickest way to get your textbooks.   Please don’t wait until the first day of classes, you may encounter large lines. 
• Expanded technology needs:  we will have a walk-up Apple and Lenovo station.  You can shop or try out some of the latest electronic devices available.
• After hours mail drop will be located in the DUC across from the lockers nearest the main entrance. 

Here is what is staying the same:

• Textbook rental and sales
• Louie’s Market convenience store
• Greeting cards & wrapping paper/gift bags
• Art supply store
• Clothing and gift items
• Study aids and reference materials
• School supplies
• DVD’s: movies & games
• Gift Cards:  Maryville, Visa, Pizza Hut, Applebee’s, itune’s, Barnes & Noble, and many more
• Technology, software, e-readers and electronics devices
• Great customer service

The University Bookstore is so much more than just a place to get books  -  come see for yourself!

Dr. Peter Green spent more than 15 minutes trying to get a head shot of this emu. During the wild-emu chase, Dr. Green spent more than 15 minutes trying to get the perfect picture, but in the end Green told the emu, "You win, no picture."

Contributed by Dr. Barb DeSanto, APR, Fellow PRSA, Communication Professor

One of the best summertime experiences I’ve ever had was, in reality, a winter experience.  Yes, part of Summer 2011 I spent with three professors and 21 students in Australia in June – the Southern Hemisphere’s winter with sideways rain and gusty winds sandwiched between days of sunshine and blue skies.

Maryville has a strong summer Study Abroad program, but this was the university’s first study abroad seminar in the Southern Hemisphere.  The Sydney program is the first step in developing more Asian/Pacific Rim destinations, including Peking, China, in Summer 2012. 

Sydney, Australia, is a good place to begin an Asian education, because of its cosmopolitan mix of cultures, including British, Chinese, Indonesian, Korean, Vietnamese, Malay, Thai, and hundreds of other ethnic groups.  The students were a bit surprised at first by the great variety of people, but soon discovered that, more than anything else, it meant exotic cuisine.  Even the garden-variety American Subway sandwich shop offered sweet chili sauce and avocado on every sandwich.  I bought sweet chili sauce just to add to all my sandwiches now.  No more bland American food for me.

Stand on any street corner and listen to the melody of languages that makes up the Sydney streetscape.  Look at the variety of fashion that identifies different ethnic groups, and then compare those differences to similarities among all people in living their lives. 

After a 15-hour flight from the U.S. starting points such as Dallas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, we arrived in Sydney,

Dr. Leilani Carver attracted many friends with her ice cream cone full of green leaves.

tired and ready for a nap.  The secret to adjusting to “losing”  one complete day and arriving very early in the morning in Sydney is to stay up all day – that means past supper until at least 8 p.m…at night.  No naps. To make the time past quickly, we all hopped on a bus to drop our bags in our apartments, hop on a city bus to Sydney’s Central train station, take an hour-long train ride to another bus station – all just to visit Featherdale Park.  When the students arrived, they agreed the trek was worth it.  They spent the afternoon petting kangaroos and koalas, listening to wild dingos howling, watching peacocks fan their tails, and taking pictures of tiny penguins strutting around their lot.  We all slept very well that first night.

Imagine the next day when you had the opportunity to eat kangaroo pizza at the official welcome lunch.  You had just petted and fed the kangaroos, saw mother kangaroos with joeys in their pouches, and now you get to eat them.  As expected, some students did and others, like me, just couldn’t bring themselves to eat what you petted the day before.  Students who tasted kangaroo compared it to a somewhat beefy meat with bison overtones and a chewy texture.  Pepperoni pizza was my choice; I’ve never petted a pepperoni.

The classes offered in Australia included:

Dr. Peter Green’s Psychology of Conservation, where students visited Sydney parks and nature areas, including the Blue Mountains to some of the rugged coastline parks with multi-colored blue waves crashing on the rocks and glimpses of whales jumping in the distance;

Dr. Chelie Muraski’s Comparative Health Systems, which looked at the differences between Australia’s national health service and America’s individually insured health system.  Activities included visiting a museum of deadly diseases and the Australia Red Cross;

Dr. Leilani Carver’s Working Internationally in Australia, which focused on what Americans need to know to work in a different culture; her students explored what makes an individual a strong internationally competent managers.

My two classes included an undergraduate course in Australian media, including the global influence of Rupert Murdoch and the images that different media create of their own countries for the rest of the world, and a graduate course, the Transplanted Executive, where graduate students interviewed expats working in Australia to learn about how they re-enter their home societies when their overseas assignments are finished.  The graduate students will be writing a paper for a journal from their interviews.

Convicts, the original Sydney settlers, saw this view of St. James Church every day from their dorm room furnished with hammocks to sleep in. Convict is a special word in Australia, only the original settlers transported from England are called "convicts." Today's miscreants are called "prisoners" or "criminals."

Amid the “coursework,” however, were many group activities, as well as time for students to see things on their own.  Planned adventures included a trip to the Sydney Opera House for a performance in the world’s most recognized theatre.  An afternoon visit to the Hyde Park Barracks where the original “convict” immigrants lived upon arrival in Sydney more than 200 years ago, and the students got to rock back and forth in the sleeping hammocks as they listened to the convict story that brought the experience to life.  Shopping ranged to Paddy’s market, a multi-level flea market with prices from pennies to hundreds of dollars to high-street world-famous brands, including Australia’s own Uggs. 

Individual students went swimming with sharks, visited the Sydney aquarium,  chilled out  physically and mentally at the June Jazz Festival, perused art museums, and, I heard, tried out the local club scene.

I’ve lead and taught in Study Abroad programs for four universities in the past 20 years, and no matter the location or the students, students learn far more than just about one location.  Surviving and thriving in a totally new environment, realizing that the “words” may in some form of English, but the meaning is totally different, working outside of one’s “comfort zone,” testing your tolerance level, experiencing delight in something you wouldn’t have tried “at home,” – these are all important things to find out about yourself while you also learn traditional class subjects. 

The realization of what these students and professors learned about themselves, however, comes after they all return to their familiar homes.   Random everyday life incidents will interact with flashbacks to Australia or England or Scotland or Italy as each individual’s new experiences collide with their American life.  This added dimension is the real value of study abroad – understanding that we are all citizens of this globe and being equipped with the experience to bring into their careers. 

This was worth 30 hours of flying from one continent to another and living a year with two winters.

Residential Life has established certain quiet hours and courtesy hours for both of the residence halls (Mouton Hall and Maryville Hall) as well as all of the Hilltop Apartments (Cedar, Elm, Maple, Oak and Pine).  Courtesy hours are in effect when quiet hours are not.  The rules for courtesy hours simply state that noise from a living space should not be heard from over 10 feet away from the door.  This is usually about three rooms down the hall from the original room.

Students living in both residence halls and Cedar apartment are required to abide by quiet hours also.  From Sunday to Thursday quiet hours start at 10:00 p.m. and last until 10:00 a.m. the following morning.  On weekends, Friday and Saturday nights, quiet hours go from midnight to 10:00 a.m.  Quiet hours are just that: times during which students are to maintain a respectfully low noise level so that everyone else can sleep or study.

Cedar apartment has historically been known for being the apartment where students who want to study most of the time choose to live.  There are many extremely demanding study fields at Maryville University and a number of the students studying in these areas tend to want to live in Cedar.

Although Jordan Dietl, a fourth year Occupational Therapy student, did not request to live in Cedar, she still enjoyed her experience.  Her roommate was serving as a Residential Assistant and was placed in Cedar.

“Living in Cedar didn’t take away from my college experience,” Dietl said. “If I wanted to go out on campus, I could.  But if I wanted to stay in and sleep or study I could do that t0o.”  Dietl went on, “It was always quiet in Cedar.  I would live there again.”

Residential Life has posted a Living Guide for all residential halls and apartments so that students can be informed on the rules and what can happen if the rules are broken.  The Residential Life Living Guide can be found on the Maryville University website under the Student Life section.

The Living Guide states that quiet and courtesy hours are in place “to help provide an atmosphere that is conductive to good scholarship and to promote an environment where individuals can learn from the experience of group living”.

Residential Life simply wants everyone to be able to live together comfortably.  The quiet and courtesy hours are in there so that this can be feasible.

If you date someone in the same major as you watch out! You might find that you are competing in similar things.  If you are both in the Nursing program you may find yourself arguing with your significant other about things you are learning in school. You also might find yourself starting to get bored with this person because he or she is talking about the same things over and over again that you already know about.  Dating someone who is majoring in something different than you could result in more interesting conversations and the chance to meet different people, which is the overall goal for your social life in college.  Don’t limit yourself to just a certain group of people to hang out with.  So, unless you plan on being friends after you break up, then go for dating within your major! Otherwise, I would recommend sticking to dating someone who has different interests than you.